You’re already stacking quite a lot of Chorizo in your fridge, but “how long does Chorizo last in the fridge?” is what you are not so sure about. You can store them, but if you don’t know how long to keep them, that could be a problem.
Chorizo is a very popular ingredient, so it’s just a normal thing that you should have some in your kitchen. Usually, the first thing you think of will be putting them into the fridge. While this is a correct decision, there is still something more to it.
Spend some of your time on this article, and find out the best way to handle your Chorizo with care.
Simple Facts You Should Know About Chorizo
To keep it simple, Chorizo is a member of the sausage family but has gone a slightly different way. Chorizo has several different flavors and also different methods of making. Its origin can be traced back to Spain in the 14th century and then Mexico.
Spanish Chorizo and Mexican Chorizo are also the two major types that people usually refer to when talking about Chorizo. Each one has its own unique taste and flavor, and they are hard to replace.
One of their notable traits is that both types have a strong and intense flavor that usually comes with a spicy taste. If this is your first time trying these sausages, then you better be ready because they will hit you as soon as you take the first bite.
In addition, Chorizos can be further divided into three separated categories based on their processing, which are: fully cured, semi-cured, and fresh.
Depending on these types, the Chorizo will have different flavors, slightly different ways of storing, and shelf life. (1)
Making chorizo can be considered an art in Spain.
The Expected Shelf Life Of Chorizo
This depends on the environment, temperature, and what types of Chorizo you’re storing. Remember, different types will require different conditions to maintain their quality. (2)
As for a basic grasp of how long they can last, you can refer to this table.
Spanish Chorizo
The country of Spain is famous for the two fully cured and semi-cured types of Chorizo. Spanish Chorizo is often well-made and well-preserved so that it can last for a long time on its own. You don’t really need to worry too much about it.
Fully Cured
Those Chorizos have gone through several processing methods, particularly curing, smoking, and drying. Thus, they have become a fully cooked and ready-to-eat type of food, together with a well-preserved condition.
Fully cured Chorizo has a pretty long shelf life thanks to the smoking and drying process. It can last for 3 months while maintaining the best quality for a month at room temperature if properly stored and packaged.
In the fridge, both unopened and opened fully cured chorizo can last for 6 months. If you want to store them longer than that, the freezer can keep your sausages safe to eat for about 12 months.
Semi-cured
This type of cured Chorizo has only gone through half of the usual drying process. The drying step would be excluded in order to keep them soft and mushy like that of normal sausage, resulting in their shorter shelf life.
Instead, semi-cured Chorizo is fermented, which in some way helps them to last longer than ordinary raw meat or sausage. Typically, if well packaged, it will last for 1 month in the pantry and 3 months in the fridge. To store it for up to 1 year, opt for the freezer.
Mexican Chorizo (Raw Or Fresh Chorizo)
The last one of the categories, fresh Chorizo, belongs to Mexico and is one of the Mexican proudest achievements in cuisine. This is also the one that you have to pay the most attention to since it is literally raw meat.
It is made from fresh ground pork mixed with spices, a surprisingly simple method, yet fresh chorizo is the most troublesome to preserve due to the nature of raw meat. Just like any kind of meat, it can only last for 4 hours out in the open, so you should keep it in the fridge.
Even when refrigerated, raw or fresh chorizos would only be safe to eat for about 1 week. Your best bet for storing these sausages long-term is freezing since they will keep for about 1 year this way.
You can also store already cooked Mexican chorizos in the fridge for later use, but just like other cooked meat products, they should be consumed within a few days. But first, check your chorizos for signs indicating that they’re cooked before putting the sausage away.
What Is The Best Place To Store Chorizo?
The fridge is probably the only way to fit every chorizos type’s demands. Its temperature is cool enough to maintain the quality, yet not to the point of freezing that can damage the cured Chorizo.
The fridge can help the chorizos maintain their quality for at least a week regardless of which type. They can even last longer if properly packed.
For the average consumer, a week is probably more than enough for them to consume the chorizos. If you somehow miscalculate the amount and require a longer time, then you should consider freezing them. Here are some important notes to remember:
The condition of the package plays quite an important part, especially for fresh and semi-cured chorizo. It’s recommended that you eat your chorizos within a week after buying them from the store for the best quality.
The Right Ways To Store Chorizo
Like any other food, for Chorizo to stay good, you have to take proper care of it. Otherwise, you’ll have to find stand-ins for Chorizos when they spoil. Don’t worry; Chorizo is rather simple and easy-going when it comes to storage, so you just have to know some basic facts about it.
The Best Temperature For Chorizo
For most of the Chorizo types, except for fresh Chorizo, they can last long enough for you to eat just at room temperature, which is about 68 to 77 degrees Fahrenheit.
So you can mostly let them at room temperature to avoid unnecessary changes in quality due to the different environments. For fresh Chorizo, it’s better to keep it in the fridge or the freezer because it can spoil really quickly.
Storing Methods
You just have to remember the two most important things for Chorizos to stay good: dry and cool.
