How can you tell if pork chops are bad?

A moist, tender, and delicious pork chop is a great protein choice for any dinner. It’s rich in vitamins and minerals that your body needs like Zinc or iron.

Have you ever bought pork chop and then spaced it and didn’t know how to tell if they had gone bad or not? Your senses will help tell you if your raw pork chops are bad or not.

When determining whether uncooked pork chops are bad you want to focus on how they look and smell. Raw pork chops that have spoiled will have a sour smell to them, look dull in color, or might be slimy in texture.

Signs of Bad Pork Chops

The first thing you should look at when deciding if your pork chops are still ok is to check the sell-by date.

Typically you have 3-5 days after the sell-by date to eat pork chops that have been handled properly.

You cant trust the date your really want to follow the signs below to tell if the pork chop is bad.

How the pork chop looks

Next, look at them and see if they are grey or dull looking. Fresh pork should be pink in color. A little darker than fresh chicken but lighter than fresh beef.

An entire grey pork chop is a great sign that the pork is bad and you need to throw it out so that you do not get sick.

How it smells

When you open the package fresh uncooked pork chops will have a fresh smell. If you get a rancid odor or smell then throw them away.

This rule typically applies to any meat that you are going to cook. Follow this to tell if ground beef is bad or if your ground turkey is bad.

How it feels

Raw pork chops will be a little wet in texture but should not be slimy at all. If they are slimy then they have spoiled and you don’t want to eat them.

And, no, rinsing them off doesn’t change that. Bacteria like E.coli or salmonella have started growing and you will get sick.

The pork chop should feel cool and fresh. NOT sticky just clean fresh and cold meat.

Signs of bad leftover pork chops

Figuring out if cooked pork chops are still safe to eat is harder than identifying spoiled raw pork chops. It’s safe to say that leftover pork can still be eaten one or two days after it was cooked, depending on how it was stored.

As long as your pork wasn’t left out for over two hours and was stored in a sealed container in the fridge, it should still be safe to eat.

You still want to smell it for bad odors and make sure that it isn’t slimy at all. These are telltale signs that your pork chops are no longer safe to consume.

I also have an entire post on how to tell if pork is bad.

Storing pork chops properly

When you are storing fresh pork chops you want to keep them refrigerated or frozen in a tightly sealed container or still in the package.

Raw, uncooked pork chops will last in the fridge until up to 5 days after the sell-by date on the package.

And you will want to check for freshness before you cook them by smelling, looking, and touching them for sliminess.

When freezing pork chops they should last you 6 months past the sell-by date on the package.

You want to freeze them before you reach the sell-by date so that they don’t spoil when you are defrosting them.