Can I eat it

November 13, 2012 2:45 PM

Can I eat it filter: tuna edition

Tuna sandwich, "sushi grade" tuna cooked MEDIUM RARE, been in the fridge since Saturday afternoon. Is it safe to eat?

posted by Lobster Garden to Food & Drink (26 answers total)

Rather not
posted by Namlit at 2:48 PM on November 13, 2012 [1 favorite]

When you say "medium rare" do you mean cooked medium-rare all the way through or did you just sear it?
posted by griphus at 2:51 PM on November 13, 2012

Response by poster: It was just seared, pink on the inside. I'm guessing the answer is no but I was really hoping to be able to eat it. Sigh
posted by Lobster Garden at 2:54 PM on November 13, 2012

Nah, I wouldn't eat that, and I'd most of the things in these questions.
posted by cincinnatus c at 2:59 PM on November 13, 2012

Yeah, I know tuna (esp. sushi-grade) is hella expensive but I would not eat it.
posted by griphus at 3:00 PM on November 13, 2012

the answer to every single seafood edition of "should i eat this" is always, always no. it cannot possibly be worth it.
posted by elizardbits at 3:01 PM on November 13, 2012 [10 favorites]

If it isn't fishy smelling its fine. It was seared, the internal muscle is sterile to begin with.

But I bet it'll be fishy smelling.
posted by JPD at 3:02 PM on November 13, 2012

So it was thawed and cooked, then immediately refrigerated for three days? Maybe it makes me foolhardy, but I would've eaten it without even stopping to think unless it smelled or tasted off.
posted by contraption at 3:06 PM on November 13, 2012 [2 favorites]

Me too. Then again, I did mildly poison myself last week.
posted by fshgrl at 3:10 PM on November 13, 2012 [1 favorite]

Totally eat it unless it smells.
posted by grateful at 3:13 PM on November 13, 2012

Even I wouldn't eat that, and I always say to eat it. Seafood poisoning is so not worth it.
posted by zug at 3:13 PM on November 13, 2012

One vote for EAT IT.
posted by zephyr_words at 3:23 PM on November 13, 2012

What if you hadn't cooked it and left it in the fridge? Would you eat it then after cooking?

Eat it. It's been 3 whole days, lighten up Francis.
posted by Max Power at 3:34 PM on November 13, 2012

Barf, no.
posted by HotToddy at 3:45 PM on November 13, 2012 [1 favorite]

I'm a total freak about food safety (i.e., I never side with the EAT IT people on these threads), and I've had food poisoning from shellfish that made me wish I were dead.

That said, I'd make someone else smell it and then I'd totally eat it if I got the all-clear. It's only been three days.
posted by easy, lucky, free at 3:45 PM on November 13, 2012 [1 favorite]

Did you buy it frozen or thawed? Personally I wouldn't eat it either way (you never forget your first seafood poisoning...), but if that baby was thawed when you got it, I wouldn't even feed it to an enemy, cause you have no idea how long it had been sitting there when you bought it.
posted by smoke at 3:55 PM on November 13, 2012

If it smells good, you're clear to eat it!

Your tuna was hit with CO2 gas to set the color, vac packed, flash frozen, eventually defrosted, and cooked. Previously frozen and defrosted seafood is known in the industry to stay fresher longer, once it is defrosted, than fresh and never frozen fish.

If it smells good, enjoy!
posted by jbenben at 3:55 PM on November 13, 2012

Assuming the tuna was fresh before cooking, I wouldn't worry unless there is a smell. Three days is not long.
posted by ssg at 4:38 PM on November 13, 2012

I would eat it.
posted by J. Wilson at 4:41 PM on November 13, 2012

Jiro ages his tuna 3-10 days! Now, you aren't a world-class sushi chef, but the point is that there is an actual benefit to that kind of aging time, and it shouldn't be regarded as a reason for automatic consignment to the dumpster. If you've handled your fish properly, you'll be fine.
posted by kanuck at 4:48 PM on November 13, 2012

I'd totally eat it after a good smell test.
posted by Specklet at 6:40 PM on November 13, 2012

I was once worried about a piece of raw tuna I'd left in the fridge for a while. Then I smelled it and my stomach said YES.

Smell the tuna and listen to what your stomach tells you.
posted by duvatney at 6:52 PM on November 13, 2012

I would eat it as long as it smells good, UNLESS it sat out at room temperature for any significant amount of time between being seared and being refrigerated. If it sat at room temp for more than a few minutes after being seared (i.e. partially eaten in a restaurant, put in a box, carried home, then put in the fridge), that could have presented an opportunity for baddies to grow.
posted by jferg at 8:31 PM on November 13, 2012

Response by poster: Unfortunately I've had food poisoning enough times that I decided not to risk it.
posted by Lobster Garden at 8:01 AM on November 14, 2012

Maybe it's "fortunately," you know.
posted by Namlit at 8:17 AM on November 14, 2012

Don't do it. When it doubt, throw it out!
posted by sockorama at 9:37 AM on November 14, 2012