Sara Moulton gets carried away

[Constance]

I saw Sara Moulton on Good Morning America this morning. (Tiny little Sara only comes to Diane Sawyer's shoulder.)
Now I love Sara, but she was talking this morning about how long certain foods will keep, and I think she got carried away on the side of safety. She claimed that packaged lunchmeat was only good for 3-5 days after opening, and that sliced lunchmeat from the deli was only good for 1 day!
I think she needs a good dose of practical.

 

[jennyema]

My deli meat rule is 4 days.

 

[LadyCook61]

I've had deli lunchmeat last for a week or more , only because I vacuum pack it with food saver after each time I take some lunch meat out.

 

[jennyema]

I've had deli lunchmeat last for a week or more , only because I vacuum pack it with food saver after each time I take some lunch meat out.

Thats a good idea!

 

[Callisto in NC]

I think she's a little off. I've had lunch meat, deli or prepackaged last way longer than a couple of days. We buy the packaged stuff at the beginning of a camping trip and use it throughout and we camped for a week or more at a time.

 

[GrillingFool]

Maybe Oscar Meyer et al are paying her. LOLOOL!

Let's see, I have a package of premium deli style sliced ham, purchased for $3.00 off the day it expired, open in my fridge. Bought it 5 days ago.
It is still just fine.

 

[luvs]

maybe she's servsafe certified, guys.

 

[Cooksie]

I can't even imagine deli lunchmeat lasting one day. I think it has to depend on the expiration date on the huge piece of meat that it's sliced from. You know, I've never asked the deli person what the expiration date on the meat is before they started slicing, but it might be a good idea to do that. I have been guilty of changing my order if the deli person pulls out a tiny butt-end piece to slice my meat from. That makes me think the meat has been sitting in the counter a while.

 

[SharonT]

I always try to use up the deli slices the day after I bring it home. After that there seems to be just a slight whiff of off-ness about it that I can't stop thinking about and so wouldn't enjoy eating it. I admit I don't seal it up in any special way - just use the zip top provided by the deli.

 

[BreezyCooking]

Sara's nuts!!

I keep deli meats like roast beef, turkey, liverwurst, etc., for one week; cheeses, salami's & their ilk for 2 weeks or more. No problems, never any "whiff of offness", & I don't do anything special except make sure their original wrappings are closed.

 

[Callisto in NC]

I can't even imagine deli lunchmeat lasting one day. I think it has to depend on the expiration date on the huge piece of meat that it's sliced from. You know, I've never asked the deli person what the expiration date on the meat is before they started slicing, but it might be a good idea to do that.

Check the label when you buy the meat. Mine always has a date on it and it's never been a set number of days, it's static so that tells me that it is pertinent to the actual meat I'm buying. Some times it's three days sometimes it's five. It's never been just a single day.

 

[Cooksie]

The only date on my deli meat is the date that I bought it.

 

[SharonT]

. . .No problems, never any "whiff of offness", & I don't do anything special except make sure their original wrappings are closed.

Well, awlrighty, then.
Cheese and salami are different... But my personal preference is to buy deli turkey and chicken in small enough amounts to finish them up in two days - day of purchase and day after.

 

[Andy M.]

I suspect Sara was being prudent with the freshness dates and giving the word according to the USDA or other authority so no one could blame her if they got sick.

 

[jabbur]

If you can't tell your meat is going bad by feel, smell, looks, you deserve to get sick! ; )

Mine I keep for about a week in ziplock bags. I don't vacuum seal but I do squeeze out as much air as I can manually before zipping closed.

 

[Michael in FtW]

I saw Sara Moulton on Good Morning America this morning. (Tiny little Sara only comes to Diane Sawyer's shoulder.)
Now I love Sara, but she was talking this morning about how long certain foods will keep, and I think she got carried away on the side of safety. She claimed that packaged lunchmeat was only good for 3-5 days after opening, and that sliced lunchmeat from the deli was only good for 1 day!
I think she needs a good dose of practical.

Was she talking about food safety or best quality?

 

[Robo410]

my fridge holds at 37* so it is below the "danger zone" of 40*-140* where most things like to rot. But there is certainly a moisture loss and flavor loss by 5 days. I keep my meats, cheese etc (bacon too) wrapped in butcher paper rather than tight plastic wrap as that drying helps keep meat longer (by a day or two). But there is a period after which food has gone off.

 

[LPBeier]

Our camp rule was, if it was opened it was kept for 48 hours. If it was still packaged, it would last the week (5 days). I maintain these standards at home as well.

 

[JMediger]

I think it's what you grow up with ... I tend to keep lunchmeat much longer than my honey would like me to but then again, that's what my mom did where as his holds the 4 day rule. I also think it depends on what kind of meat you are buying ... from the deli case, I think it goes faster than the pre-packaged slices.

SharronT, I agree that fresh deli meats change their smell after a day. To me, it's not offensive so we still eat it but I can see how it might be to others.

I try to keep to the cooking topics and not get involved in the pettiness that happens here but Breezy, I think your response to her was just too rude. How do you know what her nose is sniffing and how it affects her tastes? And Jabbur, what? Who deserves to get sick for ... what? I realize I'll have to apologize later for this but really ... this is why people are leaving.

 

[Alix]

Jmediger, I don't think anyone intended offense here. I notice jabbur has a winking smiley after her statement, so I believe she meant that to be funny. And I think Breezy was trying to offer her own experience as a benchmark figure, not necessarily as a criticism of someone elses nose or experience.

Maybe I missed something from another thread that colors feelings in this one.

I certainly understand that some of our members have strong ways of stating their opinions, and that gets dealt with often folks, but lets all remember too that getting nuance from the written word without seeing facial expression is very very difficult.

So, back on topic. In my world, deli meats always have a best before date on them. I usually do a sniff test and then sometimes if the sniff test is inconclusive I will "test" a piece on the cat. If the cat won't eat then its garbage. LOL. Thems picky little critters.