How can I tell that yogurt is no good anymore?

[KennethT]

I have some home made small batch lebne from a local Middle Eastern store that I bought a few weeks ago and have kept in the refrigerator.  It has no markings of "use by" or any other expiration type dates on it.  How can I tell if it's still good and when it's time to throw it out?  Obviously, I have very little experience with yogurt type products!

Edited May 31, 2020 by Smithy
Capitalisation (log)

[heidih]

If you have been good about no double dipping and there are no goofy colors going on - I'd taste and enjoy. I'v never had yogurt "go off"  But maybe my time frame was short.

[weinoo]

Have a few spoonfuls and get back to us tomorrow.

[cdh]

Bacteria have already done everything they're going to do to the milk by making it into yogurt.  It will go off when technicolor molds get started... you'll know. If it looks white and lacks fuzz, it is OK.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

As the only one in the house who eats yogurt, I regularly have containers on hand well past their "best by" date.     If anything, they get more tart and dense.     If at all discolored, I toss.

[pastrygirl]

if it's pink or blue but doesn't have fruit it in

[Miriravan]

Yeah, I have eaten yogurt many weeks past its 'best by' date, months, even, as long as it looks/smells okay, and never had any problems.  Ditto cottage cheese, actually.  In my experience, cultured dairy products last way longer than the dates would indicate.

 

[andiesenji]

Yogurt will keep for a long time, much longer that the arbitrary "sell by" dates.  As pastrygirl said, if it changes color or has spots in it,  toss it.

Pink is a really bad one that can make you sick.  The black or dark gray/blue molds are obvious.

 

[jimb0]

As mentioned, you really just look and smell. If there's no obvious mould growth and it smells like yogurt, it's good to go. These sorts of foods originated explicitly because they were a way to keep dairy products edible for a long(er) period of time. Like with sourdough, a lot of these fermenting bacteria keep food from being infected with spoilage microbes both by decreasing the pH and by simply being able to outcompete intruders.

 

A lot of these expiration dates are designed to be extra safe to both keep people happy and keep the sellers from having to deal with the issue.

Edited May 31, 2020 by jimb0 (log)

[FeChef]

I would never beable to tell. I find yogurt spoiled (sour) when in date.  I sub yogurt for sour cream and mayo for every recipe that involves yogurt.

Edited May 31, 2020 by FeChef (log)

[Katie Meadow]

Everyone has a different tolerance level, and it doesn't always have to do with the food actually being spoiled and unhealthy to eat. Those of us with sensitive noses are more likely to detect that "just starting to go" smell or taste. Milk or cream can smell bad in the carton as a result of thin layers of dairy on the upper carton, but if you pour the milk out it can be okay. I am usually ahead of my husband by a day or two in determining I don't want to eat something. He just isn't as sensitive to smell or taste as I am and often, if something isn't obviously bad, he just can't tell. Me, I can usually tell the day before something smells bad and I just don't want to eat it. Old yogurt may not be spoiled, but it doesn't taste very good either. The trick for me is to catch something in the very beginning stages of deterioration and get him to eat it before I throw it out a couple of days later. If you have a hard time determining whether food should be consumed you would be well advised to have a cast iron stomach.

[liuzhou]

This you DON'T want to eat.

 

 

[Nancy in Pátzcuaro]

What IS that? Looks as if it might climb out of the container and attack the population! Remember that  '50s movie "The Blob"?

 

 

[liuzhou]

7 hours ago, Nancy in Pátzcuaro said:

What IS that? Looks as if it might climb out of the container and attack the population! Remember that  '50s movie "The Blob"?

 

 

 

That is yogurt with the famous pink mould mentioned before.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

3 hours ago, liuzhou said:

 

That is yogurt with the famous pink mould mentioned before.

 

I think we knew that.

 

[liuzhou]

54 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

I think we knew that.

 

 

Well, someone asked.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

7 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

 

Well, someone asked.

 

Tell me she didn't know the answer.

 

[Nancy in Pátzcuaro]

Of course I knew it was spoiled yogurt. However, it looked a lot more threatening than just yogurt gone bad, the way it was pressing against the container trying to get out.

 

Just a joke, folks.