Does Vegetable Broth Go Bad?

Vegetable broth is a great reliable source to make your soups, gravies, and other food delicacies in no time. The vegetable broth is made by boiling different vegetables like celery, carrot, onion, leek, garlic, ginger, etc. The vegetable broth goes bad like any other food item.

The vegetable broth needs to be stored properly to increase the shelf life of it. You can all sort out information regarding its storage and shelf life in the article.

How to store your vegetable broth?

If you have a good stock of vegetable broth in your pantry, you will never have to think much about making soups, gravies, casseroles, and pot pies. The stored vegetable broth makes your work easy and reduces your time. But the question that comes to your mind is what you will do to keep your vegetable broth for a long time?

Well, you do not have to be worried, as we are here to help you and answer your queries. The following methodologies will help you secure your vegetable broth for a long time.

Keep it away from warm places

When you have got your stock of vegetable broth, you will have to make sure that it does not stay in warm places for a long time. The increased temperature plays a vital role in the mold and bacterial growth. If it is kept for long in warm areas, it may g bad before its expiry date even if it is not opened.

You also need to keep it away from sunlight as sunlight also transfers heat energy to spoil your vegetable broth.

Place it on a dry surface

It would be best if you place your vegetable broth carton on a  dry surface. The vegetable broth cartons are made up of cardboard. Keeping them on a wet surface will make them puffy, and eventually, the box starts to deteriorate. There can also be molding outside the box that might grow in the anterior surface, leading to the vegetable broth’s rancidity.

So as a preventive measure, you should place your vegetable broth in a cool and dry place. Your pantry is the best place in this regard; you can store your sealed cartons of vegetable broth in the pantry.

Refrigerate your vegetable broth

Once your vegetable broth is opened, you should avoid placing it on the shelf for long. It could develop rancidity in it. You need to keep it in the refrigerator to preserve its life. The vegetable broth is a delicate food item and can spoil with small mistakes.

If you feel like your broth carton is a bit messy and want to save the broth, you can use a plastic container. You can shift the broth to a box and place the lid over it or seal it with a plastic film.

Can you freeze your vegetable broth?

You should never hesitate about freezing anything when you have to increase its shelf life. Your freezer stops the aging process of your food items; hence they do not go bad soon. You can do the same with your vegetable broth.

You can freeze the vegetable broth by placing them in zip lock bags or plastic containers. But this might take a lot of space in your freezer if you have a huge stock of vegetable stock. The best alternative way is to reduce your vegetable stock on heat and transfer them into ice cube trays. You can then use the concentrated broth cubes up to your requirement by adding sufficient water to them.

How long does vegetable broth last?

Everything has a limited lifetime. Likewise, the vegetable broth does not last an eternity. There is a pre-written expiry date on your broth’s carton. You will have to consume your broth before the expiry date.

Your vegetable broth will last for up to 3-4 months in your pantry when sealed. You will have to consume it in 5 days once it is opened.  It may spoil in 1-2 days if it is not refrigerated. You can keep the frozen vegetable stock for one and a half years in the freezer.

How to tell if the vegetable broth is bad?

You might not be happy seeing your spoiled vegetable broth. How will you identify that the vegetable broth is bad? The following points will help you in indicating the bad vegetable broth.

• There will be an off odor coming off the vegetable broth. You can sense it soon after you open the box of broth
• There might also be fizzy bubbles due to the fermentation that occurred in your vegetable broth.
• You may find molds outside the surface of your vegetable broth’s carton, but it is still not an affirmative sign of bad vegetable broth.
• You might notice discoloration in the broth. The vegetable broth will lose its darker color and become light.
• There will be lumps of bacterial growth in the vegetable broth.

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