having thought the old fridge was the reason all my food (pork, chicken, fish) would go bad in 3 or 4 days, but it seems to go just as quickly. What is the deal? I really dont get it? Anyone else feel like the food in thailand goes faster then in farang land?

having thought the old fridge was the reason all my food (pork, chicken, fish) would go bad in 3 or 4 days, but it seems to go just as quickly.  What is the deal?  I really dont get it?  Anyone else feel like the food in thailand goes faster then in farang land?

Maybe its more organic, not as much preservatives etc. When I lived in Germany one of the best things about eating was that the food had not so much sh*t shoved into it. Every morning you had to go and buy fresh bread because the bread from the day before would be too hard. Veg was similar.

May sound strange but, once I got into it, it was cool. Good routine, and by the time I got to work I was set up and in a good mood.

redrus

I wouldn't keep meat/fish in my fridge for 3 or 4 days, with a market on every corner here there's not much reason to. Saying that I freeze everything that's fresh if I'm not going to use it in a day or 2, never done me any harm yet!

having thought the old fridge was the reason all my food (pork, chicken, fish) would go bad in 3 or 4 days, but it seems to go just as quickly.  What is the deal?  I really dont get it?  Anyone else feel like the food in thailand goes faster then in farang land?

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...because it is not kept cold before you buy it... don't be fooled by the fridges in farang style supermarkets in BKK, the animals are usually slaughtered outside BKK, transported in open trucks/pickups etc and is already infected when it reaches your local supermarket. If you go out driving on the highways between Nakorn Pathom and BKK on a Sunday night you'll see hundreds of "dead pig trucks" where your next week pork chops are exposed to the elements.

Remember that even in farangland you are not supposed to store refrigerated meat more than 2 or 3 days without freezing it.

Not that immediate refrigeration of slaughtered meat is practiced even in farangland. Remember that beef and venison are "hung" to age the meat a few days at a cool, but not refrigerator, temperature before it is cut up, packaged, and refrigerated. So the difference would be the temperature at which the meat is aged and the sanitation level of where it is aged and packaged.

Bacteria reproduce faster in warmer temperatures, so yes, the meat gets a higher bacteria count before you buy it here than it does in farangland. I suppose it will go bad faster. Check to make sure your refrigerator is set properly, between 36 and 40 degrees Fahrenheit, 2 to 4.5 degrees Celsius. My refrigerator and stove thermometers are definitely moving to Thailand with me.

If you fill your fridge it will work more efficiently..... colder.

having thought the old fridge was the reason all my food (pork, chicken, fish) would go bad in 3 or 4 days, but it seems to go just as quickly.  What is the deal?  I really dont get it?  Anyone else feel like the food in thailand goes faster then in farang land?

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...because it is not kept cold before you buy it... don't be fooled by the fridges in farang style supermarkets in BKK, the animals are usually slaughtered outside BKK, transported in open trucks/pickups etc and is already infected when it reaches your local supermarket. If you go out driving on the highways between Nakorn Pathom and BKK on a Sunday night you'll see hundreds of "dead pig trucks" where your next week pork chops are exposed to the elements.

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Thanks

thanks for that useful information. I think I will not be having poultry for dinner anytime soon

Fresh food in Thailand is a misnomer. Go to any of the big Hypermarts in the country

and look at the fish. You will not find fresh fish in any of these markets.

Just search google for ways to recognise fresh fish ... nuff said.

If you fill your fridge it will work more efficiently..... colder.

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best with beer :-)

...because it is not kept cold before you buy it...  don't be fooled by the fridges in farang style supermarkets in BKK, the animals are usually slaughtered outside BKK, transported in open trucks/pickups etc and is already infected when it reaches your local superm arket.

Infected??? that sounds off

I guess it's just as well that woks cook at such high temperatures!

Cheers YBB

Let your nose be your guide, esp in a market, if it has the slightest bad odour, walk away.

Infected??? that sounds off

I guess it's just as well that woks cook at such high temperatures!

Cheers YBB

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The local cooking techniques have evolved over hundreds of years, well before there were any fridges around. There's a reason why some dishes are cooked at high temperature and with a lot of chili (yup, chili is good for killing bacterias)...

Infected??? that sounds off

I guess it's just as well that woks cook at such high temperatures!

Cheers YBB

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The local cooking techniques have evolved over hundreds of years, well before there were any fridges around. There's a reason why some dishes are cooked at high temperature and with a lot of chili (yup, chili is good for killing bacterias)...

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Chili is even better in masking the foul taste.

Let your nose be your guide, esp in a market, if it has the slightest bad odour, walk away. 

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In the fishmarket this technique is almost impossible , it all smells off.

Fresh food in Thailand is a misnomer. Go to any of the big Hypermarts in the country

and look at the fish. You will not find fresh fish in any of these markets.

Just search google for ways to recognise fresh fish ... nuff said. 

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One way to tell if fish is fresh is to look at the eyes, if they're bright and clear then the fish is fresh, if they're cloudy, go buy somewhere else.

Anyone else feel like the food in thailand goes faster then in farang land?

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Wouldn't know. My wife's family insists on leave food out on the table for days at a time. They just put a plastic screen dome over it to keep the flies off and don't even bother wrapping things in plastic wrap.

My wife's dad seems to enjoy the taste of slightly rotten meat, especially when its soaked in a chili and fish bile sauce. Mmmmmmm! Tasty! :puke:

I recently bought them a new refrigerator, but they just use it make ice and store bird's nest. Go figure....

If you fill your fridge it will work more efficiently..... colder.

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best with beer :-)

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I recently became a two-fridge family. The girlfriend's green stuff in her fridge, my beer and Marmite in the other.

Yes, food does go off rather quickly here. I keep my refrigerator set at about 1-2 degrees, as cold as possible. When I shop, I also bring a cooler with some plastic bottes filled with ice. You would be surprised at how warm things can get being transported home. If it isn't going to be used in the next day or 2 at the most, it goes in the freezer right away. Once you cook meat, then you've got several more days to eat it if it's refrigerated, so I often end up cooking more than I plan to eat and putting back in the fridge rather than throwing it out.