Sell by
 

We have some ground beef in the refrigerator with a sell-by date of September 27 (about 3 weeks ago).

I think it smells OK.

Would you eat it?


If so, PM me your address.

lol...You know, it depends what temp you keep your fridge at, and also how you're intending to cook the beef. For starters, if it's cold enough in your fridge, it'll extend the sell by date and also, if you're going to thoroughly cook it and it smells fine, it probably is fine.

That's my very unexpert, home makers point of view.

According to my wife, it's cold enough in the house that it wouldn't even need to be in the refrigerator. I think I'll make some spaghetti with it.

Thanks Ali.

Cool. If we don't see you for a while, we'll send flowers, or would you prefer a donation to your favourite charity? ;)

If I'm not back by tomorrow, please put a pound of fresh meat in the tip jar.

I wouldn't eat it. Maybe a week after 'sell-by' but then I'd get worried.

Which reminds me...I wonder what the 'sell-by' date is on that package of ground chuck (sorry chuck, you're just so tasty) in my fridge. I keep forgetting to put it in the trash (I leave it in the fridge until I'm ready to take a load to the dumpster...otherwise it either smells or if I put it outside the raccoons tear into the trash.)

RIP HLJ. I've pounded my meat into the jar in your memory. what?


No I wouldn't eat it either and I'm not usually fussy about sell by dates, but three weeks is a long time for something that's ground and you don't know what else night have gotten into it during the grinding process....... Meat is supposed to get nicer and tenderer when properly aged, but I don't think grinding it and then leaving it in the fridge counts as "properly".

What she said.
If it was in your freezer then have away, but not the fridge.

Man, I wouldn't touch that with yours.

If it was in the freezer for most of that time, absolutely. If it was in the fridge - no way.

On the one hand, if it smells good and has not gone off-color in the slightest, it is as reasonably microbe-free as any other meat from your butcher's counter and can be cooked and eaten with no greater risk.

On the other hand, the only reason modern meat does this is because it's been washed in ammonia to make it extra sterile. The kind of meat you should be eating also would have gone quite obviously bad by now.

Pick your poison.

Ammonia. No wonder I can't stand store bought beef.

For some reason, I can tolerate a big mac. It must be all of that special sauce.

Buy only ground beef that's been ground by the store (if it has an operating butchery department, it does), and use it within two days.

Fully cooking meat that has gone off does not protect you. Cooking kills the bacteria that may be bad for you; but if the bacteria has had time to get going already, its by-products are a worse poison, not destroyed by cooking.

I'm not dead.

I feel fine.

I think I'll go for a walk.

bring your cell just in case.