Well there goes my chickpea curry planned for tomorrow.........

[MaMoTTaT]

just went to take the (already half used) pack of chickpeas out of the cupboard and discovered that they have a BB Oct 09

bollox

dried? i'd still eat them, it BBE noy use by

That's "best before", not "inedible after". If they're not soggy or growing mould, and show no signs of insect or mouse infestation, they're fine.

You're going to steep them, then boil them, before you eat them; what sick-making bug do you think can survive that?

I know it's best before, and I'm not usually fussy about such things

But a whole year, they've not been in a sealed container (coz I'm shit at things like that ) - they're not soggy (they're dried ) and don't appear to be growing mould...I dunno a whole year just feels like rather a long time.

ah c'mon - they'll be fine!
BB dates are pretty arbitrary for dried and canned foods, IMO - if they still look right, still smell right (in as much as dried anything smells, you'll know if it's wrong or not) then they are FINE.

Put it another way - I used raisins in Christmas puds etc. a couple of years ago that had a BB date of somewhere in the late 1990s. Quick wash and they were fine.

hmmm - I guess you're right - I think I just had a shock when I took the packet out of the back of the cupboard and saw Oct 09 glaring at me

Shall go and stick 'em in to soak now

If I post tomorrow night/Monday morning to say we're all dying it's all your fault

I'm shit at containers too, but do you really think your great-granny had access to the Lakeland catalogue?

Seriously, if they look, smell etc Ok they are; they're dried, preserved pulses.

my great granny was most definitely of the "meat and 2 veg" kind (and had the money for it too) - dried pulses would have had her nose in the air I'm sure

I use loads of out of date stuff!

Ah, I come from humbler stock... [shamed look]

But at least I know when my pulses are edible.

Solo - me too!
In fact, while I was in the UK I had to use my mum's ancient stock of baking stuff - I did pass on the yellowing baking powder, but used the even older (yet not yellowing) cream of tartar with newer bicarb - worked fine!
My Mum made a stock of raspberry jam in 1972. We were still using it in the late 1980s - I think the last jar went in 1989. By then it had to be reconstituted slightly with boiling water, as the top had dried out some - but it was bloody lovely.

oh I'm from humble stock - but my great grandmother (at least on my mum's side) was of pretty good stock - she wasn't too impressed when my gran fell in love with my Granddad - a proper working class man

I'm quite impressed your mum's jam lasted that long thumb - my mum's jam never last more than a couple of years - we ate it all too fast

I'd bet that if we were thrown into war or famine, then everyone would eat out of date food stuff and probably fight over it too!

Yoo Hoo Thumb!

It was a BIG batch. Took up an entire 2 shelves in the pantry! thing is, we didn't always want raspberry jam so we had lots of shop=bought ones too, which is the other reason it lasted so long. I think in the end I was the only one eating it too because my sibs didn't like all the seeds in it.

It had SHEDloads of sugar in it - well preserved!

Hey Solo!

I think BB dates have heavily contributed to the wastage of food in today's society - and the laws that surround disposal of it from supermarkets are ridiculous. Give the stuff away to shelters/homeless people, don't bin it!!

Did you see the thread about the eggs the other day? Someone said "don't be tight, just buy new ones" - FFS! They were only 2w out of date! I've used eggs that are months old..

That's the sort of size my mum would do too - we all LOVED it - especially on her home made bread, and scones.

We used to go blackberry picking, and if we came home with less than about 5lb each it was a poor show

She had a MASSIVE jam pan, and an ancient stool that the seat came off for when she did her jellies. Used to love the smell when she was making them and you walked through the door mmmmm

Wasn't so keen on the smel of the chutneys boiling away for ours on end though -

She offered me her jam pan a few years back, turned it down, and my brother now has it.

Now wish I'd had it......and he never bloody uses it and won't give it to me!!!!

Eggs have BB dates????????

Me too thumb; weeks and weeks out of date!

Yes, they have to have date stamps on eggs now along with the red lion MaMo.

Tip: Ignore the date! you'll soon know if the egg is bad!!!

I know - I was joking - I never pay any attention to those at all.

They might need cooking a bit longer I suppose - I've found that before with pulses that were, um, not exactly in the first flush of youth.

I'd probably soak them in boiling water for as long as poss before cooking to soften them up a bit? They'll be fine though.

ooo thanks raven - will make sure I leave time to cook them longer, need to be out on time and have dinner ready for exH to give to them so don't want to be waiting for them to finish cooking.

In the Sarah Brown book she used to recommend bringing them to the boil in cold water - no salt it toughens them, and the leaving to soak in the cooling water. She said it was quicker than conventional methods, but it probably helps with older and tougher pulses.