I mistakenly made several batches of buttercream yesterday with milk that is 5 days past the Sell By date. Do I need to throw it out and make it again? It tastes fine to me, but I wouldn't want to make anyone sick.

Milk is usually good for 7 to 10 days after the expiration. Ive done it before to and was not a problem. It will be fine.

Yikes! if you made it yesterday then today the milk is 6 days expired, when will it be served? tomorrow the weekend? i wouldnt risk it. but thats just me, I throw any milk away the next day after the expiration date.

If the milk was not sour and didn't smell bad - it will be good. As ttehan4 said - it's good for several days after the date.

I think it all depends on your fridge, the milk and how cold it has been kept. I've pulled milk out of the fridge and it has been bad several days before teh expiration date. I'm also one that likes fresh milk and when it gets even the slightest off smell/taste, out it goes.

Personally if this was for family cakes I'd say if you felt okay with it serve it. But if this is for a wedding/paid cake that won't be served until the weekend, I'd start over.

I'm going to play it safe and throw it out and remake it. Such a waste!

Your sell by date gives you approx. 7 days to actually use the item. If it were a use by date, that's different. But if it's sell by you would be fine.

Aww that really stinks. Yeah its safest I think to throw it out...because even if someone did get sick (not from the cake) if they questioned you and they found out it was expired, it wouldn't matter if it was really bad, they'd blame you anyway.

Luckily I have four boys to drink up my milk before it goes bad. haha. I'm picky about expiration dates too.

My son worked in a grocery store and it's a sell date, not necessarily a use-by date.

I've had milk go bad before the date. I've used milk that was 7 to even 10 days past the date. So much depends on your refrigerator. Home refrigerators are usually not as cold as comm'l refrigerators are required to be. My stuff in the shop 'frig lasted MUCH longer than stuff in my home 'frig.

If it doesn't smell bad, then it's not. If I wont' drink it, then I won't use it.

I keep my main fridges just a degree or two away from freezing my milk haha....my cake storage fridges are not quite as cold but still very cold.

personaly i would throw it away and start again. its a dreadful waste but its better to be safe than sorry. i wouldnt want to buy a cake that had been made with old milk, but im funny about the dates on things. x

I'm totally with Indi on this.

adding: I don't buy milk at Wal-Mart--it doesn't last. (or meat) I really question how they handle perishible items...

However, milk and sour cream I've purchased elsewhere has lasted 7-10 days past the sell-by date by keeping it really cold. My fridge has a compartment in the door for dairy and it makes all the difference. If it didn't have an off smell you're fine. Sugar actually acts as a preservative.

I probably wouldnt use it either, My walkin is kept at 39 degrees and my reach in S/S unit is set at 37 degrees and thats where I keep my milk at and milk is usually good 7-10 days past expiration date, as some have said already on here.

Oh I totally agree about the Wal-Mart milk, I bought it there a couple of times and it actually went sour before the date stamped on the bottle.

Either their refrigeration isn't up to par or they leave it sitting out somewhere along the line.

I don't buy any perishables from there anymore.

I purchased a small pork loin roast several years ago at Wal-Mart, opened it the next morning to fix for lunch and it about gagged me from the stench when I opened it. I put it into the freezer and took it back the next day. The "customer service"--total oxymoron when refering to Wal-Mart--manager told me I didn't know how to properly handle meat. Talk about waving a red flag in front of a bull... needless to say I took it up the food chain and ended up with an apology and a gift card.

The produce is pretty sad there too--My experience has been bananas that look fine when you purchase them will be a bruised mess in less than 24 hrs. I swear the people who stock the produce must stand back and throw it onto the displays--same goes for tomatoes. I purchase VERY LITTLE period from Wal-Mart anymore.

Oh as a caterer, I can tell you the produce S*CKS!!!!! Sometimes you just have to look around and say, "There's a REASON things are so much cheaper than the other stores!"

Yeppers, Debi!! I gladly pay the "extra" and buy my produce at Dillions--it actually is cheaper when you consider the toss it out factor from W-M.

Topeka, KS had the first BIG Wal-Mart with a grocery section; they called it Hypermart. For a long time, (before Sam died) you couldn't beat the produce anywhere. I used countless flats of strawberries in my business and catering--and pineapples, grapes and melons during wedding season. Gorgeous. That all changed when Sam was gone and the kids took over. I wish people would wake up and start walking away! People are so brainwashed to believe it's cheaper there--I'm a total price freak and KNOW it's not cheaper even before you consider the poor quality.

I like to buy ground turkey there that's packaged in those tubes sort of like breakfast sausage. I stopped that after one time I pulled one out of the freezer and when it thawed, the entire apartment smelled awful. Another from that same shopping trip apparently had a giant air bulge in the package that developed in the freezer. Never saw that before, but I threw them all out just to be safe. I haven't touched their meat ever since.

Walmart is horrible. Produce is basically non existant. They never have cauliflower, cucumbers, or even LETTUCE! I do like Sam's Club for meat though.

Sorry, we hijacked you milk post. You have probably thrown in out already anyways.