Author Topic: Expired Soup - and other adventures in one's pantry  (Read 17346 times)

OSUBearCub

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Expired Soup - and other adventures in one's pantry
« on: November 12, 2014, 11:59:33 AM »
I just cracked open a can of ready-to-eat soup that was a year past the best-by date on the bottom.  I had almost thrown it out.  Lunch was tasty, filling, cheap, and convenient.

So tell me Mustachians, how long have you gone past the expiration/use-by/best-by date on canned goods?  Good experiences or bad experiences are welcome!

TN_Steve

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Re: Expired Soup - and other adventures in one's pantry
« Reply #1 on: November 12, 2014, 01:14:35 PM »
Canned--does it ever really go bad?  We don't even check, but I have noticed more than a year in the past.  Bad household inventory management though; unlike some wines, it doesn't improve with age.

OTOH, don't feel too bad about using powdered spices (Cumin and Cayenne) right now (checked last night) that had "sell by" dates in 2010.  Bought multiple economy sized on sale ....

:-)

frugalnacho

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Re: Expired Soup - and other adventures in one's pantry
« Reply #2 on: November 12, 2014, 01:17:51 PM »
I just found several cans that are up to 2 years past the expiration date.  My wife wants to toss them, but I say no way! I am planning to crack them open and test them out.  I have a feeling they are still fine.

Earlier this week I had a yogurt that was 1 month past due.  It tasted fine.

A couple months ago I at mayo that was past its expiration date by a couple of months.  I felt sick for about a day, so expired mayo is a no-go for me now.

deborah

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Re: Expired Soup - and other adventures in one's pantry
« Reply #3 on: November 12, 2014, 01:20:54 PM »
Spices - 10 years out of date - same with rice and grains. Wouldn't eat out of date canned goods.

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Re: Expired Soup - and other adventures in one's pantry
« Reply #4 on: November 12, 2014, 01:22:30 PM »
I got a can of orange juice (yes, I was surprised too) from a vending machine at work last year that I noticed was 8 months expired after I drank it.  It seemed fine.

The cinnamon in the break room at work has a "best by" date of Dec 2012.  People still use it on occasion.

Pigeon

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Re: Expired Soup - and other adventures in one's pantry
« Reply #5 on: November 12, 2014, 01:26:39 PM »
There are some canned goods that really are disgusting too far past the expiration date.  They might not be harmful to eat, but I don't eat stuff that is unpleasant.  I've had canned beans and jarred roasted red peppers get gross enough that I threw them out, and they weren't that far past the sell-by date.

Mayo, no way.  My 91 year old mother in law is a child of the Depression and she doesn't throw out anything or manage what she has.  We try very hard not to eat there as you are taking your life in your hands.  A few months ago, she tried to badger my kids into eating mayo from an open jar with a use by date of 2008.  Umm, kids, it's time to go now, say good bye to Grandma!

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Re: Expired Soup - and other adventures in one's pantry
« Reply #6 on: November 12, 2014, 02:09:53 PM »
While canned goods may not taste bad after a long ageing period, the can and lining may degrade after a while and you might eat unsavory chemicals like Bisphenol-A. I try not to indulge in too much of that.

I have had very expired bread crumbs and it was the worst, most rancid thing I ever tasted. I literally took one bite of a meal my mom had prepared and also blew chunks. I could even tell something was wrong just by smelling it but I did not want to offend by not tasting....

I have had 3 month past expiry cream that tasted like new. I have had yogurt a couple months past expiry and it was also fine.

NoraLenderbee

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Re: Expired Soup - and other adventures in one's pantry
« Reply #7 on: November 12, 2014, 02:34:48 PM »
"Use by" and "Best by" dates are not deadlines; the food doesn't instantly become toxic after the date passes. The issue is tastiness and texture, not food safety. They are the dates after which the producer doesn't guarantee that the food will be of best eating quality. Frozen food may become dried out or get freezer burn; canned goods may pick up a metallic flavor; crackers may get stale; and so on. For fresh food like dairy products, the "Best by" date really means that the food will taste freshest before that date, and after that date, it may lose some of the pleasing qualities. Most dates include a generous margin. Liquids (like soda) deteriorate faster and may indeed taste terrible after the expiration date.

