Noob cook - Todays use by date beef

[grangervoldemort]

I just started cooking properly for the first time ever. 

 

I have two beef minces in the fridge from hellofresh.

2 different recipes.

I can cook them both tonight (it's 10:06pm here in the UK).

 

The Use By date is TODAY.

 

Does this mean I can eat them today? What about after midnight - it's like wtf.... I know it's not magically gonna become e coli infected after midnight but at what point do you adhere to the use by date then?

IF I can safely cook and eat this meat, can I then store the cooked meat in the fridge and consume within 2-3 days? 

Me sacred.

Thanks

[AlexOak]

 

Frozen meats last up to 6 months but you may have to check the meat. Anything that doesnt look right is no good.

[grangervoldemort]

3 minutes ago, AlexOak said:

 

 

oK so that just tells me cooked meats are ok to eat 2-3 days. Which I already know. My cirumstance is outlined above - TODAYS use by date etc etc.

[Acid Panda]

wow i thought this was going to be about the apple keynote.

 

for the food the use by date is a massive safty margin from where you got the food from.

generally if it does not smell or look bad its fine

[grangervoldemort]

5 minutes ago, Acid Panda said:

wow i thought this was going to be about the apple keynote.

 

for the food the use by date is a massive safty margin from where you got the food from.

generally if it does not smell or look bad its fine

This is wrong: Don't use any food or drink after the end of the "use by" date on the label, even if it looks and smells fine. This is because using it after this date could put your health at risk. ... Once a food with a "use by" date on it has been opened, you also need to follow any instructions, such as "eat within 3 days of opening".

[Acid Panda]

3 minutes ago, grangervoldemort said:

This is wrong: Don't use any food or drink after the end of the "use by" date on the label, even if it looks and smells fine. This is because using it after this date could put your health at risk. ... Once a food with a "use by" date on it has been opened, you also need to follow any instructions, such as "eat within 3 days of opening".

i really feel this opinion is wrong. its a liability standpoint to make sure they don't get sued if you eat food past a certain point. i frequently eat food that is past the use by that and have never been ill because of it.

 

please prove me wrong @grangervoldemort

[grangervoldemort]

2 minutes ago, Acid Panda said:

i really feel this opinion is wrong. its a liability standpoint to make sure they don't get sued if you eat food past a certain point. i frequently eat food that is past the use by that and have never been ill because of it.

 

please prove me wrong @grangervoldemort

This is written on the NHS website. I live in the UK. If you don't know what the NHS is look it up. Prove you wrong? What die or become disabled somehow due to infected meat? No thanks,

[TetraSky]

19 minutes ago, grangervoldemort said:

This is wrong: Don't use any food or drink after the end of the "use by" date on the label, even if it looks and smells fine. This is because using it after this date could put your health at risk.

It depends on the type of food.

It's not going to magically go bad the day after the "use by date". In fact, many food products can last for months after said date. Just that maybe the look or taste may change, but it won't make you sick or anything.

This is especially true for what we call "non-perishables", like canned goods, sealed up cereals, rice and what not.

 

Things like Juices can easily last a few weeks after the use by date.

Milk can last another week or two. Same with Yogurts.

Bread products, if you put them in your fridge, it will last for WAY longer.

Meat, should be frozen ASAP when approaching the final date, but it can often last for a day or two longer. It's not rare for a butcher to put a new use by date on their meat after smelling and touching it to see if it was still good.

 

Yes there's the whole food safety thing, but unless you own a restaurant, you shouldn't give too much thought to Use by dates. It's a liability thing like Acid Panda said.

I know they are often bullshit because I've worked at a food bank. They don't get fresh food there, 90% of it is "expired" by a day to a week if not more depending on the type of product. Food gets sorted out to remove the "bad apples" and distributed to the poor. If it really posed such a huge risk on health, that'd like saying it's ok to essentially poison the poor.

 

[Crunchy Dragon]

In my family, the "use by date" is not the "toxic date".

[Acid Panda]

4 minutes ago, grangervoldemort said:

This is written on the NHS website. I live in the UK. If you don't know what the NHS is look it up. Prove you wrong? What die or become disabled somehow due to infected meat? No thanks,

i live in the UK as well

this also seems like advice.

so what your saying is that the moment food goes past the use by date you bin it? is that not a waste of food and money.

[grangervoldemort]

Please emember the difference between use by and best before. Easy to mix it up. 

 

In that video he lady says minced beef has basically a larger surface area and so goes bad faster. I have MINCED beef with TODAYS use by date.

 

1) Is it safe to cook and eat it today?

2) Is it then safe to store it in the fridge once it's cooled down (it will be cooked with other stuff obv like potatoes, rice, red pepper etc) and then eat it over the next 2-3 days, bearing in mind the USE BY date is TODAY?

[grangervoldemort]

3 minutes ago, Acid Panda said:

i live in the UK as well

this also seems like advice.

so what your saying is that the moment food goes past the use by date you bin it? is that not a waste of food and money.

