h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

If I've spoken at length to any of you about food, you'll know I'm very very picky about poultry and the bacteria that live within. I have to sterilise my whole kitchen worktop after handling raw chicken, I never freeze or re-heat cooked chicken, and generally try to avoid cooking chicken on the bone, as it varies in the time taken to cook through.

I bought some chicken wings at the weekend, and was intending to eat them tomorrow (30th June). Problem is, the Best Before date is 25th June .

I've stuck them in a marinade full of soy sauce, lemon juice, chilli and other things that tend to kill off bacteria, and I'm going to cook them for nigh on an hour, but I can't shake off the nasty nagging feeling that they won't exactly be fit to eat at 6pm tomorrow. What should I do? Risk it? Bin them and order a curry instead? Help!

B

I'd risk it. But I am a student and as such live off mould.

I wouldn't risk meat if it was even one day _before_ the best by date. But I'm virtually a vegetarian.

Hmm, wise man with beard and 100 Guide Entries against student Leeds United fan. Tough choice.

B

Hmmmm. I wouldn't pick me, and I am me.

Five days? I'd probably wuss out, but I've eaten meat a day or so past its date and didn't die.

<>

So why bother with chicken at all?

Have some King prawns...much healthier than wings and much tastier...

Alex.

You're going to cook chicken wings for an *hour*


Mmmm.... barbecued spicy twigs for tea!

While I would normally defer to Gnomon on matters of all fact (it is true that he has a beard...) but I rather like chicken wings, so I'd eat them. Then eat some more.

If you're not going to eat them, can I have them?

With this hot weather we're having, I've found vegetables going bad even in the fridge, so I certainly wouldn't mess with old meat. On the other hand, you'll probably only be sick for about 18 hours, which means you'll be in time for work on Friday, which for most of us is a slightly more relaxed day than the other days of the week (judging by the amount of natter here on h2g2 starting at about 2:30pm).

Hmmm...I don't know about the Irish education system, but English schools don't quite work like that.

Alex - King prawns are more tasty, yes; easier to cook, yes. Cheaper, no.

Desk - Standard cooking time for chicken wings is 45-50 minutes. Stay out of my kitchen.

B

Crikey!

I am rarely particular about food. And I have sometihng of a wrought iron constitution so dont get much Delhi Belly. I say eat them and be damned!

See you on Friday, so!

Look at the wording on the packet - not 'Use by...' or even 'Sell by...', but 'Best before'. There's a degree of built-in redundancy in that daye, and if they've been refrigerated the whole time they ought to be fine five days after the best before date.

Get some bugs inside you man! Build up some immunity fer goodness sake!

I wouldn't touch it with a bargepole. And I'm nowhere near as fussy as you. I won't touch anything that's gone over its use by date unless it's been in the freezer the equivalent time.

With all that cleaning that you do, you won't have much immunity to bugs and germs.

Some things are OK after the "best before" date. I remember drinking a bottle of beer which was seven years after the date and it tasted insipid, but it was OK. I discovered a tin of mandarin oranges in my father-in-laws house that was 23 years past the best before date. I didn't risk it.

I wouldn't eat it and I'll eat almost anything

I can see that we'll still be discussing this long after the chicken is either consumed or dumped.

I was told that anything having a best before date meant that you could eat it forever, but any goodness ie vitamins would be long gone after the date.

I did wonder when I posted this morning whether it was pointless, as the chicken was probably eaten for dinner last night.

My mum took some chicken home from my house as I was about to throw it away for being a day or so past its date. She's still alive, but she's been eating out of date food for years. She cooks it up and if it doesn't smell funny or taste funny she's happy to eat it.

'dumped' in what sense?

This may the entire crux of the matter in fact