Does flour go bad?

Question

I am making a bread and the recipe calls for all-purpose white flour. I used the one I had in my house which said best if sold by January 2006. It is now a couple months away from January 2007. I havn't baked the bread yet (because its rising) but will the year old flour pose any health threats

Answer 1

Hi there!! Your flour should be fine. I would just sift it before use. As long as it looks and smells fine, it should be alright. It's usually good for up to a year. I would try and use it up in the next month or so or replace it. I have included a website with tips for storing your flour. Take care and happy baking!!

Answer 2

Does Flour Go Bad

Answer 3

1

Answer 4

Yes.
Whole wheat flour will go rancid faster than white flour because the germ (the part that would become the plant) contains oil. white flour is stripped of the bran and germ but does still have a small amount of fat. Your year old flour won't pose any health threats but might not taste as nice. Take a pinch of flour from the bag and taste it. If it still tastes fresh (and not stale like old crackers) then it will produce a good product. If it tastes stale throw it away. Rancidity and mealy bugs can be prevented by storing in the freezer if you don't use flour that often.
happy baking!

Answer 5

The all puposeness will be gone a little. The rising agents in the flour will be less effective, but since you are using yeast that doesn't really matter.

Also flour beetles can be present (little dark brown things about 4 mm long). If they aren't in your flour then you should be okay.

To store flour keep it in an airtight jar in a dark place, and keep leftover flour in the freezer to save it.

Answer 6

the most common things that make flour go off are moulds, you won't see anything but you would smell a musty kind of smell and they can be infested with little black bugs which look like someone has ground pepper into the flour and if you look closely enough they move. I have (when desperate) sifted the bugs out using a sieve and two years later I and my fellow eating guests are still alive to tell the tale!

Answer 7

Flour does not go bad as long as it has been kept dry. Only thing that seems to happen when kept for long periods of time is some little bugs my Grandmother called "Meal Bugs". The bugs are almost anywhere you find grain. I would not worry in your case. If you had the "meal bugs" you would have seen them when you sifted your flour for the bread.

Answer 8

You should be fine. If you don;t bake much, you might want to do what I do: keep that stuff in the freezer.

I don;t think flour is the kind of food that will be bad without looking or smelling bad.

Answer 9

I have used flour that is two years old and have the same results as a new bag.

Answer 10

flour does deteriorate - but not usually as quickly as the use by dates indicates. You can tell by look and feel (and whether there are any wiggly bits) whether the flour is past best. If it is self raising, the raising agents will die quicker than the flour itself.