I took a bottle of breast milk out of the refrigerator and forgot about it. At room temperature, how long is it good for? Can I put it back in the fridge?
121572
There's a lot of information available about how long pumped breast milk can be kept for, generally citing different temperature ranges.  From the CDC (though the same reference is also cited by the Canadian Pediatric Society):     It's cited that milk thawed from the freezer should be used within 24 hours in the fridge, or 1 hour at room temperature.  The Mayo Clinic has an article saying , but no references to where this comes from or any further information.  My wife is exclusively pumping, and so there is a lot of milk cycling in and out of the fridge. She is always concerned about using milk taken out of the fridge (generally +/- 1 day old) within an hour or two. We often talk milk out (and let it warm up to room temperature), only to have baby fall back asleep. Is there a basis to how long fridge-temperature milk (stored at 3 degrees C for a day or two) can be out of the fridge for before it has to be used/tossed?
69456
I heard that putting really warm food in the fridge right after cooking it is not the right thing to do. It might cause bacterial growth? Is this true?
27439
How should fresh basil be stored? The packaging suggests that the optimal temperature is around 50°F, but I can't think of anywhere in an average kitchen at that temperature. A pantry is too warm, and a fridge is too cold. So which of the two is lesser of two evils? I recently had a whole pack get moldy after one use, and it was in the pantry. I think I'm going to start storing it in the fridge now and deal with whatever quality loss I get, unless there's a better solution.
23286
Out of laziness sometimes I re-heat the water in kettle we use to make formula milk for our daughter, but the health visitor said it's a bad practice to re-boil water over and over. Any specific reason for that?
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)?
19744
I have a large quantity of raw milk at my disposal, and am trying to find creative ways to use it.  Various web sites (, , and many others) have suggested that raw milk, even (perhaps even especially) after it begins to sour, can be used to make yogurt.  I've also  for yogurt cultures to grow.  Which is it?  Please note this question is specifically about , not spoiled milk, which is not edible. And please assume that the sour raw milk being used is free from harmful bacteria and pathogens and is safe to consume.  I'm not asking about food safety here, I'm asking: Is it possible to make yogurt from sour raw milk?
49443
Is there any reason to store maple syrup in the refrigerator? It tastes better when it's a little warmer.
64018
When potentially hazardous foods are cooked, it is said that cooling from 60 to 21 C should happen in 2 hours and from 21 to 5 C in 4 hours, does this not contradict the 2/4 hour rule which states that if food is in temperature danger zone should be discarded if its more than 4 hours. Reference
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?
41551
I'm well aware that the default answer to this textbook default question is "it doesn't work", but still, I believe it does.  To cool the insides of the fridge, the compressor must do work, and since the efficiency isn't 100% you are constantly warming the whole room to cool it's insides, the winning move here is simply turning the fridge off. However, let's suppose the fridge must stay on, wouldn't it be better to open the door?   In other words: Isn't opened fridge turned on better than closed fridge turned on for the whole room temperature?
19978
Is it safe to leave butter at room temperature? If so, for how long is it safe to keep it out?
78038
Making yogurt at home is a fairly straight-forward process.  Heat milk to 180F (82C), cool that milk to at least 110F (43C), add live cultures, usually in the form of yogurt with said cultures, incubate, then chill.   There are several variables in the process, some of which are: The fat content of the milk (I typically use whole), how long to hold the milk during the initial heat step, how long it takes to cool the milk, the temperature of the incubation step, and the length of time for incubation, to name a few.  While length of time for incubation, and temperature at this stage, clearly contribute to sourness, I am trying to nail down the variable that contributes to a creamy texture.  I'm not referring to breaking or clumping, as described in .  My yogurt comes out smooth.    My initial hypothesis is that holding the milk for a length of time at the initial 180F(82C) (rather than immediately removing from heat and/or chilling) has an impact on final texture. Any thoughts or experience that might inform my hypothesis?
41645
OK, so we shouldn't refreeze meat once it's been defrosted.  But if I've partially defrosted meat, then popped it back in the freezer, is that safe? Specifically I'm thinking of sausages or steaks or chops, which may be frozen in groups. You might want to pull them out of the freezer for 30 mins to 1 hr, so they thaw just enough to loosen up to separate them, then put half back. Is this safe?  My question is ... is there a clean cut off point with defrosting after which it becomes unsafe to refreeze, or does it just get progressively more dangerous?
72959
Since reading the answers to my question about  I've been good about giving my meat time to defrost in the refrigerator. However, my plans for tonight have changed and I'd like to defrost some ground beef that is completely frozen for dinner this evening. What are my options to do so quickly and safely?
86210
I'm a bit unsure about which fruits and veggies should be kept outside the fridge and which inside. It seems that apples, oranges, and bananas, are normally kept outside, and melons, watermelons, etc are kept inside. How do I know which ones should be kept inside and which should be kept outside?  Also, apart from making sure that fruits are stored on a different rack of the fridge than veggies, are there any other guidelines about storing them? I.e certain fruits that shouldn't be stored together, or anything?
89236
I've heard that "honey never spoils", but I'm incredulous.  Is this true, and if so, how?  Isn't there some indicator that I should throw the honey in my cupboard away?
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.