MetaChat - How bad is bad?

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04 January 2008

How bad is bad? Ok, so this artichoke spinach dip never made it into the oven→[More:] and it waited patiently in the fridge for a long time. A long time.
Is there any way that baking the crap out of it and microwaving it, basically heating it beyond the ability of anything living to endure would render it safe for consumption?
i think i'm asking if when fats go bad, can they ever not be bad again? Or is it some biohazard now? They superheat tumors and pus or animal proteins so--
--anyway, the ingredients are parmesan, jack, mayonnaise, artichoke hearts, spinach... i think that's it.
i'm just asking for trouble, aren't i.
Will a gut full of red wine help?
i wonder what else is incubating in the fridge that might harm me. Or might i pull an Arthur Dent and accidentally cure myself of something? Avoiding being desperately ill will do, but it smells great...

post by: ethylene at: 00:27 | 16 comments

Yeah, i already baked the crap out of it and i do think parts of it might have turned a "danger color" before hand-- not neglected bean sauce neon orange or anything--

Quick, someone stop me or give me the go ahead! i need answers!

posted by ethylene 04 January | 00:32

Toss it sweet thang. We need you alive and well.

posted by arse_hat 04 January | 00:34

You know, I'd be on the side of tossing it, because it contains dairy (right?). Whenever I've eaten dairy that's past it, my stomach rebels.

Have the wine and some toasted bread'n'butter!

posted by Miko 04 January | 00:42

Goddammit.
i love spinach artichoke dip.
And there is so much of it.
And it's such a waste.
And i'm poor.

Goddammit.

But seriously, wouldn't the superheating neutralize whatever might do me harm? Or has there been some drastic chemical change like with those AquaDots? If it was a painless demise--
If i wasn't so tired i'd research rancid fats.

posted by ethylene 04 January | 00:52

You can cook out the danger but the bacteria will still make it taste like crap.

posted by arse_hat 04 January | 00:54

When in doubt, throw it out. Sorry, but it's the law.

posted by bmarkey 04 January | 00:57

Oh lordy, eth! Please just toss it.

I love the artichoke dip, too, but you don't want the bellyache. The Bees needs you not hugging that porcelain altar. And so do we.

If you do decide to bake and nuke that bad boy into submission, please just stock up on ginger ale and 7up first, ok? I understand the hate of wasting good food. I recommend white corn chips or thin (the triangular ones) Triscuits, if your going to risk it.

posted by lilywing13 04 January | 01:04

Oh, fine. i give.
You people are directly responsible for my chucking it down the pan.
Now everything smells like cheese, like some horrible tease...

posted by ethylene 04 January | 01:07

Well... I'm too late to chime in here, but I wouldn't necessarily have tossed. If it was refrigerated (well covered) the whole time and never left to sit on the counter, it seems to me it might have been okay (if it passed the smell test, obviously). Regular store mayo in the jar lasts for months in the fridge, as does parmesan if it doesn't dry up or get moldy - but maybe things become different once they're combined with the veggies? Science Bunnies? How do that work?

posted by taz 04 January | 02:11

I'm no Science Bunny (although I do live with one), so I dunno. It was the mention of "danger color" that was the tipping point for me.

posted by bmarkey 04 January | 02:17

oooh. Danger color is definitely bad; missed that. Yes, good throw, eth!

posted by taz 04 January | 02:48

Often it's not the bacteria itself that make spoiled food dangerous - it's the toxins those germies produce as part of their metabolic processes. So you could nuke the hell out of something to kill the germies, but if they've already been living in there making toxins, it's too late. The toxins won't be killed by heat.

Glad you threw it out, and I'm a person that cuts mold off cheese to eat the rest, eats leftovers that have been in the fridge for a week, eats pizza that's been sitting out overnight, etc.

posted by misskaz 04 January | 09:42

I'm with misskaz. I'm pretty tolerant of slightly off food (I made a Ceasar Salad last night with two-week old home-made dressing), but in this case, if doesn't pass the "Look and Smell" test, then toss it. Does it look turned? Does it smell turned? Then dear god, don't eat it!

posted by muddgirl 04 January | 10:13

Yeah, i'm not one one for ignorant food fear, but, in the end, anything that tips the scales towards gastrointestinal distress is never worth it. i just hadn't eaten anything really substantial all day and it was the first thing i actually wanted to eat. It only sat in there so long because there wasn't a time before when i felt like wallowing in a cheesefest.
i ended up eating some corn chips as it seems dubiously better than cakes and such.

Only got a few hours sleep and then The Bees knocked a jar of seed, semi precious and assorted beads into her litter box as she ollied off the wall. Bejeweled feces might give her the leg up in the freestyle speed spaz olympics but sifting through litter by hand first thing was not my idea.
Shh, i have to call the vet today to make appointments.

posted by ethylene 04 January | 10:15

When in doubt, throw it out.

posted by jason's_planet 04 January | 12:03

parmesan- keeps basically forever jack- same deal, and cheese mold is "safe" to eat.
mayonnaise- keeps for ages in a fridge, but did it get that funky clear-yellow color? That's a big "toss" sign to me
artichoke hearts- marinated? If so, they should be OK.
spinach- iffy... the frozen stuff seems to go to rot pretty fast. Canned not so much.

Nothing in there really screams "super-parishable" to me if it was stored OK. However, I'm thinking "really long time" is like two weeks or so. If longer, I wouldn't risk it.

posted by kellydamnit 04 January | 13:24

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