How close do you follow the spoil times for a given dish

[georgevan]

most of the time a recipe will say that it is good for 3-5 days or something like that. But many times I will go beyond what they recommend by many days. But I always smell it first for spoilage. What is your preferred way of dealing with spoil times?

 

[WhateverYouWant]

Freezing.

 

[dragnlaw]

Ditto

But as GG is about to point out - spoilage doesn't always smell.

 

[GotGarlic]

Ditto

But as GG is about to point out - spoilage doesn't always smell.

Aw, you know me so well

 

[CharlieD]

I’m terrible. I’m a garbage disposal at home. Nobody likes leftovers. I finish everything even if it takes two weeks.
I have been trying to learn how to cook less now that’s it only two of us. But after years cooking for a big family and volunteering in synagogue cooking for a crowd it’s hard.

 

[larry_stewart]

I’m terrible. I’m a garbage disposal at home. Nobody likes leftovers. I finish everything even if it takes two weeks.
I have been trying to learn how to cook less now that’s it only two of us. But after years cooking for a big family and volunteering in synagogue cooking for a crowd it’s hard.

Took me years to scale it down to two. I get excited when we go to visit my daughter so I can cook and bring her a bunch of stuff. Now Im working on storing things long term from the garden, as I grow too much.

As far as spoilage goes, I used all my senses ( sight, smell, taste and just common sense). certain things last longer than others. Freezing in many cases Is usually a good option. Although not a solution for everyone, my chicken benefits from me over cooking. At least I know someone is eating it, and I dont feel as guilty than just throwing it out ( obviously if its spoiled I wont feed it to her).

Ive lately been cooking things that can be stored ( soups that can be frozen) for my parents, who dont cook much anymore, so it gives them a taste of home made cooking.

 

[dragnlaw]

Like others, I struggled with making meals for just 2 and sometimes 3 (that would be Me, Myself and I). Struggling to make meals that would freeze nicely.

So being as I'm at my son's and the numbers have increased, but now, I'm paralyzed with trying to juggle tastes that I'm not used to. No seafood, no spicy, who likes what and where is everything in the kitchen and everything is in strange places.... ARGHH!

So I just sat back and only cooked occasionally. They have been gone a lot this summer and still back and forth so I'm slowly learning the kitchen and trying out old recipes that will suit everyone.

But back to the subject:- leftovers are never a problem here, DIL cooks huge meals with enuf left overs for 3 sometimes 4 more servings. They all disappear for lunches and once a week a clean out of the last leftovers with everyone having a different meal. No spoilage here!

 

[Andy M.]

I often make recipes that will result in leftovers. Those leftovers result in a night off from cooking dinner. If it's not going to be eaten in 2-3 days, it gets frozen.

 

[larry_stewart]

Some recipes are almost impossible to downsize. After adding a little bit of this and a little bit of that, it all adds up, no matter how many times I try to downsize.

Ill also try to make meals that can be repurposed.
Eggplant parm leftovers turn into eggplant Parm heroes or Baked Zitti Sicilian ( which im sure is the restaurants made up name for aa dish, but basically eggplant over ziti). Or even eggplant parm stuffed shells.

With having to watch my carbs, I cant really go to town like I listed above, but its what I used to do.

 

[skilletlicker]

I hardly ever throw leftovers away. I cook for one and have done for a long time. I usually use 8" skillets, 6 x 8" casserole dish, 6" cast iron skillet for stuff like cornbread started on a stovetop and finished in a toaster oven. The big stockpot and dutch oven are rarely used; usually a 1½ or 3½ quart sauce pot instead.

Then the other thing that prevents spoilage is more personal weakness than cooking/storage strategy. Having acquired over the years a taste for my own cooking, if I make six normal servings of something that I like, it won't last a day, two at the most in the refrigerator.

 

[blissful]

I don't like keeping too much in the fridge. When I make rice, I make 3 x the amount, freeze the rest. When I make beans, freeze the extra. When I can beans, it stays good.


I will say from years of canning, beans go bad more often than any other thing that we can, legumes not green beans in cans. In second place, for spoilage in canning, corn. Both of these are higher in fats.



