Shelflife for "Baking Mixes"

[sherldoe]

Again, pardon a newbiequestion that has probably been answered a zillion times.

Will baking mixes last long enough to warrant mylar packing? Commercial baking mixes don't show an expiration date, to the best of my knowledge, only a "born on" date.

I guess the real question would be: how long will a baking mix with shortening store?".

How would one store, say, yeast or baking powder separately and for how long?

[Cimarron]

There are several opinions on this and it depends who you ask, and how is it packaged. Long ago flour was packaged in "cloth" bags, that some will recognize as 'tea towels'. My Grandmother bought them and used them as dish towels. Flour now, is in paper with usually a plastic lining.
Also consider the terms "expiration date" that a food is supposed to be tested and considered 'spoiled'.
And he term "best if used by" is a relatively new term (think FDA) that let's people know that up to the specified date the food still has nutritional value, but is still good beyond that. How far beyond that is a lot of 'speculation'.

Another consideration is storage. We have no idea how the product was stored before arriving on the shelf. Did it set on a shelf in some warehouse for three weeks before loading on the truck and then stay on the truck in the heat, then to be stored in the back of a store for some time? In the past..probably. Now, stores have no back room storage and depend on a truck multiple times a week. So storage issues will depend on how the consumer keeps it. Which means "you" can determine greatly how long the product last (or doesn't), does it have preservatives, is it cool, and dry, low humidity, etc.

Here is, ask.com "how long after the 'best if used by' date can mixes still be used."

A. about 4 months after the date.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_long_after_the_'best_if_used_by'_date_can_cake_mix_be_baked

ehow.com explaining the FDA guidelines (which is a joke) here are a couple of excerpts.

"An expiration date is a guide to the consumer stating the last date that a food item can be consumed before it is considered spoiled. This date is usually expressed on the food item's label. The Food and Drug Administration has no specific guidelines for food apart from baby formula"


"Expiration and best before labels are not meant to be absolute rules on when to throw food away, University of Georgia food science professor, Mark Harrison, told "Business Week." Many times, the dates are an indicator of quality rather than safety. The expiration dates are only meant as rough guides. If you eat something that is just past its sell by date, it is hardly likely to do you much harm."

Read more: FDA Food Guidelines for Expiration's & Best Before Dates | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/facts_7376832_fd...#ixzz1DTPyfncv

The food packaging industry has changed due to regulations. Where we use to have "expires by" and then was changed to "best used by" was a way to lengthen food shelf life and in my opinion only, was to ease up on the food industry and shelf life. Some years ago testing would show at a certain time the food was not spoiled but the nutritional value was greatly depreciated and hence was the term "best used by". When I was in the grocery trade we consumed the out of date items at the store. we would take food to the meat room where there was an electric skillet and a big electric slow cooker. Depending on 'what' food it was we usually had no problems but did find high acid foods to have a bitter taste and usually got thrown away.

The reason of my "wordy" post was to (hopefully) inform and to give the idea of that there is no "hard and fast rule" on pre-packaged food. It depends on many things, what type of food, how is it packaged, how is it stored, etc.

You mention specifically shortening (crisco) which has a short shelf life. In good conditions, we have had it store for 6-8 months. I don't know after that.

Yeast needs to be put in a refrigerator and we use to store it in just a zip lock bag and had some go bad after 1.5 years and then found out it's better to store it in a quart jar in the refrigerator (in the dark helps) and have had it last almost three years. Personally I wouldn't use it no matter what after 3 years.

Again, food life depends a lot on the conditions mentioned above and I usually go with the "if in doubt, throw it out"

[sherldoe]

Thank you so much for you reply. It was just exactly what I was asking for. You implied that it was "wordy"---baloney---this newbie needed every word it of it. Again, thank you for your answer.

[sherldoe]

Again, replying in re: yeast

Surely, there is someone knowledgeable about yeast that will have some thoughts regarding how to store it long term.

[Bearman202]

A friend told me that he stored his yeast in the freezer. Since yeast is a spore, and spores can live in a vacuum, (outer space) I think that would probably work. I do know that people used to make sourdough bread, because they could keep a starter going indefinitely. That may be the best way. Do a search on "sourdough starter" for instructions on how to get it started.

[monkeybird]

The best way to store yeast is in the freezer. However, if it relatively easy to start your own sourdough starter. This starter will last forever, if cared for. The best recipe I've used is:


[QUOTE]Step 1. Mix 3