Did you keep it in the tin can? If you kept it in the tin can, throw it away (something about the metal leaching into the tomato stuff is bad...). If you kept it in a tupperware with the lid on, and there is no funny smell and no mold spores (round, bluey floaties), I'd say go ahead and use it, cooking thoroughly.
Of course, *I* don't mind eating non-firm cucumbers, so you might not want my advice. VBG
Posts: 1545 | Registered: May 2002
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Yes, Jexx is right. Glass only, not in the can. The tomato eats into the aluminum, and auminum gets into the food.
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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Yes. But I am not sure what it is. Because there is a vacuum inside the can, maybe? And, actually, it might eat it away.
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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5 days? This whole 5 days rule is new to me. I'm still hung up on the 3 day rule. The guys at my husband's job love the 3 day rule. Especially when I make a 9x13 pan of lasagna. My husband alone cannot eat a 9x13 pan of lasagna in 3 days. (Granted, I could freeze it, but he always says he can eat it all. He never does, unless I freeze the amount that I normally throw out. Then he wonders where all the lasagna went. )
Posts: 9871 | Registered: Aug 2001
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Mine's in a glass jar as well..and only in there for a week...maybe a week and a half? In the fridge.
Posts: 14745 | Registered: Dec 1999
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Isn't it something to do with the fact that air gets in after you open the can & that makes the aluminium do whatever it does to the food? I just know that you should transfer stuff into plastic containers to keep in the fridge, once the can is open.
I'm not sure if it's just a rumour... Posts: 1431 | Registered: Aug 2003
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I've never had a problem with it as long as its within a reasonable time period. As long as it smells fine, is in a glass jar, and refigerated, its okay it seems.
I did have some that I threw away, but that was like a month in the fridge, and I threw it away on principle.
Posts: 5656 | Registered: Oct 1999
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Oh, but keeping stuff in glass jars in the fridge is fine. I do it all the time, and I'll eat it any time up until it starts growing extra bits. Posts: 1431 | Registered: Aug 2003
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If you spray your tupperware (et al) with Pam before putting tomato-sauce-laden food in it, you can microwave it without staining the plastic. That's the only worthwhile thing I know about tomato sauce. I fall into the "if the food ain't fuzzy yet it's probably cool" crowd.
So, don't keep it in an open can. But a sealed glass or plastic container is fine. Especially if your brand has lots of cool preservative-type-chemicals. Yum!
I keep opened (but closed tightly) jars of tomato sauce in the fridge for weeks. Longer even, probably -- I don't write a date on it.
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In addition to looking for fuzz, I also sniff (or waft) to see if there is any fungal essence. But I have no idea how long various stuff has been in my fridge. Why is tomato/spaghetti sauce different from apple sauce?
Posts: 11017 | Registered: Apr 2003
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As long as I can't see anything growing in it and it doesn't smell funny, I think it's fine. I know I keep (and use) tomato sauce (in its glass jar or in a tupperware) in the fridge longer than 5 days.
Posts: 5879 | Registered: Apr 2001
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Storing the tomato sauce in glass should be just fine. (Heck that's how aqua regia is stored.) However, don't store it upside down with the tomato sauce in contact with the metal lid... Then you are getting the same problems as if storing in a can.
THat tip on spraying the stuff so that it doesn't get dyed is interesting but make sense. Plastics are giant branching molecules and there is actually a lot of available space in between for smaller molecules (like the red in tomato sauce) to sneak in between and stay because they like it especially when heat is added. Spraying with Pam would pre-clog those openings though and make it so that those sneaky small molecules couldn't get in.
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So how long can I leave tuna fish in the can, once it's been opened? This is tuna in water, not tuna in oil.
Posts: 1990 | Registered: Feb 2001
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I personally wouldn't. I'd transfer it to a ziploc baggie. But you don't have the acidity factor in the tuna scenario that is inherent in the tomato scenario so it probably isn't quite as big of a deal.
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AJ, I would recommend that you do a helpful hints column, but most of the world's eyes would glaze over.
Posts: 4625 | Registered: Jul 2002
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Don't store stuff in a can! My grandmother always said not to! Put it in a plastic container to be on the safe side!
Posts: 9942 | Registered: Mar 2003
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When tin cans were actually tin you had a lot more problems. Now even if they are tin they normally have a protective coating of plastic to prevent the can and the contents from reacting with each other, if there are issues.
What about milk? My wife insists that you must throw it out the day listed. I say that's the last day it can be sold, but as long as smells OK, you won't die.
Posts: 4625 | Registered: Jul 2002
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My rule for pretty much everything is that if it smells, looks, and tastes okay, it's okay. Cor believes that things are magically okay before and on their expiration date, and immediately bad afterward. I get my way with eggs, on which we use the water cup test, but she gets her way with milk, because, well, nobody really wants to test questionable milk to see if it's still good.
Posts: 1112 | Registered: Jan 2003
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Okay, this is gross, but when I was a poor college student (as opposed to a poor teacher) I would eat Ragu spaghetti sauce out of a LARGE jar (it was cheaper that way) for weeks. And, if it started growing stuff on the edges, I would scrape off the moldy sauce and still eat it. I'm still alive and I never got food poisoning.
But then again, maybe I was blessed.
And it was certainly disgusting now that I look back on it. Posts: 1735 | Registered: Mar 2001
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If there is no meat in the sauce and it was stored in glass, I'd eat it but cook it at least 1/2 an hour first.
Posts: 2711 | Registered: Mar 2004
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Rules of thumb I was taught for things past their expiration dates:
Medications: toss (can in some cases become not merely ineffective, but actually harmful)
Dry goods (crackers, cereal, etc.): no problem, might taste a bit stale
Dairy products: should generally be good 5-7 days past date IF they have been stored properly; still SEALED yogurt and cottage cheese should be good until at least a month past date
Eggs: good for weeks past date, although I wouldn't use post-date eggs for anything (like scrambled or fried eggs) that isn't thoroughly cooked
Citrus juice: if opened, usually good for 7-10 days past date; if never opened, probably good for 2-3 weeks past date (but use rapidly once opened); also, sniff taste is highly indicative for citrus juices
USE COMMON SENSE! If it looks odd, smells off, or otherwise seems questionable, DON'T EAT IT! And for goodness sakes, don't ask me to smell it!
YMMV, I decline to be held legally responsible, yada yada . . . but as I mentioned in my previous post, I haven't killed anyone yet. Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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Working as I do the in the ultimate potentially dodgy food business (chicken) I know that most shelf life indicators are at LEAST 10% shorter than the that theoretically possible. Add on 10% to the shelflife and you're fine unless it smells or looks bad, or is growing something.!!
Posts: 90 | Registered: Aug 2002
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And don't cut the mold off soft cheeses, only off hard cheeses, cause the mold toxin spreads through soft foods more easily than through hard foods (like hard cheeses).
Posts: 5771 | Registered: Nov 2000
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