Several years ago, when the public repartee between a certain former US president and a certain East Asian dictator had many people wondering if nuclear war would kick off any day, I interviewed a half dozen manufacturers of luxury doomsday bunkers for an article about riding out the end of the world in style. When I asked them what kinds of food one should stock in these lavish disaster shelters, the professional preppers invariably mentioned the same three things: cereals such as rice and oats, dried beans, and dried pasta.
Doubtlessly, you know this already. Unless you’re storing it in a Dagobah swamp or other extreme conditions, dried pasta has an incredibly long shelf life, which is what makes it the perfect pantry staple for both now and the end of days.
To be clear, I’m talking about dried Italian-style pasta, which usually contains just durum wheat, unless it’s a dried egg-based pasta such as tagliatelle, which contains durum wheat and egg. Fresh pasta—which typically contains eggs and sometimes olive oil and other flavorings—is an entirely different beast. Most dried pasta you’ll find in grocery stores is made with semolina, a product of the milling process of durum wheat. It’s very high in protein (around 13%) which makes it form strong gluten bonds that help pasta keep its shape—a must for extruded pasta, especially.
How long does dried pasta last?
There’s recorded history of dried pasta existing in the Mediterranean at least as far back as the 9th century, and pasta merchants prized dried pasta for its durability in the 14th and 15th centuries. However, dried pasta didn’t become commonplace in Italy until the arrival of more advanced extrusion and drying technology during the Industrial Revolution.
When pasta is dried, its moisture content is reduced to around 12% or lower. (Some pasta heads prefer a pasta that has been dried slowly at low temperature, which purportedly preserves its flavor.) Because bacteria and mold require water to thrive, dried pasta will resist just about any kind of microbial spoilage. For comparison, other dried or “low-moisture” foods can contain up to 25% moisture and still remain safe from spoilage for long periods of time at room temperature.
This low moisture percentage translates to a very, very long pasta lifespan. According to the Compendium of the Microbiological Spoilage of Foods and Beverages, “Shelf life of dried pastas is estimated as 2 years with longer periods possible if the pasta is stored in airtight containers.” The authors add that incidences of spoiled pasta “are very rare, an indication why shelf life can be so long as compared to other food products.”
Now, in the rare case that you’re drying your own fresh extruded pasta, Missy Robbins—the chef-owner of Lilia in Brooklyn—recommends in her cookbook Pasta that you store it in the refrigerator for up to three days, which is also true for fresh rolled or hand-cut pasta.
