Food safety

VfM4meplse

Use it, use it, use it. In some countries, you'll find rice that is nearly a century old as it's considered to improve with age. It tends not to be wholegrain rice though, as that does start to smell rancid in time.

Dry grains are safe as long as they haven't been infested by bugs. I'm living proof, currently getting through Oat-so-Simple that "expired" in 2005. Nowt wrong with it.

savingqueen

Should be fine especially if its still sealed.

I recently used some rice from a packet, way past its sell by date AND opened around Dec 2006!!! :shocked:

I remember the date because DH cooked us a special meal to celebrate the birth of our 2nd son and he bought expensive rice that sat in a jar for more than 5 years! I only cooked it for DH & I though, didn't want to risk serving it to the children.

I have been gradually using up all the really old odds and ends, only couple things left now and I'm still here to tell the tale

sq:)

Part_Mouse

Thanks, will have some for dinner, and for a few more dinners to come

Ceirdwyn

DD1 made a tuna bake thing at school a couple of weeks ago, they only had time to part bake it before the end of lesson. I already had tea planned for that night, so it went straight in the freezer, part baked. It was made with a tin of tuna in a cheesy white sauce, with a savoury crumble topping.

I'm the only one in the house who actually likes tuna, Hubby won't eat fish at all (very bad food poisoning experience before he met me) and the kids aren't fond, so it was down to me to eat it. I must admit I wasn't sure I fancied it, I saw the recipe and bought the ingredients and it isn't the kind of thing I would normally have. It's been sat in the freezer waiting for me to be brave enough to try it, or throw it. Any way tonight DD1 was out, and I had a load of bits that needed using up, so I thought I would try it, and if it was awful it could disappear before DD1 came home and she'd never know:o

Anyway I baked it, and had it with new potatoes, broccoli and cauli and it was actually really nice. I'll have to apologise to DD for doubting her when she comes home:o The point of all this rambling is to ask how long do you think it will keep? There is still about half of it left, and I wouldn't mind eating it again, but we're going out tomorrow. So far it's been;Part-baked at school, had a 90min bus ride home, been frozen, defrosted, and baked again. I don't think I should freeze it again, how long do you think it will keep in the fridge?

meritaten

no - I wouldnt hun - it was part cooked then frozen - then reheated. and as tinned tuna was once cooked - its the twice cooked rule!

er - I would be having a word with the school - its NOT ideal to not leave enough time for the dishes to be fully cooked - what if it had been chicken? I would have had to chuck that and what a waste of money!

HappyMJ

I'd take the risk even if twice cooked...The first cooking was in a sterile environment (in the can) where there was no chance of bacteria growth during cooling so there is no risk.

It'll last a few days in fridge. Just make sure it's piping hot when you reheat it.

Ceirdwyn

meritaten wrote: »

no - I wouldnt hun - it was part cooked then frozen - then reheated. and as tinned tuna was once cooked - its the twice cooked rule!

er - I would be having a word with the school - its NOT ideal to not leave enough time for the dishes to be fully cooked - what if it had been chicken? I would have had to chuck that and what a waste of money!

Thanks. You may be right. It's not worth risking being ill.

To be fair to the school, they do their best to make sure things can get done. They split the class into Home Ec and Textiles so there are only 10 girls in the lesson. They do the first 3 half terms in one class then swap over for the last 3.The lesson is always the last lesson of the day so food isn't sitting around school, but timetable constraints mean they only have an hour lesson. so one week they have a demo lesson were the teacher shows them what to do, the next week the girls do it. Unfortunately if the dish takes a lot of preparing, they can run out of cooking time.:(

meritaten

then the school should be taking time into consideration! after all isnt food safety part of the lesson? and part cooking meals is an elf and safety hazard! and no-one can afford to throw away part cooked meals!
I do take risks myself! but, they are calculated risks and although I dont think twice about reheating meals - I do make sure they are thoroughly cooked to begin with! and reheated 'piping hot'!
It does depend on the ingredients tho - and while I would have reheated the tuna dish - I wouldnt heat it again!
but - discuss it with DD and she will learn a valuable lesson on food safety! so at least something isnt wasted.

shegirl

Ceirdwyn wrote: »

Thanks. You may be right. It's not worth risking being ill.

To be fair to the school, they do their best to make sure things can get done. They split the class into Home Ec and Textiles so there are only 10 girls in the lesson. They do the first 3 half terms in one class then swap over for the last 3.The lesson is always the last lesson of the day so food isn't sitting around school, but timetable constraints mean they only have an hour lesson. so one week they have a demo lesson were the teacher shows them what to do, the next week the girls do it. Unfortunately if the dish takes a lot of preparing, they can run out of cooking time.:(

Only an hour for cookery?What do they expect them to do in an hour?

withabix

Hopefully the only thing that is 'Part Mouse' is your username and not the contents of your packet of rice!