41
votes
Keep milk (or milk alternative) for a day without a fridge
I would invest in a small thermos bottle, about the size of what you need for one day. They are not only designed to keep hot food hot, they can also keep cold food cold. Choose a size that will be as ...
- 53.9k
37
votes
Accepted
Is smell a bad way of determining whether meat is still good?
It is absolutely untrue and very dangerous to think that "if it looks OK, and smells OK, it must be OK." If that were the case, food poisoning would be very rare.
Food that we can sense is ...
- 58k
35
votes
Keep milk (or milk alternative) for a day without a fridge
Your best bet for longevity is UHT milk - in individual portions.
It's the same stuff you get in hotel rooms.
Pic from Amazon, anonymised.
Though it doesn't taste the same as 'real' milk it's ...
- 23.7k
27
votes
Is there a reason for storing ground spices separately (unmixed)?
I'm aware of three reasons that you might not want to do so:
You tie up spices that you might want to use in other dishes individually
You don't always want to add the spices at the same time.
You ...
- 75.3k
23
votes
Do certain spices really go bad? or will people without refined palates usually not tell the difference, specifically chili powder?
tl;dr : it's complicated.
If you're relying on cooking by blindly following recipes, and hoping that they come out the same every time, then yes, you probably want to replace old spices. So ...
- 75.3k
22
votes
Accepted
My applesauce has fermented, is it safe to bake with?
It sounds like it's fermented, and more harmful bacteria or mold could definitely have grown without being visible.
So it's not safe, in that there's definitely some risk. It's hard to evaluate ...
- 57.3k
18
votes
Accepted
Leaving cake's dry ingredients together for later quicker preparation?
There's no issue with doing this, as you are no doubt aware ready-made cake mixes are sold boxed in stores and they aren't much different than you describe. Boxed mixes will often have anti-caking ...
- 66.6k
16
votes
Keep milk (or milk alternative) for a day without a fridge
In a similar situation in a previous job we successfully used an old camping trick: Wrap the bottle containing the day's milk in a damp cloth, and stand it in a bowl of water, in the draught from an ...
- 38.5k
16
votes
What is the best way to store cucumbers? Do I refrigerate or not refrigerate?
For maximum life, refrigerate them wrapped in a dry paper towel inside a plastic produce bag, in the produce drawer. If you have more than 3 cucumbers, ideally store every 3 cucumbers in separate ...
- 45k
15
votes
Why are my strawberries keeping so long?
Most commercial fruit is picked before being completely ripened because once it is ripened it has a very limited shelf life, and strawberries are no exception. Strawberries ripen from the tip to the ...
- 66.6k
14
votes
Accepted
Do "Best by: XX-XX-XX" foods have an expiration date?
As I have noted in a couple of other answers, I have worked in the CPG (Consumer Packaged Goods) industry for almost 30 years. It is safe to say that there is not a simple answer to this question. ...
- 18.2k
13
votes
Why doesn't Bailey's go bad?
Ingredients:
liqueur, acidity regulator (E331), emulsifier (E471), flavours (caffeine), colouring (caramel (E150b).
Source: a food product inventory database
The alcohol keeps the product from ...
- 131
13
votes
Accepted
Why do milk products stay fresh longer when stored in glass?
First off I want to point out the term "fresh". While some containers might keep milk from spoiling for longer, it may not taste as nice.
Several things might be why:
1.) Plastics leach flavor and ...
- 753
13
votes
Accepted
Is there a reason for storing ground spices separately (unmixed)?
Assuming you're using spices which are all dried and ground, there should be no problem.
In the middle-east, there are always several spice mixtures available in shops. The most famous of which are ...
- 10.9k
13
votes
Keep milk (or milk alternative) for a day without a fridge
As an alternative to the (very good) vacuum bottle suggestions, Insulated lunchboxes with an ice-pack are great. My kids use them for school and the ice-pack is often still partially frozen at the end ...
- 390
12
votes
Sushi/nori/yaki paper - out of date?
According to Still Tasty (a site that looks at USDA, CDC and FDA data), nori lasts 2-4 months in the pantry and 4-6 months in the fridge. Also it says:
Store in airtight glass or plastic container ...
- 58k
11
votes
What non-alcoholic liquid can I use to store Ginger, both cooked and raw?
Vinegar is non-alcoholic, and my suggestion would be a brine of some sort, essentially pickling it. Alternatively you could just dry it out.
I should also add - Ginger is a root, and can generally be ...
- 236
11
votes
Mousse de Canard, Mousse de Foie, Terrine de Campagne, expired by around 10 days
I'm sorry to say that your three packages are no longer safe for consumption. Expiry dates are usually pretty conservative and food may still be good several days past them, but the concerning factor ...
- 712
11
votes
Keep milk (or milk alternative) for a day without a fridge
I don't know if this is possible for you at work but it hasn't been mentioned as an option: you can use a mini fridge to keep your milk cool / cold.
Here's an image of one
(I left the image out on ...
- 219
11
votes
Keep milk (or milk alternative) for a day without a fridge
First of all, it's not air that makes the milk spoil but microbes that fall in and grow there. So keeping it cool is one thing, the other thing is not getting the microbes in there.
I have milk in ...
11
votes
What is meant by freezer?
The terms freezer and deep freeze are synonymous. There is no such term as "deep fridge" in British or US English, though apparently there is in Indian English… where if you search what you ...
- 23.7k
10
votes
Why do they put the jelly-like substance in pork pies?
I have been a baker for over 30 years and made many pork pies in that time,the above answers stating that the jelly acts as a preservative and stops the meat drying out are correct, but also the jelly ...
- 101
10
votes
Accepted
Can I store fish sauce at room temperature, and how do I know when it's gone bad?
That advice isn't "wrong" and millions of people keep keep fish sauce in a cabinet for decades. Regarding safety, it's generally OK to store fish sauce at room temperature for years, but ...
- 58k
10
votes
Ways to Store Carrots for more days
I have worked in the CPG industry for almost 30 years. A few years back I had the privilege of representing one of the largest produce brands in the US. I learned quite a bit about produce storage and ...
- 18.2k
10
votes
Accepted
How to store homemade pasta without freezing
Any standard pasta recipe (basically flour, salt, water or egg) should do. Unless stated otherwise, fresh pasta can be cooked right away or dried and stored for months. Cooking time will vary, of ...
- 53.9k
10
votes
How to store homemade pasta without freezing
As previously mentioned, any pasta recipe can be dried out. Semolina only pasta will dry harder and faster than one with eggs. If you use spinach or other colorful ingredients, they can fade with time ...
- 561
10
votes
I am attempting to preserve the shelf life of ice tea up to six months with citric acid, I need a perfected ratio?
If the tea was distilled water, a 5% solution would have been sufficient. That is, you'd need 50 grams of acid to 950 grams of water. The problem is, the impurities of the water and the tea itself ...
- 124k
10
votes
When left out in an open container, what % abv does vodka retain at room temperature?
As a chemist I'd say that the question is really impossible to answer as given.
The gist is that for a water/ethanol mixture both components will evaporate. So if the liquid is left out long enough, ...
- 2,633
9
votes
Accepted
Vegemite beyond expiry date?
Best-before dates aren't the same as use-by dates. Whilst you shouldn't consume a product after it's use-by date, best-before dates are more about quality than safety. Basically, after the best-before ...
- 429
9
votes
Accepted
Is neccessary to store christmas cookies in the fridge?
Butter biscuits (cookies) and gingerbread both keep well for days at room temperature in an airtight container. Some gingerbread will keep for much longer. For most cookie recipes it's a matter of ...
- 38.5k
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