Things with fats can get rancid, especially if the packages have been opened (like the bread crumbs). I wouldn't eat rancid food for health reasons (besides, it tastes terrible.) Old spices lose potency, especially if they've already been ground.

If something grosses you out, toss it. But you are not taking your life in your hands by eating an old can of soup.

infogoon

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Re: Expired Soup - and other adventures in one's pantry
« Reply #8 on: November 12, 2014, 02:46:22 PM »
I once opened a can of garbanzo beans that was about eighteen months past its sell-by date. The beans had completely liquified -- it looked like phlegm hummus.

trailrated

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Re: Expired Soup - and other adventures in one's pantry
« Reply #9 on: November 12, 2014, 02:56:37 PM »
Sounds like quite the gambowl

Sorry for the awful joke but it made me laugh for a solid 3 minutes.

OSUBearCub

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Re: Expired Soup - and other adventures in one's pantry
« Reply #10 on: November 13, 2014, 12:36:58 PM »
I just found several cans that are up to 2 years past the expiration date.  My wife wants to toss them, but I say no way! I am planning to crack them open and test them out.  I have a feeling they are still fine.

Earlier this week I had a yogurt that was 1 month past due.  It tasted fine.

A couple months ago I at mayo that was past its expiration date by a couple of months.  I felt sick for about a day, so expired mayo is a no-go for me now.

Mayo is my no-go as well.  I've switched over to various mustards for my sandwiches a couple years back - mustard lasts forever.  I by the smallest containers of mayo only when needed because I got sick of throwing year-old jars out.

Spices - 10 years out of date - same with rice and grains. Wouldn't eat out of date canned goods.

I've heard that spices are duds once they start smelling like grass or hay.  Have you found this to be the case?

OSUBearCub

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Re: Expired Soup - and other adventures in one's pantry
« Reply #11 on: November 13, 2014, 12:39:36 PM »
Mayo, no way.  My 91 year old mother in law is a child of the Depression and she doesn't throw out anything or manage what she has.  We try very hard not to eat there as you are taking your life in your hands.  A few months ago, she tried to badger my kids into eating mayo from an open jar with a use by date of 2008.  Umm, kids, it's time to go now, say good bye to Grandma!

In my family, this is my mom.  When I visit for the holidays I will clean out her fridge for her "as a surprise" in the middle of the night once I arrive.  She thinks I'm "making room for all the awesome leftovers" but I'm really just throwing out a years-worth of suspicious condiments. :-)

OSUBearCub

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Re: Expired Soup - and other adventures in one's pantry
« Reply #12 on: November 13, 2014, 12:42:15 PM »
I once opened a can of garbanzo beans that was about eighteen months past its sell-by date. The beans had completely liquified -- it looked like phlegm hummus.

lol!  So you're saying on it's *best* day, hummus looks like infant poo and on it's worst day it looks like snot?  The garbanzo just can't win!

Sounds like quite the gambowl

Sorry for the awful joke but it made me laugh for a solid 3 minutes.

Maybe, but I have a pretty *can* do attitude when it comes to using up old soup! lol

Zikoris

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Re: Expired Soup - and other adventures in one's pantry
« Reply #13 on: November 13, 2014, 02:03:29 PM »
Nope, nope, nope.... Why buy things and then leave them in the cupboard for years? I buy what I need and then EAT IT. When it's gone, I buy more. None of that "Will this kill me if I eat it?" for me.

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Re: Expired Soup - and other adventures in one's pantry
« Reply #14 on: November 13, 2014, 02:23:48 PM »
Mayo, no way.  My 91 year old mother in law is a child of the Depression and she doesn't throw out anything or manage what she has.  We try very hard not to eat there as you are taking your life in your hands.  A few months ago, she tried to badger my kids into eating mayo from an open jar with a use by date of 2008.  Umm, kids, it's time to go now, say good bye to Grandma!

