BUCKHORN CLIFFSA preparedness field manual

Food · Supply

Corn Syrup

Why corn syrup keeps indefinitely, light against dark, how to store it, how to tell it has turned, and what it does in a food store that plain sugar cannot: candy, glazes, preserving, and keeping baked goods moist.

INDEFINITECANDY + GLAZECALORIESWorks without power

Quick facts

  • Real shelf lifeIndefinite
  • Label date says2 to 3 years
  • Best storageSealed, cool, dark; the pantry, not the fridge
  • Watch forMold at the cap, fermentation; darkening and crystals are normal

Where this sits on the food shopping list

Corn syrup is glucose in water, so concentrated that nothing can grow in it, which puts it on the field guide's Indefinite 15. It darkens a little with age and otherwise waits. In a food store it does a few things sugar cannot: it keeps candy and syrups from crystallizing, keeps baked goods and granola moist, makes a glaze, and it's pure quick calories, about 60 a tablespoon, in a bottle that never goes off.

Which to buy

Light corn syrup for candy, glazes and general use; dark corn syrup, which has molasses and a caramel flavor, for baking and barbecue sauce. The supermarket bottle, not high-fructose corn syrup, which is a different industrial product. Buy a bottle or two; it's a helper, not a staple, and a 32 ounce bottle lasts a family a year of normal use.

How long it really lasts

By how it is kept

FormLabel saysReal, stored well
Light or dark corn syrup, sealed2 to 3 yearsIndefinite, cool and dark
Opened, cap tight, pantryIndefinite; it may darken and crystallize
The Preparedness Food Shopping List (PDF), a one page printable PDF

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What to store, how much of it for one person for one month, and how long it keeps. One page with checkboxes, built from the Survival Foods field guide. Print it, multiply by your people and months, and take it to the store.

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How to store it

Cool and dark with the cap tight; the pantry, not the fridge, where it thickens to a crawl. Wipe the neck and cap after pouring, since a crusted cap is where the rare mold starts. A bottle can sit a decade.

How to tell it has turned

It does not spoil. Darkening is age; crystals that form at the neck or bottom dissolve in warm water. The only end for a bottle is mold at the cap, which means it was left open and dirty, or a sour, fermented smell and bubbles, which means water got in. Both are rare.

Keep it

A darker bottle, crystals at the neck, a bottle years past its date.

Discard on sight

Mold at the cap, or a sour fermented smell with bubbles.

How much, and how to use it

The Indefinite 15 list below is the field guide's: dessert sweetener, glaze, candy making, ice cream topping, and the moisture retainer in baking. The two that matter in a food store are candy and preserving: hard candy from sugar, corn syrup and water keeps for years and is the morale in the bag, and a spoon of corn syrup in a jam or fruit syrup stops it from going grainy. A tablespoon is 60 quick calories for someone who cannot eat. It also replaces honey in a recipe one for one when the honey is gone.

What else it does

  • Dessert sweetener
  • Baked-good glaze
  • Candy making
  • Ice-cream topping
  • Moisture retainer

Shelf-life figures are from the Survival Foods field guide; fridge, freezer and pantry times are from the USDA cold and pantry storage charts. Run the look, smell, taste check before eating anything past its date.

Questions this answers

Tap a question for the short answer.

How long does corn syrup last?

Indefinitely, sealed or opened, against a label of 2 to 3 years. It darkens and may crystallize, and neither is spoilage.

How do I store corn syrup long term?

Cap tight in a cool, dark pantry, not the fridge. Wipe the cap after pouring.

How do I tell if corn syrup has gone bad?

Mold at the cap, or a sour fermented smell with bubbles, both rare. Darkening and crystals are normal age.

Keep going

Read nextMaple SyrupHow long pure maple syrup keeps sealed and opened, why it needs the fridge once open and pancake syrup does not, what to do about mold, how to store it, and the jobs it does beyond pancakes.Food · Supply

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