Cooked Meat Shelf Life

[Axe]

This is something that I am constantly arguing with the wife, just how long does cook meat last in the fridge.

 

I have never worried about how long a joint has been left in the fridge, its normally eaten within a week. But the wife reckons it shouldn't be in there past 3 days or so. I thought my dear old mum would come to the rescue but she agrees with the wife.

 

Surely, meat can be hung for up to 30 days hen surely cooked meat should last at least a week in the fridge.

 

Can anyone help with this matter please.

[MJN]

This is something that I am constantly arguing with the wife, just how long does cook meat last in the fridge.

 

I have never worried about how long a joint has been left in the fridge, its normally eaten within a week. But the wife reckons it shouldn't be in there past 3 days or so. I thought my dear old mum would come to the rescue but she agrees with the wife.

 

Surely, meat can be hung for up to 30 days hen surely cooked meat should last at least a week in the fridge.

 

Can anyone help with this matter please.

 

This site will help

http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/fttstore.html

[Axe]

That site states 3-4 days for cooked meat left-overs, so Sundays joint must be eaten by Thursday. Thats handy to know, Cheers for that.

[sandersj89]

Depending on the meat I will leave it longer.

 

Beef/week I will leave for a week and not worry, chicken and pork will be 4 days max normally.

 

This is with a fridge that runs cold by the way as they vary a lot.

[Axe]

This is with a fridge that runs cold by the way as they vary a lot.

 

As opposed to a fridge that runs hot? Sorry Jerry , couldn't resist.

 

I would normally be quite happy to devour beef or lamb and even chicken a week on, only recently has the wife convinced me to worry more about chicken and pork.

 

The biggest problem is she has to attend food & hygiene courses for work and they have some ridiculous ideals.

[MJN]

This is with a fridge that runs cold by the way as they vary a lot.

 

As opposed to a fridge that runs hot? Sorry Jerry , couldn't resist.

 

I would normally be quite happy to devour beef or lamb and even chicken a week on, only recently has the wife convinced me to worry more about chicken and pork.

 

The biggest problem is she has to attend food & hygiene courses for work and they have some ridiculous ideals.

 

Like clean out the fridge completely once every two weeks !

[Axe]

I'll tell you, if was to dare put a half tin of opened beans in the fridge, she'd have my guts for garters. Even with cling film on!

 

What happened to the days of storing used Roasting Fat in a single pudding basin?!

[MJN]

What about the maggots for the weekends fishing ?

[dusk2dawn]

This is with a fridge that runs cold by the way as they vary a lot.

 

As opposed to a fridge that runs hot? Sorry Jerry , couldn't resist.

 

I would normally be quite happy to devour beef or lamb and even chicken a week on, only recently has the wife convinced me to worry more about chicken and pork.

 

The biggest problem is she has to attend food & hygiene courses for work and they have some ridiculous ideals.

 

 

Not such a silly statement, we have two fridges one a larder fridge in the kitchen and the other a fridge freezer in the utility room, the one in the kitchen just about holds the temp as a fridge should in this hot weather and its working hard during the day, but the other one will freeze water if turned up a notch so they do differ alot, you might say that the kitchen fridge is running hotter than the other one?

 

I might add that I keep my beers in the utility room fridge and they are I C E cold ymmmmmm.

 

D2D

[WeihrauchPower]

I wouldn't keep cooked chicken or fish for more than 3 days including the day it was cooked. Pork can do an extra day beef or lamb roasted joints etc maybe 4-5 days but any meats that have been minced (for example a burger you've made) no longer than two days. As for some others you can keep a ham on the bone for a couple of weeks and a corned joint of beef similar as they have a very high salt content just make sure they are well covered and your fridge is operating below 5 degrees C.

All tinned leftovers should be stored covered in a container other than the tin. Storing in tins can lead to some nasty illnesss such as Botulism, I personlly don't bother with pet food but they probably can't get it.

 

 

 

 

 

I'll tell you, if was to dare put a half tin of opened beans in the fridge, she'd have my guts for garters. Even with cling film on!

 

What happened to the days of storing used Roasting Fat in a single pudding basin?!

[casts_by_fly]

I probably keep things longer than recommended but have no problems. Since my wife and I live separate, I'm cooking for one on Monday-Thursday nights. As much as I love to cook, it is more of a pain in the butt to cook a nice meal for myself than reheat leftovers. So, on weekends that she is coming up here, I'll make nice meals at least 2 of the three or four nights she'll be there and make enough to feed 4-6 people. It is easier to make a double recipe one night than making the same thing two separate nights. I'll then eat the leftovers all week for lunch and dinner. To that extent, I've made meatloaf, lasagna, chicken marsala, pastas, and various other dishes that keep well in the fridge. I've had no problem eating things that are a week old or even 8-10 days so long as they have been in the fridge the whole time.

 

My fridge does stay pretty cold (probably 2-4C) and I do have good plastic containers for storing things. I don't reheat things twice and I don't leave anything out on the counter to cool first.

