Couple questions about making a starter

I plan on brewing an extract hef with the wyeast 3068. I have some old DME (back from December) that has been closed, not sealed, in a box in the pantry. I'm assuming this is too old to use as a starter but was hoping someone could confirm.

If it is too old then I'll have to use the DME that comes with the recipe, so I guess I would have to add the entire starter to my wort vs. decanting it, correct? If I decanted it my understanding is that it would have less extract in the batch and would probably end up with a lower SG.

If the DME is still powdery, it'll be fine. Only time I ever had to toss DME was once when I hadn't brewed in a looooonnnnnnggggg time (>1 yr), I grabbed my bag of extract (maybe 1/2 lb) and it had the density and consistency of a big pencil eraser.

It'll almost certainly be fine.

As long as the old DME isnt clumped up and tastes sweet I'd go for it with it. Don't see why it would be affected, infection would be a concern but it's getting boiled anyway.

Awesome, thanks. The old DME seems to be the same consistency as the DME I just purchased.

I've used 10 year old DME before now. It is just sugar. Sugar will last for years. Even if it becomes a block (mine was still powdery in sealed pack) it will be fine. The concentration of sugar is too high for any contaminants to thrive on it.

Like honey, there might be some contaminants on the surface, but they don't thrive and heating will kill them.