Sell by date for chocolate.... 1 year ago...would you use it to bake with?

[DarrellRivers]

Rather excitingly found a few bars of 80% dark chocolate bars which are rather good in brownies at the back of a cupboard
Less excitingly , the sell by date is oct 2009.
Seriously, how bad can chocolate get
Surely it would be fine to cook with it
Any knowledge gratefully accepted

No Knowledge, and No i would not. Bleugh.

It'll be absolutely fine. :)

It's a "sell by" date becasue it won't necessailty look as nice (for example it might have "bloomed" a bit - got a white sort of surface appearance). It's not a "Use By" date.

Enjoy.

PS I suggest some chocolate brownies.

Well, having done a little research it would seem that it depends on the quality of the bar and where it has been stored
Plain, darker varieties often last longer
Any with nuts and fillings are a no no
And stored somewhere cool and dark will mean they last longer

I think I will inspect,taste and see
If it tastes and looks ok, then I am using it

Exactly prettybird, it's not a steak

Will send you a brownie when I've made them

I'm sure it would be fine. Might have lost a bit of its flavour, but that's it.

I once opened a can of condensed milk that was so old that it had somehow managed to caramelise in the tin.

Fortunately I was using it to make ice cream - so instead of vanilla ice cream, we had caramel ice cream that night!

I was sorting out my spices drawer last week and found some curry powder with a best before date of Dec 1997. I felt a bit sad binning it - it felt like getting rid of a piece of history.

Well I wouldn't but them I'm very fussy. I know it's Best Before rather than Use By but I would convince myself that it tasted "off" or "stale" and not enjoy it. If I'm eating chocolate or cakes I want the calories to be worth it!

I'd do it, but then I like to live on the edge

If it has any white bits, bin it.

I made coconut fudge brownies this morning.

I'd use it .

And I have to disagree with pinkbasket: white bits on chocolate simply mean that it was warm and then cool again and some of the natural oils/fats have risen to the surface. This can easily happen to in date chocolate and means nothing.

If it smells/tasts fine it will be ok to use.

Is that right PacificDogwood? I have found that chocolate put in the fridge gets white bits and tastes awful so wouldn't eat it.

I agree with OP.
I remember tales of the chocolate that soldiers were given as rations in WW1 that were still edible 70-80 years later. On that basis, I bought some out Marathon bars which were out of date by less than a month (back in the day, when they were still allowed to sell ood). They were disgusting.

The difference is that the former were proper chocolate , whereas the latter are ...

If it's good 80% then I would use it.

The Marathon bars must have been years out of date....they've been Snickers for years now :o

Wikipedia on chocolate bloom

as I clearly know far too much about chocolate....

Well thankyou kindly for all your messages
I particularly like the WW2 story
That's the spirit, we shouldn't waste food

is it really sad that my first thought was the WW1 tins of chocolate too?

I think my mum runs a similar system with her 'out of date' stuff, rocinante. Her pantry is a cross between an M&S food hall and Beamish museum. A couple of years ago, I found some bicarb that had cost 27.5p.

quick hijack, sorry pinkbasket - coconut fudge brownies??????

recipe NOW please!

op - def use.