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Thread: summer sausage

  1. #1
    Registered User stilllife's Avatar
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    Default summer sausage

    I bought some summer sausage at the grocery to take hiking for a snack. Just a one nighter. How long does the sausage last after being opened. The package says refrigerate after opening. I always thought summer sausage would last a few days on the counter.

  2. #2

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    In July, it might not last too long. In the cool fall, no problem. That's pretty close to "refrigerate after opening". If you don't eat it all on the trip, then of course refrigerate it.
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  3. #3

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    Go to a good deli, or butcher shop, and ask them what they recommend. A lot of sausage is hung in the air sans refrigeration in these businesses. They can tell you how long it will last and the best way to keep it from going bad after it is opened.

    "To make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from." - T.S. Eliot

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    I've taken it on 1 week trips, of course I consume it first the first couple days. Because it's heavy and because of your concern. Just stick in a ziplock. And of course the cooler the weather the less concern.
    I like to slice rings and slide them down a stick and make toasty ,crispy over a fire.

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    if it's hot weather, and you're near a nice cool stream, like somewhere in the Smokies------just put it in tupperware or something
    similar and dunk it in the creek over night......

    that will be your refrigeration...........

    wouldnt do this for more than a day or two though............

  6. #6
    Registered User stilllife's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TNhiker View Post
    if it's hot weather, and you're near a nice cool stream, like somewhere in the Smokies------just put it in tupperware or something
    similar and dunk it in the creek over night......

    that will be your refrigeration...........

    wouldnt do this for more than a day or two though............
    That's a great idea

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    That's a great idea


    i use it to cool down a soda pop for dinner and breakfast.......

  8. #8

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    Do not forget places that sell sausage and cheese gift kits. Lots of snacks all wrapped up in individual sizes. I think one of the companies is Swiss Colony. Its all shelf stable and the portion sizes are such that there are no leftovers to worry about.

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    I take those "refrigerate after opening" warnings with a grain of salt. I look at it this way. Cured, smoked, and fermented foods have been around for thousands of years. Refrigeration has been around for about 100. Lots of food have unnecessarily dire warning labels, especially in the US. I mean they call it summer sausage for a reason.

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    Quote Originally Posted by stilllife View Post
    That's a great idea
    Not such a great idea. I doubt you will find your sausage in the morning. I love those summer sausages but I stopped carrying them because I find them too oily and the smell is too strong.

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    As to your question, the rule of thumb is, the drier the sausage, the longer is the self life and summer sausages are quite moist.

  12. #12

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    Quote Originally Posted by Odd Man Out View Post
    I take those "refrigerate after opening" warnings with a grain of salt. I look at it this way. Cured, smoked, and fermented foods have been around for thousands of years. Refrigeration has been around for about 100. Lots of food have unnecessarily dire warning labels, especially in the US. I mean they call it summer sausage for a reason.
    This.

    I’ve carried summer sausage 5 days in summer heat with no problem. I did so knowing full well I was willing to throw it out if it went bad.

    Don’t know how much longer it would have lasted had I not eaten it all. Maybe I’ll try that sometime.


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    Quote Originally Posted by peakbagger View Post
    Do not forget places that sell sausage and cheese gift kits. Lots of snacks all wrapped up in individual sizes. I think one of the companies is Swiss Colony. Its all shelf stable and the portion sizes are such that there are no leftovers to worry about.
    If they aren't already, you'll soon see these in many stores from Walmart down to a local market/drugstore as gifts as well. Hickory Farms is another brand that is often in stores, along with many without a name - after all, since these packs (and in some places individual sausages and cheese bars as well) are sitting on a shelf for sale, that makes them good candidates for keeping better without any refrigeration later on.

  14. #14

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    They are packaging heavy but just about perfect for single serve use. They are definitely shelf stable for several months.

  15. #15

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    Quote Originally Posted by BillyGr View Post
    If they aren't already, you'll soon see these in many stores from Walmart down to a local market/drugstore as gifts as well. Hickory Farms is another brand that is often in stores, along with many without a name - after all, since these packs (and in some places individual sausages and cheese bars as well) are sitting on a shelf for sale, that makes them good candidates for keeping better without any refrigeration later on.
    I wait until after Christmas when the gift packs go on sale for half price.
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    I have regularly eaten summer sausage over a week or more, during summer weather, after open, with no issues. That being said, I've been surprised that it didn't last longer than a week or so. I would suggest a week is fine. More than two weeks isn't fine in warm weather. Where you draw that line between one and two weeks is up to you and the exact circumstances you're in.
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    Default

    I've been carrying them on my hikes for years. They regularly last me a week with no issues. I love to cut them up in my Idahoan Potatoes. I also double bag them because of the smell someone mentioned above, and they can become an oily mess - more so in summer months.

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    Toward the end of my first multi day hike, everything in my bag smelled of cheese and sausage. Ever since then I use an odor barrier liner in my food bag to keep the smells off everything else. It's noticably better. Most plastic storage bags are polyethylene and they are poor odor barriers.

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    Meat Lollipops!!!!

    Quote Originally Posted by JNI64 View Post
    I've taken it on 1 week trips, of course I consume it first the first couple days. Because it's heavy and because of your concern. Just stick in a ziplock. And of course the cooler the weather the less concern.
    I like to slice rings and slide them down a stick and make toasty ,crispy over a fire.
    "The best way to spend your life is to build something that will outlast it."

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    The fact that I'm alive to write this suggests they're okay to eat a day or so after opening when hiking in June.

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