Spoiled Ground Beef?

[goboenomo]

About 2 pounds of ground beef has been in the fridge since Saturday. I smells kind of funny, but not too bad. Could it be spoiled? Or still good?

 

[Selkie]

Replace it! If you can't use it within about 48 hours of putting it in the meat keeper of your refrigerator, forget it... you've wasted your money.

 

[DaveSoMD]

Uncooked and in the fridge for 4 days. Probably it has gone bad. What is the expiration date on the package?

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Dump it!

 

[spork]

How smelly is safe? Depends on whether your stomach can handle 10% spoilage, 20%, 50% ...

 

[NoraC]

If you aren't terribly risk averse, try browning it up. If it is spoiled, the odor will be unmistakable. Sometimes the odor comes from liquid that has been caught in the packaging rather than the meat itself.

 

[pacanis]

Ground beef is a same day use item for me... and I always think it smells funny. I use it the same day because I have no idea how long it's been out at the grocery store. And sometimes even then it doesn't smell right and I return it.

 

[Barbara L]

If it just smelled a LITTLE off, I would cook it with some rice for my dog. I wouldn't eat it though. Better to dump it and not take chances.

 

[CharlieD]

Ground meat is very inexpensive, if it smells kinf of off, trow it away. And I am the first one to say keep everything usually. But why take chances.

 

[letscook]

"When in doubt throw it out"

 

[BigAL]

I like Barbara's idea.

Anything ground up should be eaten or frozen w/in a day or two, imo. If you do decide to eat it, go to the store first and stock up on TP, and maybe reserve a room at the hospital.

 

[CraigC]

Use it for catfish bait, they'll eat anything! If the water isn't full of pollutents, you have now taken something that can't be eaten and turned it into something that can. BTW, skinning cats is easy, all you need is a board, a nail, a pair of pliers and a fillet knife.

Craig

 

[jennyema]

Ground meat is very inexpensive, if it smells kinf of off, trow it away. And I am the first one to say keep everything usually. But why take chances.

It's gone up in price like crazy here. Like .50 a pound at least so I wouldn't say it's very inexpensive.

That said, without question throw it out. And I wouldn't give it to the dig either. I do that once and it was a disaster.

 

[pacanis]

Ground beef is pretty expensive here, too. It seems all beef has gone up.

 

[CWS4322]

I'd offer it to my dogs <g>.

 

[jennyema]

If you've ever had to clean up after and get vet treatment for a dog who ate bad hamburger, then you'd think twice ... it was NOT a pretty sight ...

 

[Andy M.]

If you've ever had to clean up after and get vet treatment for a dog who ate bad hamburger, then you'd think twice ... it was NOT a pretty sight ...

Not to mention the guilt you feel for putting the little guy through it.

 

[FrankZ]

I wouldn't feed my animals food that I wouldn't eat from a safety point of view.

I have used ground beef that had a "weird smell" and it tends to have a "weird" taste as well. When it hits the hot pan there is a distinct smells if it is bad, and it is not pleasant. Sometimes it can smell a tad off, and you hesitant but it is ok. When it is really bad the smell is horrible when it heats.

 

[jennyema]

Not to mention the guilt you feel for putting the little guy through it.

Absolutley. I thught it was a treat, and God knows, dogs eat some bad stuff when out on walks.

It was a big gal, my greyhound Opal. She became so dehydrated that they had to inject her with saline and she had this huge bubble on her back -- she looked like a camel!

 

[Andy M.]

Sadly, you can't be sure something that tastes really good isn't going to come back and bite you later.

Returning from vacation last month we had a stopover in Miami and had dinner at a Cuban cafeteria-style restaurant. I was excited and loaded up my tray with lechon asada, black beans, rice and plantains. SO had a Cuban sandwich. All through the meal, I was raving about how delicious everything was. The other shoe dropped a day after we got home. I was "not normal" for a week. SO was fine.

What's really scary is that I saw a lot of flight crews eating there.