Sell by date...

[Tacori E-ring]

Okay I am so stupid with stuff like this...how long after the sell by date is ground beef good for?

 

[brooklyngirl]

I don''t know how long it''s good for, but I typically smell all meat before I start cooking it. If it smells funny to you, it''s probably bad.

 

[brooklyngirl]

Ok, I looked it up:

For ground meat it''s 1-2 days after the sell by date.

Whole beef is 3-5 days.

 

[TravelingGal]

Date: 2/3/2009 10:10:22 PM
Author: brooklyngirl
Ok, I looked it up:

For ground meat it''s 1-2 days after the sell by date.

Whole beef is 3-5 days.

whoops, just made pasta last night with GB that was 4 days past the sell by date. We all seem OK...

 

[Miranda]

You can eat it after the sell by date? Well, it''s not like food ever makes it to the sell by date around here!

I agree with brooklyngirl. Smell it. If it''s funky, toss it!

 

[whitetulips]

I''m a baby when it comes to this. With meat I usually won''t use if if it''s even one day after the sell by date- I''d rather be safe than sorry!

 

[MichelleCarmen]

On the news a few years back there was a story about how most people do not even look at expiration dates and will drink milk or eat yogurt that is a week or more past it''s pull date!

One day I was in the grocery store comparing prices of various cuts of steaks and an elderly lady approached me and suggested I check the meat clearance section as they have great deals. . .I checked over there and some of the beef was so old, it was GREEN!

With ground beef, I''ll cook it one day after it''s expiration date as long as the outside is still pink.

 

[Kaleigh]

With ground beef, I cook it the day I buy it. I am weird with groung beef. I heard from a butcher it''s good for one day after you buy it. Maybe that scared me...

Chicken, not so scared, it can sit for a few days. Funny how that works.

 

[mia1181]

Well for me it''s a mental thing... as soon as I see it is expired I can''t eat it. But if I am reeeeeally hungry, I might give it a sniff and if it smells okay I''m good!

Miranda- yor post made me laugh! DH eats all the time, he has a super high metabolism and is actually always trying to gain weight, so nothing lasts in my house! Our fridge and cupboards are always empty because the moment I buy something, it''s eaten!

 

[puffy]

i guess i''m bad with stuff like this too...i never eat it past the sell by date and always cook it the day i buy it.

 

[TravelingGal]

Hehe, I guess I''m the freak!

Normally I am crazy anal about stuff like that - my dad was a butcher and we had to eat all the old stuff, so I''m less than thrilled about eating not so fresh meat. But I guess because I never died or anything, I''ll take my chances once in awhile. The meat I used last night smelled fine. (OK, it could have been close to going off, but like I said, we felt fine.)

 

[iheartscience]

I am SO PARANOID about food that I have no idea! If it''s a day or two before the sell by date I get all freaked out. But everyone always says you can tell when milk/yogurt/meat is bad, which I think is probably true.

 

[Deelight]

I know in Australia sell by dates are REALLY conservative.

However I would just use your nose if it smells good it should be good to eat if it smells off or on the turn chuck it.

 

[LGK]

Mmm green meat. I have a disgusting story to threadjack with!

My husband, when he was a kid, was eating ramen his mom made. He almost bit into the steak she''d put in it, and then took a closer look at it. It was GREEN. He asked her why there was green steak in the soup, and she said "Oh, don''t EAT it! It''s just for flavor!" Then he realized that the meat was literally months old.

This was also the woman who gave us a huge tub of cottage cheese once when she was closing a restaurant (we were starving college students, and were grateful). Then we opened it. There was a thriving mold city in there. We tossed it and casually mentioned that it was moldy to her later. She said, "that''s just the protective layer! I had it for lunch the day before I gave it to you. You just peeeeel the mold back, dig out of the bottom, then put it back over the top when you''re done!" Gag! (This same delightful food "gift" included weevily bisquick that infested the kitchen with weevils it took almost a year to get rid of.)

No wonder my husband drank the water in Vietnam and Mexico and was just fine. It took him about three or four years to stop inspecting everything I cooked and making sure I was using fresh food.

 

[honey22]

Leaving dairy products longer is totally different to meat products. The bacteria in dairy are lactic aciding producting bateria, when the food gets older, these bacteria make the product taste sour, but they are usually not pathogenic and won''t hurt you. Basically the milk will taste gross but won''t do you much damage.

Poultry and meat are different. The bugs that naturally live in these products are harmful when ingested in large amounts by humans. If the meats are left too long, too many bugs grow and can reach levels that are can be infectious/dangerous.

