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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think this Christmas pud will be ok?

30 replies

Christingle123 · 17/12/2023 16:21

Bought it last year with a BB date of Feb 2023.

What do we reckon? Will I open it to reveal a shrivelled old mess and ruin Christmas or will it be ok?

OP posts:
TotteringByRosie · 17/12/2023 16:27

I'd probably just get another pud. If it was a month or two out of date then I'd happily eat it, but 10 months is too much for me.

Fallstar · 17/12/2023 16:28

We have one from last year with a bb date of March 2023. We're planning to eat it but we're pretty cavalier about bb dates, especially food that's full of sugar and alcohol...

Mrsjayy · 17/12/2023 16:29

you would be pissed on cake it will be fermented 😄

AdoraBell · 17/12/2023 16:32

The sugar load will probably preserve it for a looooooong time. I would get another just in case and if the one from the cupboard is okay keep the other for next year.

Daisies12 · 17/12/2023 16:33

I’d get a back up. But most likely it’ll be fine, but I also don’t believe jn best before dates, it’s all a scam to make you buy more

Iknowtheyareusefulstorage · 17/12/2023 16:33

It will be fine.

mrsbyers · 17/12/2023 16:38

We intentionally buy them to age , it will be fine and I’m very wary about these sort of things - alcohol and sugar means they will be fine for a few years , remember the tradition of saving the top tier of wedding cake for christening ?

mambojambodothetango · 17/12/2023 16:40

It'll be fine. My mum once fed us a pudding that had expired 2 years earlier and we were fine.

BIossomtoes · 17/12/2023 16:42

It’ll be fine. Christmas pudding goes on for ever.

user1471517095 · 17/12/2023 17:01

I've eaten them 3 years out of date and they've been absolutely fine.

SocksAndTheCity · 17/12/2023 17:03

I ate an older one than that last week, and I kept a home made one for eighteen months once. It'll be fine (and probably better than fine) 😀

IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads · 17/12/2023 17:15

It'll be fine

lovescats3 · 17/12/2023 19:34

No why take a chance in food poisoning

Heronwatcher · 17/12/2023 19:48

Someone once told me that if it’s got nuts in the alcohol can make them go mouldy. Not sure if that’s true but maybe worth a Google? Honestly, I’d just buy a new one but that’s because with every mouthful I’d be analysing whether it tasted dodgy rather than enjoying it!

SalviaDivinorum · 17/12/2023 19:49

My record is 10 years out of date for a Xmas pud....

IWanderedLonely · 17/12/2023 19:51

It will be fine. I would feed it brandy daily from now until Christmas Eve

GreySantaRabbit · 17/12/2023 19:56

Our Christmas pud has come out of the cupboard on Christmas morning and gone back in on Boxing Day for the last 4 years. This year it's definitely pencilled in to eat.

We do have a Christmas pudding ice cream in the freezer just in case but I reckons it'll be just fine. Only question is Brandy Butter and cream, or Custard!

muddyford · 17/12/2023 19:58

Last year ours was 2017. This year 2019. Ran some brandy over it this evening but they don't go off.

JamieKnows · 17/12/2023 20:20

"No why take a chance in food poisoning"

Don't be daft. It's not a use by date. Christmas pudding doesn't go off

BIossomtoes · 17/12/2023 20:25

Only question is Brandy Butter and cream, or Custard!

All of them.

JustOneMoreBaileys · 17/12/2023 20:25

100% fine

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 17/12/2023 20:38

lovescats3 · 17/12/2023 19:34

No why take a chance in food poisoning

And this level of ignorance about food explains why we have so much food waste. The ingredients and the cooking method virtually guarantee that Christmas puddings can last in good condition for years and years. The chance of getting food poisoning from a commercially made pudding must be minuscule. I suppose if you kept it uncovered in a very hot place and had a vermin infestation there might be a problem, but if it's been in a cool place properly wrapped up it will be absolutely fine. It's stuffed full of sugar and spices which are preservatives. A good pudding should have plenty of alcohol too, also a preservative. It's steamed for hours and hours after mixing, and then steamed for a good long time before eating. It's bulletproof.

TeaKitten · 17/12/2023 20:43

It’s a once a year pudding, just buy a new one, they aren’t exactly expensive. It’d be rubbish if it tasted off or really dry so why risk it.

TeaKitten · 17/12/2023 20:45

Although if it’s true it doesn’t affect the flavour then I’d probably eat it. Il be honest, Christmas pudding is rank and I don’t eat it so I’m not sure if the flavour would be affected or not. Having read other peoples more experienced posts I’d listen to to them 😅 Yule log are the best

Caffeineislife · 17/12/2023 20:52

My own immediate family (Me, DH and DC) I'd serve it and wouldn't think twice. We had one the other day that was BB march 22 and was absolutely fine. As the main pudding on Xmas day with extended family - I would probably get a fresh one in (if only for a back up). I'm getting a fresh one in this year because I'm hosting lots of elderly relatives this year with very dicky tummies at the best of times. The one with BB Jun 23 will be eaten by DH, BIL, SIL and DC and I probably between Xmas and new year when we meet and have nibbles (and let the children be boisterous together away from the tutting of said elderly relatives ).