Oldest item in your food cupboard

[32475]

This topic is exactly what it says on the tin or packet!
I have this half kilo tin of curry powder I bought in Chinatown Manchester circa 1995 and I still use it on a semi regular basis. The quantity is in grams but it’s well pre-barcode. It’s quality stuff but there’s not much left in it so I’ll soon have to buy a replacement which should see me out.
I’m intrigued to know what anyone else has stashed away which is still in use?

 

[jfollows]

I remember sorting out my granny's house in 1977 and discovering things like dried eggs from World War 2, which we chucked away and didn't use, they would have been about the same age as this.
I use lots of curry powder so I buy the hot version at https://www.spicesofindia.co.uk/acatalog/Bolsts-Curry-Powder.html, but I have to admit that if I had some from 1995 I'd still use it today, at least if it was all I had.

 

[gg1]

When me and my sister cleared out my dad's house after he moved into a nursing home in 2019 we found a number of very old faded Schwarz spice jars in the kitchen cupboards. No idea of the exact age but some of them still had price labels, the cheapest was 18p. Considering they're around £2 a jar now they must have been from the 70s or 80s.

 

[BrandanM]

Can we submit vintage appliances?.

If so, this appears to be the oldest item in our food cupboard...

I strongly suspect I've got a tangerine lurking about that would require Carbon-14 dating to establish it's age, but the fridge doesn't qualify does it

 

[DelW]

When I moved to my present house in December 1994, I bought a spice rack with 10 Schwarz spice jars. Some of those must still have their original contents, though I'm not certain which, since some have been refilled from cardboard packets.

About three years ago (during Covid) I emptied and restocked my emergency reserve tinned food cupboard. The oldest tins had use-by or best-before dates between about 2008 and 2012. All the contents were usable apart from two tins which had corroded and let air in.

Can we submit vintage appliances?.

If so, this appears to be the oldest item in our food cupboard...

I've got a slightly more streamlined version of that, inherited from my mother, though mine doesn't have the original box.

 

[Big Tim]

I only moved into my new house at the end of 2019, so I've nothing particularly ancient festering in the cupboards. However in the first Lockdown of 2020 I (like quite a few others) got into the habit of home baking, and as such I have a load of ingredients, spices, mixes etc which have been shoved to the back of the cupboard and haven't seen daylight for over three years once I lost interest! This thread serves a useful reminder to me to at least have a look and see what is lurking in there...

Not what the thread is asking, but the oldest thing I do remember in a food cupboard was a jar of home made plum jam dated "Autumn 1977" - this was discovered when clearing out my grandmother's house after she had passed on - that was in February 2000 - over 22 years later. (We didn't have the nerve or the stomach to open it and survey the contents).

 

[gg1]

I only moved into my new house at the end of 2019, so I've nothing particularly ancient festering in the cupboards. However in the first Lockdown of 2020 I (like quite a few others) got into the habit of home baking, and as such I have a load of ingredients, spices, mixes etc which have been shoved to the back of the cupboard and haven't seen daylight for over three years once I lost interest! This thread serves a useful reminder to me to at least have a look and see what is lurking in there...

Not what the thread is asking, but the oldest thing I do remember in a food cupboard was a jar of home made plum jam dated "Autumn 1977" - this was discovered when clearing out my grandmother's house after she had passed on - that was in February 2000 - over 22 years later. (We didn't have the nerve or the stomach to open it and survey the contents).

I think the general rule with jams is if there's nothing growing on it it's safe to eat. I've eaten jam that's over 10 years old before now which tasted fine, the only real problem is at that age the sugar starts to crystallise, still perfectly safe though.

 

[swt_passenger]

Without looking I expect it’ll be one of the spice jars that was last moved before my wife died…

Quick check later, some of the Schwarz jars have no best before info, but the labelled price on one was 18p, and 24p on another, so that must be quite a while ago. Just chucked them all out, that’s yet another empty shelf in a small kitchen cupboard…

 

[Ediswan]

Probably the granulated sugar, in a sealed plastic tub. I use so little it takes many years to get through a bag. Could be 1990s.

 

[Shimbleshanks]

During the 1990s, my wife-to-be lodged for a time at a place we called Mrs Lottry's on Hereford Road in Bayswater, west London. It was favoured by impecunious young women from foreign parts and she charged very reasonable prices. According to my wife, there were unopened tins in the food cupboard that dated from the 1960s; no one ever had the courage to open them, let alone eat the contents.

 

[johnnychips]

In the late 60s my grandma had some blue unbranded 2lb sugar bags that she said dated from the war. She said she kept them ‘just in case’ but regularly bought and used the normal Tate and Lyle. I have no idea why she didn’t use them in age order.

 

[BrandanM]

Slightly off-topic, but I found these old tins gathering dust in the garage.

 

[Zamracene749]

I've got lots of rather old spices that rarely get used eg ground mace, asafoetida. They live in a well stocked dark cupboard next to some vintage dried pasta, dried curry leaves, desiccated coconut and some slabs of tamarind paste, amongst packs of elderly dried lentils etc.
Not long ago rediscovered and cooked a tinned chicken pie (Fray Bentos) with a best before date of october, 2015. As good as new

 

[route101]

Oldest for me is stuff I bought from Aldi a year ago thats still in date.

 

[Busaholic]

I've got some tinned stuff bought the last time I was in France - given it was 1992/3 I was last there, it must date from before that. I'm just waiting for the right time to open it, plus a bottle of Normandy cider, if it hasn't exploded before then!

 

[OhNoAPacer]

I took possession of my current house in May 1988. One of my first grocery purchases was a bag of granulated sugar. This item is still extant.

