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

sparrer

Another for the sniff test, nothing gets wasted unless it's definitely giving off the telltale odour. If it's food for cooking, ie meat or fish, it can smell okay until you start to cook it, when it can give off a definite no-no smell, then the only answer is to bin it. Otherwise, cook, eat, enjoy

ringoroses

Going to go with the majority here and use it all as it all seems fine. I was especially convinced by the packed lunch comparison, wouldn't have thought of that.

Normally I would not be this much of a wuss, but with it being salmon and chicken I was looking for a bit of reassurance. Thanks all!

Lilyplonk

I've got a bag of parsnips that have been sitting in the fridge for quite a few days - and not sure if I should still use them :undecided.

The inside of the polythene bag was somewhat moist with 'condensation' and, when I took them out of the bag, they felt a little bit slimy. Now I know that Parsnips can often feel like that ............. but it's just bugging me now. They are a day, or so, past their 'Best Before Date' .

I DO NOT want to waste them and would like to use at least some of them in soup this evening .

They have now all been wiped and are sitting in a bowl of fresh, chilled water - awaiting a decision ............. :think:.

C'mon Os'ers - would YOU use them .............................?

PasturesNew

Go for it... nobody's ever died from a parsnip.

Runnerduck

they are fine to eat, i just cut any bad out and go for it x

Lilyplonk

:T thank you for quick replies - that's exactly what I was hoping to hear .

I'm now off to peel and prep them. Some will go into tonight's pot of Winter Veg Soup and the remainder can be blanched, cooled and coated in oil to freeze for 'ready-to-roast' :j.

Primrose

It should be fine. I have have eaten Christmas puddings that are a year out of date. If you nuke it in the microwave until its steaming hot that will doubly ensure that it's safe to eat. It may have dried out a little, in which case a couple of tablespoons of a liqueur poured over it before serving should moisten it nicely.

Sally_A

I've had chicken in the fridge with a good 3 days use by date on, but it gets a bit of a whiff, usually from the juices rather from the meat itself.


A good rinse with cold water, and then a 30 min soak in water with a glug of white vinegar seems to do the trick.
(This is an old trick passed down over a good 70+ years)


Cooked well, no side effects yet!

pigpen

Believe me if chicken is off you know.. the smell turns even my iron clad stomach!!

I had Tesco send me 2 rancid ones in my monthly shop.. they were green and shiny with an oily sheen.. like when puddles have oil in and they get 'rainbows' in.. but just shades of green.. the smell was unbelievable, I had to open the door and it took ages to go.. they were both off but one was very much worse than the other.. I chucked them onto the railway lines for the foxes..

Quite often prepacked chicken will honk a bit but a bit of an airing or a rinse usually sorts it..

Spendless

I often find veg is like that from polythene bags, even though I've read/been informed that you should keep it in the packaging. From personal experience I've not found that to be true.

I take out of bag and wipe and then keep in the salad drawer of fridge that is lined with a layer of paper kitchen roll. If there's remaining veg left after the next grocery shop and I feel the paper towel is getting a little moist, I clean out the salad tray and replace the kitchen paper. My veg lasts ages, the best was some leeks reduced to 3p as they were going out of date that day. The last of them was used in a soup weeks later. :j

Enjoy your parsnip soup. I have just put a butternut squash one in my slow cooker. :beer: