Quick Questions on food safety / sell by / use by dates

kaya

i worked in a butchers in the eighties when i left school, mince meat that is left on display would go brown very quickly and it wasn't thrown away but simply reminced with some cows hearts to make it nice and bright so it could go back into the window

aliama

By the way, were the lamb steaks being sold off cheap because of the Use by date?

If not, and they were meant to be fresh, I would consider complaining to the shop, as I'd really expect fresh meat to last longer than a day in the fridge (going by the Use by date).

Bananabrain

Daft question, sorry!
Can I freeze homemade risotto?[mushroom today, but sometimes other veg varieties]

Mayflower10cat

Well, as someone who has had food poisoning from rice, I'd hesitate to say 'yes' straight off. If you immediately chilled (fast) the remaining risotto and froze it straight away, then you might be OK. The problem with rice is, if it's allowed to cool down slowly, especially at room temp., then you have trouble brewing. Even if it's later reheated to a high temp., the toxins from the bacteria are present and can still cause food poisoning. After I was so ill, I stayed away from rice from takeaways/buffets etc., for many years. Even now I hear people saying - they were ill after a takeaway, 'must have been a dodgy curry' or whatever. I always wonder if the rice has been cooked and later re-cooked without being chilled fast.

aliama

Bananabrain wrote: »

Daft question, sorry!
Can I freeze homemade risotto?[mushroom today, but sometimes other veg varieties]

You can, as long as you're careful.

To cool the rice, spread it out on a flat tray so that it cools as quickly as possible. Then get it in the freezer as soon as you can. When you defrost it, do it in the fridge and heat until piping hot.

good_advice

I would not risk it. Rice can make you ill as people have said.

Mojisola

Mayflower10cat wrote: »

The problem with rice is, if it's allowed to cool down slowly, especially at room temp., then you have trouble brewing. Even if it's later reheated to a high temp., the toxins from the bacteria are present and can still cause food poisoning.

aliama wrote: »

You can, as long as you're careful.

To cool the rice, spread it out on a flat tray so that it cools as quickly as possible. Then get it in the freezer as soon as you can. When you defrost it, do it in the fridge and heat until piping hot.

As Mayflower says - with rice, reheating thoroughly won't get rid of the toxins that make you ill.

Spreading the rice out to cool in a kitchen just gives a bigger surface area for the bacteria to grow on resulting in a greater toxin load.

A lot of times you'll get away with it. The time you don't, you'll regret it.

aliama

On the subject of whether or not to risk it, bear in mind that there's an Italian recipe for arancini which grew out of a need to use up leftover rice. The Italians have survived. Unless you're cooking for someone particularly at risk of food poisoning (small child, elderly person, pregnant woman), I personally think there's such a thing as being too cautious, especially when it comes to wasting perfectly good food.

Be aware of the risks, certainly, but know that the risk is slight, and even slighter if you take precautions like making sure the rice cools down as fast as possible.

There's still a risk of salmonella from uncooked eggs, but plenty of people eat raw eggs every day without incident. I'm planning to make hollandaise sauce eventually (got a good reason not to, right now), and I've been meaning to make arancini balls for ages. Just not got around to it yet.

aliama

Mojisola wrote: »

As Mayflower says - with rice, reheating thoroughly won't get rid of the toxins that make you ill.

Spreading the rice out to cool in a kitchen just gives a bigger surface area for the bacteria to grow on resulting in a greater toxin load.

A lot of times you'll get away with it. The time you don't, you'll regret it.

What results in a bacterial growth is allowing the rice to stay at a warmer temperature for longer. Spreading the rice out makes it cool down much faster, resulting in less bacterial growth. The key then is to get it straight in the fridge or the freezer.

If you don't want to risk it, that's fine, but if you are going to keep leftover rice this is what you should be doing.

Mojisola

aliama wrote: »

What results in a bacterial growth is allowing the rice to stay at a warmer temperature for longer. Spreading the rice out makes it cool down much faster, resulting in less bacterial growth. The key then is to get it straight in the fridge or the freezer.

If you don't want to risk it, that's fine, but if you are going to keep leftover rice this is what you should be doing.

No, you should be rinsing the rice in ice-cold water to cool it and getting it into the fridge as soon as possible.

This is fine for left-over rice but wouldn't work with risotto.