Should I use this meat?

[Shetland2000]

Boring I know, but I found a joint of beef at the back of the fridge that we forgot to eat. It has a use by date of tomorrow and I've just bunged it in the slow cooker. I gave it a good sniff and it just smells of meat but my daughter is freaking out saying it was nearly out of date and meat shouldn't last for a week and a half.
My argument is we never had use by dates years ago and I haven't been poisoned yet.

If it was in date its fine. You could have bought it in the shop today and used it

It's fine if it smells ok! The dates factor in the fact that there is a variation in the effectiveness of people's refrigeration and whether they will get home quickly after buying it. And beef is less of a concern than say pork or chicken. Just cook it, she doesn't have to eat it or she doesn't want to!

Beef is fine, poultry and pork are the ones to be very careful with. It will be fine as long as u cook it through

Is your daughter old enough to make herself an alternative if she doesn't want the beef? I wouldn't even question it if it has tomorrow's date on.

It's in date people! Regardless of your own personal feelings about out of date food, this one isn't!

Why does your dd think things have to be eaten days before their use by? What does she think the use by is for? Seriously she needs some education here.

What? Should you eat in date meat that's been stored in the coldest part of your fridge? Why is this even a question..?

It’ll be absolutely fine. And meat shouldn’t last for a week and a half? What about all those dry aged beef delicacies? Honestly - if it looks fine and smells fine, then it’s fine.

(Equally, I once bought a chicken from Waitrose that had a week “left” on its use by date. I opened the package....and it was most definitely not fine. Stank to high heaven. So I think it’s important to rely on your own sense of sight and smell rather than just on sell by dates, anyway.)

Of course it's fine. I usually eat things 3 or 4 days after the used by date, as long as they smell ok and have never had food poisoning from a meal I've cooked myself. As for your daughter saying that meat "shouldn't last for a week and a half", does she realise that ageing beef is a big gourmet thing? 21 day aged steaks and all that....

It'll be fine. It could have been sitting in the shop all this time and you could just have bought it - we can never normally find meat in Tesco with more than a couple of days on the date so it's probably been hanging around somewhere for a while. I use meat even on the use by date and it's fine.

Your daughter is being daft. It is still in date!

It’s in date , they’d still be selling it in the supermarket I really can’t see the problem . If your daughter doesn’t want to eat it she can get herself something else .

I think she's more concerned about the time I've had it than the actual date. It's probably because we mostly eat chicken which we use within a couple of days. Our kids are forever moaning that I don't throw things out that have gone past their dates. I reckon my nose is far more reliable than an arbitrary date stamp 😆