"Use By" Dates for Fresh Meat

patriks

Hey guys,

Sorry if this has been asked before.

Just wondering, does cooking fresh meat (minced beef) extend its "use by" date, and, if so, by how long does it extend the date?
What I mean by this is: Hypothetically, if I had some minced beef with a "use by" date for today and I were to cook it today, would it still be okay tomorrow, the next day, etc. even though "use by" date had expired?

Thanks in advance.;)

Faith

Yeah, cooking foods adds about 3 days to its lifespan usually. 3 days from the date of cooking, that is, not the use by date.

the beer revolu

I'd go along with that as long as the cooked food is cooled, refrigerated and not reheated several times.

unkel

Faith wrote: »

Yeah, cooking foods adds about 3 days to its lifespan usually. 3 days from the date of cooking, that is, not the use by date.

That's a handy rule of thumb to have - I wasn't aware of it. Am I getting this right: cook it on the use by date and it will last until 3 days after the use by date, but cook it a week before the use by date and it will last until 4 days before the use by date?

I was aware that once you cook it, you should use it soon, but I wasn't aware you could "extend" the use by date by cooking the food

Faith

unkel wrote: »

That's a handy rule of thumb to have - I wasn't aware of it. Am I getting this right: cook it on the use by date and it will last until 3 days after the use by date, but cook it a week before the use by date and it will last until 4 days before the use by date?

I was aware that once you cook it, you should use it soon, but I wasn't aware you could "extend" the use by date by cooking the food

Certainly if you cook it on its use by date, it'll be good for another 3 days or so.

I'm less sure about the scenario the UB date is a week away. TBH, once I've cooked something, I ignore UB dates and after 3 days, if it's still there, I'd usually throw it out if it's a meat product.

Obviously trust your nose and eyes too - if it looks or smells off, throw it out, even if it's within the 3 days.

rubadub

unkel wrote: »

Am I getting this right: cook it on the use by date and it will last until 3 days after the use by date, but cook it a week before the use by date and it will last until 4 days before the use by date?

Yes that is right.

unkel wrote: »

I was aware that once you cook it, you should use it soon, but I wasn't aware you could "extend" the use by date by cooking the food

Yes I do this with chicken fillets sometimes. I get them from a butcher on the weekend and cook them day by day, after 3 days I would usually cook the remaining ones and might freeze one or 2 of these cooked ones too.

Think of it this way, there is bacteria growing all the time, when you buy the chicken it will be growing and get to toxic levels after 3 days, so you cook it and you are back to square one again -most bacteria killed, it starts to grow again on the cooked food and must be eaten before it reaches toxic levels.

There is actually a sterilization method called "fractional sterilization" or "tyndallization" where you cook food and let the bacteria grow, then cook it again a day later, let it grow again and do it one final time. This allows dormant heat resistant bacteria called endospores to hatch, once growing they are easy to kill. I have done this myself and have jam jars full of rice which have no bacteria on them, they are at room temp for several years now. -don't worry I have no plans to eat it. I have also sterilized in pressure cookers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyndallization