# Past experiation date



## Oregon1986 (Apr 25, 2017)

I have a can of sausage gravy in my camping supplies that is 6 months expired, would you chance it?


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## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

Oregon1986 said:


> I have a can of sausage gravy in my camping supplies that is 6 months expired, would you chance it?


Read the label carefully, many are "best if used by". As long as your gravy can is sealed, no bulging or dents there is no reason to toss it.


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## ShannonR (Nov 28, 2012)

I would probably eat it, especially if I were opening it and cooking with it, as opposed to just heating it and serving or eating it straight from the can


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## Cabin Fever (May 10, 2002)

Absolutly! We've eaten canned food that is 7 years past it's "Best if used by" date.

"Best if used by" dates on canned foods is one of the biggest hoaxes there is.


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## Oregon1986 (Apr 25, 2017)

Awesome thank you. The boys had their hearts set on biscuits and gravy for breakfast Saturday.


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## weaselfire (Feb 7, 2018)

Best by dates are when the manufacturer thinks the food will best be used by. Not the expiration date. I give it the smell test. Open it, if it smells funny, toss it.

Jeff


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## farmrbrown (Jun 25, 2012)

weaselfire said:


> Best by dates are when the manufacturer thinks the food will best be used by. Not the expiration date. I give it the smell test. Open it, if it smells funny, toss it.
> 
> Jeff


That was almost the same method my mom used when I was a kid.
That was the first test.
Then she gave it to me for a smell and taste test.

Old food wasn't just thrown away without a thorough investigation, lol.
I can say that I'm an expert at food expiration now.


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## Teej (Jan 14, 2012)

Doesn't bother me to use things past their expiration date.


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## Oregon1986 (Apr 25, 2017)

I get a little nervous when it has meat in it


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## farmrbrown (Jun 25, 2012)

Oregon1986 said:


> I get a little nervous when it has meat in it


This may be TMI, but here goes........
This data is self obtained and no guarantee or warranty is implied. 

As said before, check the packaging. If it's intact, you've passed step 1.
After cooking, fish sours first. After 3 or 4 days, I gotta be REAL hungry, but it's iffy.
Next I think it's a tie between pork and chicken. I don't eat pork anymore, as a rule, but 6 or 7 days is about the limit.
Beef, I'll go 10 days with just a quick check and I'm sure I've eaten some as old as 2 weeks - again, hunger plays a vital role in the decision process.

Veggies are different for each kind, but that's another matter.

Mom always meant well, but she sharpened my survival skills and I thank her for that!
LOL


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## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

Oregon1986 said:


> I get a little nervous when it has meat in it


Meat is much like all other foods. It deteriorates rather quickly left raw and exposed to the natural microbes hanging around in the air. That is the whole idea behind canning any foods, you put them in an airtight container, heat it enough to kill all of those microbes and the food can't "spoil" until that seal is broken.


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## Bret (Oct 3, 2003)

I would have to open it, see it, smell it, taste it for fun and amusement. If it passed my eyes, taste buds and nose, I would eat it.

Side note--I recently opened two cans of name brand green beans that were off, to my nose just opening them. I observed cloudiness in the liquid. A closer smell was awful. They were not expired. I tossed them and forgot about them. Two in a hundred million I thought. My number just came up.

At about the same, I opened a can of economy brand peaches with light syrup that were probably safe and nutritious, but lacking the color, brilliance and uniformity that name brands have. They got past my senses as OK, but I did not like them and will stick to the slightly higher priced standbys.


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## Oregon1986 (Apr 25, 2017)

I guess I will go by smell test


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## weaselfire (Feb 7, 2018)

Fresh foods are not the same as canned foods. But meat can be eaten safely long after it smells and tastes bad. The entire reason Columbus found the New World was a quest for pepper because the Brits had locked down the Eastern routes. The reason pepper was popular is that it made meat taste better long after it had started to rot.

Keep in mind, the best steaks are properly aged. In other words, the tenderest meat.is that which has started to rot.

If you're squeamish, freeze or can fresh foods for storage. It's really that simple.

Jeff


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

As long as the gravy looks and smells okay I would not hesitate to eat it. Only 6 months past the best by date is not old.

I do the sniff and look test on every can or jar of food. I've opened some unexpired stuff that wasn't fit to eat.


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## montysky (Aug 21, 2006)

I would start with the eyeball test, dent on the seal toss it, any bulging toss it, not worth the risk
second the nose and eye test after opening, if it smells off toss it, does It look funny toss it.
otherwise I think you are good to go and enjoy


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

farmrbrown said:


> This may be TMI, but here goes........
> This data is self obtained and no guarantee or warranty is implied.
> 
> Next I think it's a tie between pork and chicken. I don't eat pork anymore, as a rule, but 6 or 7 days is about the limit.
> ...


How long do you hang a ham ?


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## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

AmericanStand said:


> How long do you hang a ham ?


After being properly cured and smoked... Two years is about right.


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## #1 WV BonBonQueen (Sep 16, 2018)

Oregon1986 said:


> I have a can of sausage gravy in my camping supplies that is 6 months expired, would you chance it?


Yes I would. If it smells good when opened, if it looks good when it is opened, and if it heats good when you heat it. I use canned foods that are past expiration date, but only if they pass the above tests. jmho


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

Yvonne's hubby said:


> After being properly cured and smoked... Two years is about right.


Hummm ok I can believe that.


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## GTX63 (Dec 13, 2016)

The smell/taste/eyeball test is not standardized; it has to be based on the weakest stomach in your family.
I can scrape the top layer of fuzzy mold off most anything and kill the sting with salt and grease; my wife is 72 hours on leftovers and strict adherence to any posted dates. My mother was the same.
Cooking Personal meals, my rule.
Cooking Family meals, her rule or I'm fired.


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## Bob M. (Nov 5, 2018)

No I wouldn;t. no way i'd ever be caught dead eating canned or jared gravy from the store...ick. I mean seriously....how hard is it to make gravy? juice/fat and a thickener, usually corn starch, or flour. with salt and pepper. if using corn starch add it to as little cold water as possible to make a slurry so there is no lumps. if its flour add it to fat, cook to desired color (The darker the more flavor, the lighter the higher thickening it has.This is called a roux.) and add it in to your juices with maybe some milk, creme, sour creme/what have you (Honestly one of my favorites is simply flour and butter with some milk though and salt and pepper with like chicken juice). sometimes depending on the gravy I'll add a tinsy bit of something, be it herbs like rosemary or say mushrooms or tarragon/etc. often I'll add chicken soup granules or beef granules, but dont add salt if you do that and only a little bit.)what have you, and salt and pepper. You probably know all this anyways.


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## LoneWolf1970 (Jan 9, 2019)

Oregon1986 said:


> I have a can of sausage gravy in my camping supplies that is 6 months expired, would you chance it?



No not at all. Plus it’s easy to make it from scratch. I understand you take it camping. You can use powdered milk. You won’t believe me if I tell you but when you cook with powdered milk to me it makes things creamier.


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