Shelf Life

[Meenah]

I'm not a baker, so I usually don't buy large amounts of flour & sugar. What is the shelf life of granulated sugar, confectioner's sugar, flour, cornstartch, etc.?

[HouseofWool]

I don't know that they have a shelf life.

[ladymoreta]

I don't know about the sugars - I'm pretty sure as long as they don't get too much moisture (and get clumpy) they're fine. I'd recommend storing your flour in the refrigerator, though. I think it can keep pretty much indefinitely there.

When I was a kid my mom & I would go through a 5lb bag of flour bi-annually whether we needed it or not. Clearly I was not baking the way I do now ...

But I don't know the answer to your question.

[GrayMatterWife]

I'm not a baker, so I usually don't buy large amounts of flour & sugar. What is the shelf life of granulated sugar, confectioner's sugar, flour, cornstartch, etc.?

Granulated white sugar should not have a shelf life. Honey (sugar based, of course) found in the tombs of Egyptian kings was perfectly edible (albeit crystalized). But keep it dry.

I blow through powdered sugar way too fast. I don't know what makes it "powdery," so I couldn't hazard an education guess on whether it could spoil. Brown sugar lasts a long time, too, but you need to keep it sealed tightly, or the molasses with get "gunky"--sort of hard. A cure (I've heard) for gunk is an apple slice placed in the bag for a short time.

I don't know about flour. I use mine too quickly. I would offer this though: if it has been sitting around a REALLY long time and the seal is not 100%, I'd pitch it. You can get bug eggs, if not bugs themselves. SO GROSS. I once bought a flour from a small convenience store, and I guess the bag had been sitting there forever--when I opened it up, the flour was MOVING. Seriously. Like a horror flick scene.

Cornstarch...no idea, sorry. I buy it in the tins with resealable lids. I don't use all that much and I've kept mine for a LONG time and never had any problems.

Good luck!!!!

[GreyhoundsRUs]

I know nothing about shelf life - but if you put some marshmallows in your brown sugar - it will stay soft

[Meenah]

Thanks everyone. Everything I had was close to year old. I threw it all out and bought new for the cookie exchange. I think I'll just make extra cookies and perfect my baking skills!!!!!