If this isn’t a burning issue for you, then either you never buy too much food or you don’t care about matzo meal. In either case, keep reading because this isn’t just about my food-hoarding tendencies, matzo meal, or Passover.
I do buy lots of matzo meal. And I hoard it. But there is a reason for my matzo-purchasing frenzy.
Every Passover I make dozens, sometimes literally hundreds, of Passover rolls. We eat them at the Seder and I send anyone at the Seder who wants them, home with an extra bag. Matzo rolls help minimize the need to consume plain matzo. If you’ve ever eaten matzo (not chocolate-covered of course), you know what I’m talking about when I say that 7 or 8 days of eating it feels like a life sentence around day 3.
Anyway, I have had 3 boxes of Streit’s matzo meal in my pantry during this year, just waiting for the next round of Passover rolls. But as I considered opening them, I noticed that I couldn’t read the date on the top of the box. Eventually I held one box at a certain angle in the sunlight and decided that it said 01 27 2013.
With no indication as to what that date meant (sell by? best by? use by?), I did what any sane person would do; I googled “how long can you keep matzo meal?” The results were unimpressive and definitely not authoritative. Many entries appearing to be random guesses from unknown people whose cooking skills and common sense were suspect to say the least.
Next move? I checked the Streit’s website. Although I didn’t find the answer, I loved the pictures and company history. It’s still a family-owned business, started in 1916. Although it is no longer located in the same lower East Side buildings in Manhattan, it is still close by. And at least according to Streit’s, it is the “only family owned and operated matzo company in America.”
What next? I called the company and used their automated dial system to leave a message for the Consumer Relations Department. When the automated message said that Rabbi Kirschner was unavailable but that I could leave a message, I nearly plotzed! A rabbi? But I was on a mission, so I got up my courage. I left a voicemail explaining my situation and asking whether it was OK to use the boxes of matzo meal. Then I went about other business, convinced that I wouldn’t hear from anyone.
But boy was I wrong! Less than a half hour later (in the middle of the Passover rush season for a matzo factory I might note), I got a call back from Rabbi Kirschner himself. He was unbelievably nice and helpful. Paraphrasing his advice but unable to replicate the wonderful cadence of his voice and the calm authority with which he spoke, I can report that if it’s been kept in a cool, dry place, (it has been), doesn’t have anything crawling around in it (most certainly it does not) and if it smells and looks right, then the matzo meal is fine to use. He explained that the date on the top is merely a suggested “best by” date, but that it’s fine to use well beyond that time.
Advice just like my mother would have given me if I’d called her! (But of course, if I’d called her, I would have gotten into a long conversation about other stuff and who needs that in the middle of a project?)
So many lessons (to learn or relearn) from one afternoon’s plan to make matzo rolls:
- There’s no harm in asking. You might learn something.
- Common sense – you’ll never be sorry if you use it. (And the answers to many questions seem like common sense when you think about them, even if the person who gives the answer is an expert and you wouldn’t have trusted the same answer if you or your mother had come up with it on your own.)
- And when in NY, go for the Streit’s matzo factory tour – I certainly will next time I’m up there.
PS – When I told this story to my husband, he looked at me as if the question “How long can you keep matzo meal?” was a no-brainer. Being Jewish, he answered the question with another question, “Does cardboard have an expiration date?”
Dana @ Foodie Goes Healthy says
Thanks so much for this post! This is my burning question every Passover as I find an opened box in my pantry from the past year. And your husband’s answer made me crack up.
motherwouldknow says
Glad to help. And yes, my husband is quite a card. (You’d love to be a fly on the wall when he’s commenting on some of my adventures/misadventures:)
Roseann says
Loved your post and it was very helpful to me as I, too, have several boxes of matzoh meal left from LAST Passover. And love your husband’s sense of humor!
Laura says
Roseann, So glad I could help. This happens to me every year. And as for my husband’s sense of humor – I’ve learned to enjoy it and in this case, even revel in it.
Liza says
omg this was great. Thank you for not only the info, but for the humor! Love it!
