5 year old Saffron - still OK?

[OhCobblers]

bought a big pack of Saffron threads about 5 years ago and its still in its plastic but kept in a Kiln jar.

Is it OK for years or will it just lose its taste / colour over years?

thanks

id probably use it and see.

i cant imagine it will hurt, just may not be as strong?

It'll probably be OK. I don't use much saffron and I think the pot I'm using is at least 5 years old. Put a pinch in a ramekin dish and add some boiling water. If it goes nicely yellow and you get a good aroma from it, then it's fine.

It will have lost a lot of taste I imagine - it's quite a delicate taste to start off with. What do you call a big pack? Saffron costs a bloody fortune so I would be really hacked off if it had degraded.

Hmm, reminds me of the time that Sainsbury's online decided to substitute coriander (the cheapest spice) with saffron (same price as weapons-grade Plutonium)

And I didn't notice until the delivery guy buggered off.

Switched to Waitrose that day... [snob]

thanks for your replies and Chil i'll try your boiling water trick too

hogsback its about the size of 1/2 a packet of sugar - so pretty big!

Ohcobblers: half a pack of sugar, so say 200g ??? Blimey, at today's prices that's worth at least £300 so hope it hasn't spoiled!

wait, you mean like a packet of sugar you get with a coffee/tea, no? Otherwise blimey indeed!

clearly my memory is not up to scratch and i was hugely exaggerating.

just checked cupboard and weighed saffron - there's 40g of the stuff - still quite a lot, no?

bought it in the middle east so didn't cost a bomb at all (wouldn't have bought it otherwise!!).

I've got some saffron I bought in Spain in 1998. It's in a little glass jar with a cork stopper. It still seems to work though I don't doubt it's lost some of its potency. Most of the recipes I use that call for saffrom tell you to soak it in something first anyway - either milk or water - so easy enough to check.

Just wanted to say - this is still showing up on 'Threads I'm On' and every time I see it I think I might have posted on a Baby Names thread . DD's favourite doll is called Saffron, named after the little sis of a nursery friend c. 2003.