Post Punk Kitchen Forum

Not sure about the old chocolate.

Regarding the rice, I am glad I read this, being the type who would normally go ahead and eat the day old rice (also pregnant).

A can of artichoke hearts that was left out opened at room temperature overnight?

Usually company's put a false expiriration date on things... I worked retail for awhile and had to do the out-of-dates and there was a book that said "date on item = such and such as a real date of expiration". I know energy drinks last for a year after their expiration date and a lot of food stuffs last for 4 months - a year after the expiration... especially if it's canned or in packaging. If air's getting to it then it goes bad but if it's sealed it good!

I eat left out tofu a lot... don't bother sealing it.

Also! It takes 30 seconds for bacteria to start producing on wet foods and a minute and a half for dry foods in case anybody was wondering about the "10 second rule" for floor ridden food.

Holy Guacamole that's been open in the refrigerator for . . . maybe a week? It was sealed in a baggy, still in its original bag, but opened. I scraped off the layer of brown, underneath it looks pretty ok to me.

It's proabby fine, my guac browns after a day & always good to go underneath!

Their website says to keep it 3 days. I don't think it has preservatives. I sometimes keep homemade guacamole a little longer, but if it has fresh tomato in it, that can get slimy and gross after a couple of days.

What about couscous, barley, and lentils that have been in tupperware or a sealed bag for probably close to a year? Those things don't go bad, right? (not cooked)

Meggs, sometimes I get old lentils from the store and they just don't cook up right. You can try!

I don't know about the couscous...

I know legumes can get the point that they either take forever to get tender or don't get tender at all. Lentils probably wouldn't be that much of a problem though.

Grains can go bad, especially whole grains since their natural oils haven't been stripped away like white grains. I remember reading numerous times that brown rice should be kept in the fridge or freezer once opened so the oils don't go rancid but I use mine too quickly to bother. I imagine a year or so they are probably okay and if not they won't taste/feel right after being cooked.

And I'm not sure how to tell if grains are bad...I have some wheat berries that are probably 3 years old that I don't want to throw out but am afraid to eat.

Thanks for the responses! I don't have a huge amount of them, so I will probably just throw them out (maybe try the couscous as it doesn't take too long to cook and if it tastes bad, no harm, I'll toss it).
Now I know to store them in the fridge and only buy enough that I can use in a reasonable amount of time!

Old grains smell musty. If they smell ok, they probably are.

I wouldnt, but mostly because I think canned artichoke hearts are gross. I keep trying to like them, but then I found frozen ones and rejoiced.

Seriously though, I would think they might sour or get a bit slimy.

I've used some that are truly ancient. My Graham flour is probably 4 years old, but it's fine. I've had them all in airlock containers since I bought them, so that probably helps.

I think they either smell musty or rancid or have a strange texture.

the entire contents of my fridge and freezer? Was out of town for 2 weeks and lost power at some point, for who knows how long. I did need to clean my freezer, but it pains me to be throwing away $100s worth of food. You know its a bad sign when there are frozen puddles of mystery juices on the bottom of the freezer, and the frozen veggies have sagged through the bars of the metal shelf and re-frozen in that droopy placement. Note to self: never shop at cost-co a week before going on vacation.

Nope, even for me that would be a definite no-no - anything that had defrosted that badly in a closed freezer means that the power has likely been off for many hours.

chiveggie, what a bummer :( I wouldn't risk it. The same thing happened to V & I once, a day after a huge grocery shop. We had to throw away everything.

Yeah, I would toss everything with the only exception being foods that didn't really need to be refrigerated/frozen in the first place (flours and such) and salty/acidic condiments like mustard or miso.

yeah, i erred on the side of caution. My freezer was completely cleaned out, my fridge has a few various condiments and pantry type items that I keep in there (nuts, flax, PB etc) that I figured were safe, but that's about it. On the bright side, I've never seen it look so neat and organized.

I don't envy you that job chiveggie, but it sounds like you made the right choice!!

A container of unopened soy yogurt that I forgot about in my backpack after getting back from the store for about 3-4 hours. Bear in mind that I live in Barcelona where its pretty hot. Please give me the all clear, I haaaate wasting food, especially being an impoverished student and all :(

I've had brown rice for a little over a year now... 11kg bag, with a ziplock seal. I use it all the time, always sitting at room temperature, no problems yet.

3.5 day old Starbucks soy latte? It's been in the back of a cold fridge, so it is semi-frozen.

I usually drink them by day 2, but I was sick. I don't want to throw out a $4 drink though!

Does not compute. Mine are usually gone within 10 minutes of purchase!

I'd say it depends how much time elapsed between creation and refrigeration. Both coffee and soy milk are good in the fridge for 3.5 days so if it wasn't standing out for a long time before it went into the fridge, I suspect it should be fine.

i know it's too late for this, but you could definitely eat this. 3-4 hours is nothing for an unopened container. I always bring soygurts places with me for lunch and they are out for at least that long. it's fine.

My espresso machine is broken and SB is a 40+ minute round trip, so usually my mom gets a couple for me when she goes grocery shopping. It gets me my fix and helps me focus on writing lots of boring papers for my summer classes. The other alternative is more expensive, smaller drinks served with a Jesus tract at the coffee shop across the street (exists to fund missions to Guatemala).

I'll give it a try. I just get sick from foods so easily, that I'm extra wary.

It's iced btw, so it was never not cold.