Thawing tofu and food safety blunders

[tarwatersghost]

I had a block of tofu in my freezer that was frozen solid. I took it out last night just before midnight, intending to stick it in the fridge before going to bed a few hours later. I forgot it and it stayed on the counter until early this afternoon. My kitchen isn't particularly warm, but I'm still wondering if it's safe to eat. I'd been

Comments

[tree_woman]

Smell it--bad tofu smells sour.

[tarwatersghost]

Smells like fresh tofu. :-)

[pluvka]

it should be fine, i've left tofu out overnight to thaw before.

[tarwatersghost]

Thanks! I usually leave it in the fridge overnight and it's still frozen the next day. That was one of the reasons I'd wanted to leave it on the counter for a couple of hours. I've never forgotten it, though, so I wasn't sure.

[zaftigvegan]

i would totally use it fearlessly.

[tarwatersghost]

Thanks! I was craving shepherd's pie and was hoping to use the tofu to make it. I'm a happy girl again.

[zaftigvegan]

my rule of thumb with questionable tofu is rinse it and sniff it. if it doesn't smell of anything weird, it's fine to cook with, but don't eat it raw. if it smells off even after rinsing, discard it.

and if it has PINK stuff on it, do not pass go, do not collect vegan shepherd's pie, just toss that sucker dans la poubelle. :)

[tarwatersghost]

Pink stuff on it? I've never seen that happen before. Ick!

[dancingwolfgrrl]

Tofu is already fermented. If it's not obviously growing anything, I'd bet that it's fine.

[zaftigvegan]

technically it's not fermented. it's made from curdled and seperated soy milk, but not fermented.

[dancingwolfgrrl]

That's great!
(I'm doing an elimination diet, and was not looking forward to having to wait until I got to fermented foods to reintroduce tofu.)

Thanks for pointing this out!

[thrashbrigade]

I've done that lots of times.

Not recommended. But I don't think you'll die from it.

[tarwatersghost]

But I don't think you'll die from it.

Well that's good to hear. ;-)