BUCKHORN CLIFFSA preparedness field manual

Food · Supply

Peanut Butter

How long peanut butter keeps sealed and opened, stabilized against natural, powdered peanut butter for the decades store, how to store and check it, and the calories it brings.

2-3 YR170 CAL/OZPOWDERED KEEPSWorks without power

Quick facts

  • Real shelf life2 to 3 years sealed, cool
  • Label date says6 to 9 months past best-by
  • Opened2 to 3 months at full quality; refrigerate natural
  • Watch forA rancid, sharp smell; oil that has gone dark and bitter

Where this sits on the food shopping list

Peanut butter is the shelf-stable fat and protein in a jar: about 170 calories an ounce, 7 grams of protein, no cooking, no fridge, and 2 to 3 years sealed in a cool cupboard against a label of 6 to 9 months. It's in the bag as packets and in the store by the case, and it's the thing a child who will not eat anything else will eat.

Which to buy

Stabilized peanut butter (the kind that does not separate) keeps longest and is the one for the store; natural peanut butter with the oil on top is fresher tasting and keeps months, not years, once the seal is broken. Single-serve packets for the bag. Powdered peanut butter, which is defatted peanut flour, keeps 1 to 2 years opened and for years sealed, mixes with water or oil, and is the version for the deep pantry. Buy the big jars on sale and date the lids.

How long it really lasts

By how it is kept

FormLabel saysReal, stored well
Stabilized peanut butter, sealed6 to 24 months2 to 3 years cool and dark
Stabilized, opened, pantry2 to 3 months at full quality; still fine for months after if it smells clean
Natural peanut butter, sealedAbout a year
Natural, opened2 to 3 months refrigerated
Powdered peanut butter, sealed1 to 2 yearsYears cool and dry; a year or so opened
Peanut butter packetsAbout a year; rotate each spring
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

A cool, dark cupboard, sealed; heat is what turns the oil. The fridge extends an opened jar of natural peanut butter and stiffens a stabilized one, which is a trade some people make in summer. Jars are not a Mylar item; the jar is the barrier. Keep the knife clean; crumbs in the jar are where mold starts in the rare case it does.

How to tell it has turned

Smell it: rancid peanut butter is sharp, bitter, and smells like old paint or crayons, and tastes the same. A layer of oil on natural peanut butter is normal and stirs back in; oil that has gone dark and smells sharp is rancid. A hard, dry, dark jar is old and still safe if it smells clean. Mold is rare and means the jar goes.

Keep it

Separated oil that stirs back in, a stiff dry jar past the date that smells of peanuts.

Discard on sight

A sharp, bitter or paint-like smell, dark bitter oil, or mold.

How much, and how to use it

Two tablespoons is about 190 calories and 7 grams of protein; a 40 ounce jar is about 6,800 calories, more than three days of food for one person on its own. On crackers, on the skillet bread, stirred into oatmeal, thinned with soy sauce and hot water into a sauce for rice and noodles, or eaten from a spoon on a cold day. Powdered peanut butter: two tablespoons of powder to one of water, or a spoon straight into oatmeal and smoothies.

When the power goes out

No cooking, no fridge, no water. One of the first foods in an outage and a good last one; an opened jar in a warm house is fine for weeks.

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 peanut butter last?

Two to three years sealed in a cool cupboard against a label of 6 to 9 months past the best-by; opened, 2 to 3 months at full quality and fine for months after if it smells clean. Natural peanut butter about a year sealed and 2 to 3 months opened in the fridge. Powdered keeps for years sealed.

How do I store peanut butter long term?

Sealed jars of stabilized peanut butter in a cool, dark cupboard, dated and rotated; powdered peanut butter for the deep pantry. Heat turns the oil.

How do I tell if peanut butter has gone bad?

A sharp, bitter, paint-like smell and taste is rancid. Oil on top of natural peanut butter is normal; dark bitter oil is not. Mold means the jar goes.

Keep going

Read nextButter and MargarineHow long butter and margarine keep in the fridge and freezer, which to stock, canned butter and ghee for the pantry, how to tell they have turned, and what to do in an outage.Food · Supply

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