Read my OP. I haven't really ever cooked. It's been years since I cooked properly and even then I have never cooked an entire days worth of food by myself for myself as I don't know any good recipes. Either my mum and aunty cook or I eat out for the past many years and go hungry most of the time.

Also I just discovered a game on the Mac called Rimworld. I have been playing it for 10 hours straight now apart from sleeping. Help me. It's one of the most addictive games I have come across.
I haven't eaten for over 24 hours now.

[SenKa]

You're fine, the use by date is different than the best-before date.

[TetraSky]

Just now, grangervoldemort said:

Read my OP. I haven't really ever cooked. It's been years since I cooked properly. Either my mum and aunty cook or I eat out for the past many years and go hungry most of the time.

1 hour ago, grangervoldemort said:

IF I can safely cook and eat this meat, can I then store the cooked meat in the fridge and consume within 2-3 days? 

To answer your question.

Yes.

You can safely cook and eat the meat with the use by date of today. As long as it doesn't smell strange and isn't slimy.

You can then store said cooked meat in your fridge for 2 to 3 days(Ideally less than 2), more if it's vacuum sealed, for consuming later because the cooking process would've killed most of the bacterial growth on it.

 

[Acid Panda]

ok so if you cook the food. let it cool down and then put in the fridge. it will be fine for a few days.

but if want the rest of it heat it up again and then let it cool (if you have not eaten it). bin what you have not eaten. this is when you have the risk of food poisoning 

[TomvanWijnen]

34 minutes ago, grangervoldemort said:

This is wrong: Don't use any food or drink after the end of the "use by" date on the label, even if it looks and smells fine. This is because using it after this date could put your health at risk. ... Once a food with a "use by" date on it has been opened, you also need to follow any instructions, such as "eat within 3 days of opening".

Meh. I've eaten chocolate of more than a year past the best before date. Cheese of more than two weeks past the best before date. Some meat after a day or perhaps two, but only after looking, smelling, and asking someone else. As for meat, heating it (e.g. tosti) can help a bit too. Do be really careful with meat though, as it is one of the more tricky foods regarding dates. Never had any issues.

[dalekphalm]

20 hours ago, grangervoldemort said:

I just started cooking properly for the first time ever. 

 

I have two beef minces in the fridge from hellofresh.

2 different recipes.

I can cook them both tonight (it's 10:06pm here in the UK).

 

The Use By date is TODAY.

 

Does this mean I can eat them today? What about after midnight - it's like wtf.... I know it's not magically gonna become e coli infected after midnight but at what point do you adhere to the use by date then?

IF I can safely cook and eat this meat, can I then store the cooked meat in the fridge and consume within 2-3 days? 

Me sacred.

Thanks

You should cook both tonight. The Use By date is just a suggestion, based on averages. Usually the food is still good for another day or so, but you don't want to push it with meat.

 

Once you've cooked both of them, portion them up into individual meals in tupperware containers. Put a few in the fridge (they'll keep for 2-3 days no problem in the fridge), and put the rest into the freezer (they'll keep for weeks in the freezer).

[grangervoldemort]

On 9/10/2019 at 11:48 PM, TomvanWijnen said:

Meh. I've eaten chocolate of more than a year past the best before date. Cheese of more than two weeks past the best before date. Some meat after a day or perhaps two, but only after looking, smelling, and asking someone else. As for meat, heating it (e.g. tosti) can help a bit too. Do be really careful with meat though, as it is one of the more tricky foods regarding dates. Never had any issues.

Best before only indicates when the food item will taste as it's meant to, and have all it's nutritional value intact. NOT when it is SAFE to eat by which is the USE By date.

I ended up not cooking the minced beef as I wasn't even sure it was minced beef and instead pork which I hate. Long story. It's from Hellofresh. I would strongly not recommend buying hellofresh as the macros are insane. The chicken chow mein paste and sauce (which both go into the dish) combined contain more sugar than a can of soda. More than 35g of sugar! 

It also doesn't taste good. The thai prawn curry I made today was utterly disgusting. My first and last ever thai dish although as I said the recipes from hellofresh are utter vile. They rely on the flavor coming from there cheap premade sauces/pastes instead of fresh spices and herbs.

[Guest]

If its been frozen it can last quite a while. I wouldn't really recommend eating it after the use-by date, on the day its fine. Beef is pretty ok, but NEVER eat chicken or pork after its use-by date. 

[spartaman64]

most of the time the food is good past the use by date and ive had food spoil before the use by date also so its just an estimate really

[TomvanWijnen]

1 hour ago, floofer said:

Beef is pretty ok, but NEVER eat chicken or pork after its use-by date. 

Ah yes that's a good one, pork and especially chicken are quite difficult, already before they're old, so indeed be really careful wth those. The same goes for fish.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, TomvanWijnen said:

Ah yes that's a good one, pork and especially chicken are quite difficult, already before they're old, so indeed be really careful wth those. The same goes for fish.

Fish is fine