 

Of course the weekends where I drive down there I don't cook up here and thus have no leftovers during the week. I do freeze some stuff like fresh pasta and lasagna, but a lot of the time dinner will be of the 'premade' variety.

 

Thanks,

Rick

[Axe]

I don't leave anything out on the counter to cool first.

 

That would be a cardinal sin for me. This all changed about 5 weeks ago, when the wife returned from another F&H refresher. All hot food must be cooled to room temp. before being asigned to the fridge. Well i've never put hot food in the fridge, that would be silly, but warm yes.

 

I have to cook a single meal on Wednesdays as the wife work a late shift. I have several meals frozen up from stews, bolognese, curry, shepherds pie, etc that I have made previously. The best I find is the stew, it seems to mature in the freezer.

[WeihrauchPower]

Putting say one large bowl of leftovers into your fridge and your fridge will work over time and the temp. will sit well above 8 degrees C for a good few hours. Dangerous stuff!

 

Casts_by_fly I'm am extremely surprised you haven't become ill keeping things for 8-10 days. If you know that you won't be eating it in the next few days cool on the side then freeze it. Yo can still pull it out 24 hours bfore you plan to eat it.

 

A lot of people think that food poisoning is getting stomach cramps and diarrhoea but it can be quite a lot more serious. Some food poisonings can lead to paralysis, blindness and viral infections such as Hepatitis A.

I pride myslf on my iron gut but you can only take things so far.

[casts_by_fly]

WP,

 

The biggest thing to keeping germ free in the kitchen is hygiene. If you watch out for cross contamination, make sure the food is well cooked, and NOT leave things out to the air you keep the risk of germs very low. Surface disinfection and good cleaning are mandatory any time you have higher risk items like raw chicken, game, or things that have been handled by any number of people (fresh product from the market for instance).

 

My fridge isn't much warmer than a freezer. It is just warm enough so that liquids don't freeze. Also, 8-10 days is a maximum for me. For the most part, 5-6 is normal since a Friday meal will normally be eaten before friday of the following week.

 

Yes, putting warm food directly into the fridge will cause it to work harder. I'm not sure what you mean about 8 degrees though. I am guessing that you mean your fridge goes to 8C and that putting food in from dinner temp to the fridge will cause the food to be above fridge temp for quite a while. The problem is that if you let it sit on the counter top it will still be above fridge temp for longer. For instance, if the food comes off the stovetop at 80C (a nice steaming bowl of spaghetti), over the course of your eating dinner it will begin to cool to room temp. Depending on the particular dish and whether you serve it all to the table, it will cool down to 25-40C by the time you're done with dinner. That temperature range is the optimum for bacterial reproduction. If there are any bad bacteria or viruses that have made their way onto your food, that is the temperature range that will promote their growth. You want to get your food out of that temperature range as quickly as you can. If you let it cool on your countertop from 40C down to RT (about 22) it will take much longer than by putting it in your fridge at 4C (or even 8C). The biggest downside to doing it is that you are working your fridge harder.

 

Don't do that with your freezer though. You will defrost some of the stuff that is in there first and then refreeze it. While that isn't going to hurt you for germs, you will ruin food that way.

 

Thanks,

Rick

[casts_by_fly]

I don't leave anything out on the counter to cool first.

 

That would be a cardinal sin for me. This all changed about 5 weeks ago, when the wife returned from another F&H refresher. All hot food must be cooled to room temp. before being asigned to the fridge. Well i've never put hot food in the fridge, that would be silly, but warm yes.

 

I have to cook a single meal on Wednesdays as the wife work a late shift. I have several meals frozen up from stews, bolognese, curry, shepherds pie, etc that I have made previously. The best I find is the stew, it seems to mature in the freezer.

 

 

Axe,

 

Stew does pretty well. I make it in the slow cooker once or twice a month. I still don't freeze it, but it is a good single meal that you can get a few meals from. Lasagna holds well in the fridge/freezer and I do freeze it. Fresh pasta freezes well and keeps. That's what I ate last night. I had made some fresh fettuccini noodles about 3 weeks ago and froze a few nests of it. Last night they boiled up just fine. Throw in a tin of tomatoes, some garlic and olive oil, fresh basil and crushed red pepper and you've got an arrabiata sauce in 10 minutes or less.

 

Thanks,

Rick

[Axe]

By shear coincidence last night saw the start of the new Rogue Restaurants. What they found turned my stomach. It is amazing to see how even reputable restaurant such as Harvester, have some appalling habbits. Worryingly, we had taken the girls to the Black Lion in Brighton earlier in the year, which was featured!

[WeihrauchPower]

Putting say one large bowl of leftovers into your fridge and your fridge will work over time and the temp. will sit well above 8 degrees C for a good few hours. Dangerous stuff!

 

Casts_by_fly I'm am extremely surprised you haven't become ill keeping things for 8-10 days. If you know that you won't be eating it in the next few days cool on the side then freeze it. Yo can still pull it out 24 hours bfore you plan to eat it.

 

A lot of people think that food poisoning is getting stomach cramps and diarrhoea but it can be quite a lot more serious. Some food poisonings can lead to paralysis, blindness and viral infections such as Hepatitis A.

