My fridge is full of opened jars of things that you buy for a certain recipe and then say that they must be used up within either days or a couple of weeks.

Many of these things like preserved lemons, jalapeno peppers, oyster sauce etc etc are not things which I use very often at all but I am loathe to throw them away and so I do use them again after the "safe" period has passed. So far there have been no ill effects but I wondered what other people do.

For example I have a jar of preserved lemons of which I have used just two. It has probably been open for months and is well within the best before date on the cap but it says they should be refrigerated after opening and used within 14 days. There must be at least another dozen lemons in there which look absolutely fine.

Any opinions?

I'd use them as long as they looked / smelled ok

They do this, so you end up buying more.

If it is mouldy, I chuck it out. If it tastes odd, I chuck it out. Otherwise I keep it.

Same...if it looks and smells ok, it is ok. Who can manage to use a whole jar of that kind of thing in 2 weeks is beyond me!!

Well I'm glad I'm not the only one.

I tend to use the sight/smell test too although I do bin anything that has gone past its best before date if I have had it opened for ages.

Either that or they're just covering themselves legally.

Even if jam or preserve is mouldy on top, you can quite safely scoop the top layer off (an inch is recommended) and enjoy the rest.

As for your lemons and jalapenos, as others have said, if they look and smell OK, I wouldn't worry about going over the recommended 'eat within' timeframe.

I've had some tomato puree in my fridge for months that says use within 3 weeks on it. It's still fine.