When in doubt....well you know the rest.
More than 2 weeks? Un frozen?...eat it only if you are braver than I am.

I agree, I'd toss it, too.

Will do.

Yikes. I would have tossed it after four days. Not that I ever have vegetable broth in the fridge, but I often have chicken or beef and if I know that I am not going to use it within two to three days of having made it, it goes into the freezer.

Three day max or freeze right away here. Something left to linger and forgotten...toss.

I'm sure 5 days would be fine especially coldest part of fridge but i go by my own rules having cooked for elderly and delicate immune systems.

This is clear stock. I'm not arguing, but are these answers just good practice, or is there a basis? Just because I'm curious what happens to it when it's not moldy or sour.

I buy Kitchen Basics unsalted vegetable broth. The tetra pack says use within 7 days of opening, I've learned to date the box when I open it.

Homemade chicken broth gets used within a few days, otherwise into the freezer.

I've kept homemade meat stock in the refrigerator for a few weeks, maybe not a month, with no ill effects. Don't know about vegetable broth.

Personally, if it looks, smells and tastes fine, I use it ("it" referring broadly to all foodstuff). I think our senses are pretty good at detecting spoilage, especially in a basic ingredient that has a pretty subtle flavor and scent with which we are quite familiar. I cannot remember any time, in at least the past couple decades, when this has led me to the vomit comet.

(I did get food poisoning once this year, but that was from very fresh fish, that I ate raw . . . )

Yeah, I'm that way about most things. I was thinking that this might be the time to pull the plug, however, especially considering how long it had been hiding with the jam and sourdough starter. It's definitely not spoiled in the sense of having gone off or there would be no question. Still, better safe than sorry, right?

Just made big batch of chicken soup today, using some refrigerated broth/stock from around Christmas or before. As cilantro says it had a layer of undisturbed fat on top... if I'm not around to post again you'll know the answer, but the soup sure was good!

This will be controversial, I suppose, but I think there is some merit to challenging and thereby training one's tummy, to tolerate, nay, thrive on less than perfectly refrigerated and not-past-sell-by food.

OK, if I couldn't even remember when I put it there, I'd definitely toss it, and I'll eat nearly anything and think most of the "recommendations" are far too conservative. I tend to take considered risks, and don't expect everything to be sanitary . Everything does spoil eventually (except honey, but that's another thing altogether), but even some spoiled or moldy things are good to eat, like sauerkraut and blue cheese!

Not all pathogens smell or taste bad, though, they're undetectable, so in an instance where something has been around so long I don't remember exactly when I put it there, I'm not taking that risk, I'd just make more broth.

Annie

I'll start off by saying I'd have tossed it no doubt, but I'm wondering why.

Unlike meat, when I store vegetables in the fridge I don't pay attention to when I bought them. After a while they might get tossed once they're wilted, dried out, or otherwise unappetizing. Actually at this point many of us might throw them in a stock. Unless there's mold growing on them I've never thought about a safety issue. After all, there's no sell by or use by or best by date on loose produce. So, you take a bunch of vegetables, simmer the heck out of them to kill any pathogens (and probably most nutrients?) and call it a stock. Why wouldn't this be, if anything, safer to store in the fridge than raw veggies? Why are we suddenly putting a timestamp on it now, rather than simply relying on our senses?

Well, I was thinking along lines similar to FOAS when I thought perhaps it could just be boiled for long enough to kill bacteria since it's pure, strained vegetable stock. I also agree with Johnliu, in general, though was also thinking that so soon after people have been sick isn't the time to challenge their immunities. Since people I trust not to chuck out food that's not spoiled said no, however, I'm more than willing to err on the side of caution.

There was a break in the rain. We ordered in Chinese food, instead (with a big tip). Including Hot and Sour soup and Szechuan noodles with bean sauce for the desired interior warming (and it arrived hot!).

I was thinking along the lines of flavour. There is NO Way that a broth that is a month or more old (or even a week) will taste as good as it did when it was freshly made. It is just not possible.

Thanks, Ann. I didn't even think of that. :)