Can you keep fresh sausages from a butcher longer than the supermarket ones?

ALIBOBSY

Basically bought some lovely sausages from a local butchers/farm shop. The butcher told me they were fresh that morning and it from fresh locally slaughtered free range pigs.

I bought them on the 23rd Dec but on boxing day hadn't eaten them as planned. On the 28th I opened them and smelled and they seemed fine-hadn't got that sweaty off smell pork usually gets when past its best. So I froze them. But now looking at food storage guidence I am worried if they will be safe to use. I am wondering if the stuff in the main stores is so old before it gets to the shelf, that we are given really short dates to be able to keep it at home?

How long would you keep sausages that you knew were REALLY fresh when you bought them?

Ali x

ALIBOBSY

Found some info online that suggests the big supermarkets state their pork takes around 8 days from slaughter house to shelf.

Ali x

Mojisola

Supermarket sausages are likely to contain preservatives which the local butcher might not use. During the time between being made and arriving in the shop, they will also have been kept in optimal conditions to prevent them spoiling.

None of us can know whether the sausages will be safe. I would try cooking them and see if they smell alright.

katep23

I bought some chipolatas from the butchers on the Saturday before Christmas (21st) and they were dated as use by 25th.

No indication they were fresh that day so at least 4 days old if not more when I finished them up. I would imagine 5 days from being made would be absolutely fine.

Gigervamp

5 days from fresh to frozen. They should be fine. The sausages we get from the butcher at the farmer's market are usually good for about a week or so.

Badrick

In all likelihood, they will have a preservative in which is used to keep the meat pink and aids moisture retention to make juicier sausages.
If they weren't discoloured and were odour free when frozen, I'd say they'll be fine.

themull1

Ring/go and ask the butcher that you bought them off.

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth

FiL hangs his butchers, being an ex butcher, until they are no longer flimsy.


They are then cooked, eaten and washed down with tea!

bob_a_builder

FiL hangs his butchers, being an ex butcher, until they are no longer flimsy.
They are then cooked, eaten and washed down with tea!

or with some fava beans and a nice chianti...

or are we still on about sausages ?

Thistle-down

My dh is a butcher and said there are lots of variables, including how fresh the pork was when it was made into sausages and what was mixed with the pork, but he wouldn't use them after 5 days of them being made.

Also supermarket sausages will have many more preservatives in them so will theoretically last longer than sausages from a butcher's shop.

ALIBOBSY

Thanks for all the replies. The shop I get the from is basically a farm shop, years ago the family had a butchers business and decided to go into farming.

All the meat is high welfare, high quality and either comes from their own stock or other local farms. They said the meat was fresh and the sausages made that day, they do not use any artficial colours or preservatives.

TBH when I took them out before freezing they had little or no smell at all and non of that sweatyness off meat tends to get and I froze them straight after checking.

I think I will defrost and see how they smell and look then decide-plus have a backup plan for tea that night lol.

Ali x