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From: ems@amdahl.UUCP (ems)
Newsgroups: net.cooks
Subject: Re: "Expired" yogurt
Message-ID: <2166@amdahl.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 30-Oct-85 12:34:28 EST
Article-I.D.: amdahl.2166
Posted: Wed Oct 30 12:34:28 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 2-Nov-85 04:23:09 EST
References: <1136@decwrl.UUCP>
Distribution: net
Organization: Circle C Shellfish Ranch, Shores-of-the-Pacific, Ca
Lines: 34

> Something from the back of the fridge for the line eater.
> 
> >I just discovered a carton of yogurt in the back of the fridge which has
> >a best-before date of Sept.30.  I opened it and took a cautious sniff
> >but it smells OK.  Is it all right to eat it?  If it's unsafe for plain
> >eating, can I use it in cooking e.g. Beef Stroganoff??
> 
> Well, cough, cough, I found a two-months-past-the-expiration-date
> container of regular Yoplait at the back of my refrigerator awhile back,
> and it too smelled okay and I ate it with no ill effects.  It had gotten
> quite a bit thicker than Yoplait's normal consistency.  Which leads me to
> wonder what the expiration date means.

I used to make my own yogurt.  The directions that I followed
stated that the fermentation time could be shortened or lengthened to
make a more or less tart/thick mix.  Refrigeration is a way to slow the
fermentation rate.  Looks to me like you should mostly just get a
more tart version.  There are bugs in yogurt other than the lactobacillus
that makes it 'yog'.  These will gradually cause the yogurt to go bad.
My personal experience was that this happened *LONG* after it was too
tart for my tastes.  The general rule was that if it smelled funny,
tasted odd, or  was very sharp/tart; then I would pitch it.

Hope this helps.

Mike
-- 

E. Michael Smith  ...!{hplabs,ihnp4,amd,nsc}!amdahl!ems

'If you can dream it, you can do it'  Walt Disney

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