Defining factors of how long desserts last

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sam111

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First would flour go bad quicker if you pre-mixed it with leavning agents like
baking soda , baking powder ,...etc ( could I do this with out getting the pre-mix ones with all the additional unnatural ingredinats )

What I was thinking is that since baking soda or powder lasts on its own for a really long time and flour lasts a really long time the combination would as well.

Is this correct or is there some chemical breakdown reaction even when there is no liquids involved between these items?

Next thing that I am wondering about is when you make a cake or brownies or cookies (homemade) what is the defining factor of when it goes bad.

Obviously if the combination of flour and leavning agents don't go bad then it would be either the egg , milk , or butter/shortening products. And I would think the water from the milk when cooking evaborates so it would be the equivalant to powedered milk at best but probably around evaporated/condensed milk which can last still a long time.
Egg don't know how long this can last before going bad in the sugar (preservative)
Nor do I know how long it would take shortening to go bad in the sugar.

But I am think the defining factor is the shortening and maybe the eggs in the dessert that make it go bad faster then others.
O and maybe the air as well wonder how long if it was vaccum sealed a cake or brownies and left out with no exposure to air it would still go bad eventually but would it take an longer to go bad (basically trying to rule out the air being a major factor but probably is )
 
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Premixing flour with other dry ingredients, such as baking soda and baking powder will not affect the life of the flour.
 
how about sugar , cocoa , or other general herb/veg/fruit powders that one sees in big jars at whole food stores. Such as ginger powder , or other ones you pay per ounce and scoop out. They last on there own for as long as flours as well would there combination to the flour / leavning mix make it go bad faster ?

Or is this just when you add the eggs , milk , and shortening to the mix?

If it is just when you add the eggs , milk , and shortening to the mix then could you even cut it more down and use powdered milk , powdered egg whites
Then all you would have to do is rehydrate the milk with some water and add some shortening.

Thus reducing baking to mixing of ratio's of powders "sort of say" and adding water / shortening ratio's
 
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desserts can last a long time? :huh:


lol.

(deserts are often devoid of liquids, btw)
 
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so then why do the grocery stores add all kinds of crap to the pre-made
cake , brownie , pancake ,....etc mixes?

Won't the natural ingrediants preserve them selfs ?

If I bought just the natural ingrediants like flour (unbleached ) , baking powder / soda , unrefined sugar....etc etc
Then just mixed it in the correct ratio's for each of my baking needs and labeled them cake mix , brownie mix ,...etc
Wouldn't this be a healthier option I think Yes:chef:

But it is hard to understand why then people started mixing other crap into them to preserve it you say it will hold on its own if you pre-mixed the ingrediants. So why ? The only thing I can think of is for the hardening of brown sugar sometimes can be a pain to breakup but this is a minor think and easy to get around without the intervention of all the added chemicals
 
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if the package mix has yeast in it, it can develop spores that can make you sick, even to the point of being fatal.
 
so then you cann't mix all the different flours and leavning agents
so is yeast the only one you cann't pre-mix with flour currently known.

Or are you saying if you mix flour with yeast there has to be something like use with in 3 to 6 month
 
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i'm not a baker by any stretch of the imagination, so hopefully someone more experienced with it will come along soon.

while i'm loathe to say it as i find the suggestion of such disrespectful, you might do a search on "why do cake mixes go bad".

i remember something i read from a few years ago that stated how old mixes with yeast can develop little nasties that can make you sick.
 
Baking powder has an expiration date beyond which it won't leaven. That makes long-term storage a problem.
 
Per the title of this thread "Defining factors of how long desserts last"
my answer is simple .. not long enough !

I am curious as to why you are investigating this information.

Are you planning on making mass quantities for long term survival?

I am not being sarcastic as many people are doing that these days.
 
I am doing this because don't want to actually use the pre-mix flour stuff I want to do it from just the basic ingrediants no preservatives or additives .... just the good healthy natural stuff.

