My parents bought a few perilla seed oil that I had no awareness of and found that it is expired already by around 1 year 1 month. I tried to smell it, it still smells good without any rancid odour. Is it still safe to consume? I have heard that it is extremely easy for perilla seed oil to oxidise. If it is not safe to eat, then is it usable in somewhere else? As light oil? Or anything? I just want to avoid throwing it out while it could be used in some other ways.
86652
How long will foods that have "Best by: XX-XX-XX" on the product last past that date?  I have tried looking online, and all I can find is anecdotal evidence, which isn't very assuring for me since there seems to be no specific "x food will expire y weeks after its best by date".  Is there a rule of thumb or some guide out there that can tell me how long a "best by" food will last? Or is it safe to assume that they never expire, since it's not actually labelled on the product?
121093
I put chicken breasts and a bunch of salsa into a slow cooker to be cooked while I slept. I forgot to turn it on. When I woke up I noticed and put it back in the fridge.  I plan to cook it tonight (and hopefully not forget to turn it on).  Is this a bad idea?  I will note that the salsa appeared to insulate the chicken because it was still cool to the touch (not COLD though) when I discovered it in the morning.  Total time out of fridge would be about 9 hours.  EDIT: This is not a duplicate of the suggested question because I had a thought that it might be ok due to the chicken being slightly insulated and still cool. I have realized it is still not safe from the answers.
68927
This has been discussed briefly elsewhere (e.g. ), but it doesn't seem to have been asked generally.  In the USA, there are a variety of dates printed on foods. Unfortunately, there seems to be little convention. The list includes at least the following (feel free to add more!):   Best by [DATE] Best if used by [DATE] Best before [DATE] Expiry date: [DATE] Expiration date: [DATE] Expires by [DATE] Use by [DATE] Use before [DATE] Freeze by [DATE] Eat fresh or freeze by [DATE]   What meaning is implied/conveyed by each of those?  For example:   What do each of those mean in terms of taste, quality, safety, etc?  Are any of them firmer deadlines than another, and are any intended to be mere guidelines?  Common sense tells us that "expires on [DATE]" means it's assumed to be unsafe after [DATE]), but does it say anything more -- or less -- than that, and what of the others?
114376
I cooked some bacon about a week ago and left the grease in the pan.  I've used it the last two nights with great success for cooking other meals.  How long is it safe to reuse?  I figure since I'm heating it up to a million degrees each time I use it it's probably pretty safe, but.... I'd rather not get food poisoning.
115980
How long can you store used cooking oil then re-use it? I deep fried a turkey one year ago and have had it refrigerated since.
32437
I find myself favoring the purchase of coffee beans that have visible oil on them.  My inference was that this bean had some extra flavor or awesomeness.  Am I right, are beans 'better' if they are oily, or more simply, what does that mean about the flavor profile of the bean?
97920
I'm looking into the technique of 'hanging' meat, and whether there are 'home' applications that would be safe and have a beneficial effect.  Now, there are a lot of (possible) synonyms that muddle the waters (for me). There's hanging, dry-aging, faisandage (for game birds), and more. What I'm looking for is the 1-3 day (near) room-temperature storage of meat and the spoiling / enzyme process that will cause a flavor change. Feel free to help me along by clarifying the answer.  Basically:   Is there any (good) use for this technique / process for supermarket / butcher cuts of meat? What should be taken in consideration for safe execution?
21259
Last night I was grilling chicken thighs on a barbecue and I was told that if there was any pink inside them, they are not safe to eat. My question is twofold:  (a) Is this true?  (b) Is there a way to tell that doesn't involve cutting the thighs open to have a look at the colour?
62245
My girlfriend accidentally didn't close the fridge properly and left it open 2 inches all night (more than 8 hours). I had a lot of raw chicken breast and raw salmon in there. Is it still edible? When I touched the meat, it was slightly colder than room temperature (21 C).  The back part of the meat was still a bit cold though because it was closer to the back of the fridge.  Is it edible?
28484
I just came back from a long trip and I was cleaning out my fridge, and I noticed that there is an expiration date on the butter. It expired about two months from when I bought it. The butter doesn't look any different than normal butter.  How strictly should I follow the date on the box? Is there a way to test to see if the butter has actually gone bad?
69046
I have a Brie Cheese that has not been opened. It shows an expiration date that is 6 weeks ago. Is it still safe to eat?
37045
A friend of mine accidentally left a carton of eggs on her counter, unrefrigerated, for three days. The eggs had been previously refrigerated both at the store and at home. Now she's planning to do some more cooking which requires eggs, and is wondering if it's still safe to use them for baking. I believe she is planning on baking cookies with them, so they would be baked at fairly high temperatures for probably at least 10 minutes. Would this be safe, or are eggs left unrefrigerated for that long not safe for consumption?
2808
Today I cut open a garlic bulb only to discover that the core was mostly black powder. What on earth was that? I've never seen it before in my life. From the outside the bulb seemed to be fine. It wasn't obviously rotten or dark or anything like that.
50865
I have purchased a rather large bag of long-grain white rice (25 lbs.) and need to know the best way for storing it long-term. This rice will be used as both a food-storage food source and as my everyday source of rice for cooking, so the storage solution should (hopefully) be resealable, rather than once-it's-open-it's-open. I eat rice maybe three times a month, so it isn't really "everyday" but it will be my go-to when I have it.
118914
This question is the flip-side of the commonly asked food temperature safety concerns. I'd like to know, if a meat-based soup stock (chicken/pork/beef/etc) were to be held constantly at a safe hot temperature of 165F/73C-180F/82C, how long could it stay at this temperature and still be considered safe to eat?  Obviously, it would reduce over time, but suppose it's reconstituted with water regularly so that it could continue being held... Is there ANY sort of time limit (even completely unreasonable spans like, months, years, etc)?
96180
I opened a can of sliced black olives for my pizza and only used half. I put the leftovers into a sealed container with the liquid and put it in the fridge. Under those conditions how long will the olives last? Is there a better way to store leftover olives?
71468
I'm making veal stock that's later going to be reduced to a glace viande.   In the past, I was always close enough to observe the process and strain the stock . I also realize that an hour or two and even longer isn't an issue when making stock.  But today I will be away for most of the day and my stock pot will remain unattended on the lowest possible heat on the stove. I don't expect any problems from this procedure. But it prompted a question:  How long could a pot of bone stock be simmered? Is there an upper threshold when unwanted substances are extracted from the bones? When the flavour profile does not get "better" but starts to deteriorate?    Clarification:     I am not talking about cooking a day or two, I know that this is typically no problem. And yes, if necessary I could add water to counter evaporation. For this question, you may assume "no time limit". I am familiar with the concept of . But for a perpetual stew, parts of the stock are removed and new ingredients added. I'm asking explicitly about one unchanged stock: a pot of bones in water, optionally some spices and mirepoix.