 

[swt_passenger]

I wonder how many forum members have just been and chucked out a load of old stuff they’ll probably never use, thanks to this thread? Maybe the question should be asked every few years…

 

[GusB]

I recently got rid of a couple of tins of sweetcorn that were dated 2014. I'm not entirely sure why they were there because it's not something I eat (I think they may have been part of a hamper that was won in a charity raffle). There didn't appear to be anything wrong with the contents - the local bird population certainly disposed of it fairly quickly!

I'm fairly certain that some of the flour in the cupboard dates from around 2010 when we had a really bad winter. My late mother had one of her "episodes" and decided that it would be a good idea to stock up with bread-making ingredients in case we were snowed-in. There are probably some sachets of yeast in the "baking box" from around the same time.

Now I think about it, that baking box might actually contain stuff that's much, much older. Further investigation is required!

I wonder how many forum members have just been and chucked out a load of old stuff they’ll probably never use, thanks to this thread? Maybe the question should be asked every few years…

I suspect that I may be one of those forum members

 

[OhNoAPacer]

I wonder how many forum members have just been and chucked out a load of old stuff they’ll probably never use, thanks to this thread? Maybe the question should be asked every few years…

You are taking my bag of sugar out of my cold dead hands

 

[Ianigsy]

An unopened bottle of Hardy’s Ale produced by Eldridge Pope and dated 1990 (Thomas Hardy’s 150th anniversary). The label says that it will age up to 25 years in the bottle, so the plan was to keep it until Hardy 175th anniversary in 2015, however while the ale has lasted, Eldridge Pope haven’t.

 

[Andy317345]

Bottle of homemade opened sloe gin from 2003 sealed in a zip lock bag, followed by tinned chicken and lentil soup with a use by of Sept 2020

 

[Busaholic]

An unopened bottle of Hardy’s Ale produced by Eldridge Pope and dated 1990 (Thomas Hardy’s 150th anniversary). The label says that it will age up to 25 years in the bottle, so the plan was to keep it until Hardy 175th anniversary in 2015, however while the ale has lasted, Eldridge Pope haven’t.

I'm here to tell you that only disappointment awaits! I bought one of those highly expensive bottles, duly kept it in my cellar and chose the time to open it - it was beyond disgusting, foul taste and smell and the contents were flushed down the loo. I never was a Thomas Hardy appreciator anyway!

 

[philthetube]

During the 1990s, my wife-to-be lodged for a time at a place we called Mrs Lottry's on Hereford Road in Bayswater, west London. It was favoured by impecunious young women from foreign parts and she charged very reasonable prices. According to my wife, there were unopened tins in the food cupboard that dated from the 1960s; no one ever had the courage to open them, let alone eat the contents.

If a tin is not blowing, (rounded ends) it will be safe to eat, however if very old may have lost flavour.

 

[birchesgreen]

Nothing too old, my wife is ruthless with dates and disposing of expired stock. Mind you she works in a supermarket and does this for a living.

My Mum up until last year did have a bottle of Worcestershire sauce BB December 1991, i decided it would be better to bin that...

 

[1D54]

A bottle of Ind Coope City Ale which was brewed to celebrate the promotion of Leicester to the old Div One in May 1983.

 

[4COR]

I'm here to tell you that only disappointment awaits! I bought one of those highly expensive bottles, duly kept it in my cellar and chose the time to open it - it was beyond disgusting, foul taste and smell and the contents were flushed down the loo. I never was a Thomas Hardy appreciator anyway!

The prospects are not good for the 1981 ("K" nip) version that I have then.... (The later day ones, that were available in Waitrose up until the O'Hanlon brewery stopped brewing it, were very good - I have several Q and Ps left IIRC from 2006/7).

 

[Tracked]

Pepper, from Aldi, from earlier this year - June/July time, the previous one of around the same size (with the built in grinder) lasted maybe 4 years ... - but then I don't usually keep much in, to the point where everything else was bought within the last 10 days. Had a build up of frozen ready meals during COVID, but went through them fairly regularly and then stopped maintaining the stockpile early last year

 

[Jon_jpwh]

I'm here to tell you that only disappointment awaits! I bought one of those highly expensive bottles, duly kept it in my cellar and chose the time to open it - it was beyond disgusting, foul taste and smell and the contents were flushed down the loo. I never was a Thomas Hardy appreciator anyway!

I think that you must have been unlucky. All the bottles of Thomas Hardy beers that I have drunk have been very enjoyable.

 

[randyrippley]

Kilner jars of blackcurrants bottled by my mother 30+ years ago.
They're still sterile, still usable
Occasionally...........

I'm here to tell you that only disappointment awaits! I bought one of those highly expensive bottles, duly kept it in my cellar and chose the time to open it - it was beyond disgusting, foul taste and smell and the contents were flushed down the loo. I never was a Thomas Hardy appreciator anyway!

You obviously don't know how to pour unpasteurised beer out of a bottle properly

 

[Jon_jpwh]

This topic is exactly what it says on the tin or packet!
I have this half kilo tin of curry powder I bought in Chinatown Manchester circa 1995 and I still use it on a semi regular basis. The quantity is in grams but it’s well pre-barcode. It’s quality stuff but there’s not much left in it so I’ll soon have to buy a replacement which should see me out.
I’m intrigued to know what anyone else has stashed away which is still in use?
View attachment 144789

It's not exactly food but I have some bottles of a Greene King beer brewed in 1936 for the coronation of Edward VIII. I also have some Whitbread Celebration Ales brewed in 1992 to mark their 250 years of brewing.