go through using our food storage, we occasionally come across foods
that are past their best-by or use-by dates. It happens to all of us.
And those dates can cause us to question whether the food is still safe
to eat. It shouldn’t, but it can sometimes nagging doubts. And if the
dates don’t raise the doubts, someone in the family undoubtedly will.
There
are different methods for testing various foods and determining
safety. Sometimes it’s obvious. If a can of vegetables is bulging, or a
jar of home-canned peaches has lost its seal, it’s a no-brainer. That
food gets tossed.
But in other situations, it’s not so easy to tell, and this is
especially true for those lacking sensitive noses and taste buds. I’m
one of those people, but I’m not as bad off as some. One of the areas
some people struggle with is determining whether an oil has gone
rancid. While a lot of folks just automatically assume the oil is bad
when it reaches its use-by date, that’s not necessarily the case. When
food is scarce, try using the following tests if your oil is questionable before relegating it to
one of the uses for rancid oil that has previously been discussed here
on the blog.
The first step is to smell the oil. If the odor is a bit repulsive,
then that’s it. Find a non-culinary use for it. If it smells as it
should–like peanut or olive or vegetable oil should smell, then move on
to the next test.
Dip your finger in the oil and taste it. If it tastes bad, take a
look at the non-culinary uses for it. If it still tastes acceptable to
you, proceed to the third test.
Finally, swallow a half-teaspoon straight, or mix it with a little
vinegar and drizzle it on bread or salad greens. Wait one day. If you
haven’t had an unpleasant reaction to it, it’s still good for food.
However, the shelf life may be short, so use it quickly.
Links to related posts:
Uses for Rancid Oil
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