I do keep salt untill I use up the box.
Sugar will last a long time too.

If these items are so essential to our/your existence, why are they still in the cupboard after so many years. My rule, if I have something in my house that I haven't used in the last 6 months, it is in the trash

I have things that have held for over 1 year in the kitchen and it was fine

Personally, I keep flour in the fridge- and if unopened, the freezer... and opened Matzo meal likewise. An American friend told me this- and it's a great way to avoid getting weevils!

Throw it away ? somewhere is a charitable orginization, or soup kitchen that would appreciate that as a donation.... takes small time, but helps many.... Judy a thought... God Bless

Why would you "donate" spices, or any thing else to a "soup kitchen" that you would not eat or use yourself? These people may not have the money to buy food, but if someone is going to prepare food for them, don't give them "bad" ingredients to use and ruin all their efforts. Don't the poor and needy deserve good and tasty food as much as you do. This was the worst suggestion I have every seen. Just shameful.

You're a credit to the USA.

I would love to know how to can meat so that it will keep. All my attempts so far have failed. I have no problems with veggies.

try putting a few bay leaves in your starchy staples in a tightly closed container or even sealed plastic bags. your moth problems will be over.

In order to safely can meats it must be done in a pressure cooker. Look for Ball canning books, or the government offers free ( or almost free) booklets on the proper procedures.

The FDA and extension service recommends using a designated "pressure canner" not a "pressure cooker" for canning low acid foods. They are different, and have different functions. The Ball canning book will give more information on what kind of canner to use.

That would be a STEAM CANER, not pressure cooker, they are far different.

No, it would be a pressure canner - all you have to do is Goolge it to see what it looks like. http://www.kitchenkrafts.com/all-american-pressure-canner-921/p/FP0921/s...

I find it hard to believe that someone would suggest such a thing because, storage is an issue. If you don't store those forever foods in proper places and temperatures they will change in taste and texture (ex.) sugar will harden and others will take on a stale taste such as flour and cornmeal.

I had this happen last year. The moths came in the dry dog food I had bought (change brands since). I removed all items, threw away all open and some closed dry foods. Washed the pantry down with soap and bleach, the strayed lightly with bug spray, waited 24 hours, then washed again with soap and bleach. No more moths, it's a weekend project.

Actually, until the beginning of the last century, most sugar came in a hardend form called a cone. You grated what you needed. Hard sugar is a non-issue and in no way does it affect the taste. Loose sugar is a modern luxury, but not essential to culinary excellence.

Yes, sugar did come in a hard form in times passed. We truly do need to remember that our modern ideas toward what is edible and usable have been bastardized by food conglomerates out for the "mighty dollar". Those living to 100 now, did not grow up on the foods in our current "supermarkets". This is not a small piece of pertinent information. We seriously need to look closely at our intake... what we deem nutritious and safe to use/eat.

I agree with the first person that commented on your post. Shut up.

Those pesky moth eggs can hide in anything organic. Even cardboard and paper labels. Throw out EVERYTHING that could harbor them. I sprayed my whole cabinet down with a pesticide. Horrifying and poisonous, I know. But bleach didn't work for me. I waited a week, then scrubbed the whole thing out with lots of soap and water. When I replaced my food, it was in plastic bins. No organic containers allowed at all for a few months (even labels on cans). It was drastic, but it worked.

Didn't you know the lids on jars and bottles are reusable? And it sounds like you keep your flour and sugar in the bags you bought them in!

A Bay leaf in the jar with your staples will keep out pantry moths - it must be a dried leaf and not allowed to get damp as it will pass on the flavor of the bay to whatever it's stored with. Have been doing this for many years and not one moth have I seen.

At 20,225 days old, I am by far the oldest thing in my pantry, even older than the pantry itself!!!

The problem can be stopped, but you've got to be diligent. I've even found the moths (or some kind of bugs) in tea bags and Jello powder. Help yourself and just throw it out! I have been freezing my rice, grains, flour, etc. for a few days before I put them in containers in the pantry and that seems to have lessened the problem considerably.

I had to throw everything out day after Thanksgiving. I had pantry moths in everything and had to replace dry foods and put them into containers. I'm still getting moths. Will this every end?

best solution: pitch and bleach. I knew I was infested when I got up in the middle of the night and hundreds of little moths were flying around. On the bright side, it's an easier problem than roaches and mice. I have heard that you can freeze incoming grain for a period of time and it will kill larve. There are also these triangle shaped Pantry Pest sticky moth catchers that will catch any risidual flyers. It's the nasty crawlers that are the worst to detect and kill. New cabinets?

Keep EVERYTHING in your fridge until your moth problem is over, then you can take things out of fridge that don't need refrigeration, but keep them in zip-locks.

