Out of Date Butter for Baking

workingboy

I have a couple bars of Salted Butter in the fridge purchased at the start of the current Covid panic in Feb.
Both a few months out of date, looks and smells ok apart from the corrners darkening yellow slightly in colour.
Are they ok to use for baking if the discoloured corners are cut off, same goes for some bags of unopened Flour.

goldfinches

In my experience butter can be used for months after its date and I don't worry about the colour change at all, I just assume that is the carrot colouring/yellow dye oxidising slightly and go ahead with weighing out and mixing in. If you are at all worried taste it first and if it tastes okay you're good to go.
I have recently started following Delia's cakes course and out of date spreadable butter makes delicious sponge as well as very nice Twink's hobnobs.

DayDreamerandGeneralWaster

I'm in the same position. It's a few weeks out but l will be making cheese scones and flapjacks for lunch boxes at the weekend. 

bouicca21

Rancid butter tastes disgusting.  If the butter tastes ok, use it.

PipneyJane

workingboy said:

I have a couple bars of Salted Butter in the fridge purchased at the start of the current Covid panic in Feb.
Both a few months out of date, looks and smells ok apart from the corrners darkening yellow slightly in colour.
Are they ok to use for baking if the discoloured corners are cut off, same goes for some bags of unopened Flour.

You don't even need to cut the corners off the butter; so long as it smells OK and tastes OK, it will be fine to use.   The date is a "best before" not a "don't eat after this date or it will kill you".  Butter keeps for a very long time.  Historically, it has been used as a food preservative - potted shrimp anyone? - to keep food edible for months.  (NB:  Rancid butter stinks.)

The same goes for unopened bags of flour.  Stored properly, it will keep for a very long time.  Again, sniff it and taste it.  It will have a foul smell if it is rancid.   A bigger risk to your flour is that the packaging will deteriorate enough to let bugs in.  Just store it in airtight containers and you will be fine.  (Best before dates on dried goods are often driven by the lifespan of the packaging, not the contents.)

- Pip