In my family, this is my mom.  When I visit for the holidays I will clean out her fridge for her "as a surprise" in the middle of the night once I arrive.  She thinks I'm "making room for all the awesome leftovers" but I'm really just throwing out a years-worth of suspicious condiments. :-)

Hehe, my octogenarian mum has dinosaur relics in her fridge too. But I wouldn't be game to clean it out. Even if I was, she'd get it out of the bin and put it all back. The depression has a lot to answer for.

Not sure how it is in US, but in my state in Oz, "Use by" means the food should not be eaten after than date and is generally perishables such as milk, meat etc.  "Best before" means just that, and the food can be safely eaten after that date, so long as it appears to be in good condition.  Some of the cans in my pantry have no date at all: baked beans, tomatoes, tuna. And  others do: currently I have condensed milk BB Aug 2013. I had two cans, but used one up the other day and it was fine.

However after practicing on the "use up all the food in your pantry" thread,  I'm much tighter about excess food and managing what I have before buying anymore.

GizmoTX

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Re: Expired Soup - and other adventures in one's pantry
« Reply #15 on: November 13, 2014, 02:39:46 PM »
If a can is bulging or leaking, it could have botulism toxin that will kill you or cause severe injury. You should not taste test it.

Give spices the smell test. If you can't smell anything or it's nothing like it's supposed to be, it won't do anything for your food.

Funny grandma story: She gave our DS a partial bottle of maple syrup for his pancakes when he was around 5 years old. When he refused to eat them, we looked closer. Ants!!

kyanamerinas

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Re: Expired Soup - and other adventures in one's pantry
« Reply #16 on: November 13, 2014, 02:45:34 PM »
Eggs are often fine a month or so past their stated date. Just do the float test in them.

Dicey

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Re: Expired Soup - and other adventures in one's pantry
« Reply #17 on: November 13, 2014, 03:09:03 PM »
- My local food bank gladly accepts food up to one year past the expiration date.

- I freeze milk, so expiration date is irrelevant. I cross it out with a sharpie so the one family member who cares doesn't throw it out.

- Last December Costco discontinued our favorite jarred mandarin oranges. I bought up the last 96 or so jars and then noticed the expiration date was only a week or two away. We are still working our way through them with no problems. They are shrink wrapped in sets of three. Once in a while, I will open a jar that's no good, but the other two in the set will be fine. I attribute it to the seals on the jars. Occasionally, something will get caught on the rim of the jar and it won't seal properly. No biggie, I just dump it and move on to the next jar.

Since the topic is pantry adventures, maybe someone can help me think of a good use for the jars. They look like canning jars, but the lids are slightly smaller, so I have to use the original lids, which rules out pressure canning. Any great Mustachinan gift ideas? Yes, I do use them to store bulk staples from Winco, but I have w-a-a-a-a-y more than I can use.

OSUBearCub

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Re: Expired Soup - and other adventures in one's pantry
« Reply #18 on: November 13, 2014, 03:35:54 PM »
Nope, nope, nope.... Why buy things and then leave them in the cupboard for years? I buy what I need and then EAT IT. When it's gone, I buy more. None of that "Will this kill me if I eat it?" for me.

It happens even if you don't stockpile.  My concern is that if it's gone and there's some sort of calamity that doesn't allow for me to quickly replace that item, I've got 3-4 in the pantry to tide me over.  Now, one might critique my stocking up on ready-to-eat soup since it's my least favorite meal option.  I keep 8-12 cans on hand at all times for hurricane preparedness - you can eat it without heating it if necessary.  The problem is we've not recently had a storm or power outage to remind me that I've not touched my soup in a while.

The anti-stockpiling debate is a zero-sum facepunch-a-thon.  Some of us do, some of us don't.  Some bunch the paper, some fold.  ;-)

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Re: Expired Soup - and other adventures in one's pantry
« Reply #19 on: November 13, 2014, 03:40:10 PM »
Nope, nope, nope.... Why buy things and then leave them in the cupboard for years? I buy what I need and then EAT IT. When it's gone, I buy more. None of that "Will this kill me if I eat it?" for me.

It happens even if you don't stockpile.  My concern is that if it's gone and there's some sort of calamity that doesn't allow for me to quickly replace that item, I've got 3-4 in the pantry to tide me over.  Now, one might critique my stocking up on ready-to-eat soup since it's my least favorite meal option.  I keep 8-12 cans on hand at all times for hurricane preparedness - you can eat it without heating it if necessary.  The problem is we've not recently had a storm or power outage to remind me that I've not touched my soup in a while.