Laura says
Liza, Thanks. I do get a kick out of this post – especially when I look in my pantry at a box of matzo meal leftover from last Passover 🙂
Iris says
Thanks, this is a great post as I look in the box of stuff that we packed up at the end of last Passover!
Happy Passover!!
Laura says
Iris, So glad to help. Join the club of “what do I do with this matzo meal?” Luckily we all know what to do with it now:) Chag Sameach.
Suzette Reiter-Slama says
Thank you for reassuring me. I’m visiting my daughter and she has a craving for Matza balls (and outdated matza meal!)
Your matzo rolls look yummy. Want to share the recipe?😄
Laura says
Suzette, Tell your daughter she’s in good company when it comes to keeping outdated matzo meal. As for the matzo roll recipe, it’s on the blog. https://motherwouldknow.com/passover-miraculous-unleavened-rolls-html/ PS – I even made a later version with charoset and PB&J inside – https://motherwouldknow.com/passover-rolls-reimagined-with-filling/
Marilyn ann Began says
Read your msg on matzo meal I keep
mine in frig, but when I made matzo
balls for chicken soup, the matzo balls
had an off taste, I wound up throwing
the m out,
Laura says
Well, you’ve followed my first rule – if your gut tells you it’s not good, throw it out!
The Italian Jew says
I realize this is an old post but want to add that keeping it in fridge is quite possibly the reason they had an “off taste” as opposed to having just gone bad. Really should be stored dry and cool (like in a pantry) storing in fridge over time might end up working much like baking soda and absorbing odors and tastes of whatever is in fridge. I’m not sure if placing in a zip lock bag with as much air removed as possible and storing in freezer would work but seems like a better option than the fridge. I do this with flour (which I rarely use) so never know what else to do with the messy opened bag and this works well, no mess or risk of flour bugs or mess when you find an old bag of flour on the shelf.
Laura says
What a great idea – thanks!
sandra cear says
I may break the record. My stores were out of Matzoh Cake meal and I searched by pantry and found 2 unopened cans with the best by dec. 2015. It is April 2019. Should I use it for cookies? I don’t want to poison my loved ones.
Please reply asap – go to bake tomorrow.
Laura says
Sandra, If the matzo cake meal is not moldy, and it looks and tastes OK, then Rabbi Kirchner would say it is OK to use. But I’ve never used 4 year old matzo cake meal. If you have newer matzo meal and a food processor, why not process that more finely (into cake meal, which is really just finely ground matzo meal) and use that instead?
Hezakiah S Levinson says
I always figured that if kept dry,bug free, and in an unopened package, matzah meal has the shelf life of Plutonium. We even rush off after Passover to score 6-7 boxes of the handmade shmura when the price has now dropped from $27/lb to around $5.Popped in the oven to get “refreshed” works out just fine the next year.
Laura says
I love your attitude!
Leslee says
Dear Laura,
Thank you so much for your info and a few good chuckles. I’m trying to organize for what will probably be called the corona virus seders. I can’t find gluten free matzo meal in my local stores and am not willing to go too far this year. I’d have to buy a two or three pack on line and an barely use one. I did find half of an open covered can from last year. Thank you for your information. Nothing crawling. Item found.
Laura says
Did you decide to use it? We’re doing a zoom seder with friends and our kids. You?
Leslee says
Uh oh, I just checked the. Ingredients on the gluten free matzo meal. Unlike regular matzo meal, it contains eggs and oil. The search is back on . It is probably too questionable to use.
Laura says
No idea how long you can keep the gluten-free version. Let me know what you decide when you smell/taste it.
Kathleen Fausak says
Hello,
Please share your recipe for Passover rolls as pictured in this article “How Long Van You Keep Matzo Meal?” Please email to me the recipe for your pictured Passover rolls.
