Is bread machine mix too old?

15 years ago

I've had a big box (93oz)of Krusteaz bread machine mix on a basement shelf for years. Just brought it upstairs to toss it. But the variety of bread mixes caught my eye and sound pretty good. Dill Rye, sourdough, country oatmeal, cinnamon raisin, buttermilk and Italian herb. When I looked inside all the ingredients are in plastic packets. Separate yeast pkgs.

What would you do? Continue out to garbage can? Give it a try? Try it but with fresher yeast? Much as we love fresh bread I've never baked it myself. Thanks, Sandy

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Comments (9)

lindac
15 years ago
Well.....what will it cost you to add a little yeast, water and give it a try?
Frankly I'll bet they will be awful because fats and whole grain flours go rancid and taste really really nasty!
But....what's the harm in giving them a try?
Linda C
annie1992
15 years ago
I agree with Linda, get some fresh yeast and try a batch. Yeast and water is cheap and you'd be tossing out the mix anyway, might as well bake it first and then toss it if it's bad. That's very little additional expenditure, just a delay in time to the eventual disposal.

And, if it's good, double bonus, you got great bread for the price of a little extra yeast.

Annie
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grainlady_ks
15 years ago
Old flour makes horrible bread. I have a 6- to 12-month rule for unbleached/bleached flour, so I wouldn't use a mix that was older than 12-months. On most "troubleshooting lists" for failed bread, old flour is often a reason, so replacing the yeast is just one problem.

As my grandmother used to say, "Wasted food is the most expensive you'll ever buy."

Another problem. There have been cases of illness from old flour products. I believe the one I heard about was from pancake mix. Not sure if it was aflotoxin (mold) or something else, but it can be deadly.

If in doubt, throw it out. Food safety 101.

-Grainlady
breenthumb
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks for your thoughts, linda, annie and grainlady. I remember that pancake mix scare too, (now that you've jogged my memory). Not worth taking chances. I'm tossing it. Thanks, Sandy
annie1992
15 years ago
Clemson University says that "All-purpose, bread, cake and whole wheat flour will keep for six months at 90 Â°F, one year at 70 Â°F, and two years at 40 Â°F.", so if your basement is cool that bread machine mix could easily be good for two years.

Annie
breenthumb
Original Author
15 years ago
Way more than 2 years. When I said years I really meant yeeears. Been just walking past and ignoring it. Finally getting some stuff out of there. But I appreciate your help. Good to know. Sandy
donnar57
15 years ago
I found a cake mix a few weeks ago that had somehow escaped scrutiny during the pack-up for termite tenting (end of June last year) and the pack-up for kitchen remodel (end of July). The date on it was 2001!!!! I opened it, thinking that maybe I'd give it a try - and promptly threw it away. The flours in it were "crumbly".

There's a reason for the dates on things, I guess. Throw that bread mix away!

DonnaR/CA
breenthumb
Original Author
15 years ago
Already gone. Its nice when they at least give dates on things instead of those darn codes. I used to do store audits for different products once in a while and even trying to find the codes sometimes was a challenge. Then we'd have to decipher how long it had been on the shelf according to the code. Loved the ones with an outright date. Sandy
azzalea
15 years ago
There's another reason not to use old flour mixtures, that I didn't see mentioned here.

Virtually ALL flour and grain products contain weevil eggs. If you've kept the flour that long, there's a really good chance the little guys have hatched and are throughout the mix (either alive or dead--but either way.... YUCK). Now weevils won't hurt you if you eat them, but as previously stated--yuck, right? If you were to decide to attempt to bake with the old mixes, I'd definitely sift the flour through a very fine strainer before using, just in case.

Is bread machine mix too old?

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lindac

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Is bread machine mix too old?

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lindac

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