# My pasta is 13 years old



## Jimbo777 (Jun 21, 2014)

I have read many times on the internet that pasta only lasts for 2 to 3 years.

What a bunch of baloney!

I still have several plastic containers of angel hair pasta that I bought in 2001.
Yes the taste is off slighty but it is still very good tasting stuff, and very much edible!

I notice that most pasta today comes in boxes and not plastic bags like it did back in the early 2000's.
Advantage goes to plastic bags over boxes.
Air can get inside those boxes and not inside the sealed plastic bags.

Also angel hair pasta is alot thinner than regular pasta.
Longevity goes to the thinner types of pasta. Not the thicker stuff.

I have some boxes of angel hair pasta that I recently purchased.
I think I will transfer them into some plastic freezer bags for long term storage.

Besides all that... angel hair pasta cooks up in only two minutes. :2thumb:

http://www.eatbydate.com/grains/pasta-shelf-life-expiration-date/

J


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## bacpacker (Jul 15, 2011)

Good to know. I have some Angel hair that's 5 yo. We opened a bag a month back, couldn't tell any difference in it.


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## IlliniWarrior (Nov 30, 2010)

next to rice & beans ... pasta is a very cheap and excellent candidate for long term storage .... if you use the food grade bucket/gasketed lid - 02 absorbers - mylar bag system of food storage you have decades of guaranteed storage .... approx 30 pounds of spaghetti strands per 5 gallon bucket ....


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## JayJay (Nov 23, 2010)

IlliniWarrior said:


> next to rice & beans ... pasta is a very cheap and excellent candidate for long term storage .... if you use the food grade bucket/gasketed lid - 02 absorbers - mylar bag system of food storage you have decades of guaranteed storage .... approx 30 pounds of spaghetti strands per 5 gallon bucket ....


AND..save those boxes after putting your pasta in a bucket---when you start using from that bucket, use the box to prop up the pasta to prevent from falling over---did I?????

What do you think???


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## CulexPipiens (Nov 17, 2010)

Canned goods supposedly are good way past their dates too... well I guess that is kind of true. I opened a 2011 can of green beans the other night. Can was fine. No damage, no bulges, etc. Looked fine. Smelled fine. Tasted... well, not so fine. I'd describe it as a combination of metallic and soap. I supposed if I was starving it wouldn't matter.


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## Jimbo777 (Jun 21, 2014)

CulexPipiens said:


> Canned goods supposedly are good way past their dates too... well I guess that is kind of true. I opened a 2011 can of green beans the other night. Can was fine. No damage, no bulges, etc. Looked fine. Smelled fine. Tasted... well, not so fine. I'd describe it as a combination of metallic and soap. I supposed if I was starving it wouldn't matter.


I've had Hormel Dinty Moore Stew - 5 years old - and it tasted fine.

Ditto with Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup

My Jolly Green Giant canned corn right now has a exp. date of Oct. 2017
which seems a long time to me. :dunno:

J


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## kelee877 (Jul 9, 2014)

I used pasta from 2007 and I had left some in the original bag, where I am there is red and blue dye on the bag with company logo..I found the chemicals from the dye on the package made the pasta taste funny.

So now I freeze all of my pasta for a week or more, bring to room temp then re-package in to zip lock storage bags and store in totes in my basement

I have pasta stored this way as far back as 2001 and have had no problems in taste or texture


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## IlliniWarrior (Nov 30, 2010)

JayJay said:


> AND..save those boxes after putting your pasta in a bucket---when you start using from that bucket, use the box to prop up the pasta to prevent from falling over---did I?????
> 
> What do you think???


not sure if I follow you exactly ...

nothing ever goes inside the mylar bag but the food itself ... never any extra bags and especially not the retail store packaging .... that stuff is filthy, possibly bug/egg infested and all that paper and ink off gases bad chems ... you don't want your food marinating in a chemical swill for the next 20 years ... enough said