The anti-stockpiling debate is a zero-sum facepunch-a-thon.  Some of us do, some of us don't.  Some bunch the paper, some fold.  ;-)

Nothing wrong with that, but keeping the same cans for several years is insane. Throw the soup into a casserole and rotate the stock! When I buy canned stuff, the expiry date is typically two years into the future. How disorganized do you have to be to not get around to eating it before then?

OSUBearCub

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Re: Expired Soup - and other adventures in one's pantry
« Reply #20 on: November 14, 2014, 11:32:28 AM »
Nope, nope, nope.... Why buy things and then leave them in the cupboard for years? I buy what I need and then EAT IT. When it's gone, I buy more. None of that "Will this kill me if I eat it?" for me.

It happens even if you don't stockpile.  My concern is that if it's gone and there's some sort of calamity that doesn't allow for me to quickly replace that item, I've got 3-4 in the pantry to tide me over.  Now, one might critique my stocking up on ready-to-eat soup since it's my least favorite meal option.  I keep 8-12 cans on hand at all times for hurricane preparedness - you can eat it without heating it if necessary.  The problem is we've not recently had a storm or power outage to remind me that I've not touched my soup in a while.

The anti-stockpiling debate is a zero-sum facepunch-a-thon.  Some of us do, some of us don't.  Some bunch the paper, some fold.  ;-)

Nothing wrong with that, but keeping the same cans for several years is insane. Throw the soup into a casserole and rotate the stock! When I buy canned stuff, the expiry date is typically two years into the future. How disorganized do you have to be to not get around to eating it before then?

Great idea on throwing it into a casserole.  Generally I'm pretty organized but since the canned soup is low on my list of acceptable meals it's one of the few things I should track more carefully.  Also, I only buy it on clearance with coupons.  Clearance soups have already sat around at the store on the shelf for a year. 

farmstache

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Re: Expired Soup - and other adventures in one's pantry
« Reply #21 on: November 14, 2014, 05:17:38 PM »

Hehe, my octogenarian mum has dinosaur relics in her fridge too. But I wouldn't be game to clean it out. Even if I was, she'd get it out of the bin and put it all back. The depression has a lot to answer for.

Not sure how it is in US, but in my state in Oz, "Use by" means the food should not be eaten after than date and is generally perishables such as milk, meat etc.  "Best before" means just that, and the food can be safely eaten after that date, so long as it appears to be in good condition.  Some of the cans in my pantry have no date at all: baked beans, tomatoes, tuna. And  others do: currently I have condensed milk BB Aug 2013. I had two cans, but used one up the other day and it was fine.

However after practicing on the "use up all the food in your pantry" thread,  I'm much tighter about excess food and managing what I have before buying anymore.

Tip #1: Condensed milk in a can only gets better with time. Once we opened one that had the due date about 5 years past (more on that later), and it had turned into delicious doce de leite (google it).

Tip #2: No-go for mayo.

My family has a beach house in a remote location, you can only get there by boat and we usually turn off the fridge when we leave. So we rely a lot on canned food (really, most of it never goes bad), and we also have a lame storaging management, so it's quite common that we "find" some old stuff in the cupboards.

Tip #3: Spices last for a loooong time if you store them airtight. Same for salt and sugar, and most dry beans/grains/etc. Flour is trickier. If you toss some insect-repelling herbs in the cupboard with these things, they last for a lot longer before actually starting to decay or mold.

Tip #4: My criteria for evaluating the goodness of things has evolved after growing up and learning more about food management in the modern society and garbage disposals, etc, so nowadays I basically have the Ghetto (original ghetto from ww2) criteria. "Would Anne Frank eat this?" or "Would a child on Africa eat this?". I've basically stopped cutting out the tiny hurt brown parts in fruit, and started trusting my nose much more. I also don't toss the whole bread if a slice of it has a tiny mold spot. Just cut it out and eat it (if it's not tasting of detergent - which means fungus all over).