Honestly, if I don''t use chicken or ground beef within two days of buying it, I toss it. It''s not worth the hassle of having gastro. And I am OCD about smelling it too, if it''s a little smelly, it''s out.

I guess just an occupational hazard from being a scientist - I grow these little buggers at work, they ain''t pretty and I don''t wanna eat too many of them

 

[zoebartlett]

I think I actually asked about this once here. I probably waste so much food because I''m never sure how long food can be kept, and I tend to throw it out if we don''t use it right away.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

I was going to cook it tonight and the sell by was the 2nd (so it would be two days...) Maybe I will just throw it out. I was in such a rush I didn''t even bother to look at the sell by dates when I was shopping. Lesson learned!

 

[jcarlylew82]

does anyone here freeze their ground beef, etc?

 

[Girlrocks]

Date: 2/3/2009 11:41:26 PM
Author: MC
On the news a few years back there was a story about how most people do not even look at expiration dates and will drink milk or eat yogurt that is a week or more past it''s pull date!

One day I was in the grocery store comparing prices of various cuts of steaks and an elderly lady approached me and suggested I check the meat clearance section as they have great deals. . .I checked over there and some of the beef was so old, it was GREEN!

With ground beef, I''ll cook it one day after it''s expiration date as long as the outside is still pink.

That just seems wrong that it even exists!

 

[Girlrocks]

Date: 2/4/2009 8:06:46 AM
Author: jcarlylew82
does anyone here freeze their ground beef, etc?

Yes, I freeze EVERYTHING within minutes of walking in from the grocery store, even what I will be having the next night. I take out whatever meat we will be eating for dinner in the morning and put it in the fridge to thaw.

 

[Jas12]

i freeze meat when i get home from the grocery store, unless i am going to cook it that day or the next. I rarely ever look at the dates--i am bad for that.

 

[Burk]

I''m glad you asked this, Tacori. I always wonder and end up throwing so much meat out if it''s at the sell by date.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

I did make chicken yesterday that was 1 day after sell by and we survived!

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

I go by how it looks, but I''m paranoid about putting stuff in the freezer right away and not refreezing stuff. If I take something out to defrost and we don''t eat it that night, then it goes in the trash. I won''t let it sit in the fridge or refreeze it.

 

[ChinaCat]

This thread made me laugh b/c I am constantly calling my mother and asking her this question. Yes, I am 34 and still calling my mom!

I have noticed that some things say "Sell By" and some say "Use By". I think if it''s "Sell By" then the point is you don''t have to use/eat it by that day. I generally do the 2 day rule, but I ALWAYS smell it first. I have smell issues so if it smells the slightest bit off, I throw it out. I try to freeze everything just to be safe.

So Tacori, I think you are ok on the chicken!!!

 

[mrssalvo]

Date: 2/4/2009 8:06:46 AM
Author: jcarlylew82
does anyone here freeze their ground beef, etc?

I freeze all meat unless i''m cooking it that night for dinner. then I thaw in the fridge the day I''m going to use it for the dinner meal.

 

[Italiahaircolor]

I freeze my meat, so I don''t go by dates much...however, I grocery shop for **meals** and buy the meat I need for that week...so, usually by the date on the container, it''s long since gone!

 

[MichelleCarmen]

LittleGreyKitten = Okay, that is beyond gross. . .bugs in flour! Didn't you post about this before? How did you get rid of the weevils?

Anyone know: does liquor kill most of these pathogens? Is it safe to eat green beef after five shots of tequila (assuming one is still upright after that many shots

)? Oh, yep, I guess Tequila does kill pathogens. . .the worm at the bottom is always dead. Okay, beyond YUCK YUCK YUCK!!!

 

[Tacori E-ring]

China, I TOTALLY still call my mom! Haha. Glad I am not alone. She told me as long as it looked and smelled okay to use it. She said I would KNOW if it was bad by smell alone.

I think I will freeze stuff from now on. Do you all just put it in the freezer how it is packaged or ziplock it?

 

[zoebartlett]

I call my mom all the time, too, and I''m 35. I think she gets frustrated that I call for that reason but I''m glad when she can help me out. I really need to start writing down what she says so I don''t forget.

I like to keep whatever we''ll have that night or the night after in the fridge and put all other meat, chicken, etc. in the freezer. My husband hates the taste of thawed meat, so he prefers to keep everything in the fridge. There are times when I feel like we have to cook everything all at once just to prevent it from going bad. We''re trying to figure out a way to compromise on this.

Tacori, for freezing meat, I just put stuff in the freezer in the package it comes in when I get home from the store. I don''t use Ziploc freezer bags.