Old store bought Ghee

[3DStudent]

I noticed recently that I have a lot of old Ghee jars that have old dates on them. It doesn't say if it's an expiration date or best by date. But I stock up on them and have about 20 or so that are labeled 12-2015. I ate one that was July 2016 and it was fine.

They are the Purity Farms brand, with virtually zero protein in them. I was never able to figure out how they get out all the protein. But anyways, the jars are glass with a plastic lid. And they have cellulose plastic wrapped around them. So they're not vacuum sealed I don't think, but the lids are really tight, and I sometimes need a rubber lid gripper pad to get them off.

I stock up on them because they're an easy fat source, although they're expensive. So I plan to rotate them out. My only concern is that the old ones might not be good. I don't think they'd be at risk of botulism or anything, and I usually am really cautious about old canned and jarred food.

I suppose I could boil them for 10 minutes if I were really in doubt. And worst case scenario I could stick a floating wick in them and use them as candles. Any thoughts?

 

[nicklebleu]

Personally I wouldn't care really - as long as the can is unopened, undamaged and still sealed, ghee should stay edible and safe almost indefinitely. If however there is overpressure in the can, as in air escaping when you opened the lid, it's probably not wise to eat, and a fould smell might also be an indicator to that effect. But pure ghee is almost all fat, so theoretically it should be safe, as long as there is no air leak.

My 2 cents.

 

[Gawan]

Personally I wouldn't care really - as long as the can is unopened, undamaged and still sealed, ghee should stay edible and safe almost indefinitely. If however there is overpressure in the can, as in air escaping when you opened the lid, it's probably not wise to eat, and a fould smell might also be an indicator to that effect. But pure ghee is almost all fat, so theoretically it should be safe, as long as there is no air leak.

My 2 cents.

I think so too. I don't know if it works with the lids you have, but with glass jars and metallic lids you can hear if they are still sealed, if not there is a different sound. And I would go as well for the smell, but I also think that Ghee almost cannot go bad since it is pure fat.

 

[theos]

I don't think the expiration date is a big deal either as long as you're storing them in a cool, dark place.

 

[Starshine]

How do you use it ?
We use it for cooking, so there's no risk of bacteria resisting the heat. For most food, smell and look should be sufficient to tell. And I agree with others regarding the fact it is pure fat.
Also, despite the fact it is hard to find in France apart on small Indian shops in plastic cans, we do it ourselves from organic (as far as we know) butter. Easy and cheap.
After listening to the podcast on skin products recently though, I've been wondering about using it on the skin. It is sacred in Indian Ayurveda, liquid gold. Many uses. Might be good.

A quick check online led me here :
_http://www.yogajournal.com/article/health/ghee-better-than-butter/

...
Even better than ghee is aged ghee—up to 100 years—which treats alcoholism, epilepsy, fever, and vaginal pain, according to Ayurvedic physician Robert Svoboda. Medicated ghee (ghrita in Sanskrit), meanwhile, combines clarified butter with healing herbs. Ghee’s benefits extend to topical use as well. Ayurvedic beauty expert Pratima Raichur suggests it as a massage base to calm sensitive pitta-type skin. The Indian Materia Medica, a widely respected source book for Ayurvedic remedies, recommends ghee, sometimes mixed with honey, as an application for wounds, inflammation, and blisters.

You’ll find ghee at the health food store, but it’s easy to make. Place 1 to 2 pounds of butter in a saucepan on low heat. Melt until white curds separate and sink to the bottom. When a drop of water flicked into the pan boils immediately, the ghee is done. Discard the curds and store in a jar. If kept out of contact with water, ghee needs no refrigeration. Take 2 teaspoons per day as a supplement, or simply use ghee in your cooking. Just remember that ghee is fat, and only a certain amount of total fat is necessary in the diet. If you use ghee, reduce your total fat intake proportionately.

That's encouraging.
But well, with 20 left, you could also use it to fix every creaking door, tools or whatever and not having to buy W40 oil ever again.

Edit: Phrasing mistake

 

[3DStudent]

Thanks for the replies. I've opened one dated December 2015 and it smelled and tasted fine. I'll not be in such a hurry to eat them, and maybe will just organize them by date.

