My Ground Beef Has Been in the Fridge for 2 Weeks

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Ground beef is a versatile ingredient that you lot can use to brand burgers, taco meat, spaghetti sauce, and then much more. If you have beef in your fridge and you lot're not certain if information technology's still expert to use, yous can check in a few easy ways to encounter if it's spoiled. Merely call up never to eat meat that'southward gone bad!

Signs That Ground Beef is Bad

1. i

   Check to meet if it has turned a dull chocolate-brown or grey. ^[1] Fresh beefiness will exist bright ruddy in color, but information technology may have a few brown spots in the center since ground beef is taken from unlike parts of the cow. Your basis beefiness volition turn more greyness the longer yous continue information technology. If all of your beefiness is grayness rather than red or brown, information technology's best to throw it away.^[2]

   • Prepackaged ground beef develops a brown colour on the within because oxygen is not able to attain the center.^[3]

2. 2

   Scent the beefiness to meet if you find a sour smell. ^[iv] Fresh beefiness will have a slight smell, but beef starting to go bad will smell rotten or sour. The smell is produced from gases made by some of the bacteria on your beef. If in that location is a strong odour, avert eating information technology.^[five]

   • Many bacteria that cause food-borne illnesses like salmonella cannot be smelled and tin can be establish on fresh beef. E'er cook the beef thoroughly to impale bacteria. If you don't feel comfortable eating the beefiness, throw it away.

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3. three

   Touch the meat to run into if it feels slimy. Squeeze the meat in your fingers to feel its consistency. Fresh meat should break apart in your hands hands and separate into chunks. If the meat is mucilaginous or has a slimy texture, it has most likely gone bad.^[6]

   • E'er launder your hands before and after you handle raw beef then you don't spread bacteria or contaminate surfaces.

4. iv

   Check the sell-by engagement on the packaging. Raw basis beef is rubber to use just 1 or ii days after the recommended sell-by date. Check the calendar to make up one's mind how many days have passed since you bought it and throw information technology abroad if information technology'southward one-time.^[7]

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1. 1

   Store uncooked ground beef in the refrigerator at or below forty °F (4 °C). If you plan to cook the beef shortly, store it in your refrigerator. Beefiness left out at room temperature will start to harbor harmful bacteria colonies within 2 hours. Never leave meat out for longer than 2 hours at room temperature, or for more than ane hour if it is above 90 °F (32 °C).

   • If you don't plan to cook your beef right abroad, freeze it.

2. 2

   Cook the beefiness within ii days of the sell-by date. If the beef has been in a refrigerator the whole fourth dimension, information technology volition stay fresh and safe to apply upwards to ii days after the date listed on the packaging. Make sure you employ the beefiness soon after you buy it and then it doesn't go to waste.^[8]

3. 3

   Proceed raw beef in the freezer for up to four months. Keep the beefiness in freezer-safe plastic bags and label them with the sell-past date listed on the packaging. Squeeze all the air out of the bag before sealing it to conserve freezer space.^[9]

   • You may start to notice white freezer spots on the beef after a few months. These areas can be cut off if there are only a few. Otherwise, throw the meat away.

4. 4

   Thaw the beef in the fridge or in a sink filled with common cold h2o. Transfer the frozen beefiness to the fridge 1 to ii days before you lot plan to use it so it has time to completely thaw. If you want to thaw the meat in the sink, make full your sink with cold water and submerge the beef. Change the water every 30 minutes until it'south completely thawed.^[10]

   • Beefiness thawed with water needs to exist cooked right away.
   • Never get out the meat to thaw at room temperature.
   • Beef can be thawed in the microwave merely information technology needs to be cooked correct after it'south finished thawing to avoid any contamination.

5. 5

   Cook ground beef to 160 °F (71 °C) earlier storing or eating it. The just way to impale the natural bacteria in your beef is to melt information technology entirely. Use a meat thermometer to cheque the internal temperature of the meat while you're cooking information technology.^[11]

6. 6

   Store cooked basis beef in the refrigerator or freezer. Cooked ground beef can exist safely stored in the refrigerator for 7 days before it starts to spoil. Information technology can besides exist stored for up to 8 months in the freezer. Be sure to shop it in an air-tight container!