With that in mind, you can consider those as some of the most effective methods to store Chorizos:
Room Temperature
Storing at room temperature should be ideal for Spanish Chorizo, especially for the fully cured type, but not for fresh Mexican Chorizo. This is to preserve the natural stages and flavor of chorizos that other environments may affect.
- Keep Chorizo in a tightly sealed container, vacuum it if you can, and put them in a cool, dry place. You can also leave the chorizos in their original package.
- The Kitchen cabinet, pantry, cupboard, or anywhere that is clean and away from direct sunlight are the best choices.
- Semi-cured Chorizo should be consumed within a few days after opening the package. Otherwise, you should put them in the fridge.
- Fresh Chorizos are best consumed immediately after you buy them. They are not meant to be kept at room temperature for long.
Refrigerating
Refrigerating is the only method that is suitable for every type of Chorizo. The fridge’s cool temperature is ideal for keeping meat products like Chorizos. This can apply to both cured and fresh Chorizo.
- Keep your Chorizo in the packages for the best storage or put them in a tightly sealed container.
- Keep them separated from other foods.
- Consume them within a week if you have opened the package or sliced them up
Freezing
Freezing is the go-to choice when you have a relatively large amount of chorizos and want to keep them for long-term usage. This method can apply to any type of Chorizo or meat product as a whole.
For this method, there are several steps that you should take note of in order to do it right:
Step 1:Wrap Them With Paper Towels.
Doing this will preserve the moisture content and prevent them from getting too dry as it will be tough to eat.
Step 2:Tightly Seal Your Chorizos.
Put your chorizos in freezer storage bags. Vacuum-seal them if possible, for this is the ideal way to keep the cold air away from your sausages.
Step 3:Put All Of Them Into A Larger Container.
If you have a large quantity, putting all of your wrapped chorizos into a larger airtight container will help you to manage them easier.
Step 4: Place them in the freezer
The only thing left to do now is put the chorizos in the freezer, and they will stay good for 12 months.
Whenever you want to thaw them for use, just do it as usual like every other food. Keep in mind that fully cured Chorizos are not good with freezing, so you should only freeze them if it’s really necessary.
A simple hack for storing Chorizo, but it will make your life much easier.
Some Additional Tips
To make your job easier, these are some small tips that you can refer to
- Fully cured Chorizo has a very low moisture content. So you need to wrap it with paper when storing it in the fridge or freezer so it won’t become even dryer.
- In every way, vacuum-packed always do better than a normal package.
- You should not refreeze Chorizo, as it will damage the cells of the meat, thus affecting the quality.
- You can store cooked chorizo dishes, but make sure to eat them after 1 or 2 days.
- Note the date when you store on the container so that you can keep track of how much time they have left.
How Can You Tell When Chorizo Has Gone Off?
Sometimes, no matter how careful you are, unexpected things can always happen, which is also true with storing Chorizo. You can never know when something will happen. That’s why it’s necessary to learn the signs when Chorizo has gone bad.
There are some notable signs for you to notice whether your chorizo is still edible or not:
- Pay attention to the appearance to see if there are any significant changes in color or mold that appear on the surface.
- Try to smell it and find any strange odor. Usually, spoiled chorizo will be marked with a sharp and pungent scent.
- You feel some odd flavor when eating them.
If you notice any of these changes on your chorizos, then you should get rid of them, for they might have already spoiled.
However, if you see some powdery white mold on your cured Chorizo, don’t throw it away. Those molds are a penicillin species that is totally harmless, and it’s actually a good sign. They will help cure the chorizo and fight off harmful bacteria.
Some Notable Brand Of Chorizo
For the notable brands of chorizo that you should pay attention to when shopping, Aurelia is one of them. They are famous for Spanish Chorizo from all types, all-natural, even keto-friendly chorizos.
For Mexican Chorizo, you can trust Bolner’s Fiesta Products. It’s not really the meat that makes Mexican Chorizo, but the spices.
Mexican Chorizo can be easily homemade by anyone, but with the flavor from Bolner, your dishes will be far better. With these authentic, gluten-free Mexican spices, you can bring the very taste of Mexican Chorizo home.
If you want something more convenient, then El Mexicano is your choice. Their chorizos always stay true to the original Mexican flavor and come with some additional variants like beef to fit your preference.
Wondering how to choose the best chorizos? Here’s your answer!
FAQs
Storing Chorizo is an important task to keep your precious food in good shape. You need to know as much as possible about it, that’s why here are some extra facts for you.
A Food That Built To Last
If you do it right, Chorizo can stay with you for a pretty long time, even for a whole year. It’s the perfect choice for you and your family to enjoy like a snack, a meal, or as emergency food in time of need.
You just need to keep it well, and it will be there whenever you need to warm you up with a distinguished flavor that can’t be anything else.
Please feel free to share this post with everyone so that they can also know how to keep the tasty Chorizo safe and sound. After all, food is a valuable resource that should not be wasted.
References
- En.wikipedia.org. 2022. Chorizo – Wikipedia.
- Sausage and food safety.2022.