Tip #5: Recook stuff! If your nose says it's good but your brain isn't quite convinced, cook it. Don't eat it raw or directly from the can. Get a recipe and prepare it with heat. It'll kill most bacteria and usually refreshen the flavor.

Other than this, well, I agree the best tactic is doing the "use up all your food" once a year and make sure you're rotating the "just in case of disaster" stash.

Tip #6: Sometimes old milk or old yogurt can be turned into cheese, if it goes bad just right. That's a skill worth learning if you (like me) have a place or situation where it's common to find things go bad (specially because the aforementioned beach house is used by several different family members...)

OSUBearCub

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Re: Expired Soup - and other adventures in one's pantry
« Reply #22 on: November 17, 2014, 11:43:13 AM »
"Would Anne Frank eat this?"

(I'm going to hell for the first quick-witted, smart-assed thought that crossed my mind - omitted but confessed here because I'm not an animal ha ha)  *However* this is an awesome phrase to post on the fridge door.  I'd gone pretty soft when it comes to being squeamish about refrigerated leftovers.  I'm working toughening up and this is a more inspiring perspective. :-)

frugalnacho

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Re: Expired Soup - and other adventures in one's pantry
« Reply #23 on: November 17, 2014, 02:29:02 PM »
I just found several cans that are up to 2 years past the expiration date.  My wife wants to toss them, but I say no way! I am planning to crack them open and test them out.  I have a feeling they are still fine.

Earlier this week I had a yogurt that was 1 month past due.  It tasted fine.

A couple months ago I at mayo that was past its expiration date by a couple of months.  I felt sick for about a day, so expired mayo is a no-go for me now.

Mayo is my no-go as well.  I've switched over to various mustards for my sandwiches a couple years back - mustard lasts forever.  I by the smallest containers of mayo only when needed because I got sick of throwing year-old jars out.

Mustard? That's gross man.  I'll take crusty, expired, diarrhea-inducing mayo over mustard any day.

BlueHouse

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Re: Expired Soup - and other adventures in one's pantry
« Reply #24 on: November 17, 2014, 09:26:14 PM »
Pineapple chunks in a huge can. 7 years past expiration. Found them when I was moving. Clearly I had moved them from my last location. Refused to toss and didn't want to move them again.  I don't even really like pineapple that much (clearly!)

I'm also still using a pack of Benadryl capsules that expired in 1998. Yes, you read that right. They work fine.

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Re: Expired Soup - and other adventures in one's pantry
« Reply #25 on: November 17, 2014, 11:40:16 PM »

I'm also still using a pack of Benadryl capsules that expired in 1998. Yes, you read that right. They work fine.

My MIL  cleaned out my medicine cabinet without asking.  Yes there were a couple of items ready to go a long time before, but I do tend to use up some cold meds and Tylenol for up to four months after expiry....  And use suncreen up to 6 months after, too.   And she tossed a lot that was under three months over the dates....  We had a string of colds the year before and bought more than usual.

To all here, never clean out someone's cupboard without asking first....




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Re: Expired Soup - and other adventures in one's pantry
« Reply #26 on: November 18, 2014, 06:30:26 AM »
I heard a phrase once that resonated with me:  Completing the purchase. 

I think it was one of those Hoarders shows, and the woman in question was a food hoarder; you can probably guess that she was very into buying cheap food, and some of it was never even removed from the bags. 

The idea of "completing the purchase" has to do with storing your food WELL so that it lasts until you need it.  The idea is that when you come home with groceries, you put your dried goods into glass jars (so bugs won't get them), you rotate your newest cans to the back of the shelf, you open the box of granola bars and place them in the snack bin, or whatever works in your pantry.  Because I live in the South, I am always conscious of mealy-bugs; they will destroy things like cake mixes, biscuit mix, etc.  But they don't get into glass jars topped off with bay leaves. 

If you store your food well, you'll eliminate much of the issue -- because, obviously, the food will be eaten up before the problem arises. 

I do like to stockpile food; for example, we love canned pumpkin in our house, and I just bought about a dozen cans for just under $1.50/can.  It's often over $2, and sometimes it's not available at any price.  So stocking up makes sense -- but a dozen cans is a reasonable amount, which we'll actually use. 

