Had a couple bags of frozen blueberries. Put them in the fridge to thaw. They've been in the fridge for several weeks. Can I still cook with them?
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Trust your nose.
But I suspect they will be long dead - fermented/rotted
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Although they would contain some quote un-quote "poison" in the form of alcohol, is used to sterilize things, and it's well known that some of the most nutritious foods are fermented foods - kimchi is one of the best sources of vitamin K, and only fermented foods have vitamin K. All sorts of people take probiotics. Is the bacteria bad? Not in my book. Let's see if I'm alive tomorrow... (Edit: WOW my berries have fermented a lot more since last time I had them. The alcohol taste is strong.) – Devin Rhode May 24 '18 at 19:38
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I strongly believe it's no good any more.
Update after hearing some comments [2nd update]
When u see liquid in the bag, it means the temp is usually above zero C which means it isn't the ideal temp for frozen berries.
I think it's usually quite ok to keep in the fridge for a few days, but not weeks
[3rd update] I am sorry for whatever confused I caused and I removed the comments about liquid in my previous answer to avoid confusion when people see this post in the future. Anyway, I found a box of forzen berries and here is what the pack suggests.
Please don't eat the berries if they are in the fridge for more than a few days
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1I don't know if I agree with this. Depending on how well they were kept frozen, there could very well be an accumulation of juice when they thaw even if they are perfectly good. – Sobachatina Nov 05 '10 at 13:13
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@Sobachatina: Agreed, even with the most careful home freezing, you're going to have some ruptured cell walls which leads to liquid loss when you thaw, no matter what you do. – stephennmcdonald Nov 05 '10 at 13:30
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But the original post said it was in the fridge for weeks, so I cannot see how it's still good – Foodrules Nov 05 '10 at 13:46
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4@Foodrules - To be clear- I agree with you that they are probably not still good. I objected only to the statement that liquid in the bag would indicate that they are bad. – Sobachatina Nov 05 '10 at 13:49
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Sorry I kept missing about explaining why liquid is such a big deal here. When u see liquid in the bag, it means the temp is usually above zero C which means it isn't the ideal temp for frozen berries. I think the package of frozen berries asks to keep it below -4 C at most. Therefore, liquid in the bag is such a big deal. – Foodrules Nov 05 '10 at 13:58
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@Foodrules, no, liquid in the bag simply indicates that the berries are thawed. In and of itself, being thawed is not a bad thing. – Marti Nov 05 '10 at 15:54
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@Foodrules: Yes, liquid in the bag indicates that they are thawed. (It's not about ideal/non-ideal; above zero C you can't have frozen berries. They're thawed berries.) But that's not the problem. The problem is that they *stayed* thawed. Clearly if you left them there just barely long enough to thaw, they'd still be okay - and there would be liquid. Clearly after a year, they'd be bad. Somewhere in the middle they go bad. It's not the instant liquid shows up. – Cascabel Nov 05 '10 at 16:04
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I don't know you all have missed or misunderstood what I said. All I tried to say is the frozen berries is meant to be frozen under -18 C. When it's thawed, they should be eaten within days not weeks. As simple as that. Thanks for voting me down. – Foodrules Nov 06 '10 at 07:37
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@Foodrules, I didn't downvote but I did disagree in the comments. I believe the part that is confusing people in your answer is this: "If you see any liquid in the bag, I will be against using them" - that catch-all phrase is incorrect, because even if removed from the freezer and thawed for only 20 minutes, the berries will release liquid, however they would still be completely safe for use. I think if you edited/clarified that part, your down-voter might reverse their vote. Just a suggestion! – stephennmcdonald Nov 09 '10 at 03:26