pasta sauce recipes

zippychick

jet77 wrote: »

ok - so I just went to cook it and I'm really not sure ... it doesn't smell pretty So am not going to risk it and have binned it screws up my meal plan though ... will have to improvise x

Jet, the very same thing has happened to me. ! I genuinely can't abide the smell of raw meat in - fresh or not - so never know for sure! It's a nightmare.:o

It's also been previously discussed as mince being a culprit - my meat smells like wet dog :rotfl:

I threw mince out recently as I had doubt. Some may say it's perfectly good food, but food poisoning would knock the carp out of me health wise, so I wouldn't be taking the risk if I had any doubt. You did the right thing if it makes you feel any better :A The lesson you will learn is not to leave it so long. My meat gets frozen straight away if raw, and cooked within a few hours of defrosting - as I can't rely on my sense of smell

skintchick

I'd have said it was just gamey. IME mince can smell a touch off but as long as it's only a day or so over the date it hasn't killed me yet! I have also done this with chicken (!!) a day over - I washed it in cold water and the smell disappeared, so I cooked it and wasn;t even ill. Depends how much of a risk taker you are.

Stephen_Leak

Mince, as it has been minced into little pieces and therefore has a high "surface area to volume ratio" ...

1. Tends to go off quicker than slabs of meat. As above, if it was off, you'd know it. Mind you, you can never find a wet dog when you need one to compare it with.

2. It's easier to cook thoroughly than slabs of meat. So, even if it has picked up a few microscopic passengers, these have nowhere to hide.

"Use by" dates are well on the side of caution in this litigation-crazed nanny state of a world, and don't mean that it willl grow a fur coat on the stroke of midnight. "Best Before" does not necessarily mean "Poisonous After".

Payless_2

A friend of mine who used to be a chef once told me that supermarket beef joints and steak are best eaten a day or two after their use by date as age tenderises them. There is a word for this but I can't remember it now. Butcher shops know this and tend to sell such meat when it has tenderised but supermarkets just pack it and sell it.

She did warn me that this only applies to beef and not any other type of meat. I expect beef mince is the same.

liesauk

I am just browsing this thread hehehe

When I was a teenager ( a long time ago lol) I used to work in a meat packing factory. The kind that supplies ASDA tesco etc. We were responsible for grabbing handfuls of mince/chuck steak etc and putting it on the little trays. We would have great big boxes of ready meat and I can assure you that it rarely was pink when we put it on the tray. It would go down the line have the cellophane put on the top and then a machine would pump it full of oxygen to turn it pink again. So don't worry if it goes a bit brown all it is I think is the oxygen running out in the packaging.

I find that beef and lamb is fine for at least 4 days after the use by date. Chicken maybe 1 or 2 but I never eat pork after the use by date, that is one meat that can make you seriously sick!

liesa
xx


:j

Nikiya

I apologize if this question has been asked elsewhere, but my search did not find anything.
New Covent Garden soups state "once opened consume within 24 hours".
I always thought this draconian for a vegetable product that is kept in the fridge and have contacted the company in the past to find out whether this was a safety or a quality issue. They told me it was a safety issue.
I still cannot believe it....
Now I have half a carton which was opened 38 hours ago and kept in the fridge (which is always at 4º). If it was a dairy product I would follow my nose and experience, but soups have spices and mixed flavours so I feel less confident.
Any further information on this matter would be most welcome. I hate wasting.
Thanks!

overlykeensaver

I have a good look at it, a good sniff and maybe a little taste - if after that it looks/smells/tastes ok, I would go ahead and finish it off. This is my own personal view on the safety of food - I expect CGS are covering themselves just in case....

Pink.

Hi Nikiya,

I would also see how it looks, give it a sniff, have a small taste and use my judgement....I'm a firm believer that food doesn't go off on the stroke of midnight when the manufacturers tell you it will. Providing it's been stored in the fridge, if it looked and smelt ok then I would almost certainly eat it.

Once you've had more opinions I'll add your thread to the main Quick Questions on food safety / sell by / use by dates thread as your question may help others.

Pink

BitterAndTwisted

I'm certain that it's CGS covering their backsides. I'd finish an opened carton of soup a week later without thinking twice like I do with my home-made soups which I often keep in the fridge for up to a fortnight after making them.

lostinrates

I never get soup to last a fortnight! I think mine goes off within a week, what am I doing wrong?