Is it okay to put hot food directly into the fridge? Are eggs still safe after the expiration date? Should you even pay attention to expiration dates? How long will thawed ground beef remain safe? And other questions you’ve always wanted answered …
With all the leftovers that the holiday’s bring, this site a friend* told us about seems particularly appropriate — StillTasty.com. It’s total reason for being is to maximize food freshness. Now you know how to keep those chocolates longer!
On the site, just type in any any food you could imagine and you’ll learn how long it stays fresh in the fridge and the freezer. But be warned! Don’t just go by the easy-to-use diagrams at the top that list their freshness expectancy! Keep reading. For example, we typed in eggs and saw that it listed freshness for up to a year in the freezer. Our immediate reaction: “Wow! You can freeze eggs?” Well, no, not exactly. In their Tips that are listed further down the page, it instructs you to take the eggs out of the shell and mix in some salt. We don’t know why we’d want to keep eggs for a year this way, but since we always keep them past their expiration date in our fridge, still useful information.
You may be more interested to know:
- Cooked chicken that’s still pink can be safe to eat — if the internal temperature has reached 165 degrees throughout
- You can freeze artichokes
- That white film that often develops on old dark chocolate is safe to eat
- Opened olive oil can be refrigerated to lengthen its life
- and, of course, lots more …
So next time you’re unsure of your food’s freshness or how to keep it fresh longer, skip the sniff test and log onto www.StillTasty.com. We’re happy to say that when we had our culinary nutritionist Stefanie Sacks check it out, she also gave it her seal of approval.
Harriett@snoety.com
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* Thank you, Valerie Love!
