On 6/4/2016 3:40 PM, dejamos wrote:
> On 6/4/2016 1:01 PM, Nancy Young wrote:

>> I bought a book that arrived just this morning. Informative and
>> entertaining, it's The Food Lab by Kenji Lopez-Alt. I looked it
>> up, baking soda is good for 8 months to a year.
>>
>> Baking powder, 6 months to a year, depending on humidity.

> Interesting that the times are so close. I have successfully used both
> baking soda and baking powder that was older than a year, but that
> particular box had expired over 3 or 4 years earlier, IIRC.
>
> There probably is some loss of effectiveness after a year or so, but
> nothing that I have ever noticed. I always kept a closer watch on how
> old the baking powder was than the baking soda; it's good to know that I
> should be keeping an eye on both.

I have seen cake failures attributed to old baking powder and soda,
it's a lot of work to not replace those cheap ingredients before
going to the effort to make this nice dessert.

> I keep both in the freezer these days and refill small jars that I keep
> in my cupboard.

Probably a good idea. I'm sure the effectiveness doesn't
drop off suddenly on the 6 month plus 1 day, but the gradual
ineffectiveness could diminish the results, plus who knows
how old this stuff is when you buy it.

nancy