Hundreds of pounds of cooked pasta mysteriously dumped in New Jersey woods

[sneakypete]

@sneakypete

My point being that nature would have feasted... And it would all be gone anyway in a week.

@roamer_1

True.

[Smokin Joe]

If that stash had been in storage for any length of time, it may not have been good to eat, especially without oxygen absorbers, etc. I am doubting that was all fresh.

[roamer_1]

If that stash had been in storage for any length of time, it may not have been good to eat, especially without oxygen absorbers, etc. I am doubting that was all fresh.

To my knowledge, noodles don't go bad. Not any time soon.

[Smokin Joe]

To my knowledge, noodles don't go bad. Not any time soon.

Most sources say dried pasta properly stored (cool, dry place) lasts for a couple of years past the 'use by' date. Sealed in glass or mylar with oxygen absorbers, I'd go almost indefinite (out of sunlight, cool, dry place). But the store shelf packaging, with less than optimum conditions, and allowing for the presence of bugs, the person throwing it out may have had good reason to doubt it, and might have figured the critters would eat it instead.
Mice might have gotten into that pantry, too.
It doesn't look like there were any critters getting fat off of it, either...maybe the rats at the dump.

[roamer_1]

Most sources say dried pasta properly stored (cool, dry place) lasts for a couple of years past the 'use by' date. Sealed in glass or mylar with oxygen absorbers, I'd go almost indefinite (out of sunlight, cool, dry place). But the store shelf packaging, with less than optimum conditions, and allowing for the presence of bugs, the person throwing it out may have had good reason to doubt it, and might have figured the critters would eat it instead.
Mice might have gotten into that pantry, too.
It doesn't look like there were any critters getting fat off of it, either...maybe the rats at the dump.

Huh... I use noodles WAY past the sell-by date... No special storage... Just leave em in their store-bought bags, and them bags together in a sealed 5gal bucket... I dunno if I ever put an O2 absorber in the buckets... I might have. And them buckets rotate forward... But then, they ARE proper noodles... None of em 'fast cook' up in here. I literally pay no mind to the date.

Noodles, rice, and beans... I keep em around. They are the cheapest and keep the longest.

[Smokin Joe]

Huh... I use noodles WAY past the sell-by date... No special storage... Just leave em in their store-bought bags, and them bags together in a sealed 5gal bucket... I dunno if I ever put an O2 absorber in the buckets... I might have. And them buckets rotate forward... But then, they ARE proper noodles... None of em 'fast cook' up in here. I literally pay no mind to the date.

Noodles, rice, and beans... I keep em around. They are the cheapest and keep the longest.

I have loads of rice and beans, sealed, with oxygen absorbers, in buckets, in a dark pantry that stays about the same temp year-round. Should be good for years yet.

Noodles don't last that long around here, not long enough to get up a pile that size. Maybe I should buy more, but generally, the three of us go through about 25 lbs of pasta a year.

[roamer_1]

I have loads of rice and beans, sealed, with oxygen absorbers, in buckets, in a dark pantry that stays about the same temp year-round. Should be good for years yet.

Noodles don't last that long around here, not long enough to get up a pile that size. Maybe I should buy more, but generally, the three of us go through about 25 lbs of pasta a year.

I go through a bit... Goulash, spaghetti, and chicken/tuna/hamburger casseroles. Mac and Cheese... Nothing special though... Flat, elbow macaroni, and spaghetti noodles are all I store in bulk...

[Smokin Joe]

I go through a bit... Goulash, spaghetti, and chicken/tuna/hamburger casseroles. Mac and Cheese... Nothing special though... Flat, elbow macaroni, and spaghetti noodles are all I store in bulk...

Something Mrs. Joe turned me on to was elbow spaghetti. It's like a thinner, tighter macaroni, and doesn't fall apart as fast in soup or even mac and cheese. It's getting harder to find around here, though and about once a year I order in a case.