old things in cupboards

clutterydrawer

i have some mulled wine sachets and a strawberry jelly that have been in there forever - eek

my housemate however has BUTTER that is over a year out of date and several other things of a similar nature *shivers*

nesssie1702

The worst thing that will happen with butter is that it will go rancid! And if it goes rancid, your housemate will know about it as it will taste awful. There's not enough water in butter for bacteria to grow, hence why it's labelled with a best before date and not a use by date.

I've got a piece of Edam in the fridge that's a year and a half past its date that I fully intend to use in a cheese sauce - one of these days I used some Philly cheese last week that was a year out of date and I've not dropped dead yet.

If you've got something that's out of date in your cupboard or fridge - then open it and trust your eyes and nose.

If you're going to cook with a jar of sauce or something, then the heat will kill any bugs off.

theoretica

The other thing to watch out for with tins is any which have bulged, whether in date or out. This could be botulism and I wouldn't even open the tins.

I pretty much ignore dates (except on fresh fish) as I trust myself to know inedible food when I see it- I am currently using up some oats with a 2006 date.

Patchwork_Quilt

nesssie1702 wrote: »

I've got a piece of Edam in the fridge that's a year and a half past its date that I fully intend to use in a cheese sauce - one of these days I used some Philly cheese last week that was a year out of date and I've not dropped dead yet.

If you've got something that's out of date in your cupboard or fridge - then open it and trust your eyes and nose.

If you're going to cook with a jar of sauce or something, then the heat will kill any bugs off.

You obviously haven't heard of Uncle David and The Green Sausage. A family tale in which Uncle David fried a sausage thinking that the heat would kill the bugs off and was Very Poorly afterwards.

It's not the bugs that are the problem but the toxins they make while they are still alive. The toxins are still there when the bugs have died.

nesssie1702

Patchwork_Quilt wrote: »

You obviously haven't heard of Uncle David and The Green Sausage. A family tale in which Uncle David fried a sausage thinking that the heat would kill the bugs off and was Very Poorly afterwards.

It's not the bugs that are the problem but the toxins they make while they are still alive. The toxins are still there when the bugs have died.

No can't say that I have heard of Uncle David and the Green Sausage :rolleyes:

Only certain bacteria are implicated with toxin growth (mainly Clostridia spp and Bacillus spp - spore formers) and they tend to be anaerobic bacteria associated with specific foodstuffs.

I mentioned jarred sauces, not the meat that you might be adding to them

beautiful_ravens

I dont have enough stuff to have out of date old things hidden away. Perhaps the oldest thing I have is some icing sugar, kept in a kilner jar, which must be 4 or 5 years old. I have started using it up, on apple/sweet pies - when you have brushed the pastry with milk/egg, sprinkle icing sugar on before baking. The lumps come out as nice 'al dente' little sweet bits. Yum!

newlywed

I have a tin of hotdogs given to us that contain mechanically recovered meat - can't quite bring myself to eat them but they are still in date.

furndire

I remember years agoback in the 60's, my mother always had a pantry full of tins of stuff - she was very particular as to make sure there was no dents in them. We had guests coming, and she made a trifle with a tin of peaches. They appeared fine, but turned the trifle green - luckily before any of it had been tried. I can still picture it to this day.
I must admit though I go by taste/smell/sight - sell buy dates were brought in because shop keepers struggled to know how old stuff was.

Stephen_Leak

newlywed wrote: »

I have a tin of hotdogs given to us that contain mechanically recovered meat - can't quite bring myself to eat them but they are still in date.

See above soup recipe - should do for tin No. 1.

luxor4t

Slightly off topic, but ...

Dear Grandmamma was very OS & made the best HM jam in the world. Ex-DH was greedily stuffing his face with fresh crusty bread, too much butter & damson jam an inch thick when suddenly he stopped chewing, his eyes bulged and his face paled. Gasping, he rushed from the room and was heard making vile noises in the bathroom.
"Charming manners!" sniffed Grandmamma.

Turns out,when he was in mid gorge he had noticed a price sticker on the jamjar: 1/3. As we were in 1981 he assumed he was eating pre-decimal jam and was trying to avert certain food poisoning!

Grandmamma, I knew, arranged her cupboards to eat jams in order of making, that pot was the first of three.....