I pride myslf on my iron gut but you can only take things so far.

 

Below 8 degrees C is the legal requirement (although 5C is better and what i stick to at work). My fridge at home sits comfortably on 2 degrees C.

[casts_by_fly]

Below 8 degrees C is the legal requirement (although 5C is better and what i stick to at work). My fridge at home sits comfortably on 2 degrees C.

 

 

gotcha. I don't have a thermometer on mine, but if I turn it even the slightest bit colder on the dial I freeze water. I'd call it 4 C.

 

thanks

rick

[Maiden22]

This is something that I am constantly arguing with the wife, just how long does cook meat last in the fridge.

 

I have never worried about how long a joint has been left in the fridge, its normally eaten within a week. But the wife reckons it shouldn't be in there past 3 days or so. I thought my dear old mum would come to the rescue but she agrees with the wife.

 

Surely, meat can be hung for up to 30 days hen surely cooked meat should last at least a week in the fridge.

 

Can anyone help with this matter please.

 

Sorry to be boring, but the truth is probably somewhere in-between. The idea of chucking out beef after 3 days seems bonkers, but so does the "oh, had a lovely bit of beef the other day, came up from the Titanic, nowt wrong with it once you scraped the mould and eels off" brigade.

 

Same with sell-by dates on things. I avoid things if they're in Roman numerals, but food doesn't turn into poison at the stroke of midnight on the use-by date.

 

Having said all that, I'd imagine that we're less able to cope with things than our parents were, because the fastidiousness of hygiene legislation these days leaves us less able to develop our immune systems.

 

Last thing: how does this come up? Are you a man or what? Cold joints never last more than three days if I'm around - there's just no way to resist. Same for cold roast potatoes - even better the day after!

 

Robert

[bob300w]

This is something that I am constantly arguing with the wife, just how long does cook meat last in the fridge.

 

I have never worried about how long a joint has been left in the fridge, its normally eaten within a week. But the wife reckons it shouldn't be in there past 3 days or so. I thought my dear old mum would come to the rescue but she agrees with the wife.

 

Surely, meat can be hung for up to 30 days hen surely cooked meat should last at least a week in the fridge.

 

Can anyone help with this matter please.

 

Sorry to be boring, but the truth is probably somewhere in-between. The idea of chucking out beef after 3 days seems bonkers, but so does the "oh, had a lovely bit of beef the other day, came up from the Titanic, nowt wrong with it once you scraped the mould and eels off" brigade.

 

Same with sell-by dates on things. I avoid things if they're in Roman numerals, but food doesn't turn into poison at the stroke of midnight on the use-by date.

 

Having said all that, I'd imagine that we're less able to cope with things than our parents were, because the fastidiousness of hygiene legislation these days leaves us less able to develop our immune systems.

 

Last thing: how does this come up? Are you a man or what? Cold joints never last more than three days if I'm around - there's just no way to resist. Same for cold roast potatoes - even better the day after!

 

Robert

You northern types have some strange eating habits, what exactly do you serve with cold roast potatoes? A slice or two of ferret salami and mooshy peas lad? With a glass or two of leek chardonnay? ee bah goom, what would George Formby have said?

[Maiden22]

LOL Bob, I'm only a Northener because I discovered Donny girls .

 

By birth I'm half dago and half Wulfrunian, although the latter part would still qualify as Northern in your book .

 

My Mother is Queen of the Roast Dinner, despite hailing from a far away shore. I know everyone's Mother is, but mine really is - I've dined on roast beef at Simpson's In The Strand, and it's absolute muck in comparison.

 

A Sunday Roast in her book involves at least two beasts (or more for special occassions - for my birthday lunch recently she did pork, beef and chicken) accompanied by bucket loads of Yorkshire puddings (far better than anything you get in Yorkshire) and vegetables. The left-overs last for days, and potatoes, like women and fine wine, get better with age.

 

The best bit is all the black gloopy stuff in the bottom of the roasting pans - wipe around with a bit of bread (****** the arteries, who wants to live forever?) and the world seems bright again.

 

Probably miss those dinners more than anything else :blink: .

 

Robert

[Axe]

Those black gloopy bits are the cooked blood that oozes from the joint. Roll ya spuds in that whilst they are roasting and you cant go wrong. As for left over roasties, well theres only one way for them to be eaten, chopped up with left over sprouts and mixed with the left peas and swede & carrot mash, then fried in the pan and served with the left over cold meat a dollop of Heinz Ketchup and a handful of chunky chips. Proper grub :blink:

 

As for man or mouse, it depends on the meat that been cooked and how much there is. Poultry always gets used up in a home made pie the next day, pork is and beef are confined to bubble n squeak and maybe sarnies and if theres loads left maybe a stir fry as well. Lamb doesnt make it through the next few days, I always end up picking at it periodically until its gone.

 

Every now and then though, theres a peice of foil wrapped meat left in the fridge that no-one has adopted and I wanted to know how long it would be before it was adopted by bacteria.