Tofu safe long after pull date?

[Robin Garr]

Okay, I have a tub of firm tofu, 365 brand from Whole Foods. It's months past its pull date, but it has been stored in a sealed container at refrigerator temperatures. I opened, drained and rinsed the block and patted it dry. It looks normal, feels normal, smells fine. The water in the package was clear. I plan to cut it into dice and let it simmer in the sauce (stir-fry onions, mushrooms, ginger and garlic, finish with spinach and tofu in a standard light Cantonese sauce.

Who thinks this isn't a good idea for dinner tonight?

If you post again within 36 hours we'll know you are all right!

In my experience MISO is eternal.

TOFU nearly so. I'd have used it, if there is no smell or discoloration or other clue that it's gone off.

I think like wine and cheese, there's already been a fermentation so the keeping period is pretty long.

[Robin Garr]

Karen: So far, so good. Frank: That's what we concluded, too. We both sniffed it and couldn't detect anything but the pleasant "beany" aroma of fresh tofu. It had been hermetically sealed and kept in the fridge. It looked good, it felt good, it smelled good, it tasted good, so we ate it. Cooked. It's been about three hours now, and no ill effects ... yet.

Fresh, white tofu isn't fermented. It's made by coagulating the soluble protein elements of soybeans using gypsum and then draining away most of the moisture.

There is fermented tofu, sometimes called "tofu cheese", but that's not what we're talking about here.

-Paul W.

Hey Robin, where are you?

[Robin Garr]

Hey Robin, where are you?

Dang, it's hard to get wifi in the Poison Control Center.

Naw, it was fine. I never had any real doubt, but I thought I would throw it out there just in case we had any toxicologists in the audience who knew something I didn't.

Bottom line, I think custom (and the fear of litigation) prompts the industry to put pull dates on everything, and it IS a good service. I like the idea of knowing how long a prepared food has been in the supply chain. But tofu isn't like a steak, and I wasn't terribly concerned about its survival in an unopened sealed, refrigerated container. When it passed the texture, smell and taste a tiny bite tests, and with the added protective measures of a thorough hot-water rinse and preparation in a dish that involved heating the tofu in small dice, I wasn't worried at all.

My greater concern was that it might have lost or altered flavor over time, but Mary and I both put our skilled wine-taster's noses on it, and it still showed that good, delicate fresh "beany" character that's characteristic of tofu.

And we're still here to tell the tale.

Partly in reply to Paul's point -- yeah, that's right. I think I knew that at some point.

And on searching my memory I remember a few times I opened tofu, used half of it, and had to throw the rest out because it spoiled!

So it's not like miso. And the relevant fact is probably that, like Robin, I keep hermetically sealed tofu in the fridge for months and then use it...

Without the seal, it's toast.

[Jenise]

Not to derail your topic, Robin, but anybody ever go to the Asian markets and buy tofu so freshly made it's still warm? I didn't care for tofu until I had the truly fresh stuff. Presuming you have a lively Asian community in Louisville that would be producing it for their own needs, it's really worth seeking out, Robin.

[Robin Garr]

Not to derail your topic, Robin, but anybody ever go to the Asian markets and buy tofu so freshly made it's still warm? I didn't care for tofu until I had the truly fresh stuff. Presuming you have a lively Asian community in Louisville that would be producing it for their own needs, it's really worth seeking out, Robin.

We have a really neat Vietnamese woman who runs two Zen Buddhist vegetarian restaurants and is planning to open a third soon that specializes in fresh tofu. I don't think she makes her own now, but I might be wrong. I wouldn't mind lunch at Zen Garden or Zen Teahouse some time soon. I'll check it out!

I'm a weird duck, anyway. I actually like tofu, and I don't mind the kind that comes sealed in water in the squarish plastic box.