Spaghetti Sauce with Meat

[Cheshire_Human]

@JKilez

Gotta agree with that. The question should be, “After how many months should I toss my sauce?”

I use this rule, too, but one thing you have to keep in mind is that if you don’t toss your sauce when you should have, you will be “tossing your sauce” in a different, and more unpleasant sense.

[Redfishhunter930]

Tomato sauce and tomato products will last along time in the refrigerator.depending on the most part on the temperature it’s been stored at and how it was stored. Common sense will tell you it will last along time just by asking yourself how old is that ketchup in the refrigerator and how long has it been in there. Both items are essentially the same thing. The meat being the only difference which was fully cooked when it was added to the Tom sauce before it was canned or jarred at the factory. After cooking the first time if the remaining sauce was cooled quickly and brought to a temperature under 40f and stored at temperature 33-34 I would have no problems heating the same product back up to 140f and eating it with pasta 10days later.

[Cugel]

@barbitu8

My question was proactive, not reactive. Half a jar of spaghetti sauce is good for one spaghetti meal for me. Now, I’m left with half a jar. I wanted to know how long I have before I have to either use it or discard it.

Ditto. Half a can used upon opening, the other half a week later. Been doing this for some time, seemingly no ill effects. It actually hadn’t occurred to me that it would go off.

[Mama_Zappa]

@barbitu8

Once opened, for how long will spaghetti sauce with meat, kept in the fridge, be safe to eat?

Hmmmm - I assume you mean the jarred stuff vs. homemade.

For homemade, I have personal experience: eating on the 6th day (as in, made on Sunday, eating it on Friday) has caused a dose of the trots the next day. Not a severe one, but both my spouse and I had the same effect.

For jarred: no clue.

[Elendil_s_Heir]

@commasense

These people saying a week or less are being super conservative IMHO. I’ve kept spaghetti sauce in the fridge for weeks and used it with no problems.

Seconded. But when in doubt, due to smell, taste or actual observable moss growth, pitch it.

[billfish678]

@Elendil_s_Heir

Seconded. But when in doubt, due to smell, taste or actual observable moss growth, pitch it.

Thats my rule too. Unless you are soo poor throw out a bit of food here and there will make you actually go hungry, the risks just aint worth it. And even if you ARE that poor, its still better to better manage your food production/consumption than to keep things too long so you can eat them later.

Another thing to consider. IIRC, at least some types of food poisoning has nothing to do with the food being sterile or not when you eat it. If it has some bad buggies growing in it they produce toxins. You boiling it for a bit before you eat it may kill the bad buggies, but the toxins that make you sick will still be there.