Food - use by date - advice please

Lounge
24

Thank you for the contribution, IB. It does fit in within the last bit of your text highlighted above.

25

The only upset stomach Iā€™ve had at home for a long time was a bag of spinach. Being a veg, I kind of ignored the use by date by over a week. It had slightly darker edged leaves and some had a very small amount of slime. I remember removing the affected leaves and washed the lot. That same evening and next day was a regret. Learn the hard way I suppose.

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26

Wife left out pork chops for me to make dinner with, use by date was a week or so past but sheā€™d clearly got them out of the freezer to thaw so I cooked them and sons + me enjoyed them. Then she phoned and asked if Iā€™d done dinner; yh used the pork chops you left outā€¦ Cue small fit - theyā€™d been in the fridge for too long and were out to go into the green waste bin for bin night (same night). Spent the rest of the evening waiting for and expecting the effects to kick in, but nothing happened to any of us. Normally Iā€™d laugh these things off but that was quite a concern, wondering if weā€™d had tea made mainly of e-coli.

Anyway. IB is right. If something has a v short shelf life an extra day is a larger proportion of the safety zone as it starts to go off than 1 or 2 days onto a two week period. The look & smell test is the final arbiter though.

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27

I donā€™t know about you, but I really worry about TV chefs undercooking meat

28

I recently had some prepackaged Newmarket sausages I had to throw out two days before the ā€œuse by dateā€ that had been refrigerated after buying from a well known supermarket.
They had puffed up and the meat started to liquefy.

Most of these type of processed products are shipped semi frozen. If strict procedures arenā€™t followed in temperatures and thawing temperature and times, things can go off pretty sharpish.

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29

Iā€™d have no issues eating said lamb shank and if itā€™s in some sort of marination, even better.

I was in my local co-op recently and they had a whole load of mini pork pies (six packs) in the reduced fridge - they were going out of date that dayā€¦ I ended up buying six packets, 36 in total and much to the disgust of my wife, had one a day for the next five weeks, and lived to tell the tale!

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30

Iā€™ve read this before and you may be correct, but Iā€™ll stand by careful washing (Iā€™m an adult of 56 and can do it without splashing everywhere).

31

I put my chicken in for an 80 degree wash and 120 spin and it comes out lovely.
Seriously, if you have a very small kitchen without specific designated areas. I mean like in a campervan. That is good advice.
Anything with a reasonable distance isnā€™t worth sweating about. Quality of raw chickens and eggs today if carefully bought neednā€™t come with a hazmat warning.

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32

Any chlorine added?

33

No need if you buy American chicken!

Actually chicken is one of the things I wouldnā€™t use after the use by date, along with sea food (although fish would be ok if it doesnā€™t smell much) and any dairy product.

Best

David

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34

And anyway, why would you?

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35

If youā€™re having to ask, you already know the answer. Dump.

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36

Had campylobacter twice, one from a Novotel in Arusha , Tanzania and the second from a home delivery chicken curry in Slough.

If you have it you will remember it for the rest of your life, it is not a simple question of having the runs.

I always slightly overcook chicken as a result

37

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Deeeeeelucius!:yum::sunglasses:

Thanks everyone!

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38

Whereā€™s the gravy ??

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39

My late wife was a microbiologist with a nasty habit of muttering at barbecues ā€œI did my Masters on campylobacterā€ until I put the meat, especially poultry, back on until she was happy with it.

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40

There was gravy, TJ and also mint sauce, which I cannot stand, for the other half. :sunglasses:

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41

Why obliterate the lovely delicate taste of lamb with the overpowering mint sauce?

Had some Salt Marsh lamb and people ruined it with some sugar based sauce, I just wanted the lamb to speak for itself.

Sorry to go off thread :thread:

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42

Rosemary and garlic go so much better with lamb than mint sauce! In my experience it is the vinegar that is overpowering - what Iā€™ve never thought to try Is mint itself, e.g. rubbing Fresh mint leaves over the surface of the lamb before kooking.

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43

Love lamb with garlic and rosemary though confess I like mint sauce too, so long as itā€™s not mint jelly.

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