Thank you,
Kathleen Fausak
Laura says
The link is in the post – Here it is – https://motherwouldknow.com/passover-miraculous-unleavened-rolls-html/
Rachel Kaufman says
What a help! Thank you for finding out for all of us. I have a tin of Yehuda Matza Meal from 2019 – we’re now mid-quarantine 2020 here in Los Angeles – and I assumed it was fine until my sister quesrtioned it. I felt even better about a tin – unopened, sealed with that foil top, but now you’ve helped put my/her mind at ease. Chag Sameach!
Laura says
Rachel, Chag Sameach and rest easy. I have to admit that I often make my husband smell or taste the matzo meal from a previous year. He’s willing to do it, but with a wry smile that tells me he can’t imagine why I think edible cardboard ever goes bad:) We’re having a zoom seder with friends and our kids. What will you do?
Rachel Kaufman says
We are also hosting Zoom Seder with chosen family…it will be a nice group so we are excited! It’s a little bit of a bummer as we moved into our new home end of Sept so we assumed this would be our first big Seder here. Luckily we had a huge thanksgiving and our traditional NYE so those are very sweet memories.
ellen says
I just opened a container of matzo meal I bought 3 days ago. It doesn’t have a date on the container. To me it smells kind of musty – a hint of rancid oil. It’s nothing but wheat and flour. Has it gone bad? Am I wasting my time in using it?
Laura says
Ellen, I’m sorry I didn’t get to this question right away. Matzo meal is just made from flour and water so I don’t know how it could smell of rancid oil. Honestly, I don’t like the smell of it and often think it’s gone bad. But when I ask my husband to smell it, he tells me it’s fine and once I’ve cooked with it, that weird smell goes away. So I don’t know what to tell you since I can’t smell yours – except to say that if you’re as sensitive to the smell as I am, maybe you should have someone else smell it for you.
ellen says
I know that whole wheat flour can go rancid – there’s oil in it. I contacted a friend who confirmed that it does smell strange so I proceeded. It was fine.
Anita says
Thank you for this exchange! I have matzo meal, matzo farfel, cake meal and potato starch with “best by” dates ranging from 11/21/19 to 1/19/20. Since it’s just me at home during this sheltering period, I used very little…none of the last two items (didn’t bake a sponge cake!!). Wondering if they are worth holding onto for another year.
Laura says
Anita, Nice to hear from you. I’m still using expired matzo meal and potato starch. I will admit that I get my husband to smell them, as I wouldn’t use them if they had an “off smell,” which I’m not very good at determining as I don’t like the smell to begin with. If the ingredients you have are unopened, I’d keep them and then decide next year if they still seem good. Hope you stay healthy and sane. Best, Laura
Jane Kay says
Thank you for your persistence in winning the perfect answer from an impeccable source to this almighty question. What maker of matzoh balls woudn’t need to know? My next question remains: Why does one simple matzoh contain 120 calories? It’s only flour and water.
Laura says
Jane – Thanks for your kind words. I am not surprised that matzo has so many calories. After all, it’s about the same as 2 pieces of white bread and a lot less than 2 slices of wheat or rye bread.
Jodi says
Ha! Does cardboard go bad! Guess I should’ve know……. thanks for the read and info and I’ll be using my matzoh ball mix tonight, a vintage January 2020💙
Good sweet Pesach
Laura says
Birds of a feather:) Hope you had a good Pesach.
Maya Culpa says
Thank you! Great answer.
Robin says
Love this post so much, good laughs. While it is summer in NH, I just made matzo balls to go with fresh chicken soup! The can of Yehuda I used IS old. I don’t even see a “best by” date. Can be 2-3 years that I’ve had it. Smelled a bit off but I used it. Matzo balls are good but have a slightly different taste. Having very few Jewish friends, I usually share my soup so folks can experience the goodness that they are. This one time I’ll hold on to them. 😀
Laura says
Robin, So glad that you enjoyed this post. I have to admit that I usually throw out things that smell “a bit off” – hope you enjoyed your soup and it didn’t cause any ill effects. In our house we still look at this post every Passover (in the spring) and laugh as we pull out the year old matzo meal and smell it. Take care.