Hot answers tagged storage-lifetime
32
Yep. Rotten eggs float, fresh eggs sink.
This is because eggshells are porous, so over time water vapour and gases leak out, reducing the egg's mass.
A fresh egg will lie on its side on the bottom of a glass of water. The older the egg, the more it sits up, until it's floating.
27
Cheese is not made from "rotten" milk, let me clarify that. Rotting is an uncontrolled process in which bacteria, molds and other life forms colonize milk, eat it, release waste into it and die. The resulting, rather unpredictable, crud we call rotten (or more precisely spoiled) milk.
Most cheese is the product of highly controlled action by bacteria that ...
22
Tea bags will be fine for at least a year in the pantry, but even long after that, they're still safe to consume. They just might change colour or flavour.
If your tea has an expiration date then it's just for best quality, not safety. I've personally found tea bags sitting at the back of the pantry that were more than 3 years old, the packaging had even ...
20
It depends on the room temperature where you live. At 65F (18C) or below, butter is often barely spreadable and will last for weeks on the counter in a sealed container. At 80F (26C), it starts to get overly soft and doesn't last more than several days.
Our family goes through about a pound / week and we've never had any issues with keeping a half-pound ...
17
When I use fresh onions, we store the unused parts for up to a week in our fridge in either a ziploc or a sealable rubbermaid-style container. For particularly pungent onions they go in the crisper drawer to keep the smell from being too strong in the rest of the fridge, but usually they're just on one of the shelves. Stilltasty says 2-3 days but my ...
17
Here is a quote from the company that makes the registered trademark Baileys Irish Cream:
Baileys® is the only cream liqueur that guarantees its taste for 2 years from the day it was made, opened or unopened, stored in the in the fridge or not when stored away from direct sunlight at a temperature range of 0-25 degrees centigrade.
One of the keys to ...
16
Heavy cream can be frozen but only if intended to be used in its liquid form (soups, sauces, etc.) It will not whip properly once frozen.
I agree with Pointy that there's really no point in freezing it because it's usually dated about 2 months out from the time I'm purchasing it. Additionally, if kept cold and not left out on the counter unnecessarily (as ...
15
Dried herbs really do only last around six months, certainly no longer than a year. They're generally easy to get in small quantities, though.
Spices are trickier. They'll generally last rather longer, but the time will vary. If the spice is used for the colour and/or heat (e.g. turmeric, chilli) it will generally last much, much longer than one used for ...
15
Yes, nuts are very fatty, and they will eventually go rancid— if this is the case, they will taste very poor. They can also dry out, or in more rare cases (especially if stored improperly) be infested with insects or molds.
Generally, they should be good for six months to a year at their best flavor, depending on the variety (in the shell).
Five ...
14
Various references, including this one from Lantic sugar note the shelf-life of granulated white sugar as indefinite or effectively forever.
Presuming, likely, that it is stored as you note in a sealed container.
14
Actually, the question should be "why do other dairy products spoil so fast?"
If I remember correctly, the spoilage of milk is caused primarily by lactose, which breaks down into lactic acid over time due to the presence of Lactobacillus bacteria, which thrive in that environment.
Butter is mostly fat, and fat does not go bad (it does eventually, but not ...
13
The reason flour is in paper bag (either 1kg/2lbs bags from supermarkets, or 25kg for bakeries) is to let it "breath": to get it oxidized. If you see an old (vintage) bag it's made of a net that lets a lot of air to get in. Today those bags are not used because it also allows bugs to get in.
When wheat grains are just milled, the flour is not good enough: ...
12
From the great Harold McGee, they may last longer in the fridge, but they will taste like cardboard:
Tomatoes came originally from a warm
climate, and should be stored at room
temperature. Their fresh flavor
readily suffers from refrigeration.
Tomatoes at the mature-green stage are
especially sensitive to chilling at
temperatures below about ...
12
The use-by dates on all spices are mainly hokum. Most spices last for six months in whole form, herbs can be dried and last about three, after that time the taste is going to weaken and change as essential oils leave the spice. If you keep your spices in an airtight dark container you can eek out a little more time, but I would highly recommend that if you ...
11
http://www.stilltasty.com/fooditems/index/17887 is as good advice as any I'd give.
In my experience, it gets some slimy mold stuff on it. If it feels slimy, its probably not good to eat, although the mold might taste delicious, you never know...
11
The question seems to have been more about food safety than whether it seems palatable.
