How Long Does Smoked Meat Last? USDA Storage Times

A 14 lb brisket or a 10 lb pork shoulder makes far more food than most families eat in one dinner, and the cook is long enough that most people smoke big cuts with leftovers in mind.

How long those leftovers stay safe depends on how fast the meat cooled, how cold the refrigerator is, and whether the meat was cured.

How long does smoked meat last in the fridge?

USDA says cooked leftovers keep 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator at 40°F or below.

Refrigeration slows bacteria; it does not stop all of them. USDA's refrigeration guidance notes that Listeria monocytogenes thrives at cold temperatures and, if present, will multiply in the refrigerator over time. That is why day four is a limit, not a suggestion.

The refrigerator column is USDA's leftovers guidance, and the ham row is its ham storage chart. The freezer column is from USDA's freezer storage chart, which lists cooked meat at 2 to 3 months and cooked poultry at 4. USDA's leftovers page gives a single 3 to 4 months for leftovers in general.

Ham is the one exception. USDA's ham chart gives spiral-cut ham and leftovers from a ham you cooked 3 to 5 days, a day more than cooked uncured ham. More on that in how to smoke a ham.

Everything else counts from the moment it comes off the smoker, whether it was a brisket or a pork shoulder.

Does smoking make meat last longer?

Not by USDA's numbers. Its leftovers guidance makes no exception for smoked meat: hot-smoked barbecue is cooked meat, and gets the same 3 to 4 days as a roast from the oven.

Long-keeping smoked foods such as country ham and hard sausage are cured and dried as well as smoked, and USDA gives them their own, longer storage times. Barbecue is neither.

The two-hour rule

USDA says to refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours of cooking, or within 1 hour if the temperature is above 90°F, as it can be at an outdoor cook in summer. Perishable food left out longer should be thrown away.

Between 40°F and 140°F is what USDA calls the Danger Zone. Its danger-zone page says bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella grow fastest in that range, doubling in number in as little as 20 minutes.

To cool a big cut quickly, USDA says to slice or cut whole roasts into smaller parts and to divide large amounts of food into shallow containers. Hot food can go straight into the refrigerator; it does not need to cool on the counter first.

How to freeze smoked meat

USDA says food kept at 0°F stays safe indefinitely; its freezer times are for quality only. Frozen leftovers, it notes, lose moisture and flavour the longer they are stored.

1. Portion it. Freeze pulled pork or sliced brisket in amounts you will eat at one meal, so you only thaw what you need.
2. Wrap it well. USDA says to wrap leftovers in airtight packaging or seal them in containers, which keeps moisture in and odours out. Press the air out of freezer bags.
3. Freeze it straight away. USDA says to refrigerate or freeze wrapped leftovers immediately, for rapid cooling.
4. Thaw it safely. USDA's safe methods are the refrigerator, cold water and the microwave. The refrigerator is slowest but keeps the meat safe the whole time, so take it out of the freezer a day or more ahead.

Thawing a raw bird for the next cook is a different job; the turkey thawing calculator works out when to move it from freezer to fridge.

How to reheat smoked meat

USDA says reheated leftovers should reach 165°F, measured with a food thermometer.

Check it in the thickest part with

an instant-read thermometer or a ThermoPop 2. Steam and a hot surface do not tell you what the middle is doing.

USDA also says it is safe to reheat frozen leftovers without thawing them; it just takes longer.

For where to put the probe in a bird, see the smoked turkey internal temperature guide; for beef, the brisket internal temperature guide.

How to tell if smoked meat has gone bad

Do not rely on the sniff test. USDA separates two kinds of bacteria: spoilage bacteria, which make food smell, taste and feel off, and pathogenic bacteria, which cause illness. Meat can carry the second kind and still seem fine.

Throw it out if:

• It has been in the fridge more than 4 days (5 for ham), however it looks and smells.
• It smells sour or off, or the surface is slimy or tacky.
• There is mould on it. The pink smoke ring under the bark is normal; fuzzy green or grey patches are not.