Food - Drink
What You Should Consider Before Buying Mustard Close To Its Expiration
By RYAN CASHMAN
While buying mustard farther out from its expiration date may seem like a no-brainer, there is a scientific reason behind it — and the reason has to do with mustard's main ingredient: mustard seeds. Serious Eats recommends purchasing your mustard with "expiration dates over six months from the day you buy them."
Mustard seeds are designed by nature to be pungent, and they contain specific enzymes that create volatile and nonvolatile mustard oil when crushed and combined with water. Yellow mustard seeds produce nonvolatile oil and therefore tend to be milder than brown or black seeds, which make the volatile oil.
Adding hot or cold water, aromatic herbs, or vinegar will determine the level of heat in your mustard and stabilize the acidic reaction to create a more balanced flavor. Hence, buying your mustard over six months from its expiration date will help ensure that you're buying hot, flavorful mustard.