Pasta life, homemade & store bought

9 years ago

How long to keep, both kinds? I'm embarrassed to tell you this pasta was between 5-10 years old, so no guessing here...I would like to know what's safe.

Sometimes the problem with lots of cabinetry is that stuff gets put in the back,

not needed, unused recesses and then pasta gets to celebrate its 10th BD, possibly

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Comments (7)

plllog
9 years ago
Eatbydate.com says dried is good for a couple of years.

Pasta made with just flour and water and dried? I can't see a difference between 2 years and 10, if the quality of the pasta hasn't deteriorated. It will continue drying, and start cracking, meaning it won't be nice, but I think if you were hungry and it was all you had, it probably wouldn't make you sick. Vitamins are pretty delicate, but there aren't many in pasta anyway.

Homemade pasta with eggs, however, is another story. Dried but not chilled, we've always used it within a few days. Chilled, a week, or even a long week, if it has been air tight and isn't going weird, and gets boiled. If not dried, a short week or until it starts getting weird.
Marilyn Sue
9 years ago
I always freeze my home made egg noodles. I would think they would be good for some time if well wrapped or bagged in the freezer. They are dry when I package them and freeze them.

Sue
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I've had really good luck with the instructions at the link below. I've never made it with Semolina, but I've tried regular flour, bread flour, and 3 parts flour to 1 part resistant starch, and it's worked each time. I have some other advice: 1. Make a half batch the first time. I've never been able to stack sheets of pasta without having them stick, and it takes up a lot of space to lay them all out by themselves. 2. Don't cut it (leave it as a whole big sheet of pasta) until you've got the water boiling or almost boiling. It sticks even more once it's cut. 3. As you cut it, catch it in your hand so you can keep the strands separated as much as possible, and just lay them out flat on a table or cutting board or whatever. The second you finish cutting the last sheet, get them into the water. 4. It takes about seven seconds to cook. Seriously, though, it's sooo quick. 5. When you move on to filled pasta, don't roll it to the thinnest-- use the second or third thinnest setting 6. If you're not 100% sure the dough is sticking together enough, putting it through the thickest setting a bunch of times, folding it over on itself in between, helps it stick together better. If it shreds or tears, smoosh it back together and put it through again. Once you can get it to come out in a continuous sheet, you're good to go 7. If you make filled pasta and use protein fillings like meat, simmer the pasta rather than boiling it. Boiling makes protein foods rubbery and awful. 8. You don't really have to refrigerate the dough-- you can use it right away if you're in a hurry. 9. For noodles, you only have to knead it until it sticks together. For filled pasta, kneading it properly will develop the gluten more and help keep it from breaking, so it's probably a good idea. Use good eggs. I like to search craigslist for eggs and get them from a chicken farmer. Orange yolks= good pasta. Happy cooking :-) Here is a link that might be useful: Pasta instructions
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There are a number of good ones. I find in a moderate temperature kitchen with middling humity, they last in the box just about as well as white. At least a year. I like Deboles whole wheat with Jerusalem artichoke flour for flavor, especially the spaghetti. Jovial Enkorn is great. Vita Reale is excellent. DeLallo makes a thin, flat lasagna that I prefer to Bionaturae, which is the heavier kind with the tiny ruffle. Trader Joe's is good too, and I wouldn't be surprised if DeLallo makes it. They all have different pros and cons. I haven't liked the whole wheat from the giants who have product in every big chain supermarket. I think they may be trying to make it more like white but then lose what's delicious about whole wheat. As for what else to serve with your chicken and sauce, this would be an excellent use for zoodles or other spiralized vegetables. If you want it to have more carbs, try rutabaga or other roots. Also caulflower "rice", roasted first. You can go way old fashioned and serve it on dense, whole grain peasant bread, letting the sauce soak in. Or you can use any kind of whole grain, from common rice, to wheat, to buckwheat. Or a small seed like quinoa.
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plllog
9 years ago
Yes, months in the freezer!
bossyvossy
Original Author
9 years ago
We gave up on pasta years ago so I don't ever keep any in stock. This was a supply that simply escaped me. When we have a pasta craving we eat out or buy refrigerated from the store, just for 1 meal. I felt a pang of guilt for throwing it out, sigh
donna_in_sask
9 years ago
Regular dried pasta is good for a long time. If it has eggs, probably only a few months.

Speaking of unused recesses, my mother in law found over twenty cans of cherry pie filling in a corner cabinet when they moved out of the farm house.
plllog
9 years ago
Do you have any friends who compost? If it's without eggs it can go in the garden compost. ;)
cynic
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Stilltasty.com says 3 years on dry, commercial packed pastas for properly stored and packed items. Obviously if it's in a paper box, it can absorb moisture, bugs and odor. I always store pasta in a different container than from what it came and I always freeze it immediately when I get home unless it's freezer cold in my "walk-in freezer", aka, garage.

The caveats: If it develops an off flavor odor or appearance, toss it. The mfgr date on the product is for optimum/peak quality, it does not mean it's an expiration date. Pasta kept in a glass jar? I'd use it after 7-10 years with no qualms. (Egg products excepted)

Egg noodles are good for 2 years or more according to stilltasty.

Pasta life, homemade & store bought

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plllog

Marilyn Sue

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Pasta life, homemade & store bought

Comments (7)

plllog

Marilyn Sue

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bossyvossyOriginal Author

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