topic Re: How long do you keep leftovers? in Kitchen

How long do you keep leftovers?

Zhills — Fri, 07 Nov 2014 00:20:53 GMT

A segment on using leftovers aired on our local TV station. Here is the advice she gave. Do you keep leftovers longer than this?

Jill Roberts' reputation precedes her.
“I walk into restaurants and they say, 'God, here she comes,'" she explains with pride.
Roberts is a professor at the University of South Florida College of Public Health. And she does not negotiate when it comes to food safety.
"We have a lot of misconception," she noted.
TWO-DAY RULE
Roberts is most emphatic about leftovers.
"The rule with leftovers is 48 hours,” she says. “After 48 hours, you throw it away. I don't care what it is."
Roberts says there's simply no telling what's happening with food after you've kept it longer than two days.
"It's absolutely not safe," she insists.
Roberts goes out of her way to tell me the 48-hour rule applies to the Super Bowl of home leftovers: Thanksgiving.
"Five days after thanksgiving, you should not be eating that turkey," she said. "48 hours."
Professor Roberts acknowledges that most of us are on a tight budget..
"People don't want to waste money,” she said. “They don't want to waste food, and they don't want to waste money."
But she says the risk of eating three-, four- or five-day-old food is too great. Instead, she recommends smaller dinners to proactively cut both your kitchen waste as well as the chances you'll get sick.
"Any recipe can be cut in half," she said.

Re: How long do you keep leftovers?

LaLaMommy — Fri, 07 Nov 2014 00:23:59 GMT

6 days is my cut off. Never have had an issue.

Re: How long do you keep leftovers?

nunya — Fri, 07 Nov 2014 00:27:01 GMT

3 days max.

Re: How long do you keep leftovers?

brewhaha — Fri, 07 Nov 2014 00:27:53 GMT

Four or five days.

Re: How long do you keep leftovers?

brii — Fri, 07 Nov 2014 00:28:27 GMT

3 days is my max.

Re: How long do you keep leftovers?

depglass — Fri, 07 Nov 2014 00:29:01 GMT

DH is now around much more than he has been in years. They give him more local assignments since he is close to retirement. He expects every last morsel of leftovers to be eaten, right up to the point they grow mold. When he was gone I used to just throw stuff out, now I'm seriously cutting recipes so every day isn't a battle over some smidge of something. Both of us have parents that lived through the Depression. That's no excuse to get sick.

Re: How long do you keep leftovers?

DoneTryin — Fri, 07 Nov 2014 00:30:51 GMT

2 days max for me. Otherwise, things get shoved to the back of the refrigerator & forgotten, until those interesting odors assault me when I open the door.

Re: How long do you keep leftovers?

chickenbutt — Fri, 07 Nov 2014 00:33:41 GMT

Not long. I'm pretty food-neurotic. Different things have different shelf lives, but if it's something like I made a dish for dinner and have enough for another meal then I use it the next day or the day after that at the latest.

I'm a nut for proper food storage, so anything I have in there is stored in an optimal setting, i.e. either vacuum sealed or in an airtight container (Lock & Lock).

One thing different I suppose is that, for example, a few days ago I cooked 2 cups of brown rice. That is probably 5-6 meals for me, so it stores well for several days in a L&L container.

Re: How long do you keep leftovers?

Sweetbay magnolia — Fri, 07 Nov 2014 00:37:04 GMT

2 days? I think it depends on the type of food. I don't conduct a scientific analysis every time I use leftovers but so far, so good. I'm of the "building antibodies is good" belief!

Off to make a casserole with (gasp) some older than 2 day cooked elbow macaroni.

How about freezing leftovers?

Re: How long do you keep leftovers?

AuntG — Fri, 07 Nov 2014 00:58:34 GMT

What is so magical about 48 hours? As long as the leftovers are refrigerated, I'd be willing to go 4 to 5 days before tossing out the food. Generally, if I make a big batch of something (let's say chili), I only heat up what we need for a meal, so the big pot isn't being heated and refrigerated day in and day out.

Re: How long do you keep leftovers?

Zhills — Fri, 07 Nov 2014 01:05:19 GMT

Doesn't Rachel Ray make dishes on Sunday and keep them until Friday?

Is there a difference in fresh made and leftovers? The only thing I can think of is using a utensil in the food to dip it out. I'm guilt of breaking the two day rule also.

Re: How long do you keep leftovers?

Skyegirl21 — Fri, 07 Nov 2014 01:14:59 GMT

I keep leftovers for a week, then freeze or throw out- I've done this for many years and no problem- Two days is wasteful IMO.

Re: How long do you keep leftovers?

santorini — Fri, 07 Nov 2014 01:15:47 GMT

2 days max for me too. If I have a large batch of something, I can tell how much I will use, so I freeze the other part at least by the second day. This is why I like to volunteer to bring dishes a lot. I can eat my own food knowing it's fresh. No telling what other people (my own family) might think is okay to serve (way past its "expiration point").

Re: How long do you keep leftovers?

buddylou — Fri, 07 Nov 2014 01:20:11 GMT

3 days at the most! Even milk is thrown out after 3 days! I am a fanatic after being food poisoned once on left overs! It was the sickest I have ever been!

Re: How long do you keep leftovers?

rudy — Fri, 07 Nov 2014 01:20:20 GMT

Unless they are frozen, two days in the fridge.

Re: How long do you keep leftovers?

CalminHeart — Fri, 07 Nov 2014 01:20:27 GMT

I keep leftovers until they're gone.

I hate to cook so I cook only on Sunday. I fix enough of the entrée to last through at least Thursday. If any is left on Thursday goes into single serve containers and is frozen. I currently have about 34 single serve containers in the freezer. I cooked 3 big crock pots a couple of weeks ago....two soups and one entree that includes chicken. They're great to take to work and microwave for lunch or I have an easy meal anytime I want.

Re: How long do you keep leftovers?

Snicks1 — Fri, 07 Nov 2014 01:25:02 GMT

Just till I can remember to throw them out.

Re: How long do you keep leftovers?

RedTop — Fri, 07 Nov 2014 01:52:32 GMT

In our house it depends on what it is. BBQ, vegetable soup or chili stay until they're gone, which is usually 5-7 days. Spaghetti stays 5 days. Cole slaw goes after 3 days. Brown beans stay 3 days. Many of our leftovers are thrown to the chickens, while others get bagged with the trash that goes out on Friday. I do not like to waste food, but have never adhered to the 48 hour rule.

Re: How long do you keep leftovers?

Mary Bailey — Fri, 07 Nov 2014 01:55:47 GMT

DH would say ""it's good until it knocks on door & asks to be let out"" and ""it lasts forever""

I say 2-4 days depending on what it is.

Re: How long do you keep leftovers?

upNorth — Fri, 07 Nov 2014 02:05:11 GMT

I don't keep them.