Use by dates

[Celera]

What's the situ with use by dates for juice when looking at turbo cider etc? Does it still stand, or does it change the game altogether?

Cheers

 

[oldbloke]

Well... I do know somebody who bought a carton of AJ and left it to itself and it turned itself into cider. Or so she says.
I buy it when I want to use it.

 

[DrD]

How far out of date?

If it's tetra packed, undamaged and not hugely out of date, I'd use it. That said, is it worth the hassle for the sake of 80p?

I drank severely out of date orange juice (i.e. about 5/6 years).... I bought it as a student, then forgot about it until it got mixed back in with general supply during a house move. It was like eating a chewy yoghurt ball floating in a carton of urine. I now pour juice into a glass as a matter of precaution.

 

[tonyhibbett]

I once opened a carton of grape juice to test a sample, then put it in the fridge, having replaced the cap. After a couple days it started fermenting. I have inadvertently stored cartons of juice beyond their use by date and they were undrinkable. Concentrates become discoloured, but usable and honey keeps indefinitely.

 

[Celera]

Sorry, I've not been clear.

I'm asking about the storage of the cider post ferment.

So if I buy apple juice with a use by date of the end of this month, for example - I then use natures wonder to turn it from boring juice to lovely fall down juice. Does the act of fermenting it etc. remove the use by factor entirely, as I've changed it's composition, or is there some residual issue that means the cider will go off in the same way the juice would have?

Ta

 

[tonyhibbett]

I have stored pure cider for 2 years in a polythene container, without sulphites. While it is perfectly drinkable, it has lost much of its cider flavour.

 

[bbslaw]

I would think you don't need to worry about the original use-by date of the AJ once it's been turned into cider. The use-by date is to protect the consumers from drinking AJ that's past its best flavour; with all the mucking about you'll do to turn it into cider it won't resemble the original AJ in any meaningful way. Plus the alcohol will help to preserve it against the nasties.

 

[RobWalker]

Cider is better after 6 months, apple juice certainly is not :lol:

 

[Celera]

I suspected, and hoped, as much.

Cheers guys

 

[rpt]

Are you talking about ambient or refrigerated juice? The ambient stuff is marked with a best before date. It is not a use by date.