When the fat in butter decomposes (i.e. when the butter becomes rancid), it produces an unhealthy acid that actually inhibits mold growth. So, don't wait for your butter to mold to determine if it's gone bad.
To follow strict food-safety guidelines, protect butter ...
11
Buttermilk is already thoroughly packed with live bacteria. During its manufacture, that bacteria already consumed some portion of the available lactose and turned it into lactic acid.
Because of the lack of food, acidity, and the extreme competition it is pretty hard for buttermilk to go bad. The good bacteria will stay active and the buttermilk will get ...
11
If you use your whole beans within a week it's probably not worth storing it in the refrigerator or freezer. Coffee beans should be stored in a cool, dry place. They can last 1-3 weeks in your pantry. Ideally you should store them in an airtight opaque container. They degrade quickly in the presence of light, heat, or oxygen.
If you want to store them ...
11
I've never tried to store them myself, but one of the books that I got when I started gardening was the "Encyclopedia of Country Living", which is loaded with information on growing, canning, storing, etc. Its recommendations for globe onions is a follows (minus the typos of my transcribing):
Curing Bulbs. Let them sun-cure for 3 days. Spread them out ...
11
Butter, like most fats, is actually quite resilient to microbes. The problem you are more likely to experience is rancidity. Fat goes rancid by oxidation. Exposure to light, heat, and air cause oxidation and accelerate the process of butter going rancid.
Putting butter in your refrigerator addresses the heat and light, but does nothing for the air. The ...
11
Honey is very stable for a number of reasons. The main ones though are the low amount of water (most honey is under 18% water) and the high amount of sugar (which is a preservative). Both of these things keep things like mold and bacteria from being able to grow. Over a long period of time (and if left unsealed) the honey could absorb moisture and then ...
11
If your carrots are going soft after just a few days, you're not storing them properly. Mine keep for weeks and weeks. I leave them in the plastic bag, and keep that in one of the vegetable drawers in my fridge. How are you storing yours?
A rubbery soft carrot isn't bad for you, it just isn't very pleasant. A slimy carrot is bad for you, don't eat it.
10
White sugar was commonly used as a preservative in the past, in much the same way as salt. It's wildly hygroscopic (like salt), and an excellent desiccant, so if you packed something in it, it would accelerate the drying process. This is actually the origin of fruit jam and fruit preserves, which are still common today, even after better methods of ...
10
It lasts indefinitely. The date you are seeing should be viewed as a "best before" date. Over time the soda can become flat and the flavor will degrade, but it will still be drinkable as long as the can was not compromised.
Based on looking at some Coke I recently purchased, it appears that the date is likely 1 year in the future from when it was canned. ...
10
I agree with yossarian, if I question it, I chuck it. Although in this case, the salmon probably will not harm you, it might just taste bad. Loss of moisture (freezer burn), taking on of flavours, etc. I wouldn't eat it because it wouldn't taste great. My father-in-law would eat it, because you don't throw out food (his rule). Bottom line, if it has ...
10
Yes, they really are unsafe after a week.
According to the USDA (similar information can be found from other food agencies):
Why do hard-cooked eggs spoil faster than fresh eggs?
When shell eggs are hard cooked, the protective coating is washed away, leaving bare the pores in the shell for bacteria to enter and contaminate it. Hard-cooked eggs ...
9
(1) Yes, that's fine. If you use freezer bags, you don't need foil even. For longer-term frozen storage, vacuum sealed bags work better.
(2) Frozen food stored at 0°F (or lower) is basically safe to eat forever. Eventually, the flavor will be affected and you won't want to eat it (but it won't make you sick). Three to four months is reasonable in ...
9
Depending on the temperature in your fridge, cooked lentils will be safe to eat for 2 to 5 days when using a sealed container, filled with the cooking water. By immersing them, your lentils won't dry out and they'll be ready to use whenever you need them - just drain the amount you need.
If you've got sufficient freezer space you could also freeze the ...
9
Garlic will spoil faster in the fridge actually. I don't know how long it will last in the fridge, but I understand that it lasts longer if you leave it in a cool, dark, dry storage. I believe one reason is that your fridge is generally too humid. In my experience, garlic kept in the fridge is also more likely to develop mould (goes soft, and dark ...
8
It's good for about 3-4 days in the fridge according to stilltasty.com. This seems to agree with my personal experience - I've left chicken in the fridge for a week and it definitely smelled "off" by then.
Make sure you wrap it, too. The link will say that it's OK as long as it's in any airtight container, but even in an airtight container, it dries out. ...
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