Here's How Long That Opened Pack Of Hot Dogs Will Last

Whether it's barbecue season and you've overestimated how much meat you'll need for hot dog burnt ends or you're just looking to microwave a hot dog for a midnight snack, it's important to know how soon you'll have to finish that opened pack of wieners before they start going bad. The truth is that you have about one week to finish off that opened pack of hot dogs until they start to turn (into something you don't want to be eating), and unless the package is resealable, you should always remove the hot dogs from their original packaging and put them into something airtight, whether that's a container made of plastic or glass or a resealable plastic bag.

You have two weeks to open a pack of hot dogs that have been stored in the refrigerator (and then a week to finish them), but you shouldn't leave any hot dogs — opened or not — out on the counter for longer than two hours. This is because the temperature of perishables shouldn't rise above 40 degrees Fahrenheit. If it does, the item has entered an unsafe range (known as the "Danger Zone"), which can increase the chances of bacteria growing and spreading in your frankfurters.

Even if you've just opened a new package of hot dogs and stored them in the fridge correctly, perishables can be unpredictable, and your wieners might go bad in less than a week. One of the sure signs that this has occurred is the smell that greets you as soon as you open the container they were in. Rotten meat has a distinctive odor — it's foul, sour, and kind of musty — so if you smell any of that, even the slightest hint, you should toss them in the garbage. After all, you're better off safe than sorry.

Even if your hot dogs' smell isn't too distinctive, dogs that have gone bad will certainly look different than ones that are good to eat. For starters, hot dogs may gradually change color while they're still good, but if they've darkened considerably, turned from pinky-beige to brown, or even lightened to gray, you should throw them out. Finally, like all meats, hot dogs can develop a thin film or slime when they've gone bad. This is different from the natural juices that hot dogs can produce; it's more viscous, almost like a syrup. This, too, should be avoided.

There's good news if you don't think you can eat all of the hot dogs in a package before a week is up; they freeze so incredibly well, you'd never be able to tell they were ever frozen, as long as they're thawed and eaten within their peak time frame. While they'll keep indefinitely in the freezer (that chilled air halts the spoiling process), their quality can begin to degrade after about one to two months. So, while they'll still be edible after two months of freezing, they might not be quite as good.

If you're freezing an unopened package of hot dogs, you can just stick that in the freezer, or open the package and portion out the hot dogs into freezer-safe bags or containers (so you don't have to defrost all of them at once). You can also do the same for opened packages of hot dogs, though some recommend flash-freezing them individually first. And don't forget, you can freeze your leftover hot dog buns, too.