Out of date dried red lentils - will I kill my family?

[danny la rouge]

Was just about to make lentil soup, when I noticed the best before date on the packet was June 2014.

Now, normally I'm fine with exceeding best befores (they aren't use bys after all). But that seems quite a lot to exceed the date by. Will they taste musty?

They're dried, and they've been in a packet in the cupboard, so they should be fine, right?

Else I could use them for blind baking pasty. Or craft projects. Or bean bags...

 

[Spymaster]

They're dried. Eat em!

 

[Spymaster]

I always tip them out of the packets and into a jar anyway. I reckon the ones at the bottom must be ancient. Never had an issue.

 

[danny la rouge]

They're dried. Eat em!

You happy to have three lives on your conscience?

 

[danny la rouge]

I always tip them out of the packets and into a jar anyway. I reckon the ones at the bottom must be ancient. Never had an issue.

That's because you're always eating the in date ones at the top!

Rotation!

 

[izz]

May be worth picking through them, or checking the integrity of the packet, in case a little nibbler's nibbled.

 

[maomao]

They'll be fine.

 

[Spymaster]

May be worth picking through them, or checking the integrity of the packet, in case a little nibbler's nibbled.

Picking through a packet of lentils???

You'd have to be really fucking bored.

Just eat the buggers.

 

[danny la rouge]

They'll be fine.

Will they taste musty? (And in answering this try to put aside any differences we may have had over neologistic verbs).

 

[oneflewover]

Will they taste musty? (And in answering this try to put aside any differences we may have had over neologistic verbs).

Should always wash and rinse dried pulses - you'll be fine

 

[Gromit]

The seeds will have germinated. If you eat them a lentil tree will grow out of your stomach.

 

[Spymaster]

I can't say I'd known ow what musty lentils taste like. I only use them for dahl and I presume the spices would mask any mustiness.

Cook them and let us know!

 

[danny la rouge]

Should always wash and rinse dried pulses - you'll be fine

Now, there's a thing. You say "wash and rinse". I think I'd just rinse, and think of that as a wash. So if there's a difference, what's washing in this context?

 

[danny la rouge]

Cook them and let us know!

If I'm able to...

 

[maomao]

Will they taste musty? (And in answering this try to put aside any differences we may have had over neologistic verbs).

Don't know. I always eat my lentils on time. Stick loads of chilli in whatever you're making and I'm sure it'll taste fine. I'm not even sure what a lentil tastes like on its own.

 

[pogofish]

I think I remember reading once that dried lentils have a lifespan that is actually measured in decades. Although much of the nutritional value is lost after the first decade.

So as long as they are properly dried and not exposed to moisture that could trigger the growth of any nasty toxic fungi, tuck-in!

 

[pengaleng]

wtf is this??? someone just actually legitimately asked if dried red lentils that are out of date are ok eating, wtf seriously???

 

[oneflewover]

Now, there's a thing. You say "wash and rinse". I think I'd just rinse, and think of that as a wash. So if there's a difference, what's washing in this context?

Wash in standing water, rinse in running. Same as your pots.

Edit to add:- not the same water as your pots

 

[danny la rouge]

Don't know. I always eat my lentils on time. Stick loads of chilli in whatever you're making and I'm sure it'll taste fine. I'm not even sure what a lentil tastes like on its own.

Lentils? What do they taste like?

 

[danny la rouge]

Wash in standing water, rinse in running. Same as your pots.

I use washing up liquid on my pots.

 

[oneflewover]

Wash in standing water, rinse in running. Same as your pots.

Edit to add:- not the same water as your pots

too quick for me

 

[bi0boy]

You might get morgellans disease as the lectin fibres will have polymerized over time due to the herbicide commonly used on lentil crops thanks to the Monsanto super-strain forced on most developing-world farmers.

 

[danny la rouge]

You might get morgellans disease as the lectin fibres will have polymerized over time due to the herbicide commonly used on lentil crops thanks to the Monsanto super-strain forced on most developing-world farmers.

Hadn't heard of that, so I did a Google and found this:

Without clicking the link, I am somehow persuaded that what I'll find therein isn't truth but far-fetched paranoid rantings.

 

[pengaleng]

lol sick off the lentils :'D

 

[Gerry1time]

One of the great societal advances brought about by the Internet is the ability for us to quickly and easily spot lies by the usage of the word truth in close proximity.

 

[nogojones]

Last year I found a bag of kidney beans at the back of the cupboard that I'd forgotten about. 7 years past their sell by date. They took a bit longer to soak and cook, but I lived to tell the tale.

Get them down you

 

[danny la rouge]

The others didn't notice anything amiss, but they tasted a bit foostie to me. But I think that was The Power Of The Mind.

There's some left for tomorrow. The flavour's usually better the next day.

 

[Sirena]

Picking through a packet of lentils???

You'd have to be really fucking bored.

It was one of the things Cinderella had to do before she could go to the ball.

In the Grimm version.

 

[danny la rouge]

It was one of the things Cinderella had to do before she could go to the ball.

In the Grimm version.

Are you sure that wasn't Sissy Fuss?

 

[TheHoodedClaw]

The only way to be sure that elderly lentils are safe is to pour them into a container full of 86% nitric acid solution. Skim off the lentils that float, and the rest are fine to eat.