Friday, March 7, 2008
flour 101: storing flour
As someone who has had to (shudder) throw away more than her share of flours, trust me when I say that flours are best stored in cool places, away from moisture and in a tightly sealed container. If you use flour infrequently, you can keep it in the freezer, but do let it come to room temperature prior to using it, particularly when using recipes that require yeast. Due to a slightly higher fat content, wholemeal flours don’t keep as long as white flours. Some flours lose their effectiveness as they get older, so it is good to pay mind to their expiration dates.
Ohhh yes. Shudder indeed. I recently learned this lesson the hard way, flours are definitely best kept air tight. same with cornmeal. in fact especially cornmeal :(
I have thrown away three cornmeals, ugh. Now I keep it exclusively in the freezer.