Richard Gorelick was appointed The Baltimore Sun's restaurant critic in September 2010. Before joining the paper staff fulltime, he contributed freelance criticism and features articles about food to area and regional publications. Along the way, he dispatched for short-distance trucking companies, shilled for cultural non-profits, and assisted in cognitive neurology research – never the subject, always the control.
He takes restaurants seriously but not himself, and his favorite restaurant is the one you love, too.
I made another batch of creme fraiche this weekend. 
Comments
There's nothing magic about 24 hours. You have a live culture. It's safe. More time means more tangy up to a point. Try it. It's safe but whether it has the right flavor is up to you. Time is not the only factor; temperature accelerates the culture growth. 36 hours in the winter might equal 24 in the summer.
Posted by: Max Plonk | May 31, 2010 4:08 PM
I concur with Max. Use your institution, give it a taste, go from there. Being that i'm guessing that pasteurized buttermilk and cream are the starters, you're very unlikely to get food poisoning.
Posted by: Meekrat | May 31, 2010 7:11 PM
But just in case, I hope your will has been updated recently!
Posted by: Dahlink | May 31, 2010 7:27 PM
Whenever I make creme fraiche I hold it for two days, sure Im sure you will be fine. And yes temperature has a lot to do it -- winter batches take longer, and summer batches less. Just make sure you sanitize your container first, and stir it up well afterwards.
Posted by: turkeybone | June 1, 2010 1:42 AM
Think about this (but not too hard):
Why is there an expiration date on sour cream?
Posted by: Alexander D. Mitchell IV | June 1, 2010 11:16 AM
ADM IV - So that you will open the container occasionally to see if you have a bumper crop of mold.
Posted by: Kitkat | June 1, 2010 2:18 PM
What makes it so ironical is that you are having the creme fraiche what sound like fresh cream but it is ach, staled cream. Quite a paradoxical world we living in
Posted by: wolfgang | June 1, 2010 2:25 PM