# Does pasta get old...urgent please!



## Constance (Aug 21, 2007)

I have some penne pasta in an airtight plastic container thats at least 3 years old. I'd like to use it up, but I have a very special homemade sauce tonight, and I don't want to ruin it by using inferior pasta. 
I do have newer pasta I can use. What do you think?


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## Katie H (Aug 21, 2007)

We go through pasta so fast in this house, I don't know.  What I would do, though, is to test-cook some and see how it cooks/tastes.  If it comes out okay, you're good to go.


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## Constance (Aug 21, 2007)

Thanks, Katie. 

When we had our teenage grandson here, we went through so much food that I stocked up on all kinds of foods...so much so that, even though he's been gone for 2 years, I still have some left.


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## Andy M. (Aug 21, 2007)

I think it will be fine but Katie's idea to test it is a good one.


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## DramaQueen (Aug 22, 2007)

*Pasta, being a flour product, does become stale and can produce an off flavor.  You won't get sick, but why would you waste what you're calling a special sauce on pasta that isn't fresh?   I don't keep anything but honey for 3 years.  *


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## Smylietron (Aug 22, 2007)

Honey or twinkies are the only food products that should stay in your cabinet three years.


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## Constance (Aug 22, 2007)

I went ahead and cooked the pasta, and it tasted fine, so I used it in my dish. It had been stored in a hard plastic jar in a cool place, though. 

DramaQueen, "what I call a special sauce" was made by roasting cut-up, seeded and drained beefsteak tomatoes from our own garden, along with olive oil, garlic, onions and seasonings. My husband ran it through a chinoise, adjusted the seasoning, and then we simmered it with a rind of Parmegiana Reggiano. My husband and I spent a couple of hours the night before preparing the tomatoes, then, the next morning, it took them about 3 hours in a 250 oven for them to roast. He probably spent 30 minutes running it through the chinois, and it simmered about an hour after that. 

To us, that's a "special sauce". 

There are, by the way, lots of things that are still good after three years in a cool dark place.


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## DramaQueen (Aug 23, 2007)

*Homegrown beefsteak tomatoes - and roasted yet.  You bet that's a special sauce. The simple sauces made with fresh, homegrown tomatoes are about the best sauces you can put on pasta. And beefsteaks are non existant in grocery stores. Good for you for putting the parmesan rind in along with it. Too often we throw the rind away. I use it in soups for a terrific finish. But three year old pasta...........That sauce deserved better.*


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## YT2095 (Aug 23, 2007)

the simple test it to open the bag and smell it, if it`s a little "Sour" smelling throw it away, if it smells "Normal" use it up and enjoy


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## Green Lady (Aug 23, 2007)

Pasta products can get small white specks on them if left sitting too long.  That isn't good. However, when cooked in boiling water you can add 1 T. of powdered vitamin C to remedy that.  It needs to be rinsed off in hot water after drained because then the Vit. C will leave a residue on the pasta.


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## ChefJune (Aug 23, 2007)

Constance said:


> I have some penne pasta in an airtight plastic container thats at least 3 years old. I'd like to use it up, but I have a very special homemade sauce tonight, and I don't want to ruin it by using inferior pasta.
> I do have newer pasta I can use. What do you think?


It's probably fine, but why chance it?  Use the newer stuff you have and toss that one!

My watchword for food is always "When in doubt, throw it out!"


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## ChefJune (Aug 23, 2007)

Smylietron said:


> Honey or twinkies are the only food products that should stay in your cabinet three years.


and Heinz Ketchup!  It's said that millennia from now when "they" dig up the remains of our civilization there will still be usable bottles of ketchup... they contain so much hfcs they will never spoil!


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## Constance (Aug 23, 2007)

DramaQueen said:


> *Homegrown beefsteak tomatoes - and roasted yet.  You bet that's a special sauce. The simple sauces made with fresh, homegrown tomatoes are about the best sauces you can put on pasta. And beefsteaks are non existant in grocery stores. Good for you for putting the parmesan rind in along with it. Too often we throw the rind away. I use it in soups for a terrific finish. But three year old pasta...........That sauce deserved better.*



You're right, DC. Even though the dish was delicious, it would have been even better with fresher pasta.


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## Caine (Aug 23, 2007)

About the only thing cheaper than macaroni is rice, so why even care if it's still good or not? Just toss it out and go buy another bag, box, or whatever. Even top quality, imported from Italy macaroni is less than 2 bucks a pound.


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## DramaQueen (Aug 23, 2007)

Green Lady said:


> Pasta products can get small white specks on them if left sitting too long. That isn't good. However, when cooked in boiling water you can add 1 T. of powdered vitamin C to remedy that. It needs to be rinsed off in hot water after drained because then the Vit. C will leave a residue on the pasta.


 
*Pasta is so cheap to buy I can't imagine going thru all that trouble to remedy 3 yr old pasta instead of just buying a fresh box.   *


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## YT2095 (Aug 23, 2007)

true, a bundle more than big enough to feed 6 people with Spaghetti only costs about 15 pence (about 30 cents).

although I wish Rice was cheaper as Caine says it is, in the UK it`s about 5x the cost of pasta.


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## Caine (Aug 23, 2007)

YT2095 said:


> true, a bundle more than big enough to feed 6 people with Spaghetti only costs about 15 pence (about 30 cents).
> 
> although I wish Rice was cheaper as Caine says it is, in the UK it`s about 5x the cost of pasta.


 
I buy brown rice, either plain or jasmine, imported from Thailand, 99 cents for a two pound bag. Macroni, U.S. made, you can get for as little as 99 cents for a one pound bag or box.


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## *amy* (Aug 23, 2007)

Constance, your sauce recipe sounds delish. Glad everything turned out. I did some poking around on the net re shelf life of dried pasta - and it was about 2 years. Pasta goes fast around here, so I can't tell you if that is accurate or not.

I keep my tall pasta (spaghetti/linguine) in tall glass jars or smaller pasta (macaroni/shells) & rice, in glass jars with seal-tight lids. I use it w/i about 3 months (approx.), usually sooner.

Once I bought a (supposedly fresh) 3 lb package of spaghetti off the supermarket shelf, and put it in the pantry. When I opened the pkg, w/i a week, little bugs came out. I freaked, and threw almost everything away in my pantry. After that, I started putting rice, couscous, powdered milk, and coffee in the fridge.

Pasta and rice are so inexpensive - 99 cents or so. I go through my pantry about once a year and dump anything that's been hanging around - and refill my herbs as well.


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## Constance (Aug 23, 2007)

Thanks, Amy. The sauce was wonderful, and the pasta really did taste fine. 

We happened to get lucky with the penne, but the 5 year old cheese tortellini are going in the trash can.

I like a well-stocked pantry, and have always been good about rotating my stock. My problem is, that since the youngest moved out and our nest is empty, we're using a lot less food, so I've been going through the older stuff and either using it up or throwing it out. You'd think tomato paste would last forever, but I when I opened several out-dated cans the other night, the paste came popping out before I got finished opening the can.


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## foodstorm (Aug 24, 2007)

DramaQueen said:


> *Pasta is so cheap to buy I can't imagine going thru all that trouble to remedy 3 yr old pasta instead of just buying a fresh box. *


 
Agreed, if you have any doubt, just buy more.


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