How long will chicken stay fresh in the refrigerator? How long can you keep grapes on the countertop? Is it okay to freeze cucumbers? There is a certain amount of common sense when determining if a given food is past its prime (and you can always try a smell test) but for general guidelines and planning purposes this infographic from Visual.ly is incredibly handy. Check out the full graph below with shelf life guides to over 30 uncut, unopened, and uncooked fruits, veggies, meats, condiments and other typical fridge foods:
Related: A Guide to Storing Fruits and Vegetables
(Images: Visual.ly)
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Wait wait wait.... All this time I could have saved myself the hassle and left my 2 lbs parmesan wedge in the frigging pantry?
You're not supposed to consume food past the sell-by date?! I always thought there was a grace period. For example, I have some fresh vegetable soup in the fridge. The sell-by date is 03/01. I thought I had another few days. But according to this, I should have thrown it out two weeks ago?
This is a great graphic with some helpful info, but I feel like the "Sell-by" and "expires on" date explanations are mixed up. From the USDA site: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/factsheets/food_product_dating/index.asp#11
Food definitely lasts longer than the manufacturers and distributors say; they have a variety of reasons for encouraging us to throw it away early. If something looks fresh and smells fresh, it probably is fresh...
I thought fruit went off really quickly if you keep it in the fridge? With the exception of strawberries, which are generally kept in refrigeration. I assumed that was why we all keep fruit on the counter (supermarkets included)
I know banana's go off way quicker in the fridge.
The comment about eggs doesn't make sense either. In Europe, and I assume many other areas of the world, eggs are bought off of shelves in the supermarket- not refrigerators. If they go bad in a few hours outside the fridge, how do chickens ever hatch?
@Nanster Eggs in the US and Europe (or at least the UK) are processed differently. I just found this out myself. I knew that Europeans are more likely to leave eggs out I wasn't sure what the difference was. See this Forbes article for more info: http://www.forbes.com/sites/nadiaarumugam/2012/10/25/why-american-eggs-would-be-illegal-in-a-british-supermarket-and-vice-versa/.
Actually, it is just the banana peel that ripens faster in the fridge. The banana inside is still perfectly delicious, not mushy, and not overly sweet. I'll usually stick my bananas in the fridge if I bought a few too many.
Ah! Thank you for the information! Although all that article really did was make me want to throw my eggs away and move to England...
that chart ignores the fact that you can freeze eggs...egg whites can be frozen by themselves, or you can scramble an egg and freeze that.
What salads are they making that are still edible 3-5 days later??? Mine go to mush in hours once dressing is applied.
If the greens are fresh and dry, they will last for several days in the refrigerator. Don't try to store them once you've added dressing though, as you found apium, they turn to mush.
You can freeze apples? I've unintentionally frozen apples in the fridge and it completely ruins the texture. Maybe if you're using them for baking?
It's bad until I say it's bad otherwise, it's all good to eat.=p
If you're going to freeze an egg, put either a pinch of salt or a pinch of sugar into the beaten egg first before freezing. Keeps it fresher (by adjusting the pH, I think).
This is great information! Thanks for sharing!
Love this!!!!
Spaghetti and meat balls only lasts 2 days at the most in the fridge??
Whoops.
I give mine 5 days...