How Long Tofu Still Tastes Good After Opening

Tofu is kind of the bomb. It magically sponges up the flavors of anything it's cooked with. Its texture allows it to replace meat in dishes like General Tso's chicken and Salisbury steak. Plus, it's filled with calcium, iron and all sorts of other good-for-you stuff. The only thing this miracle creation doesn't have going for it is a long shelf life once you crack its package open. You have three, maybe five days tops before your tofu goes from delectable to your own personal kitchen nightmare.

Tofu is basically curdled soybean milk, so it makes a certain sense that you should view it as you do everything else in the dairy aisle – prone to quick spoilage. Just like you know when milk has given up the ghost, you'll know it with tofu, too; tofu-gone-bad starts to smell nasty. It also turns from its normal off-white hue to something darker, starting with shades of tan. In the worst-case scenarios, it goes all the way to burnt sienna. Mold may mix in with your brown tofu, giving it not only a change of color but a fuzzy change of texture, too. Sliminess is also a possibility; the mud in your garden during rainy season has a better feel than rotten tofu in your refrigerator.

Expiration dates on labels can be murky — who hasn't been confused by the difference between "best by" and "use by" before? To complicate matters further, product dating is not required, except for baby formula. Without any kind of oversight, a lot of dates are basically just estimates. Additionally, these dates are really only meant to convey how good the product will be in terms of quality or flavor. In other words, you could still eat a lot of technically expired food and it won't kill you — it may just taste awful, or at the very least, bland. 

Specifically, the "use by" tells you the last day that you can eat the food and still count on it being good quality. "Sell by" is really a heads-up for the store staff, meaning the store will keep it on the shelf until that date. It doesn't have a direct correlation with the safety of the product, really. "Best if used before," or some variation thereof, carries a similar message as the "use by" label.

When it comes to tofu, things get complex. A lot of water-packed tofu can stay good for a significant length of time, so long as it remains unopened. The moment it's unopened, though, the clock is ticking. Nowadays, there's a new sort of unopened tofu to take into consideration as well. Morinaga Mori-Nu tofu remains shelf stable for a year, even if it's stored at room temperature. The countdown clock on that doesn't begin until the box is opened, and then the three-to-five-day rule kicks in.

Once you open tofu, there are a few steps to take to ensure it remains fresh for as long as possible. To start with, it needs to be put back into the fridge in an air-tight container. However, before you do that, press the extra water out of it. While it might seem counterintuitive, you should then fill its storage container back up with water and immerse the tofu in it. Swap out the water daily. Additionally, try to reduce the amount of exposure it gets to air if you can; it'll keep better that way. The fridge also needs to be at a temperature of at least 40 degrees Fahrenheit or less for best results. 

If you know you won't eat it before the week is out, freeze it. It'll need to have the water drained out of it and be wrapped up snugly in an air-tight package. Freezing alters tofu's feel and appearance, giving it an even more sponge-like texture. This will actually make it work better for some recipes, like fried or grilled tofu, which require a hardier consistency. 

Finally, if you're in doubt about the state of affairs with your favorite vegetarian bean curd, frozen or otherwise, toss it like yesterday's newspaper. Your tummy and nose will thank you later.