Most food keeps 3-5 days but for some reason, what confounds me, is okara, the solids from soy milk. When I use them the food I use them in goes bad faster, mold. I have no idea what is causing it. I suspect the fat fueling the problem.



We use smell for knowing when food goes bad. There is some truth in that smelling isn't always a clear indicator as GG says. In botulism, like garlic with oil over it in the refrigerator, botulism in an anaerobic (no oxygen) environment has no noticeable perfume but is dangerous. This may be true in an oil based environment. It may or may not be true in other environments regarding spoilage.

 

[taxlady]

I consider what the ingredients are and then I go by smell, appearance, taste. I don't necessarily trust some stranger's idea of how long it will be good. It could be a longer or shorter time. Also, my fridge runs very cold, so a lot of stuff lasts longer than if it were in a more normal fridge.

 

[dragnlaw]

Then the other thing that prevents spoilage is more personal weakness than cooking/storage strategy. Having acquired over the years a taste for my own cooking, if I make six normal servings of something that I like, it won't last a day, two at the most in the refrigerator.

muh brudder from anudder udder...

 

[pepperhead212]

I'm another that eats a lot of leftovers, but some things I'll still have too much to save just 2 or 3 days, so the rest gets frozen, in 1 or 2 portion amounts. Usually, people stop in, and help me finish these things, but last year I had to eat all of it myself, plus, I gave away little from my garden, so a lot more went into my freezer. Some things with enough acids in them, or other preservatives, I'll keep until I finish them - like those salads I make in the summer with all those tomatoes, plus vinegar, lime or lemon juice, and similar things. But those usually don't take that long to finish! Many of those leftovers are my breakfast food!

 

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

Whoever decides on the "spoil times" for foods has no idea what they are talking about. Their spoil times are a SWAG (Stupid Wild Ass Guess). For example, I have a carton of eggs I bought on 18 July. The sell by date is 27 July, yet the FDA says that eggs, as long as they are refrigerated, are good for a good nine weeks after the Sell By Date! Don't trust the dates on the packaging. Go with your gut.

 

[Vinylhanger]

Oh, my gut will tell me if it was spoiled. For sure...

 

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

Most things that have actually expired are not harmful. Take milk for example. Even if its gone sour, it won't hurt you. It just tastes a bit nasty. And you don't need to dump it, it is still useful. On the rare occasions I have milk go sour, I use it for cooking and baking.

 

[msmofet]

Whoever decides on the "spoil times" for foods has no idea what they are talking about. Their spoil times are a SWAG (Stupid Wild Ass Guess). For example, I have a carton of eggs I bought on 18 July. The sell by date is 27 July, yet the FDA says that eggs, as long as they are refrigerated, are good for a good nine weeks after the Sell By Date! Don't trust the dates on the packaging. Go with your gut.

+1!!! The sell by dates are just there because some greedy SOB wanted to scare people into throwing away good food and wasting money to buy more. That's all most sell by dates are - GREED and scare tactics. IMHO

 

[karadekoolaid]

I use my great aunt´s theory: " suck it and see"
Just a taste will tell you if it´s off or not, unless you can actually see mould on the top. Or maybe your sense of smell will tell you - " there´s something not right here"

 

[pepperhead212]

Those Sell By dates are when the items should be removed from the shelves, almost always perishables - there have been posts about TJs ignoring this many times in the past! Many people are scared by that date, and throw the food out when it reaches it! And that Use By date is much farther away - usually dry goods and canned goods - but some people are still afraid to use it after that!

On the topic of dry goods, through the years I've probably thrown out more dry goods, due to rancidity, than refrigerated items from spoiling. This is something I can smell immediately! Many of the better brands pump N into the bags, to prevent this for much longer, but many things are in paper bags, like flours, of course! And so many have dates on them, but can already be rancid, depending on how it had been stored. A number of whole grain items I have learned to keep in the freezer, along with nuts - cornmeals, cracked wheats and wheat flour (though I usually grind just 3 lbs at a time, to keep in the kitchen), millet, and brown rice can go rancid, if not used often. Since I started doing this, it has been a long time since any got thrown out! Others I have learned will keep indefinitely (though I do vacuum seal them, which helps), along with legumes, which don't seem to turn rancid in storage, though I don't keep soybeans like this.