How Long Do You Keep Leftovers?

[dashboardc33]

How long do leftovers stay in your fridge for? Does it depend on what the leftover is? I usually keep meat for about 3-4 days and then toss it. Some things like soup, noodles, rice and those kinds of things sometimes stay in there for up to a week but not any longer. However, most of our leftovers get eaten up that very next day anyways so I usually don't have to worry about it. Do you have a time frame in your house where leftovers must get eaten up by or they get tossed?

 

[Berties]

left overs should be bought down to a safe temperature within 90 minutes,done in small amounts or put container in cold water,
i would use high risk foods within 48 hours and the rest within 72 hours

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

It depends on what the left overs are, sorry. But typically a couple of days and I don't worry about it.

 

[DancingLady]

Most food can last for 5-7 days in the refrigerator. At restaurants the limit is usually 5 days. I always throw things out if they were forgotten for over a week, but generally if I make a large batch of food I will put about 5 days worth in the fridge and then freeze the rest.

 

[missbishi]

I only keep things for a day. I can't bear to eat anything older than that so I make sure that I don't cook too much, to avoid wastage. I know that really, there's probably nothing wrong with the food whatsoever but I still get put off.

 

[Pat]

To limit my concern for the safety of the food, I do not allow food to sit in the refrig for more than 3 days. If it is an item that will not be eaten in the 3 days it is frozen for later. I do not cook more food until the amount of leftovers has been reduced.

 

[winterybella]

I only keep things for a day. I can't bear to eat anything older than that so I make sure that I don't cook too much, to avoid wastage. I know that really, there's probably nothing wrong with the food whatsoever but I still get put off.

I used to be like this when I first got married many moons ago, then things changed. I can keep things for about a week these days but I truthfully get tired after day two. My son is the same way and sometimes he doesn't even like to eat day two food. As for my husband he has come for not eating any kind of leftovers to eating it up to about five days. We change with age I suppose.

 

[keytcee]

My family has this really bad habit of keeping leftovers in our refrigerator for too long. There are times they actually forget it's there and find out about it again after they've done their regular de-frosting. It's bothersome for me because when I open the fridge, I see stuff that look weird and moldy already and when I ask my family if we can throw it out already, they'll say that it's still fine and I should leave it. It's a really good thing my family hasn't had a stomach ache from the food we've kept for so long.

 

[winterybella]

My family has this really bad habit of keeping leftovers in our refrigerator for too long. There are times they actually forget it's there and find out about it again after they've done their regular de-frosting. It's bothersome for me because when I open the fridge, I see stuff that look weird and moldy already and when I ask my family if we can throw it out already, they'll say that it's still fine and I should leave it. It's a really good thing my family hasn't had a stomach ache from the food we've kept for so long.

I know what you mean. I've had some of that happen around here, but not so much these days. The difference is that I have thrown it out when I realised it was 'growing'. I still don't understand how my sister visiting from the States did not get sick some years ago when she insisted that she would eat something I had for way too long....it still baffles me.

 

[Corzhens]

Our leftover food lasts only 2 days. If more than that, we throw it away or give to the neighbor who has ducks. The ducks would eat anything, from rice to dishes particularly of vegetables. For leftover soup, that's what my husband use as fertilizers. He irrigates his plants with leftover soup that we have no intention of eating anymore.

 

[smartmom]

I keep left overs about three days. I keep them much longer if I freeze them. I was raised to not throw away food. I even feel that some food actually taste better the day after I cook it. I enjoy eating chicken and spaghetti a day later.

 

[Caribbean girl]

I do not like to keep leftovers in my fridge for more than 3 to 4 days. Foods that are kept higher up in the fridge stay fresh longer than those that are kept near the bottom. However, I like to consume certain foods like those from a can, such as corned beef or luncheon meat, within a day or 2. There have been instances when foodstuffs have been forgotten in the refrigerator for over a week, and when discovered, they were already growing mold and had to be thrown out.

 

[ReadmeByAmy]

Actually we seldom have leftover foods because we cook what is just right for all of us in every meal. As much as possible we try to avoid wasting of foods. And if ever we had leftover foods we do keep it for overnight or for one day only.

 

[LilliBee]

As a general rule, I'd say I keep leftovers for about five days. I had a commercial kitchen at one point and Serve Safe certification made me hyper-aware of spoilage and poisoning those I'm feeding. If it weren't so wasteful, my preference would be about three days for most things, but we're empty nesters and I'm still getting used to cooking appropriate quantities. My husband is happy eating the same leftover soup or casserole or whatever, so the trick for me is figuring out when to cook - when to coast on leftovers - and when to toss.

I've found that my husband is completely - 100% - clueless about being aware of how long something is in the fridge. If it isn't growing something and doesn't smell too funny, he's sure it's good to go. I've learned to review and toss at least once a week (usually more often) just to be sure he's not giving himself food poisoning!

 

[cupcakechef]

Honestly I'd say a couple of days is probably the max at our house - but usually it's because the leftovers get eaten. Most of the time since there's just two adults and a baby in my household, I cook with that in mind - I don't mind having some leftovers but definitely not truckloads!

I try and keep stock of what's in the fridge too - I hate food going to waste so I try and be conscious of things that are getting close to that throw out point and ideally use them up before then.