How long is ground beef good in the refrigerator?

Question

My husband bought some ground beef on Sunday afternoon from Publix. The sell by date was 2 days ago. I thought he had frozen it, but he hadn't and I need to use it in chili tonight. It's turning a little brown, but no strange growths or anything. He froze all but the two pounds I need for chili tonight, but do you think it's okay? I'm worried about it being disgusting or hurting us in some way. Thanks for the help!

Answer 1

If it is still red it is okay but since it is starting to turn brown I would get rid of it.

Answer 2

It probably won't hurt you, but I get nervous eating something that's been in the fridge and uncooked for more than 3 days.  That is what I have always heard, if you don't cook it within 3 days, throw it out to avoid growths that you don't necessarily see.

Good luck!

Answer 3

Your best bet is to cook it NOW and cook it WELL!

You will be fine, jsut make sure it's well done, LOL  

Answer 4

I don't know if I would risk it.  Especially if it is that mass produced garbage.  

Answer 5

I wouldn't use it after today.  Right now you should be okay.

Answer 6

Get rid of anything brown, or cook it well and give it to your dog.

If it's still red and has no smell at all, it's prolly okay, but make sure it is well cooked.  You could chop up the still-red meat, saute it, and freeze it for your next spaghetti sauce.

Answer 7

It will be ok

Answer 8

Reason #47 I'm glad I married a vegetarian: fake ground beef that doesn't contain E. coli!

Back when I cooked meat regularly, I never left it in the refrigerator for more than a day.  I just googled food storage times at the CDC, because I trust the CDC about infectious diseases.  The web page below says 1-2 days for ground beef in the refrigerator.

(And 9 days for clams - ugh - they don't seem like they've being overly conservative!)

Answer 9

I wouldn't worry about it since its only been two days.  If you had bought it on the sell by date, I'd still say you could keep it for 3 days after that, so since it's only been 2 days, it should be fine.  But I recommend you cook it thoroughly, as should always be the case with ground beef.