Unfortunately, putting things into a container won't help as the culprit is within the grain product. Many years ago I've experienced the same thing, trying to stock dry staples for long term and lost it all. There is an expiration date on these items and whether or not we believe it necessary, it is there for a reason.

Good luck.

had moths pretty bad once. emptied the pantry completely and then scrubbed out with the 'hard stuff' (bleach solution.) only stored foodstuffs in there afterward that were purchased post-infestation and kept in sealed airtight containers. this process worked for me. vinegar might work instead of bleach but i used what i had on hand at that time.

Pure honey will not spoil or solidify. Pure honey standards were put into place this year by the FDA. To many greedy suppliers. Some manufactures even dehydrate honey so they can store it more efficiently. When they need more they add water to get their desired consistency. The best honey will be your local honey (collected within 15 miles of your home, yes there are hives on the roofs of high rise buildings) which has not been heated, and is chemical free. In short...the real stuff will last.

I had to throw everything out day after Thanksgiving. I had pantry moths in everything and had to replace dry foods and put them into containers. I'm still getting moths. Will this every end?

Might appear obvious, but eggs don't belong in this picture.

Salt (at least 20 years old), pudding mix, cocoa powder, food color bottles, assorted extracts, macaroni, rice.

Something tells me that Laura Moss has never actually drank scotch or rum from a bottle that was opened 15+ years ago...it's not a pleasant experience.

I don't use much salt on my food and finally finished the first container of salt I bought when I moved into this house...19 years ago.

I don't use much salt on my food and finally finished the first container of salt I bought when I moved into this house...19 years ago.

Maple syrup will start to ferment if kept in its original container - even if refrigerated. Because maple syrup is (at least the real stuff) is simply reduced liquid issuing from a sugar maple tree, it will still have enough water content to support fermentation.

Notice how sugar and salt "last forever" because bacteria won't grow....well, that means they don't support living things. Yuck.

You realize maple syrup is just a sugar syrup that has enough water in it for something to grow, right? Salt and sugar don't allow for microbes to grow because they are so dry that any microbes that get into them lose all their moisture and die. If you were to dilute the salt and/or sugar into water and let it sit for a day or two, you'd see an explosion of microbial life because salt and sugar are necessary for life.

Me. I'm the oldest thing in my pantry.

ibid (the writer being the oldest thing in his pantry)

sigh

:-)

Mine is the jar of vanilla extract my Aunt gave to me. Apparently if you toss some vanilla beans in a jar of vodka and throw it in the back of a dark closet, 20 years later you'll have vanilla extract.

I've done this for several years now. When the bottle gets low, add more vodka and one or two more vanilla beans. Also helps to pour off made extract into another bottle, so you're never using diluted extract. Also, use 100-proof vodka.

I make vanilla all the time. I keep a bottle with vodka and vanilla beans in it and top off the vodka after I use it a few times. I rarely replace the vanilla beans and it is even excellent as a splash of vanilla in coffee.

LOL WTF I found a 10-year-old container of Tang in the pantry and I drank it. Pretty nasty LOL.

Honey will crystallize over time, but there is nothing wrong with it. If it's summer, set the jar in your car for the day, and that will soften it back up. Or you could wrap it in a dish towel and set it in a crock pot on 'warm' or 'low' for a few hours. Honey won't go bad unless it has water added to it. Then it might mold or ferment.

Lol corn syrup.. my son will be 32 I think I still have a bottle from making his formula with evaporated milk. Was that how we made it, before it was hip to breast feed !!

I have an ancient box of corn starch in my pantry. Good to know it's still good to use!

Good list! Although I have seen honey solidify if you don't use it for too long. Maybe that was of inferior quality? Not sure. Probably the oldest edible item in my pantry is a bottle of onion seeds (also called kalonji, in India). I have probably used it ONCE in the last 7 years... :)

Just heat it up slowly and it will liquify. They've found honey in Egyptian tombs that was solid as a rock but once heated was fine.

Ayurveda says that honey is not to be heated at all. If I understand right, heating it directly will causes its beneficial properties to be destroyed.

In the US, I have seen multiple recipes that call for warming/baking/cooking honey but I doubt you'll find a single traditional Indian recipe that requires honey to be cooked at all. Even while sweetening herbal tea, I add honey after it has cooled a bit.

I haven't seen it anywhere else, but if you say so.. it's probably true..either way.. I thought it was funny as crap and I too just became an owner..ha! thanks for the spam..lol.

Seriously - I've seen this EXACT comment text on CNN and elsewhere.

On the one hand, you're right, it's a hilarious book. On the other hand, you've left this exact comment on at least four cooking blogs *that I know of* ...

I just ordered this book. Great title (which I won't put here either, lol).

This is encouraging. After reading this Pancake article and checking it on snopes.com I was worried about the things in my Pantry. http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/pancake.asp