Friday 7 October 2016

Year Old Ribs


Not that the recipe called for these but I did have year old ribs in the freezer. Yes, that's me again, the Madam who eats and cooks with expired goods. 



Digging deep into the freezer for something to eat, I found this. No, these. There were two of them. Two.

At RM33.29, I do not want to throw this out. So. How long can meat stay fresh in the freezer? Google yielded 12 months tops but mine was way past 12 months.

Is it still safe to eat? There is only one way to find out. Eat it!


I made a dry rub with brown sugar, smoked paprika, garlic powder and salt. Then I just rubbed the mix onto the ribs and put it into a large freezer bag to marinate overnight.

Before baking.
Previously I made BBQ ribs using my slow cooker but these baby back ribs cannot fit into the cooker. So I had to use the oven. I lined a baking dish with greaseproof paper and placed the ribs in top.


Then I sealed the baking dish with heavy duty aluminum foil. This was baked at 160C for 3 hours. Yup, 3 hours.

The recipe I referred to called for baking at 93C (200F) for 4 hours and then at 79C (175F) for another 2 hours. No, no. I cannot bake for that long but I bet Tenaga Nasional would love it if I did.

After baking.
At the end of 3 hours, the meat was tender and falling off the bone and it smelled wonderful. I removed the slab of ribs from the baking dish and placed it on a lined baking tray.


Then I brushed my homemade Jack Daniel's BBQ sauce all over the ribs. It went into the oven again for another 10 minutes or so at 200C.


The finished product in all its glory.


Let me tell you something about the juices in the roasting pan. It was splendid! I took a spoon to it, shamelessly (after all I was in my own kitchen and no one was watching).

It was sweet, smoky and sticky and would have been glorious as the sauce by itself. But then, there was none left after I was done. Ah, next time perhaps. I must exercise restraint.


Now I hereby confirm that yes, it is safe to eat meat frozen after a year but please, try not to do that because the quality of the meat does deteriorate over time. My ribs did suffer from some freezer burn but overall, this was still a great rack of ribs.

Sweet and Smoky Oven Baby Back Ribs
Recipe source : Adapted from  Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients : 

- 1 rack baby back ribs (approximately 1kg)
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 tbsp smoked paprika
- 2 tsp sea salt
- 2 tsp garlic powder

- Some BBQ sauce

Method :
1. To make the dry rub, mix brown sugar, smoked paprika, salt and garlic powder.
2. Coat the ribs all over with the dry rub.
3. Place in a freezer bag and leave in the fridge overnight.
4. The next day, take out from the fridge to stand to room temperature.
5. Place ribs in a lined baking dish and seal top with heavy duty aluminum foil.
6. Bake in the oven at 160C for 3 hours.
7. Remove ribs to a lined baking tray.
8. Brush with BBQ sauce and finish in the oven at 200C for about 10 minutes for some caramelization.

Note : Instead of BBQ sauce, you can collect the pan juices and boil in a saucepan to make a syrupy sauce.

41 comments:

  1. I thought only me have raw foods staying in the freezer for so long, your's over 1 year, hehe...

    I have fish inside the freezer for over 1 month, i thought that will be very long already...

    Your ribs is so yummy, if you set up business, i sure will go patron from you, hehe...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think I got some more old things in the freezer...

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  2. I am speechless. Well you are still here fine so everything is fine. Now let me go and check my fridge for expired food.

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  3. Hi Phong Hong, I can only say you are a brave lady. I wouldn't dare but have to say your year old ribs looks good. Nobody would realise if you didn't mention it. Anyway, you are safe and the ribs didn't go to waste, hehehe!

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    Replies
    1. Hi Kimmy! Kiamsiap punya pasal. Couldn't bring myself to throw the ribs away. But in the end, it was delicious!

