Sonotube with old cement premix bags

I think I made a mistake using a couple of old bags of cement for a deck pier footer.

They were a few hard lumps in the bags which I discarded, less than 5% I would say. The bags were over a year old though.

The mix hardened faster than the new bags I used afterwards.

Now when I compare the footers after curing 48 hours, the old cement one is hard, but granular when I scratch the top with a fork. Did not check the side of the footer since it is still in the sonotube and buried, which is how I planned to leave it. I had also armed the footer with rebar. It's 3' feet deep and resting on bedrock.

I'm putting a small deck on this footer with other "good" footers 6' on each side.

My concern is not so much strength (maybe it should be) but freezing. If the cement is granular, could it end up heaving and breaking up in below freezing weather ? Freeze and spall ?

I'm guessing I have to pull it out, just to be safe.

 

Welcome to the forums! Looks like you bet the bank on a $3.97 bag of old questionable concrete
First, deck posts are not buried in concrete. They remain above ground and are supported by the sonotube filled with concrete and an attached post base (Simpson Strongtie, or others) . The concrete must be poured to a depth below or at the frost line for your location to prevent heaving with the constant freeze/thaw cycles.

 

When I referred to "post" in my OP, I meant a pier footer. Sorry for not using the right term. I have edited the OP.