And I wanted to create a natural flour mix so I don't have to always mix the solids together just the liquids and then dump the solids into the liquids.
I.e already have everything pre-mixed / measured for the solid stuff with out adding any preservatives or additives (and with out it going bad)

I know after cooking alot of deserts they last plenty of time.
But I was more wondering if I pre-mix the solid items would there shelve life still last reasonable long say 3 months to 6 months
 
There are two "mix" items I tend to make in cycles: scones and pancakes. Anytime I make a batch of pancakes I measure and combine the dry ingredients, including the baking powder, for two additional meals. I'll either bag the dry stuff in zip bags or put it in plastic containers. Make sure you mark it!!! (Yup, the voice of experience...) Same thing with scones. This way if I want to make a batch of either of them in the next month or so the dry stuff is already waiting. Never have had a problem since I use it up fast enough.

I don't pre-mix anything with a shortening in it like the Missouri mix has because I rarely use shortening. I sin and use butter.:ohmy: Also, if a recipe has brown sugar as the sweetener I wait to add it in when I use the mix. If put in ahead the moisture in it is sucked out by the flour and the sugar gets hard and is very hard to remix with the rest of the stuff.

It does look like the Missouri Mix would work if you're looking for a substitute for Bisquick. Actually looks interesting enough I might give it a try just to have on had for shortcakes - it's strawberry season, after all. Thanks for the link sparrowgrass!
 
Baking powder has an expiration date beyond which it won't leaven. That makes long-term storage a problem.

I'm not a baker, I detest baking so my baking powder & soda is probably at the very least 5 years old or older. I guess it's no good & that I should toss it then, huh?


Even though I don't like to bake I did whip up a very easy peach cobbler tonight & I did use the old baking powder, I didn't look to see how old it actually was. Did I do something bad?
 
I'm not a baker, I detest baking so my baking powder & soda is probably at the very least 5 years old or older. I guess it's no good & that I should toss it then, huh?


Even though I don't like to bake I did whip up a very easy peach cobbler tonight & I did use the old baking powder, I didn't look to see how old it actually was. Did I do something bad?

Did the cobbler turn out good enough, or hard and flat? That's pretty much the worst that can happen from old baking powder. It loses the quality that gives "lift" to quick bread (non-yeast) items. If the date on my baking powder is past due but not too old I usually just add a little more of it than what the recipe calls for to compensate.

I suppose if the cobbler was less than stellar it could still be fixed with a little ice cream.;)
 
Well, I'm not sure. I did make a mistake even though it was an easy recipe. The can of peaches didn't have a size stated, all it said was to use a large can so I ended up using the huge 24 0z can instead of the proper size. I think they meant to use the smaller can. It came out good but a little juicy and it took 20 minutes longer to bake.

I did serve it with local made soft ice cream and I thought it was great!

I just checked the date and it expired 5/29/10. I guess I'll pitch it and replace it because I do want to start baking homemade bread. I may give that a try this week since I'm off the whole week working with my new puppy!
 
Well, I'm not sure. I did make a mistake even though it was an easy recipe. The can of peaches didn't have a size stated, all it said was to use a large can so I ended up using the huge 24 0z can instead of the proper size. I think they meant to use the smaller can. It came out good but a little juicy and it took 20 minutes longer to bake.

I did serve it with local made soft ice cream and I thought it was great!

I just checked the date and it expired 5/29/10. I guess I'll pitch it and replace it because I do want to start baking homemade bread. I may give that a try this week since I'm off the whole week working with my new puppy!

I buy my baking powder in the bulk section at the store, don't know if you have such near by. I save a lot that way, I only buy enough to last me a couple weeks at a time.
 
Well, I'm not sure. I did make a mistake even though it was an easy recipe. The can of peaches didn't have a size stated, all it said was to use a large can so I ended up using the huge 24 0z can instead of the proper size. I think they meant to use the smaller can. It came out good but a little juicy and it took 20 minutes longer to bake.

I did serve it with local made soft ice cream and I thought it was great!

I just checked the date and it expired 5/29/10. I guess I'll pitch it and replace it because I do want to start baking homemade bread. I may give that a try this week since I'm off the whole week working with my new puppy!

IMO any food you don't have to pitch is a success. Some dishes are just more sucessful than others.

And before you go shopping make sure you check those bread recipes. If you're making a quick bread like banana you use baking powder. If you're making something like white, wheat or rye you need to get yeast. Have fun and good luck!
 
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