Welcome to Cook Like a Pro, in which we ask some of our favorite chefs for their essential techniques, along with advice on fearlessly frying, flipping, seasoning, and more.
[Editor's note: When assistant editor Amiel Stanek decided to pen an ode to expired (yes, expired) food, our research department had questions. Lots of questions. Below is Stanek's unabridged text, complete with (very) extensive notes from the researcher assigned to fact-check his story. Oh, and one more note: This piece did not appear in our April "Cook Like a Pro" story, which probably saved us a lot of angry readers' letters.]
Growing up with two healthcare-professional boomers for parents, food safety was a thing in my house. Raw eggs were handled with the kind of care usually reserved for unexploded ordnance. Meat and fish were transported home from the market packed on ice like organs awaiting a transplant. Food was dangerous.
So imagine my surprise when, as a young adult, I started working in restaurant kitchens and found that pro cooks didn’t share my parents’ paranoia. Buckets of aioli were whizzed up using regular ole’ egg yolks—not the “irradiated”[1] ones my father insisted were the only kind safe to eat raw. Meat sat out at room temperature for hours*[2]* before being cooked. (Steak 101: Cold meat never cooks evenly.) The list of “transgressions” was long. I was forced to conclude that either a) the restaurant industry was murdering millions of people each year and engaged in a massive conspiracy to cover it all up, or b) we can all—home cooks especially—chill out a little bit.
Having accepted the latter to be true, I’ve enjoyed yogurt months past*[3]* its “expiration date” (I like it on the tangier side, anyway), sliced bits of mold from cheese and bread*[4]* before happily munching on them, consumed plenty of medium-rare heritage-breed pork (so juicy it would make a rib eye blush), and generally decided that a good sniff*[5]* is a much more reliable indicator of a foodstuff’s edibleness than any fear-mongering PSA*. Oh, but the whole washing your hands after using the bathroom thing? That’s (probably) still real.
[1] Amiel says his Dad may have meant "pasteurized." Irradiated eggs are not commonly available in the U.S.
[2] I realize this is written in jest, but USDA says you shouldn't leave meat out longer than 1 hour if temperature is above 90°F. Even in temp. of 40°F, you shouldn't leave meat out longer than 2 hours. Bacteria grows rapidly and food could become dangerous.
[3] I realize that Amiel is joking around but "months past exp. date" seems excessive and yogurt probably would be spoiled or moldy at that point . Most sources say 3-10 days past expiration seems to be the limit. USDA food safety specialist says they recommend eating yogurt within 1-2 weeks of purchase.
[4] FYI: Per USDA food safety expert, it is safe to cut off mold and healthy margin from cheese, but they say you should not consume bread with mold on it. Bread is more porous than cheese, and since mold has long tendrils, it can spread into the bread. Aware this is written in jest, but eating moldy bread could make you sick.
[5] Per USDA, some people have better senses of smell than others (for example older people lose their sense of smell). Some can't detect "off odor." Also food left at room temperature for too long may look and smell just fine but may be dangerous to eat. According to USDA food safety specialist, food poisoning bacteria doesn't affect the taste, smell or appearance of a food.
*Speaking of which: Consuming raw or undercooked meats, poultry, seafood, shellfish, or eggs may increase your risk of foodborne illness.