How much notice do you take of 'best before' dates?

JAS_OH1

JAS_OH1

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Mod Edit: I've started a new thread on the subject of best before dates because this was a response to someone who left the site a long time ago (as in 9 years ago) and the thread itself died a death in September 2013.

I just used some buttermilk to dredge my fish filets before breading them last night. It had a "best by" date of October 15th. I smelled it, it smelled fine, the fish tasted great, and neither of us got sick. I've still got a little left that I'm going to use in bread dough in a few days.
 
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JAS_OH1 said:
Mod Edit: I've started a new thread on the subject of best before dates because this was a response to someone who left the site a long time ago (as in 9 years ago) and the thread itself died a death in September 2013.

I just used some buttermilk to dredge my fish filets before breading them last night. It had a "best by" date of October 15th. I smelled it, it smelled fine, the fish tasted great, and neither of us got sick. I've still got a little left that I'm going to use in bread dough in a few days.
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Yeah, sorry about that. I do think it's a worthwhile subject.

Hubby is very persnickety about dates. If he only knew, LOL. I feel safe about most shelf-stable products being a bit beyond their stamped usage date, and even though that buttermilk was a bit old, it wasn't rancid at all and smelled just fine. Plus I keep it in the back of the refrigerator on the top shelf where it's very cold (nearly freezing). In fact, if I put a bottle of water back there, it will freeze nearly solid in a day or two. Mayonnaise, forget it! No way am I going to risk getting sick from rancid mayo.
 
I wouldn't go that long, but I will sometimes stretch it. I do pay much closer attention to true expiration dates versus best by dates.
 
TastyReuben said:
I wouldn't go that long, but I will sometimes stretch it. I do pay much closer attention to true expiration dates versus best by dates.
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If I was going to drink the buttermilk (I would never, though my grandmother liked it) I would be more careful, but I was cooking with it. If it smelled bad, it would taste bad and I would have poured it out. I will give it the sniff test again before I use it in my bread.

Also I read that buttermilk typically keeps well past the date on the container.
 
Funny story. Decades ago, before I got into cooking, I had these eggs in my fridge that had been there maybe half-a-year or longer. I got hungry one night and boiled them up for some hard boiled eggs. Within hours I was just a gassy horror to be around -- I felt like I was going to birth the Alien.

John Oliver did a segment on his show a few years back about how bogus these dates are and so I don't pay attention to 'em much with one exception: Spices.

I replace all my spices once a year because those do loose flavor, especially if they're out of cold storage.
 
I always take a look at the "sell-by" or "best before" dates, but I suppose it depends what food group an item is from. Meat, poultry - I´d probably allow an extra day at the most. Fish or seafood - no way. Vegetables - I can usually tell if a vegetable is good or no good. Tinned stuff - it´d probably last for ever , but the flavour will suffer. Cheeses : they´ll usually last a good deal longer than the "best by" date. Oils: they go rancid and you can smell that. Spices: good point, madebyyouandi , but I wonder whether your spices are whole or already ground? I keep loads of whole spices (for Indian cooking) in the fridge, and they last for ages. Not so the ground ones.
 
JAS_OH1 said:
Also I read that buttermilk typically keeps well past the date on the container
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It does. When I could use /drink it I often deliberately bought it and put it/them to the back of the fridge for a couple of months, so that it was a dome shaped lid on the container. Only at that point would I actually use it to make our favourite irish soda bread. (it was/is a family recipe that friends gave us many years ago after we commented on it, that it was much nicer than the shop bought stuff - I should point out that we were actually in Ireland at the tire as well. It was her Grandmother's recipe.
JAS_OH1 said:
Yeah, sorry about that. I do think it's a worthwhile subject.
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It's really not a problem. I can't close off inactive threads because that leaves recipes closed as well. It was just that this one was that old that I actually recieved an email saying there was a reply- and that was a setting I had on CB long before it was actually called CB!
 
When it's just the two of us it's a toss up for me - I take note of dates and also rely on smell /visual and sometimes taste. I have been know to use items after the "best by" or expiration date.

When entertaining, it's all newly purchased and check dates on everything before purchasing. Nothing past expiration or "best by" date is used/served.
 
As for best before dates, well lots of my containers have old dates on them (not as old as they used to be because I couldn't bring anything with us to Australia) but the contents are 99% of the time nothing to do with the original date. So this has led to us ignoring dates to be honest.

Mind you, I've never taken much notice of best before dates but I will stress, I've been vegetarian for over 38 years now and vegan+ eggs for (well my signature says) over 13 years and having lived most of my life off mains water, on untreated, unfiltered private water supplies, I actually have a robust digestive system. Hubby who was brought up on mains water has taken many years (best part of a decade or more) to adjust to being able to drink untreated water.

Hubby often even leaves cooked food out on the counter or in the saucepan for 3 or 4 days at a time even in Summer. Nagging him gets me nowhere, so I just find room in an already packed fridge. Summer can range from 6°C (as it was this morning) up to 44°C when it's a heatwave.

So from my point of view, meat, fish etc have never been included in my diet. I suspect I would be more careful with them, if I actually knew how to even cook them!

So I don't really bother or worry too much about them and all family know this.
 
Smell test here although I go through the fridge regularly and check on the cream cheese etc.
Wife doesn't look or care about dates, she relies on me.

Russ
 
JAS_OH1 said:
If I was going to drink the buttermilk (I would never, though my grandmother liked it) I would be more careful, but I was cooking with it. If it smelled bad, it would taste bad and I would have poured it out. I will give it the sniff test again before I use it in my bread.

Also I read that buttermilk typically keeps well past the date on the container.
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1. I do the smell test first.

2. As you said, if I am going to fully cook the product, I'm not too worried.

3. Buttermilk does last longer. Also, organic dairy lasts longer. The Kroger organic milk I bought last week is stamped as good until mid January (it also tastes better).

CD
 
karadekoolaid said:
Spices: good point, @madebyyouandi , but I wonder whether your spices are whole or already ground? I keep loads of whole spices (for Indian cooking) in the fridge, and they last for ages. Not so the ground ones.
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I buy 'em whole, never ground, but it's just my custom to start fresh. Usually, I'm at the end of a large batch I've bought by the end of the year. There are exceptions, things like turmeric and seeds (like mustard) will last forever but I refresh all the green leaves (bay, fenugreek, curry) and things like cloves, mace, etc. Other spices like cumin and coriander seed, I'm buying throughout the year.
 
I ignore 'best before' dates as long as the package is whole, clean, the product smells normal and looks normal. This goes especially for canned goods and dried goods that can't really spoil. Or things like honey which comes with a 'best by' date here which is nonsense as honey can't spoil. Last week I ate sauerkraut that was 'best before august 31'. It was just as good as normal.

I do pay attention to 'eat before' dates because they are always linked to perishables like milk, meat and fish. I always freeze those if I can't eat them in time.
 
Windigo said:
I ignore 'best before' dates as long as the package is whole, clean, the product smells normal and looks normal. This goes especially for canned goods and dried goods that can't really spoil. Or things like honey which comes with a 'best by' date here which is nonsense as honey can't spoil. Last week I ate sauerkraut that was 'best before august 31'. It was just as good as normal.

I do pay attention to 'eat before' dates because they are always linked to perishables like milk, meat and fish. I always freeze those if I can't eat them in time.
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A growing number of product stamps here will say "Use or freeze by" and a date. Especially meats.

CD
 
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