How long can Woodall's meats be stored?

Because of the dry curing processes most of our products are extremely stable and safe. Although we recommend that you do refrigerate most of them, it is not essential for short periods of time and most will be quite safe at ambient temperatures for a few days. There are some exceptions:

Cumberland sausage: must be refrigerated. If you buy this by mail order consume it on the day you receive it or freeze it immediately as it does not contain preservatives.

Cumberland bacon (dry cured): keep your bacon in the fridge when possible. Generally up to 1 week un-refrigerated is fine, but once the sealed vacuum pack is opened store the bacon in an air-tight container in the fridge. If you buy a piece of bacon to slice yourself keep it wrapped in greaseproof paper, NOT PLASTIC, in the fridge

Cumberland ham: uncooked hams on the bone can be kept by hanging them in a cool place. Put into a cloth bag (an old pillow case is ideal) and hang in a cool environment that is not too damp and has a little air movement. In the summer months you must make sure that they are protected from flies. If your ham starts to grow mould this can simply be scrubbed off before cooking and is no cause for alarm. (It does, however, mean that the air in the storage area is too damp and ideally you should move the ham to a drier environment.) Boneless or vacuum-packed ham should be kept in the fridge. Once opened it should be removed from the plastic wrapping and wrapped in greaseproof paper. Cooked hams of any kind should always be removed from the plastic wrapper and kept in greaseproof paper or foil in the fridge. Kept in this way a cooked ham should last for about a month.

Cumbria Air Dried hams and Mature Royal ham: Follow the same rules as for uncooked Cumberland hams. If you have a piece of ham you are slicing yourself, when you have finished slicing for the day pour a little olive oil onto the cut surface of the ham, spread it to cover the surface and then stick a piece of greaseproof paper to it. This will ensure that it remains moist until you are ready to slice again. Once opened, pre-sliced vacuum-packed ham should be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for a few days. 

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