Useful tips to keep flour for longer, and without the risk of moths appearing
Flour is one of those ingredients that is never lacking in anyone's pantry, and depending on habits or cultures, the types of cereals or grains from which it is made, are numerous. Even those most used in the world - wheat, corn or rice flours, - can come in different variants depending on how refined they have been milled.
All over the world, however, there comes a time when you have to defend your flour supply from the risk spoiling or, more often, from becoming the nest for many moths in the pantry. In fact, even if flour itself is a food that can be kept for a very long time, there may be circumstances that make usable before the bag has been used up. Read on to find out how to best preserve flour:
There are three remedies to consider, depending on the use that you will make of the flour and the time for which you want to keep your flour safe and secure.
- The first thing you are always advised to do is to remove the flour from its paper package and transfer it to airtight containers. These are almost always glass jars (often with cork lids), but they can also be plastic ones for food or tin ones - just as long as the lids prevent insects from entering, and do not allow humidity to ruin the flour. Not only will the pantry be more beautiful to look at, but unpleasant surprises and wasted money will be avoided.
- In the fridge. If you use flour very often, you can put it in the refrigerator, as there is no risk that it will stay around unnecessarily occupying space for months. Also in this case, you still need to use perfectly airtight containers, but airtight bags (zip lock) will also be fine (as long as you consume the flour quickly).
- In the freezer. The same goes for the containers, with the additional precaution of getting all the air out of the bags. If you use these, therefore, it is better to avoid nasty surprises and vacuum seal them.
How long can you keep the flour in the cold? In the fridge, white flour can last up to a year, and the wholemeal for six months. As for the freezer, white flour will be safe for up to two years, while wholemeal flour will be fine for up to one year. Pay attention to special flours, which generally tend to expire much earlier than wheat flour.
What should you do when taking out flour stored in the fridge or freezer? You need to let it return to room temperature by itself, naturally. And when you use a flour that was frozen, you will need to use it all, since it cannot be (safely) frozen again.
Have you used any of these methods before?
