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Shelf life partly depends on the kind of flour. Whole wheat flour is said to have shorter shelf life due to having higher oil content than refined white flour. You can put flour in sealed containers and refrigerate them to extend the life.
I’ve thrown away rye flour I never used; it was a few years past the Use By date, though.
The white flour and whole wheat flour types I’ve been using the last almost two years have sat in sealed containers, unchilled, for the approx. 6 months that each batch takes to get used. They’ve always cooked and tasted fine. YMMV if you live in a humid or hot climate, though. If your nose is sensitive, give the flour a sniff test before using it.
I’ve also used old all-purpose flour before, of undetermined age. It worked as normal, but if baked into a simple roll and compared with one made from fresh flour, there might be a taste difference.
When I combined households I wound up trying to use some old all purpose flour that was kept in a sealed plastic canister. When I opened it it had an off smell, similar to the smell of pasta that's old. At that point it was somewhere between a year and two years old, I did not use it because I didn't want to risk that smell affecting the taste.
I want to start stockpiling some flour. I want to know how long flour lasts in the pantry in room temperature.
Online advice range from 3 months to a year. I seem to have had flour that sat in my pantry forever and I still used it. What is your experience?
After a year or so, flour has a smell, and should be tossed. Flour should have no smell at all. None. It is not something that would be good to stockpile.
Location: Was Midvalley Oregon; Now Eastside Seattle area
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If the flour has been contaminated with meal worms/moths, the flour can be sifted and saved. We try to use flour within 6 months.
We once had a spell where the brand-named flour was already contaminated when purchased, because we discovered moth silk and pieces of moth in the flour jar.
We didn't salvage the flour. We also threw out any corn meal, pasta, rice, etc and kept an eye for any moths flying about.
I want to start stockpiling some flour. I want to know how long flour lasts in the pantry in room temperature.
Online advice range from 3 months to a year. I seem to have had flour that sat in my pantry forever and I still used it. What is your experience?
Doesn’t it depend on how it’s stored? In the paper package (critter invite, etc) or in say a glas container with a screw top or other sealed lid.
What if you freeze it?
I’m finding that there are more things that can be frozen than I thought! I wish I had a freezer. My fridge freezer is packed - but that helps keep thing cold with less energy. Keep you fridges full folks! It does matter with what, although food is a good choice.
I’ve been dealing with fire ants this summer, and I finally WON! I feel like a vanquishing warrior girl! I keep food waste I’m my fridge so they wouldn’t come sniffing around.
Back to the flour: growing up, flour lasted until it was gone. That was usually a pretty long time. Holiday pies were made - it would be a year old if not more. Pies never suffered.
Why are you stockpiling flour?
Stockpiling panic is going to make the supply chain issue worse.
I keep about 50 pounds of flour on hand. I don't consider it hoarding because my kids and I have multiple food allergies and I make flour tortillas, bread, burger buns, pizza, muffins, pie because we can't use any of the store bought ones anymore. I used to be able to use Dave's bread, but I became allergic to it too. The flour I use doesn't have any barley, I don't know if that affects storage time. I rotate my supply and never keep a bag longer than 6 months. 50 pounds is a three month supply for us, unless I get too sick to cook for a while, and then it lasts a bit longer.
If you decide to freeze it, I suggest wrapping the paper bag in foil to try to keep freezer odors out.
I also have 100 pounds of rice right now. Last year when there was very little food in the stores, I couldn't get enough of anything that we weren't allergic to, so I fed the kids and I went without eating. It wasn't fun. I can only use one kind of rice, so I've been buying an extra 20 lb bag every other month.
I normally freeze my flour for a couple weeks to kill any bugs and then put in the pantry, whole wheat and related I keep in the garage fridge. We go through the flour pretty regularly, so we have had no trouble with it going bad. If we were going to store long term I would transfer to air tight containers.
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It is my understanding that the flour comes with the bugs installed (unborn); they are just something that can't be filtered out at "that age" in the processing. That's why old flour has the bugs, regardless.
Back when I had two apartments, I had lots of flour. Between available money and camp out cooking, I just mindlessly picked it up. Making cookies for the gang, pick up another bag of fresh stuff. Do I have enough, oh what's another bag.
When Operation: WHIRLWIND, the crash move out from the apartments, came about, I was shocked, sort of, to find I had 7-12 bags of flour......and most of that went into dumpster due to the rush.
As it is, I am sort of getting back into that situation......sort of. It's an A, B, and C of things.
A: As a type II, flour isn't that good for me, so I am using it less.
B: Corn meal/flour is better for me but it leans between being an essential but then not using it fast enough but buying it like I use to buy flour because now especially it is something I should not run out of. Ie, corn meal pancakes.
C: I should make more "brownies" (pan cookie) to consume slowly but here's the catch.....the freezers are full!
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