"Are you going to eat that?" "You’re not throwing that out are you?"
Certain members of my family (my parents and my in-laws) hate to throw away food. Conversely, my wife and I hate to keep food for more than a few days. This difference in mindset often results in vigorous debate about whether or not something that has been in the fridge for a while is still safe to eat. Generally we weigh in on the "Gross! throw that away before you develop some horrible salmonella related ailment that kills you," while the parents fall back on "your generation is so wasteful and this food is perfectly fine."
I’m not gonna lie, this debate can get pretty ugly. Feelings tend to get bruised just like old apples – which I would throw out for the record.
Finally there is a mediator in this great debate of freshness versus frugality. http://stilltasty.com.
This site tells you exactly how long food will keep in the fridge and in the freezer. You can bet that I am going to have this site bookmarked in my blackberry and ready to serve as the impartial judge and jury for various food items.
Leftover pizza, salami, milk, frozen dinners – all listed in easy to understand detail.
Thanks to StillTasty. At last the great leftover debate can finally be peacefully resolved. The Sunday after Thanksgiving, the 8th of July, and December 29th, will all be made safer, more frugal, and much happier thanks to you.
StillTasty: Your Ultimate Shelf Life Guide – Save Money, Eat Better, Help The Environment
Dave,
Interesting website and great for stuff that doesn’t come with a ‘use/sell by date’, but I can’t see myself going online to check if my pizza sauce is still good. Generally I default to the following rigorous criteria:
1–Does it have hair on it? Is is supposed to? Nope. OK, throw it out.
2–Has its container become pressurized from gases given off by its own decay? Yes? Pitch it.
3–Does it have a sweet or sour taste or become discolored? If so, taste it and give it the Johnny Cochran approach: If it tastes OK, eat away.
Also, for bruised apples or moldy cheese, just cut/bite off the bad part and salvage the rest. I often find the use/sell by dates to be too conservative. Following the above guidelines will help prevent any food borne illness while helping to develop an iron stomach like mine. My only problem now is feeling like I must eat everything to prevent wasting it.
Geoff,
While we have radically different approaches to “shelf life” we share a dislike of wasting food. Rather than trying to reduce waste through increased consumption and saving items as long as possible, we are trying to reduce our inventory of perishable items to a minimum. If we are not going to eat it, don’t buy it or throw it out. This reduces options and thus reduces further waste from other items going bad. We are experimenting with pre-planning meals, making more trips to the store, and cooking smaller meals. We fall short a lot, but we are learning. Our goal would be to eat all of what we buy, have few or no left-overs, and use a “just-in-time” approach to meal preparation.
My last comment sounded really serious… what the heck is the matter with me? Here is a re-do of my thoughts:
Geoff,
I prefer these maxims. When it doubt, throw it out.
If it’s green and furry, throw it out in a hurry?
You bruise you lose.