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Add New Question

• Question

  Froze 2lbs of basis beef on third day of refrigeration. It turned dark brown when thawed in refrigerator. Is it bad?

  

  This answer was written by one of our trained team of researchers who validated information technology for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

  

  wikiHow Staff Editor

  Staff Answer

  Check the olfactory property and texture of your basis beef. Information technology does change color as it gets older, merely if information technology doesn't odor or feel slimy, it should still be okay.

• Question

  Can I melt ground beef that sabbatum in the fridge for an unknown amount of time?

  

  This answer was written past one of our trained team of researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

  

  wikiHow Staff Editor

  Staff Answer

  Throw information technology away if yous aren't sure when the sell-by date was. Information technology may have gone bad.

• Question

  Is my footing beefiness safety to swallow the next twenty-four hours if I defrosted it in the parcel in h2o all twenty-four hour period and put information technology in the refrigerator for overnight?

  

  This answer was written past ane of our trained team of researchers who validated information technology for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

  

  wikiHow Staff Editor

  Staff Answer

  Ground beef should be cooked immediately later y'all thaw it in water. Otherwise, bacteria could form.

• Question

  I packed my hamburgers in split freezer numberless and left them on the counter for vi hours in 74 degree weather. Tin I freeze them now?

  

  This answer was written past one of our trained team of researchers who validated information technology for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

  

  wikiHow Staff Editor

  Staff Answer

  You lot shouldn't refreeze them since they probably developed bacteria while they were thawing at room temperature. Always thaw your beef in the refrigerator or in a sink with common cold water.

• Question

  What would cause meat to taste sour after it has been frozen?

  

  This answer was written by 1 of our trained squad of researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

  

  wikiHow Staff Editor

  Staff Answer

  The longer you proceed food in the freezer, the more than likely information technology is to develop freezer spots that could aspect to the flavor.

• Question

  Is it safe to cook and eat beef that has turned brown? It has been frozen and thawed.

  

  This reply was written past ane of our trained team of researchers who validated information technology for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

  

  wikiHow Staff Editor

  Staff Answer

  Meat will plough dark-brown over time. Cheque to run across if it smells or has a slimy texture.

• Question

  Can I boil my basis beef if I am not certain it is bad?

  

  This answer was written past one of our trained team of researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

  

  wikiHow Staff Editor

  Staff Answer

  When in dubiety, throw the beef away. It is only proficient to use up to two days after the sell-by date if it's been in your fridge.

• Question

  I bought 5 lbs. of hamburger at Grocery Outlet and froze information technology immediately. Sour tasting, strange clear colored juice came out when frying. What happened?

  

  DividedGuitarist

  Community Answer

  Your beef may have been freezer burned or it was expired when you bought information technology and you had never noticed it. The clear colored juice may take been a watery mixture that leached out while cooking.

• Question

  If beefiness smells slightly off, volition cooking information technology thoroughly save it?

  

  No, information technology volition not. The issue with food poisoning is that whatever baddies are in the meat accept left behind toxins - that's one reason information technology's called food poisoning and non food. If the beef has gone off, and then yous can't cook it to save it, it must exist disposed of.

• Question

  If I feed my dog footing beef that was left out two days, will information technology hurt him?

  

  Yep, it is likely to hurt him, just as information technology would a man.

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• Keep common cold foods below xl °F (four °C) and hot foods to a higher place 140 °F (60 °C). Anything in betwixt these two ranges is in the "Danger Zone" and volition showtime to develop bacteria.

• Wash your easily after treatment raw beef so you don't contaminate other surfaces.

• Always melt beef to an internal temperature of 160 °F (71 °C).

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Commodity Summary X

If you're not certain whether your ground beef is still skillful, lean shut and smell it. If the meat smells sour or unpleasant, information technology's probably bad and you should discard it. If information technology seems okay, use your fingers to exam the texture. Meat that has turned bad volition experience sticky, tacky, or slimy and should be thrown out. You can also use the color of the meat as a guideline. Ground beef that is dark-brown or gray is yet safe to eat, only if it is turning green, y'all should throw information technology away. Read on for tips on storing footing beef to keep it from spoiling!

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