I just use the ghee to add fat to meals to stay in ketosis. Starshine, thanks for the skin care comment. It seems I am forever in search of the perfect moisturizer for my hands. I'm doing shea, jojoba oil, and a few drops of lavender and lemongrass essential oils at the moment.

The only thing I'd recommend is not using lard that you rendered yourself for your skin. I tried that and after a few days, by bed and room was smelling like bacon! I had to air it out for a few days. :P

 

[monotonic]

Aww man, and here I thought you were going to give it away! :P

If you've ever left a jar of rendered fat to sit for 3 years or so, it begins to break down into alcohol, water and lighter fractured aromatic fats. It smells real lovely (very bad).

I'd say find someone with a sensitive nose who has also smelled rancid fat before. If it smells and tastes good, then it's probably perfectly fine.

 

[hlat]

If you bought it at a place like Whole Foods and it went bad, you can always take it back to them without a receipt and ask for an exchange.

 

[Ant22]

If you bought it at a place like Whole Foods and it went bad, you can always take it back to them without a receipt and ask for an exchange.

Unless the brand is not sold anywhere else I really doubt they'd take it back. Anyone can come in with an item bought elsewhere and claim they bought it there so now they want to exchange the product. Especially that it theoretically expired 3 years ago.

Even items that don't have an expiry date, such as clothes or electronics, have to be returned within timeframes specified by the shop and with a receipt.

The only available route would be to contact the manufacturer but that would be a lot of hassle and energy wasted on a jar or butter.

Although according to FDA the expiry date is not required and it's solely the discretion of a manufacturer to indicate it, it may be a bit of hassle of convince a shop assistant that ghee shouldn't go out of date. The fact that expiry date on food items is a legal requirement and some either have much longer shelf lives or just don't expire is not something generally known really.

https://www.fda.gov/AboutFDA/Transparency/Basics/ucm210073.htm

With the exception of infant formula, the laws that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) administers do not preclude the sale of food that is past the expiration date indicated on the label. FDA does not require food firms to place "expired by", "use by" or "best before" dates on food products. This information is entirely at the discretion of the manufacturer.

Well, the easiest way to check if it's still OK is to open the jar and stick your nose in it. If it's off, I would be surprised if the smell left any doubt at all ;)

 

[Nico]

I have always eaten lightly rancid butter, it seems to act as aged meat, if it's done in a cool and dry place, the rancidity just add more flavor, with an odor threshold for caution.

We use it for cooking, so there's no risk of bacteria resisting the heat. For most food, smell and look should be sufficient to tell. And I agree with others regarding the fact it is pure fat.
Also, despite the fact it is hard to find in France apart on small Indian shops in plastic cans, we do it ourselves from organic (as far as we know) butter. Easy and cheap.
After listening to the podcast on skin products recently though, I've been wondering about using it on the skin. It is sacred in Indian Ayurveda, liquid gold. Many uses. Might be good.

They begin to sell ghee in organic store in France, I don't remember the name (it's dutch) but mixed with berries it was very delicious. But it tends to be very pricey as it the first ghee product I see, hopefully the price will diminish if the demand go up.

 

[3DStudent]

I've had some fat go bad so I know what rancidity smells like. My concern for eating rancid fat is due to the high amount of free radicals that rancid fat would have. But yeah, the sniff test is useful for that.

 

[hlat]

If you bought it at a place like Whole Foods and it went bad, you can always take it back to them without a receipt and ask for an exchange.

Unless the brand is not sold anywhere else I really doubt they'd take it back. Anyone can come in with an item bought elsewhere and claim they bought it there so now they want to exchange the product. Especially that it theoretically expired 3 years ago.

Even items that don't have an expiry date, such as clothes or electronics, have to be returned within timeframes specified by the shop and with a receipt.

The only available route would be to contact the manufacturer but that would be a lot of hassle and energy wasted on a jar or butter.

Sometimes there is a big difference between theoretical knowledge and practical experience. While you might be correct in theory, in practical experience there is no problem with no receipt and asking for an exchange at place like Whole Foods.