When I load my mylar bag lined pasta bucket I tilt 45 degrees ... open the spaghetti boxes and just slide the pasta strands into an increasing stack pile .... you'll get a nice pack til the bucket is almost filled ... still plenty of room to sqeeze another 4-5 pounds into the bucket ... I top off the top of the bucket with loose pasta - I prefer the bowtie pasta sometimes macaroni noodles - packs real well in that bucket headspace .... about 2 pounds worth

common problem with pasta and especially spaghetti strands .... they can poke holes in your mylar bag .... you need to line the bottom of the mylar bag before filling .... Tyvek is a great barrier .... it doesn't off gas and can actually be sterilized (commonly used in med packaging) ... I use the Tyvek from the post office overnite mailing envelopes .... open them up and cut off all the edges with any glue .... lay two pieces in the bucket bottom with some good overlapping ...


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## IlliniWarrior (Nov 30, 2010)

kelee877 said:


> I used pasta from 2007 and I had left some in the original bag, where I am there is red and blue dye on the bag with company logo..I found the chemicals from the dye on the package made the pasta taste funny.
> 
> So now I freeze all of my pasta for a week or more, bring to room temp then re-package in to zip lock storage bags and store in totes in my basement
> 
> I have pasta stored this way as far back as 2001 and have had no problems in taste or texture


people have no idea how bad the retail shelf packaging is ... it's not intended to be in contact with food for very long ... the food processor fills the box or bag and sends it for the store shelves .... it's commonly sold and used within a few months .... also not intended to protect the food from pests .... bugs bugs bugs


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## Beaniemaster2 (May 22, 2012)

Good to know pasta lasts that long... I have a lot starting with 2008... I vacuum pack all my pastas, then put the packages in buckets... I did find in the beginning that pasta pokes thru so I bag them first, then put in vacuum bags, seemed to stop the problem but I have had a few packages let go..... I also learned I can prolong the life of cereal too this way... Most seem to last at least a year or more past the best buy date this way...


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## Jimbo777 (Jun 21, 2014)

While we are on the subject of Pasta...

The best pasta sauce I have ever tasted is...

Hunts "Zesty & Spicy" it says on the label

This pasta sauce is very very spicy!

Fred Meyer has the 24 oz cans of this stuff for $1.00 each (every day price) :yummy:


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## JayJay (Nov 23, 2010)

kelee877 said:


> I used pasta from 2007 and I had left some in the original bag, where I am there is red and blue dye on the bag with company logo..I found the chemicals from the dye on the package made the pasta taste funny.
> 
> So now I freeze all of my pasta for a week or more, bring to room temp then re-package in to zip lock storage bags and store in totes in my basement
> 
> I have pasta stored this way as far back as 2001 and have had no problems in taste or texture


In totes--great idea. Thanks.

Can use the buckets for other things now; have plenty of totes in attic from moving years ago.
AND, the totes stack nicely!! AND the attic is not a good place for totes--I had one dry rot and split from the heat.


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## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

When you could still dry can your food at the LDS Home Storage Center, you could purchase a 25 # box of spaghetti. It was too long for the # 10 cans so they would break it to get it to fit. I took the bag and set it on end in a 5 gallon bucket. I added oxygen absorbers and a gamma seal lid. 

I have purchased some 1 # bags of spaghetti and other pastas and they are great in a 5 gallon bucket as well.


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## Beaniemaster2 (May 22, 2012)

kelee877 said:


> I used pasta from 2007 and I had left some in the original bag, where I am there is red and blue dye on the bag with company logo..I found the chemicals from the dye on the package made the pasta taste funny.
> 
> So now I freeze all of my pasta for a week or more, bring to room temp then re-package in to zip lock storage bags and store in totes in my basement
> 
> I have pasta stored this way as far back as 2001 and have had no problems in taste or texture


I have frozen flour to kill bugs before packaging but never pasta... Why do you freeze your pasta???? Thanks


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