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  4. Just how big or deep is your freezer? It sounds like you can hide a frozen dead body there....wakakakaka! >.< Since you've only used one of the racks, I'm assuming you'll be making another one with the other expired rack! O_o You certainly have an iron stomach, my dear. By the way, what's the reason for wrapping the bottom of the baking dish with aluminium foil? Isn't sealing the top enough?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LOLOL Muahahaha... Serial kitchen killer with frozen dead bodies!

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    2. hah..hah..I like big freezers to store my meat and cooked food. I did not wrap the bottom of the dish. Only the top. And yes, the second rib is cooked and eaten hee..hee..

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  5. OMG!!! You are so brave to eat expired meat. I have often heard of Americans and Canadians who stored meat inside their coldest freezer for 2 Christmas dinners. Kinda weird but they had their no-bacteria reasons anyway.

    You just shared a brilliant idea that I should also rub the ribs with brown sugar.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Weird huh? But I survived hee..hee... Can still eat, no problem :)

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    2. Yeah you are still alive. I will start eating all the expired food.

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    3. Don't blame me if you lau sai.

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  6. A year old? Oh my!!! I would just throw it away. Hmmmm...and I thought there is only one person in the world like this, no...not me. Keep a bit longer and you can have dinosaur for dinner. Muahahahaha!!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hee..hee..just like the Flintsones - the brontosaurus ribs LOL!

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  7. Your ribs are finger licking good. Did you eat it with your fingers or fork and knife since it fall off the bones?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Please could you share the recipe for the home made Jack Daniels BBQ sauce?

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    2. I ate using my hands, that's the best way to eat!

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    3. Recipe coming up soon :)

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  8. I wanna go cari lamb ribs lah!

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  9. I also have few expired frozen meats. I threw them away. Tried once witb expired meat, they did not taste good. Sigh!!

    At least you are fine after eating it, so consider safe. ^^

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was fine, luckily I am OK hah..hah..

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  10. Hi Phong Hong, I guess you must have a huge and deep freezer as your ribs got lost inside, haha! Go and dig deeper, there might be more meat in there! By the way, your ribs do look inviting!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh yes, I am sure there are many treasures (expired) to be discovered hee...hee...

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  11. Good for PH! Nothing goes wasted... I guess my Labby would love to have the bones and the leftovers if there were any! hahahaa... By the way, PH, where to buy a Jack Daniel's BBQ sauce? I fell in love with the sauce in Cardiff when we ordered a JD BBQ pork ribs in TGIF... so yummylicious but we could not find the sauce at Asda and other places.. kind of disappointing...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Must not waste hard earned money! The BBQ sauce I made myself. Recipe coming up soon.

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  12. based on looks alone, it'd be impossible to tell these are more than a year old! my office pantry fridge used to have yoghurt that was more than three years old, but nobody claimed it and everyone was too lazy to throw it away ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am pretty sure if I dug deeper, there will be more expired meat to be discovered hee..hee..

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  13. I dare not risk it to eat expired food for so long (one year gosh!)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Goodness me! Is this your most daredevil attempt to eat something from your freezer yet??? I won't be joining you, if I see something even just 1 month over expiration date, in goes to the bin. >.<

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am not so much of a daredevil but rather kedekut. I cannot stand to waste my money!

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  15. Ha ha..you are really brave. If your freezer temperature is really cold, I think the meat is still safe to consume, but with a lesser quality. I have bookmarked this recipe and next week I am going to get me some baby ribs..hehehe!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hee..hee... yes, the meat was fine, no stomach ache also LOL!

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  16. Salute to you Phong Hong! But the pork ribs look so tender and delicious :)

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    Replies
    1. The meat was not too bad, some parts were dry but other than that, I enjoyed the ribs hee..hee..

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  17. Hi Phong Hong,
    Not sure ... I usually don't freeze the meat bought from supermarket as consumers are advised not to freeze again the thawed/defrosted meat. But the oven baked baby ribs of yours surely yummy looking!

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    Replies
    1. Hi Karen! True but I had always done it this way and it is OK for me.

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  18. More expired meat recipe coming soon I expect >_<
    Put aside the expired meat problem, your baked ribs look fall-off-the-bone tender

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