Are these two week old bread slices that look just fine safe to eat?

March 14, 2007 7:06 PM

So I have this opened bag of Trader Joe's sourdough bread that has been sitting in my kitchen for probably at least two weeks now. It looks and smells just fine, not a speck of mold to be seen. Dare I eat this franken-bread?

Really, I don't understand why it hasn't gone moldy yet. It doesn't even seem stale. The packaging says "no preservatives" too. So is it safe to eat, or has it probably become (invisibly) contaminated in the two+ weeks it has been sitting here?

posted by mahamandarava to food & drink (22 comments total)

dude, it's designed not to get moldy
wikipedia
posted by cosmicbandito at 7:15 PM on March 14, 2007

Eat it, if it doesn't seem up to snuff turn it into breadcrumbs to use for something else.
posted by bkeene12 at 7:24 PM on March 14, 2007

Croutons
posted by Fupped Duck at 7:39 PM on March 14, 2007

Take a bite. If it tastes good, eat it.
posted by jeb at 8:01 PM on March 14, 2007

cosmicbandito beat me to it, this faint memory that sourdough is kinda like beef jerky in that it was designed to avoid going bad.
posted by salvia at 8:03 PM on March 14, 2007

I'd leave it out in the open, and wait for it to get hard, and try this or a variation of this recipe
posted by Kudos at 8:17 PM on March 14, 2007

sourdough keeps forever. you can find bakeries with sourdough starter (the "mother") that's more than a hundred years old! the bread itself doesn't last that long, of course, but a lot longer than wonderbread.

it might be a little stale, though. slice it an inch thick, let it dry on the counter overnight. in the morning, soak it in a mixture of eggs, milk, vanilla, and a bit of cinnamon and sugar for a minute or two, fry it up in a medium pan with butter, turning once, and serve with maple syrup, or honey, or fruit that's macerated (marinated) in the fridge since the night before in a bowl with brown sugar, cinnamon, and allspice. the tang of the sour is phenomenal against the sweetness of the toppings.

you can also make it savory by putting salt into the egg mixture instead of sugar, and using a few teaspoons of chopped parsley and chives. dredge in shredded parmesan cheese before frying. then, add thin slices of country ham or smoked turkey, and apples. make a sauce out of dijon mustard, olive oil, and sweet basalmic vinegar.

i just made myself really hungry. damn.
posted by thinkingwoman at 8:35 PM on March 14, 2007 [18 favorites]

Yeah, me too, thinkingwoman.
posted by sappidus at 8:39 PM on March 14, 2007

My feeling is that bread that does not mold after two weeks must have enough chemicals and preservatives in it to choke a horse.
posted by nola at 9:08 PM on March 14, 2007

on preview , I don't know sh-t about bread.
posted by nola at 9:09 PM on March 14, 2007

Where are you????!!! I'm jonesing for their cracked wheat sourdough and the east coast TJ's don't sell it.


I put bread in the freezer if I'm not going to eat it right away.
posted by brujita at 9:13 PM on March 14, 2007

Toasting kills germs. Bon appetit!
posted by turducken at 9:18 PM on March 14, 2007

thinkingwoman: You made yourself hungry? I'm not plotting a run for country ham now. There goes the diet.
posted by aristan at 10:14 PM on March 14, 2007

Where do you live? It matters a hell of a lot. Southwest-- Colorado, some parts of Texas, New Mexico, Utah, SoCal, Nevada-- then you're probably less likely to find mold inside. Humidity breeds the stuff.
posted by koeselitz at 10:41 PM on March 14, 2007

If it's stale, sprinkle it with water and put it in a 350 degree oven for 5-10 minutes. No longer stale.
posted by bokinney at 10:57 PM on March 14, 2007

I make my own sourdough bread from a starter that I've been feeding for years. It almost never molds, and keeps for weeks at a time. If we don't use it up, I grind it up in the food processor and use it in meatballs.
posted by Flakypastry at 5:09 AM on March 15, 2007

"Sourdough" is actually designed to naturally rise bread dough, but a welcome side-effect is that it has great keeping qualities.
posted by OmieWise at 6:54 AM on March 15, 2007

I've eaten month old sourdough, and I'm pretty sure I didn't die.

As an aside, a few months ago, I was desperate for a PB&J sandwich. The only breadlike thing in the pantry was 4 slices of 8 month old poorly wrapped low carb bread. There was no mold, and it was a bit stiff, but it was tasty. I think the general rule with bread is that if there are no vibrant colors, it's still safe to eat.
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 7:49 AM on March 15, 2007

Eat it! Bread's too dry to harbor foul bacteria; its failure mold is getting moldy.

It's probably dried out though.
posted by ikkyu2 at 9:34 AM on March 15, 2007

Bread keeps a long time if you store it in the refrigerator. I have eaten refrigerated bread that was at least a month old, and it was fine. Just a tidbit for you.
posted by etoile at 11:56 AM on March 15, 2007

How in the world did our ancestors survive without refrigerators?

Many things are actually better at room temp than in the fridge, such as vegetables, butter, and cheese. Try it sometime.
posted by Mr. Gunn at 2:59 PM on March 15, 2007

I'm with you on that, Mr. Gunn. Eggs too.
posted by salvia at 9:41 AM on March 20, 2007