I cannot quite buy into the "Would Anne Frank eat this?" idea.  I'm not willing to risk making myself sick over the cost of a can of soup.  If it's more than six months out of date, it's a no-go. 




Pigeon

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Re: Expired Soup - and other adventures in one's pantry
« Reply #27 on: November 18, 2014, 07:38:58 AM »
I'm not into the Ann Frank mentality, either.  It isn't worth getting sick over.  We eat primarily for nourishment, but we also enjoy what we eat.  Health concerns aside, I'm not eating things that are disgusting, nor am I asking my kids to do so.  I'm pretty careful about storing and using food and I'd rather concentrate my efforts making sure I'm not overbuying and using what we do buy on time. 

Cooking food that's gone bad doesn't undo the fact that it's gone bad.  In some cases, it's the toxin produced by the pathogen that makes you sick and it isn't destroyed by cooking.

If I occasionally throw out something that's become genuinely unappetizing, well, we aren't Ann Frank.

yandz

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Re: Expired Soup - and other adventures in one's pantry
« Reply #28 on: November 18, 2014, 08:02:21 AM »
It really depends what it is for me. Tomato something or other with high acidity? Good forever! Tuna? Not so much.

farmstache

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Re: Expired Soup - and other adventures in one's pantry
« Reply #29 on: November 18, 2014, 10:24:08 AM »
Guys, for the record: I've never ever gotten sick by eating something at my home. I did get sick a few times after eating OUT of my home in good places where the food smelled slightly funny but I was assured by everyone that I was imagining things.

I don't eat gross food. If it looks bad, smells bad or has a weird texture, I pass. The brown parts in an apple aren't really bad yet, they are just oxidated and ca be perfectly used for juice. I purposefully buy tomatoes with a few defects so I can pay cheaper for them and turn them into tomato sauce (not an option at large chains).

That said, metal cans can really hold stuff with good quality for a long, long time. Tuna even. You just have to know how to be safe: can condition, food color, smell and texture, what kind of smell to look for in each kind of food. It also helps to know other processing options: I don't want to eat or blend raw kale with a few yellow spots, but I know to cook them or add them to soups and it's still perfect and nutritious. Canned tuna lasts a long time, upwards of 3 years, looking, smelling and tasting like new. Much better than canned soup, beans or sweet corn.

Of course I'm somewhat hyperbolic with the Anne Frank philosophy, but I use it to remind myself that we are too spoiled by perfect vegetables, perfect food, perfect anything with lots of conservatives, and that it's okay to eat food that doesn't look perfect too, and the more I throw away, the more I'm adding to the city garbage (my compost bin is currently out of service until january). Abundance shouldn't mean waste when the food is perfectly edible.

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Re: Expired Soup - and other adventures in one's pantry
« Reply #30 on: November 18, 2014, 01:06:11 PM »
To play devil's advocate against the argument that stockpiling is anything but badass - meal planning is boring and time consuming.  I do it but I'm not going to waste my energy determining *exactly* how many cans of tuna I need and *exactly* when I plan on eating them to ensure I don't accidentally buy an extra can on a grocery run.  Being prepared with a well-stocked pantry is a great tool to help curb impulse food spending.

I'd also like to add convenience - I've always got something convenient to grab if I'm rushed in the morning.  I never have to purchase a fast food lunch unless I really want to.  Likewise, on the way home, if I've not fired up the crockpot or purchased fresh veggies and planned a dish, I have something quick and easy to eat instead of take-out. 

Just like the planners have posted threads on "What do I do when I find myself in a restaurant when I wasn't planning?" this thread is the yin to that yang.  "What do I do when I realize I accidentally have 3 cans of expired soup in my pantry?" 

Zikoris

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Re: Expired Soup - and other adventures in one's pantry
« Reply #31 on: November 18, 2014, 02:49:48 PM »
To play devil's advocate against the argument that stockpiling is anything but badass - meal planning is boring and time consuming.  I do it but I'm not going to waste my energy determining *exactly* how many cans of tuna I need and *exactly* when I plan on eating them to ensure I don't accidentally buy an extra can on a grocery run.  Being prepared with a well-stocked pantry is a great tool to help curb impulse food spending.

