@ircon96@phendrick
The actual research says that refrigerating alkaline batteries has no effect. Overheating them does, and if the place you live is that hot, then I guess a refrigerator would help. But in the temperatures where humans ordinarily live, it makes no difference. I will politely ignore the existence of places in Phoenix that have no air conditioning or swamp cooler. That said, the old carbon zinc batteries would absolutely last a lot longer in a fridge. That’s probably where the misconception comes from. But I do not begrudge a certain user here his collection of temperature controlled battery storage vaults. I’m sure he enjoys them a great deal.
@phendrick@werehatrack I was actually posting that as a little tribute to said “certain user”… Sorry for any confusion, i enjoy running jokes & my sarcasm can be very subtle, hence the winky face! I promise, there are zero batteries anywhere near my fridge. Lol
@ircon96@shahnm Of course with your tenderly cared for battery supply you’d have the choice to ask your fridge residents if they’d band together to electrocute those who mock you
Also, I bought a giant box of microwave popcorn at one of the wholesale clubs a while back because we were going through a lot. As is required, we immediately stopped eating it for some reason. We still had about half a box that was only a couple months past its expiration date, and I figured it was probably fine, so I popped a bag. Maybe 1/4 of the kernels actually popped, and those that did were mostly burned. Tried several more bags with the same result. The paper bags weren’t individually plastic wrapped like they usually are in smaller sizes, I assume they just dried out over time. This has been an “interesting” anecdote.
@Aspirant_Fool
The salt in those unwrapped packs of microwave popcorn tends to draw in moisture, which proceeds to compromise the usefulness of the popcorn. In a really humid area, those packs were often dead several months before the stale date. On ones that have the clear outer envelope, my experience has been that they still pop pretty well at a year past the stale date.
@Aspirant_Fool Thanks for that link. Extremely enlightening article.
[Most quotable line: " ‘It’s a shame to throw away good drugs’, Hussain says". I’m sure that resonates with a lot of Mehtizens.]
As a bachelor for 47 years before marrying, I had plenty of “expired” food and medicines in my fridge or on shelves, and never worried about it. For food, I always just used my eyes and nose. If it looked and smelled OK, I ate it. (I always had a better sense of smell than other people seemed to have.)
But that became a source of contention between me and my wife (and her family). If it was a day beyond the BBD, she’d toss it. It was almost a religious thing with her. I’d counteract such by keeping older stuff on high shelves where she’d be less likely to encounter it. But I wouldn’t serve such to my wife or son, though, because if there were to be any digestive problem, I was sure I’d get the blame if facts were found out.
FDA is so f’n bureacratized, I’m surprised they don’t require BBDs on aged Scotch whisky and require liquor stores to enforce those.
@Aspirant_Fool@phendrick I can speak from experience that expired brownie mixes do not cook well. Back when my kid still lived at home and I was having cancer surgery my mom didn’t realize I kept very expired food on the top shelves so the kid wouldn’t panic that we were going to run out of food (she was 9 years 11 mo old when I adopted her and had suffered serious malnutrition her entire life - weighed 38 pounds and was 42 inches high at adoption and that has left its mark). So three times mom made brownies and three times they failed. She finally asked me (I was still in the hospital) and I told her don’t use any of the food on the top two shelves or the back of the lower ones and why they were there).
@Aspirant_Fool@Kidsandliz@phendrick Baking mixes suffer from the fact that eventually, the leavening agents will react even though they are dry, resulting in batter that turns into an anvil instead of a cake/brownie/etc.
Canned goods kept cool, like in a root cellar (doesn’t have to be refrigerator cold) can last 6-10 years past date, though may lose some taste and nutritional value. Excludes products with tomatoes or other acidic ingredients. Heavily salted product like Spam is easily good out to 10 years if stored cool.
We have cooked and eaten 10-12 year old dried pasta and it has been fine. It was stored inside. Same with Basmati rice even in the original (not vacuum sealed) bag from Sam’s Club. We did eat rice my Dad had vacuum packed in the '90s in 2017, and it was also fine.
Excludes products with tomatoes or other acidic ingredients
FWIW: while it may see counterintuitive, tomatoes are considered to be not acidic enough to the point that if you home can them you are supposed to add citric acid to the jars…
@chienfou At https://www.biancaamor.com/bbd, there’s a much longer list from the Greater Pittsburg Food Bank. The link is embedded in their 40-page sale flyer.
Alkaline batteries: Minus two years if not already dead.
@werehatrack
@phendrick @werehatrack Or if not properly refrigerated.
@ircon96 @phendrick
@ircon96 @phendrick
The actual research says that refrigerating alkaline batteries has no effect. Overheating them does, and if the place you live is that hot, then I guess a refrigerator would help. But in the temperatures where humans ordinarily live, it makes no difference. I will politely ignore the existence of places in Phoenix that have no air conditioning or swamp cooler. That said, the old carbon zinc batteries would absolutely last a lot longer in a fridge. That’s probably where the misconception comes from. But I do not begrudge a certain user here his collection of temperature controlled battery storage vaults. I’m sure he enjoys them a great deal.
@werehatrack If they’re dead, store them in someone’s trunk.
@blaineg @werehatrack Do they compost very well? Seems like they would be loaded with “essential nutrients”.
@blaineg @phendrick @werehatrack They’ve got electrolytes!
@blaineg @macromeh @phendrick @werehatrack … That plants crave!
@phendrick @werehatrack I was actually posting that as a little tribute to said “certain user”… Sorry for any confusion, i enjoy running jokes & my sarcasm can be very subtle, hence the winky face! I promise, there are zero batteries anywhere near my fridge. Lol
@werehatrack You have wounded me deeply.
