Im talking about Polish sausage floating in a vinager concoction in a deep jar. Something you often see for sale on the counter at a bar or gas station. Letting the sausage link sit in the brine is supposed to pickle it and create resistance to spoilage. But this is still meat floating at room temperature and especially the ones floating on top are still in direct contact with open air in the jar. (especially being reopened many times for serving) How long do they stay good for and how can you tell short of getting sick if they have turned bad?
If the food is literally floating in vinegar I think its shelf life is indefinite when it comes to pathogens.
The meat will not go bad as in kill you but it will go bad (as in get nasty) floating in an acid solution for a lengthy time.
Will the meat floating at the top get infected? Not sure, I mean, it has been pickled so has some resistance but if left totally undisturbed, floating at the top, I imagine it will go bad eventually.
Pickling was originally to preserver things so certainly it will do that. Its limitations depend on a lot of variables. A Google search I tried shows a lot of amateur opinions but nothing reliable that I found.
Usually meat gone wrong is self-evident. It looks or smells wrong. That is not a 100% indicator but it is a good start. If dubious then skip it.
NOTE: I am not an expert, this is the internet, assume I am 100% wrong about absolutely everything. (Many here will tell you this is the most accurate thing I have ever said.)
It’s good forever, YMMV. But use common sense. I’ve seen pickle jars of eggs, sausage, dill pickles open to the air with nasty tongs hanging on the jar. Nope. Not me.
The taverns I frequent tend to not be the kind that have pickled eggs/meat on the bar, but when I happen across these delicacies I always sample them. I’ve never had a problem.