Well, lots of things are boring - I don't find doing dishes, hanging up clothes, or fixing my hair particularly exciting. But time consuming? Where does that come from? Here's how we meal plan in our household:

1. Go grocery shopping based on sales, including "mild" stocking up (2-3 cans) on items we go through a lot of if they're on sale (like canned tomatoes, coconut milk, or pasta)

2. Pull out our Master List of our favourite 25 meals and pick out for the week the ones that fit with what we bought. Modify recipes liberally. If this takes longer than 5 minutes, something's wrong.

Boom, done. You have all your meals for the week.

Quote
I'd also like to add convenience - I've always got something convenient to grab if I'm rushed in the morning.  I never have to purchase a fast food lunch unless I really want to.  Likewise, on the way home, if I've not fired up the crockpot or purchased fresh veggies and planned a dish, I have something quick and easy to eat instead of take-out. 

If you had a meal plan, you'd always have food available ready to grab. We typically have four or five individually portioned meal containers on a specific shelf of the fridge, arranged in the order they were made so the oldest always gets eaten first.

Here's an idea for the stockpilers who have stuff go bad regularly - how about going through the pantry once a month and pulling out anything getting close to expiring, and make sure to use it for recipes within the next week or two?

OSUBearCub

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Re: Expired Soup - and other adventures in one's pantry
« Reply #32 on: November 18, 2014, 03:21:53 PM »
Here's an idea for the stockpilers who have stuff go bad regularly - how about going through the pantry once a month and pulling out anything getting close to expiring, and make sure to use it for recipes within the next week or two?

This is exactly what we do.

So back to adventurous eating - lunch today was another can of well-expired soup.  This is as exciting as Benson having to play Russian Roulette at in last season's SVU finale! :-)

Pooperman

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Re: Expired Soup - and other adventures in one's pantry
« Reply #33 on: November 18, 2014, 04:14:45 PM »
I've had yoghurt upwards of a year after expiry date, but as long as the culture doesn't die, it's safe. Grandma had a can of white pepper corns from 1980 when she moved in 2005. We opened it as an experiment. It was a powder and not particularly appetizing.

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Re: Expired Soup - and other adventures in one's pantry
« Reply #34 on: November 19, 2014, 03:04:28 PM »
Random thoughts here from someone whose mom has vintage cans in her pantry:

If the product's label has changed in the meantime, I'm not eating it. I have PTSD from too many bad experiences at my mother's. There's a Heinz 57 bottle in her fridge that is at least a decade old. Every time she serves red meat, out it comes, and not surprisingly no one helps themselves. After rancid ranch, I've also learned to only use oil and vinegar on salads there. In general I refuse to stockpile just because there is a good price, in large part because of my mom. I imagine 75% of what she eats is expired, because she can't resist the dented cans or marked down items. The problem is is that she and my dad can't possibly eat it all before it expires. She also buys produce dramatically marked down b/c it is about to go. I do this too, but her problem is that she never gets around to eating it until later in the week when it is gross. I'm not sure she even know what fresh food or "fresh" canned food tastes like anymore. 

In my own pantry, I've been surprised by what went bad. I recently had a can of unexpired Campbell's tomato soup with an odd ass texture that got pitched. Two year expired pineapple looked fine but the lining had failed. That's a no go for me. Croutons get nasty, just like bread  crumbs. I've also learned not to overbuy crackers. I can't stand to eat a stale or off tasting cracker (see above motherly PTSD).

Dramatically expired yogurt usually still tastes fine. I just do the smell test.       

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Re: Expired Soup - and other adventures in one's pantry
« Reply #35 on: December 08, 2014, 03:59:15 PM »
Currently chowing down on the last (and oldest) of the expired soups.  January 2013! 

For those keeping a pantry for any length of time (you preppers and couponers out there), I've got some observations:

- Progresso Light varieties seem to hold up the best
- Campbell's Healthy Request, while edible, don't have the same staying power as the Progresso
- I've not yet grown lady parts due to BPA in the can linings*

*however the total number of cans consumed has only been 6 :-)


 

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