I can't say why or how, but a couple days ago I was fishing around in the rear of the freezer and lo and behold, I found a ham....Now thst iwas at least 15-16 lbs...Then i read the date code...UH...Hmmmm, says use by 1-1-2010...Well it's been hard frozen for a LONG LONG time...so why not see if it's any good! I partialyy thawed it on the shelf for a few hours, then carefully unwrapped and started to sniff that thing like a cat.... It smelled ok,....but was still not completely thawed...I put in a roater pan, covered it with foil and popped in in the oven at 350 F. I took a nap. When I woke, it was to a smell of pure ecstasy! It was done in 3 1/2 hous ( pre-cooked) and ready to sample...I cut a few slices then tasted further and further, all the way to the center next to the bone. It was great! 4 of us dined on that thing for 3 days....I just finished the last of it with some scrambled eggs.... So, you never know, IF a pre-cooked and hard frozen ham can last a year PAST the eat by/use by date.... But little good that would do, IF there is no electrcity, or I am not near my propane fridge! Either or, it's a good thing to know!
I don't pay any attention to those dates. We had two hogs butchered 2 1/2 years ago, still have ham, bacon, chops, steaks and sausage in the freezer from them. It's all good. My processor vac seals everything instead of wrapping in paper so it lasts forever.
Yep, when I was young, my Dad would sometimes pull long-frozen meat from the chest freezer - been there a couple or three years. As long as there's no 'freezer burn' all is well. Heck, well-heeled people have ordered and eaten frozen mammoth meat, discovered still frozen in the northern ice sheets as they recede. Beats any 'long term storage' we can do!
Freezer Burn comes from dehydrating of the Meat to atmosphere. if you SEAL your freezer Goods in Air Tight Bags, it takes a lot longer for the Ice Crystals to migrate to atmosphere.... .... YMMV.....
Used a three yr old deer ham last yr--tasted wonderful. We sliced it about 3/8" thick on the meat saw.
You're a lot more likely to get botulism from improperly canned spaghetti sauce than from a frozen ham. I worked at a deli years ago, owned by a lady who absolutely refused to throw anything away. Took me about 3 times before I finally learned not to eat the pastrami Sunday night, because likely that crap had been cut on the previous Monday. You'd think that fish scale looking sheen would have clued me in but I can be a pigheaded when it comes to a Rueben sammich.
