Do Graham Crackers Go Bad? – Full Analysis

Graham crackers are sweet and delicious flavored crackers that are made with graham flour. Not only can this popular pantry item be consumed as a tasty snack, but they can also be included in a variety of recipes.

Do graham crackers go bad? Yes, graham crackers do go bad. An unopened package of graham crackers will last 6 to 9 months in the pantry. Once they are opened, an open sleeve of graham crackers will only last 4-6 weeks. But they will last a long time if you take good care of them and store properly. 

Every time you pull out some graham crackers from their sleeve, be sure to reroll the plastic back down and secure it with a clip. Fresh homemade graham crackers will last up to two weeks, so you must eat them as soon as possible. The best way to store homemade graham crackers is in a plastic or glass jar.

How Long Do Graham Crackers Last?

Graham crackers are not made to last for years and years, but they will last an entire school season. If they’re properly stored in the pantry, a box of graham crackers can last from 6-9 months. 

This time depends on when they were shipped to the store and how long that is on the shelf. When at the grocery store, it is good to check the expiration date on any product you want to buy. You should do this, so you don’t purchase a product that has been sitting on the shelf for months at a time. 

Once you open a pack of graham crackers, you’ll have 4-6 weeks to eat them all. For them to last 6 weeks, be sure to secure their bag and box every time you pull one out to eat. Never let a package of graham crackers sit out on the table for a few hours. Air and moisture are the two biggest reasons why food goes stale before it should.

How Long Do Fresh Graham Crackers Last?

Because there are no preservatives in homemade fresh graham crackers, they won’t last as long as store-bought graham crackers. When you whip up a batch of delicious homemade graham crackers, they will last about two weeks. 

So, after making a big batch, be sure to share with your family and take some to work. You may not be able to eat them all in time if you make a big batch. You cannot freeze fresh graham crackers to extend their shelf life, so do not try. If you try to freeze them, all your hard work will be for nothing because the freezer and the cold will damage the homemade graham crackers’ texture.

How Long Do Graham Crackers Last? Shelf Life [Chart]

Signs that Graham Crackers are Going Bad and Not Safe to Eat

Sticky crackers: No matter what type of graham crackers you eat, they should never be sticky. Even the ones that have a little bit of sugar on top of the cracker should never feel like they stick to your fingers. Graham crackers should always be crumbly and dry.

Flavorless: All graham crackers, even the plain unsalted ones, should have flavor. And crackers are made of flour, sugar, water, seasonings, salt, leavening, iron, and a few other choice ingredients here and there. All these flavors should come out on your taste buds whenever you bite into a cracker.

Too Hard: Graham crackers are known for their crunchiness, but they should never be hard intact like. If you have a graham cracker that you must use your jaw muscles to chew, it has gone bad. 

Every graham cracker you eat should be crunchy, not hard. If you press your fingernail down onto a graham cracker, it should crack and break. But if you must put some elbow grease into splitting it in half: the graham cracker has expired and no longer has any moisture in it. Even though they’re hard and crumbly, graham crackers have a little bit of moisture. But a hard graham cracker has none.

Small chunks are missing: Graham crackers are crumbly and fall apart from time to time. But they should always have their rectangular shape. If you open a package of graham crackers and you see that there’s a lot of little nicks and pieces missing, we want to throw them away and wash your hands.

The plastic bag has holes: The plastic packaging around individual graham crackers must be free of holes and should not have any rips or tears. If you see small holes in the plastic packaging, throw your graham crackers away. Small holes are a sign that bugs have chewed their way through the thin plastic and have been eating your graham crackers.

How to Store Graham Crackers

Storing graham crackers so they last for a long time is easy to do. When you bring them home from the grocery store, just place them in your pantry or your cupboard. That’s pretty much all you need to do until you finally open them. 

Once you open the package of graham crackers inside the box, now you must do a bit of prep work, but it still won’t be very much. After taking out the number of graham crackers you want, roll back the unused plastic and place a chip clip or a piece of tape on it to secure it and prevent the plastic from unrolling. 

Then place the package or bag of graham crackers back inside the box and secure the tabs at the top. Then we place the graham cracker box where it originally was.

You can also preserve graham crackers after you open them by placing them in a Ziploc bag. Ziploc bags have a seal that prevents air and moisture from entering the inside. If you do not have a clip or a piece of tape available, then the Ziploc bag is the next best choice. 

Homemade Graham Crackers

When you store fresh graham crackers, do not put them in the refrigerator. It is better if you place them in a plastic or glass jar. So, before you make your first graham crackers, be sure you have a jar with a wide enough mouth so you can easily slide them in after cutting them. You don’t want to make a batch of graham crackers that are too large to go into the jar.

Conclusion

• A package of graham crackers can sit in storage and on the grocery shelf for 6-9 months.
• After the package it’s open, it will last 4-6 weeks.
• Fresh homemade graham crackers last two weeks at most.
• Do not freeze fresh graham crackers because the cold will ruin their texture.
• If a graham cracker is sticky, then it is bad, and it must be thrown away.
• Graham crackers should never be so hard that you must struggle to chew them.
• If the plastic around a couple of graham crackers has holes in it, that is a sign bugs could have been eating them.