Cooked seasoned taco meat... how long?

[Mrs. Charming]

I cooked some taco meat last Monday night. It's been refrigerated since then, we just never ate it. Do you think it would be safe to eat tonight for dinner, or chuck it?

Thanks!!

 

[AKL_Megs]

It's fine.

I always deliberatly save a little bit of our taco meat, because there is always spanish rice/beans left over, and the meat topped on the spanish rice/beans mixture is DELICIOUS.

Either DH or I usually eats it a few days after "taco night".

 

[Jockaroo]

If it were me, I'd chuck it. My mom always said with meat, "Day 4 and out the door."

 

[Mrs. Charming]

I'm going to have DH taste it-- he's my guinea pig. It smells ok, but I'm always terrified of leftovers... and I don't want to go to the store tonight! (Or more fast food, ick)

 

[wdwfan16]

Chuck it out. 6 days is too long.

 

[daisyduck123]

I toss meat after three days...so it's been in there twice as long under my guidelines.

 

[minkydog]

It's been in there 7 days? Ugh. I don't keep ANYTHING that long, let alone meat.

 

[John VN]

Been cooking for 40 years and many things will go at least 2 weeks before I throw it out. The old guidelines just don't apply for safety with refrigeration around 34 degrees. Depends on what the item is and the expectation as far as flavor.

Fish, no way but I eat cold Sloppy Joe 2 weeks after I initially cook it and the flavor is still great. I oven roasted a turkey today and the breast meat we will have until it is gone late next week. Taste will be same as today and no health issues. Turkey soup I am making right now will be fine in fridge for 1+ weeks or forever frozen.

 

[momof1princess]

i won't eat anything after 4-5 days, usually, but with taco meat that's been thoroughly cooked and refrigerated, i would likely go ahead and eat it. i make tacos about once per week, and there is usually always enough leftover for the next night. enjoy

 

[Mrs. Charming]

Well.. the verdict is... Chinese food order has been placed.

I feel terrible wasting food, but being preggo... I'm just too afraid.

 

[Elmo9607]

Yep, we also abide by the three day rule. However, since I started in culinary arts, I notice that the cafeteria at our school keeps things WAAAAAYYYY longer than that. We just tossed some soup in the freezer than had been refrigerated for two weeks. So I'm not so sure about the three day rule anymore

I have a question as well...I have a package of chicken tenderloins in the fridge. On the package it says use or freeze by June 18th (yesterday). They are not cooked and the package is open (I used three of them). Are they okay to cook and eat tonight? Can I still freeze them? Or should I toss them out?

 

[Silent1CB]

I guess it would actually depend on how cold you keep your refridgerator. Our old fridge didn't have an inside thermometer so we always assumed it was properly cold enough.

Our new fridge digitally shows the inside temp. 36 is correct. 0 degrees for the freezer. Its amazing how much longer foods & milk last now.

 

[kirstenb1]

I do 48 hrs for leftovers. But taco meat does freeze well, just for future reference. If we don't eat leftovers in 2 days, I do freeze whatever will keep.

 

[Mrs. Charming]

I do 48 hrs for leftovers. But taco meat does freeze well, just for future reference. If we don't eat leftovers in 2 days, I do freeze whatever will keep.

I usually do.. but I think I lost concept of time, lol.