How long does coconut butter last?

[Christabel]

I've had half a jar of Artisana brand coconut butter hanging out in my pantry for at least a year. Last time I sniffed it it seemed fine. Does anyone know if it's still OK to eat?

 

Thanks.

[praxisproject]

They usually print a date on the jar, on mine it's around the bottom, straight on the glass. Pretty sure it's also a "best before" date (in Australia we also have "use by" dates which are different).

 

Coconut butter keeps better than nut butter for me. Nut butters tend to go rancid both from the oil and also because they're kind of wet (which can encourage bacteria and stuff to grow in it) and they oxidize more after being opened.

 

Depending on your climate, coconut butter is often hard, so it preserves a bit differently, much like coconut oil (which is often solid).

 

I don't think it will give you food poisoning, but even long life foods slowly lose some of their nutrition over time.

If you don't think you're likely to eat it all soon but happy to eat it as it is, you could freeze it into icecube trays. It doesn't really defrost quite the same, but you can nibble on them frozen, as well as eating them defrosted (works best if you have small moulds, I have some which are very small that I use for things like this).

[CaGirl]

If you haven't used it in the last year do you really need it?