What is past due? In the frig!

[cgarr]

Take it back where you purchased it and get a replacement! That's what people do with our product even when they keep it past the exp date: The customer is always right even though they are idiots!

[austin552]

Originally Posted by srandallf

this was a stuffed pepper that i kept a little too long. im sentimental & single

That's art!

[HHI944]

There was some milk in my fridge that was so past expiration that it was undergoing some form of fermentation and obviously expanding. The jug looked like it was about 2 seconds from blowing up.

[onlycafe]

if the glove won't fi.......i mean....if there is no mold, it ain't too old.

[Tobra]

Originally Posted by Dottore

Clip and paste on fridge:

Periodic table of condiments and when they go bad:

this is wrong, honey does not spoil, they found honey in the pyramids that was 3000 years old that was still good

[dafischer]

srandallf...very nice science projects!!

Carlin had a great bit about this...to avoid throwing out leftovers, we buy foil to wrap them up and put them in the fridge. Then, 3 weeks later. we throw out the leftovers AND the foil.

[red-beard]

When I first worked at GE, one of our lazier coops didn't like walking to get coffee (which is stupid! You want to get away from the desk once in a while). Anyway, he brought in a coffee pot and made coffee for a while, then turned it off.

Months went by and the fuzzy green mold grew. I did not know that mold could grow on coffee!

[john70t]

Mold grows on coffee grounds within 4-6 days! I keep a kitchen drawer for food scraps, then add them to the garden multch pile. Plants love 'em.

If it doesn't break down in the fridge, it doesn't break down in your intestines.
Check salad dressing and cans before purchasing.

[Schumi]

I have a friend who has kept a half-drank big ass orange gatorade (the big ones with the handles) since a baseball game we played on June 9th, 2001. It sat under some baseball gear in his closet for about 2 years, then we found it with some nasty crap growing in it. He decided to keep it to see what happened in there. It was sealed up pretty good. At this point it was still mostly orange.

8 years on now and it's in his closet somewhere. He let it sit out in the light for a while and it grew something in it. Instead of orange Gatorade it is now completely black. It is also rather viscous. I think some sort of plant has grown in it. Maybe even some new animal life.

We're never opening that thing.

[red-beard]

Be afraid if the thing figures out how to open the cap, from the inside.

[GH85Carrera]

When moved from my apartment to my 1st house I gathered up my food. I found all the eggs had completely dried up. I could shake the eggs and feel something hard rattle around in there. There was a field next door that I threw the eggs into. I was afraid to put them in the trash and possibly break them on the way to the dumpster. Even from several yards away those eggs smelled pretty bad. It was the perfect time to leave there forever

[red-beard]

In college, I bought a bunch of wine coolers. This was in the "Bartles & James" days, but I couldn't afford the high end stuff. It was some off brand, maybe a store brand, maybe a "Citrus cooler". It was what we fed the girls at the time.

Anyway, in 1988, I moved to India and then Pakistan for a couple of years. My stuff went into storage in the basement, including said coolers. They sat in the basement frig until my parents moved to Socal, in 2001. I expect they were 1986-7 vintage...

[Deschodt]

If that's not bad enough, try your medicine cabinet... I had stuff in there that expired 10 years ago !!!

[Groesbeck Hurricane]

MMMMM Coffee Grounds!!!!

FE Warren AFB, Squadron Coffee Club. I was in it for one month, then it became my turn to "make the coffee for a week". I knew the coffee tasted rather bad at the end of the week, now it was time to learn why.

Monday: Put the grounds for a 120 cup pot into the perculator, add water.
Tuesday: Add one scoop of grounds, add more water.
Wednesday: Scoop out any mold, add grounds over the top, add more water.
Thursday: Scoop out any mold, add grounds over the top, add more water.
Friday: Scoop out any mold, add grounds over the top, add more water. End of day, dump all grounds and coffee. Using no soap, clean out the pot with hot water. Rinse well several times and dry with paper towels. Leave to air dry over the weekend.

It seems that using soap would ruin the flavor of the coffee...

[s_morrison57]

I just checked and have 3 jalopeno peppers that are over 4 years old and 2 lemons that have been in there for a couple of years. I collect old food, ya its sick I know , I started in 1974 with the last Manderin orange @ x-mas and its sorta gone from there. I had KFC potato salad that was 17 years old and proudly displayed, mom came over for a visit and chucked it out, I was crushed, I mean com on who else has 17 yr. old potato salad.
The fridge is the best for long term drying as mold is the enemy, and to set the record straight I just don't dry out any old piece of food, it has to have some meaning or challange as a 30% success rate is probably on the high side, depending on the specimamn.
The challanges were a fist sized tomato ( it took about 6 years to do this one,wieghed a gram or 2 when it was done, still red with the green stem, I put it on display and it re-hydrated and died from internal mold) and a Taco Bell burrito that took a good couple of years in the fridge to dry out, sorry "Food Fans" I lost that 1 also while on display.
Most Memerable would have to be the ham and cheese sandwitch that I was going to eat the day the helicopter crashed, have the apple turnover from that day too but it suffered a bit more in the crash than the switch did, also have burnt hot dogs from a company picnic, beer and an arm wrestling contest turned into a 1/2 hour brawl/wrestling match, it was a hoot and we were all still buddies after it was over, laughing and more beer. Needless to say but the wives wern't all that impessed. I saved the dogs and dried them and gave 1 to all the participents a couple of months later, that was a decade ago and at least 4 of those guys still have there hotdog and 1 guy has gone on to develop his own modest, but inspiring collection.
Well Food Fans thats it for my contribution, but if your interested in how and what to start with for your own collection than PM me - 35+ yrs. experience!
My fridge is my museam. grab a beer but don't grab a bite.

[peppy]

A jar of apple butter that is about 2 years old. My son and I ate some a week ago and my wife got a little grossed out when I scrapped the mold out of the way.

Molded food will not kill you. Most dates on food are not expiration dates, they are best when used by dates. They want to sell you more.

[gtc]

Not in the fridge, but close:

My mother has a box of Kellog's All-Bran that she uses for making bran muffins. I realized a few years back that I could only remember her making them once.
The cereal is is now about 29 years old... older than me by at least a year. The mail in offer on the back of the box: DIY hook and loop rugs/wallhangings.

[campbellcj]

Originally Posted by peppy

Molded food will not kill you. Most dates on food are not expiration dates, they are best when used by dates. They want to sell you more.

True statement IMO for many foods; however, one thing to keep in mind is that some people may be immuno-compromised or have other sensitivities that the rest of us do not, where eating something with a tinge of extra bacteria or mold or whatnot could lead to very serious consequences...

Personally, old meat or dairy goods really gross me out. Other stuff that 'merely' gets moldy or decomposes is kind of interesting in a science-experiment sort of way.