Several years ago, when the public repartee between a certain former US president and a certain East Asian dictator had many people wondering if nuclear war would kick off any day, I interviewed a half dozen manufacturers of luxury doomsday bunkers for an article about riding out the end of the world in style. When I asked them what kinds of food one should stock in these lavish disaster shelters, the professional preppers invariably mentioned the same three things: cereals such as rice and oats, dried beans, and dried pasta.
Doubtlessly, you know this already. Unless you’re storing it in a Dagobah swamp or other extreme conditions, dried pasta has an incredibly long shelf life, which is what makes it the perfect pantry staple for both now and the end of days.
To be clear, I’m talking about dried Italian-style pasta, which usually contains just durum wheat, unless it’s a dried egg-based pasta such as tagliatelle, which contains durum wheat and egg. Fresh pasta—which typically contains eggs and sometimes olive oil and other flavorings—is an entirely different beast. Most dried pasta you’ll find in grocery stores is made with semolina, a product of the milling process of durum wheat. It’s very high in protein (around 13%) which makes it form strong gluten bonds that help pasta keep its shape—a must for extruded pasta, especially.
How long does dried pasta last?
There’s recorded history of dried pasta existing in the Mediterranean at least as far back as the 9th century, and pasta merchants prized dried pasta for its durability in the 14th and 15th centuries. However, dried pasta didn’t become commonplace in Italy until the arrival of more advanced extrusion and drying technology during the Industrial Revolution.
When pasta is dried, its moisture content is reduced to around 12% or lower. (Some pasta heads prefer a pasta that has been dried slowly at low temperature, which purportedly preserves its flavor.) Because bacteria and mold require water to thrive, dried pasta will resist just about any kind of microbial spoilage. For comparison, other dried or “low-moisture” foods can contain up to 25% moisture and still remain safe from spoilage for long periods of time at room temperature.
This low moisture percentage translates to a very, very long pasta lifespan. According to the Compendium of the Microbiological Spoilage of Foods and Beverages, “Shelf life of dried pastas is estimated as 2 years with longer periods possible if the pasta is stored in airtight containers.” The authors add that incidences of spoiled pasta “are very rare, an indication why shelf life can be so long as compared to other food products.”
Now, in the rare case that you’re drying your own fresh extruded pasta, Missy Robbins—the chef-owner of Lilia in Brooklyn—recommends in her cookbook Pasta that you store it in the refrigerator for up to three days, which is also true for fresh rolled or hand-cut pasta.
As for how to store pasta, the packaging it comes in from the supermarket is designed to protect it from bugs and typical environmental conditions. If you happen to live in an extremely humid area, you might want to invest in some air-tight canisters (I like the ones Oxo makes) and throw a silica gel packet in there for extra insurance against moisture.
You might also wonder if pasta can absorb ambient flavors from other ingredients it’s stored with. I would wager that it’s possible, but I haven’t found any examples of that being the case—most likely because after that high-protein semolina has been cooked and dried, pasta is quite dense. Anyone who’s bitten into undercooked pasta—and I don’t mean al dente—knows that it takes a lot of thermodynamic energy to force water back into a piece of dried penne, so larger odor molecules will have an even tougher time sneaking their way in. But if you’re worried about strong smells from spices somehow seeping into your pasta, one of those air-tight canisters should keep your noodles safe, too.
What happens after the two-year mark?
I’ve been unable to find a single case study that references dried pasta spoiling, growing mold, or causing illness, as long as the pasta has been stored in typical cool and dry conditions. I wouldn’t ever recommend it, but well-stored dried pasta—even lentil and chickpea-based versions—should still be perfectly edible even after two years.
But life is too short to keep that special box of quadrefiore around for more than two years. As with almost every ingredient that you aren’t intentionally aging, sticking to the expiration window is your best bet for ensuring optimum flavor. Only buy as much as you need for the next month or two, and replace it as necessary in your pantry. If you think you need to stock up on pounds and pounds of dried pasta to boil in the midst of nuclear winter, you’ll probably have bigger three-eyed fish to fry when that time comes
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Source: Epicurious
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