Pâté is a delicious treat, which is why you may want to keep it in your fridge and save it for special occasions. However, you don’t want to promise yourself the treat of pâté after a long day only to go into your fridge and find out that it’s spoiled! To avoid that crushing scenario, you need to know how long pâté lasts.
The good news is that pâté can last for up to a week after it is opened, particularly chicken liver pâté. Homemade pâté also lasts for about a week, while store-bought pâté can last for many weeks if unopened.
Here is your guide to how long pâté lasts and how to know when it’s spoiled.
Homemade vs. Store-Bought Pâté
Pâté is a preserve, which means that it is designed to last for a long time. It was often used to preserve parts of meat. Professional producers add plenty of ingredients to their pâté for it to last a long time. They also use airtight cans and tins to prevent any bacteria from degrading it.
However, even the most dedicated amateur pâté-maker will hard-pressed to prevent spoilage for so long. To stay on the safe side, it’s probably best to eat any homemade pâté within a week of production because home cooks simply don’t have access to the ingredients and equipment needed to preserve it for longer.
All pâtés should be eaten within seven days of opening it. Exposure to oxygen and other molecules makes pâté spoil faster, so it cannot last for long once opened, even in the fridge.
How To Tell if Your Pâté Is Spoiled
If you’re not sure how long your pâté’s been in the fridge, here are some simple steps you can take to check if it’s spoiled.
First, smell the pâté. If it smells off or sour, it’s probably spoiled. Also check if the appearance has changed. If the pâté released moisture and seems more liquid, that means the texture has already started degrading and it is not safe to eat.
Finally, toss any pâté once you find mold spots. Even if you try to eat around the moldy bits, you can still ingest dangerous mold.
Simple Rules
A good rule of thumb is that opened pâté lasts for about a week, and unopened store-bought pâté can keep for weeks or months. Before eating, always check your pâté for changes in odor, texture, or appearance.