@ircon96 You mocked me once. Never do it again. I died that day…
@ircon96 @shahnm Of course with your tenderly cared for battery supply you’d have the choice to ask your fridge residents if they’d band together to electrocute those who mock you
@shahnm As you wiiiisssshhhh…
@ircon96 @shahnm i don’t think that word means what you think it means.
@ircon96 @Yoda_Daenerys What the heck are you guys talking about?
@shahnm @Yoda_Daenerys I think someone fell asleep during the bedtime story again. I’ll explain it when i get back from storming the castle.
@ircon96 @Yoda_Daenerys Have fun.
@ircon96 @shahnm @Yoda_Daenerys Have you considered piracy?
@ircon96 @werehatrack @Yoda_Daenerys I’m not talking to you anymore. You’re mean.
@ircon96 @shahnm it’ll take a miracle
Also true of many, if not most, medications:
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/07/18/537257884/that-drug-expiration-date-may-be-more-myth-than-fact
Also, I bought a giant box of microwave popcorn at one of the wholesale clubs a while back because we were going through a lot. As is required, we immediately stopped eating it for some reason. We still had about half a box that was only a couple months past its expiration date, and I figured it was probably fine, so I popped a bag. Maybe 1/4 of the kernels actually popped, and those that did were mostly burned. Tried several more bags with the same result. The paper bags weren’t individually plastic wrapped like they usually are in smaller sizes, I assume they just dried out over time. This has been an “interesting” anecdote.
@Aspirant_Fool
The salt in those unwrapped packs of microwave popcorn tends to draw in moisture, which proceeds to compromise the usefulness of the popcorn. In a really humid area, those packs were often dead several months before the stale date. On ones that have the clear outer envelope, my experience has been that they still pop pretty well at a year past the stale date.
@Aspirant_Fool Thanks for that link. Extremely enlightening article.
[Most quotable line: " ‘It’s a shame to throw away good drugs’, Hussain says". I’m sure that resonates with a lot of Mehtizens.]
As a bachelor for 47 years before marrying, I had plenty of “expired” food and medicines in my fridge or on shelves, and never worried about it. For food, I always just used my eyes and nose. If it looked and smelled OK, I ate it. (I always had a better sense of smell than other people seemed to have.)
But that became a source of contention between me and my wife (and her family). If it was a day beyond the BBD, she’d toss it. It was almost a religious thing with her. I’d counteract such by keeping older stuff on high shelves where she’d be less likely to encounter it. But I wouldn’t serve such to my wife or son, though, because if there were to be any digestive problem, I was sure I’d get the blame if facts were found out.
FDA is so f’n bureacratized, I’m surprised they don’t require BBDs on aged Scotch whisky and require liquor stores to enforce those.
@Aspirant_Fool @phendrick I can speak from experience that expired brownie mixes do not cook well. Back when my kid still lived at home and I was having cancer surgery my mom didn’t realize I kept very expired food on the top shelves so the kid wouldn’t panic that we were going to run out of food (she was 9 years 11 mo old when I adopted her and had suffered serious malnutrition her entire life - weighed 38 pounds and was 42 inches high at adoption and that has left its mark). So three times mom made brownies and three times they failed. She finally asked me (I was still in the hospital) and I told her don’t use any of the food on the top two shelves or the back of the lower ones and why they were there).
@Aspirant_Fool @Kidsandliz @phendrick Baking mixes suffer from the fact that eventually, the leavening agents will react even though they are dry, resulting in batter that turns into an anvil instead of a cake/brownie/etc.
@Aspirant_Fool @Kidsandliz @werehatrack Good to know! Baking mixes (especially closeouts) are a lot cheaper than anvils.
@Kidsandliz
Poor kiddo, but that was a clever subterfuge!
I am most likely past my “Best By” date. This makes me feel better.
Roasted edamame beans? Asking for a friend. This says maybe one year past expiration? https://www.biancaamor.com/bbd
@lehigh As a first approximation, probably pretty close. I will most likely have experience-based observational data in another 8 to 10 months.
@werehatrack ordered 36 a couple weeks ago so I may be testing quality into 2024!
Canned goods kept cool, like in a root cellar (doesn’t have to be refrigerator cold) can last 6-10 years past date, though may lose some taste and nutritional value. Excludes products with tomatoes or other acidic ingredients. Heavily salted product like Spam is easily good out to 10 years if stored cool.
We have cooked and eaten 10-12 year old dried pasta and it has been fine. It was stored inside. Same with Basmati rice even in the original (not vacuum sealed) bag from Sam’s Club. We did eat rice my Dad had vacuum packed in the '90s in 2017, and it was also fine.
@duodec
FWIW: while it may see counterintuitive, tomatoes are considered to be not acidic enough to the point that if you home can them you are supposed to add citric acid to the jars…
If you can SEE the mold, it’s already gone.
@GetClosure I can smell it or taste it way before I can see it. Maybe that’s my superpower.
@blaineg TOTALLY! Leverage that skill to riches, for SURE!
@blaineg @GetClosure Me too. I (as was my father) a super taster. You might be too. There are advantages but also definite disadvantages.
Don’t bother trying to find the longer list mentioned at the bottom of the pic. Can’t find it anywhere on the site. I’m thinking the link expired!
@chienfou At https://www.biancaamor.com/bbd, there’s a much longer list from the Greater Pittsburg Food Bank. The link is embedded in their 40-page sale flyer.
@werehatrack
Oh… silly me. I was looking for a separate link!
/image D’oh