I asked a while back about whether you can freeze cake mix that had already been prepared......nope. wouldn't suggest it. When the cake mix was thawed and at room temperature it seemed dough-y like. And it didn't cook well.

Thanks for the info

I don't suggest it either!! I must not have seen your post before, christiancaker.

My mother in law gave me a box that she had frozen. We didn't know how long it had been in there. I used it for a cake for my cake class (thank goodness!) because I was the only one who tasted it.
Anyway it was VERY dry and didn't taste right.

did she freeze the box or prepare the mix and then froze it? hope that doesn't sound like to dumb of a question

she just froze the box.

I had never heard of doing that before.
I meant to ask her if she had ever done it before because if so then maybe it shouldn't have been in the frezzer for so long.

don't do it. it seemed to cave in wheni cooked it and didn't cook well after it's time was up.

I have never frozen cake mix, but I do put the extra in the refrigerator. I only leave it there for a few days and then I mix it in with a new batch of cake batter. I have never had any problems doing it that way.

I put boxe of cake mix in the freezer all the time and they turn out fine when I bake them up.
I wonder what we are doing different

I think you guys are talking about 2 different things. Some are talking about putting prepared cake batter from a mix into the freezer, some are talking about cake mix unprepared, still in the box.

I would never try to bake a batter from the freezer (I think I answered your post already christiancaker.) As soon as you mix the batter, the leavening agents start to react, which is why you are supposed to have your oven preheated, pans greased, etc and put them in the oven immediately. The leaveners will have already gone kaput by the time the batter is completely frozen. If you could flash freeze it, it might be different, but it seems like somebody would have marketed it if it was possible to do. By the time the batter thaws, that's even more time for the leavening agents to play themselves out, so it's no wonder your cake sank in the middle. There was no gas to hold it up.

As far as mixes still in the box, if you got it from your mother and she didn't know how long it was there, I wouldn't trust it. When I moved in with DH, he had a freezer (we're talking full-sized stand alone here) full of stuff he inherited when his mother passed away. When I finally was able to clean it out, many of the things in there had expired BEFORE she passed. In the pantry, there was even a can of tomatoes that had EATEN THROUGH THE CAN! I made the mistake of using some pecans in chocolate chips cookies since the nuts weren't dated. They were the slowest moving batch of cookies I have ever made!

Rule of thumb-if you don't remember it, it's been in there too long!

Ali

alimonkey - i love your last comment!! Usually I am the one who calls the number on the box of any product to make sure it is still good to eat! I just called last night about some cocoa. I wanted to make sure it was still good.

momoftwogirls - I have a pretty sensitive nose, so I can usually smell when dry goods are off, and can *always* smell old freezer smell on stuff. I kind of knew the pecans were old, I guess I just hoped that baking them would make them OK and that chocolate chips would overpower them. Should have known better. I have never called a product information line, though I've considered it a few times.

Every couple of months or so I go through a purge cycle, using up canned/dry/frozen foods that I know have been around a little while, before they taste funny. Cocoa I've never had to worry about. Just don't keep it around long enough to be a problem

Also, I have never frozen a boxed mix. I would rather have it sitting in the pantry than exposed to all the smells in the freezer. The only dry goods I've ever really frozen have been corn meal and other things that will go rancid at room temp.

Ali

Alimonkey,
I have had some pecans and walnuts in my freezer since last Christmas. I don't eat nuts, just use them to bake with. Do you think they are too old? I though if I put them in the freezer, then they would be ok for this Christmas's cookies. But I don't want to use them if they are bad. How can I tell?

Thanks for any input. Oh and what about flour? I recently read somewhere, maybe here...that flour only lasts about 6 months...could it be frozen? or is this untrue what I read?

Thanks again!
Leslie

Your nuts will probably be OK, especially if you double-bagged them. The only way I can tell is to smell and taste them. I think walnuts have a higher oil content, so they would be quicker to absorb flavors from your freezer, and quicker to go rancid at room temp. The nuts I'm talking about had probably been in the freezer for at least 6 or 7 years.

Flour I don't know about. I've probably had some in the pantry at some point for a year, but not since I started baking. Now I go through quite a bit, so I never have to worry about staleness. If it's whole wheat it will go rancid because of the oil in it, but if it's plain white flour I wouldn't worry about it.

Personally, I wouldn't keep anything without fat in the freezer. Fatty items like nuts, whole wheat flour and corn meal will go rancid if left too long at room temp, so the freezer will protect that. Things like flour would probably absorb freezer flavors before they would go stale at room temp.

Ali

Thank you Ali!!!!

Ali - your story reminds me of my grandma. She kept things in the fridge for YEARS. After she passed, I helped my parents go through her house. She passed this August, and things had expiration dates in the 1990's! They would clean out her freezer for her when she was still alive, too. My dad pulled out some grey type of meat. He was so disgusted b/c they couldn't even tell WHAT it was. My grandma was like "That's fresh...it was in the freezer!" For what...12 yrs?