Does flour go off?

[Mike4]

I've always imagined flour to be one of those foodstuffs that store indefinitely, but on rooting through my cupboards I'm somewhat surprised to find I have three 1.5kg packets of strong flour (bread flour) with 'Best Before" dates long ago! The dates are June and September 2021, and March 2022.

So my question is, does flour genuinely degrade in storage or are the manufacturers just pandering to consumer expectation (or possibly regulations) that a 'best before' date is marked on the packs?

Will I kill myself if I make bread from the June 2021-expiring flour?

Muchly thanks.

Moderator Message:
Moved from DAK, leaving a link, because it's morphed into a discussion. - Chris

[Dod101]

I've always imagined flour to be one of those foodstuffs that store indefinitely, but on rooting through my cupboards I'm somewhat surprised to find I have three 1.5kg packets of strong flour (bread flour) with 'Best Before" dates long ago! The dates are June and September 2021, and March 2022.

So my question is, does flour genuinely degrade in storage or are the manufacturers just pandering to consumer expectation (or possibly regulations) that a 'best before' date is marked on the packs?

Will I kill myself if I make bread from the June 2021-expiring flour?

Muchly thanks.

I am sure someone will be able to tell us but I would imagine that it will at the very least 'dry out' and taste rather stale. I cannot imagine it going 'off' in the sense of being poisonous or something. Does flour attract weevils?

Dod

[Lanark]

Most flour will be OK a few months after expiry, over 6 months past and I would chuck it, it gradually loses strength and if you leave it long enough you are almost guaranteed to get an infestation of Flour mites.
https://www.pestdefence.co.uk/news/how- ... d-weevils/

[UncleEbenezer]

If it looks OK I'd use it. When I saw your dates I had to double-check it was only last year you were asking about.

Possible hazards are if critters get in. Or perhaps if it gets damp. But that'll be obvious enough.

[CliffEdge]

It's horrible when you see them crawling about, my daughter ran screaming from the kitchen

[mike]

Will I kill myself if I make bread from the June 2021-expiring flour?

I'm using some June 2021 at the moment with no (visible !) problems. Doves Farm strong wholemeal, Panasonic SD2511, rather generous with the yeast and add an egg to the mixture. But yes, it gives a good loaf.

I am rather surprised it is working as well as it is as I understood the gluten got weaker with age.

But I did think the rule for flour used for baking was that you can use it unless it moves !

[GrahamPlatt]

Reminds me of an episode of Dr Finlay’s Casebook I watched when I were a lad. Concerned the affliction known as St Anthony’s Fire - Ergotism. A mold which grows on the grains of rye & barley and produces a toxic alkaloid (called ergot) which causes vasoconstriction & gangrene, or affects the nervous system causing convulsions. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ergotism

Don’t think it grows in dry, milled wheat flour though.

Anyway, given those dates, I’d say that if it looks and smells OK, use it.

[Hallucigenia]

So my question is, does flour genuinely degrade in storage or are the manufacturers just pandering to consumer expectation (or possibly regulations) that a 'best before' date is marked on the packs?

Will I kill myself if I make bread from the June 2021-expiring flour?

You won't kill yourself, it'll be fine, but flour does stale eventually if you leave it maybe 5 years, it just doesn't taste very nice. If it smells OK, you'll be fine.

Ergot doesn't grow in flour, it's a disease of living plants (mostly rye) but it's evolved to make fruiting bodies that are just the same size as cereal grains so historically they would slip through the threshing process with the grain. There's very strict limits on it in modern agriculture though, so don't worry about it being in your daily Hovis.

[gryffron]

Personally, I find its quality for breadmaking degrades quite rapidly. Something to do with gluten I expect. May depend how you've stored it. But it certainly won't hurt you, so try it.

Flour mites can be killed by putting the flour in the freezer overnight. Bit of extra protein

Gryff

[ReformedCharacter]

Ergot doesn't grow in flour, it's a disease of living plants (mostly rye) but it's evolved to make fruiting bodies that are just the same size as cereal grains so historically they would slip through the threshing process with the grain. There's very strict limits on it in modern agriculture though, so don't worry about it being in your daily Hovis.

And possibly the origins of the tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin.

RC

[6Tricia]

I keep my bread flour in the fridge, usually two 1.5kg packets as I bake a sourdough loaf every 10 days or so. If the flour is out of date or nearly so, add 10g of Vital Wheat Gluten (Holland and Barratt) which improves the protein content (490g flour 10g VWG well mixed in). I keep the VWG in the fridge too.

Unless you buy very expensive bread flour - usually Canadian which has 14%+ protein - the UK protein is only 11.7% so I often add VWG to my in date flour for a better rise to my sourdough loaf.

Tricia

[Hallucigenia]

Unless you buy very expensive bread flour

That depends - the Sainsburys bog-standard stuff is 13.4% protein at 70p/kg (and also have the TtD Canadian at 14.8% but £1.10/kg if you really want it for slow rises).

Bread flour is one of those fascinating things for showing the different mentalities of supermarkets - Sainsbury's and Waitrose treat it as a "basic" and price accordingly, whereas Tesco think making your own bread is a "luxury" and so try to price crap (well, <11% protein) flour at silly prices.

[marronier]

If you can't see any flour weevils it will be safe to use but of lower quality. Flour is better when fresh.

[pje16]

you will need very good eyes to see them
they are almost invisible to the naked eye

[Arborbridge]

I've always imagined flour to be one of those foodstuffs that store indefinitely, but on rooting through my cupboards I'm somewhat surprised to find I have three 1.5kg packets of strong flour (bread flour) with 'Best Before" dates long ago! The dates are June and September 2021, and March 2022.

So my question is, does flour genuinely degrade in storage or are the manufacturers just pandering to consumer expectation (or possibly regulations) that a 'best before' date is marked on the packs?

Will I kill myself if I make bread from the June 2021-expiring flour?

Muchly thanks.

It will almost certainly get weevils in it - but I'm told they don't eat much!

I doubt it can seriously harm you, but you may not "fancy" it.

[Mike4]

Thanks everyone, I elected not to use the out of date stuff, and I'll be far more careful with stock management in the future!

[UncleEbenezer]

you will need very good eyes to see them
they are almost invisible to the naked eye

Should be easy to see in flour.

It's when you get them in something offering natural camouflage - like muesli - you'd be unlikely to spot traces of them unless you look pretty hard.

If you travel to parts of the world with less industrialised foods and storage, you may be eating them fairly regularly.

[csearle]

Thanks everyone, I elected not to use the out of date stuff, and I'll be far more careful with stock management in the future!

Disappointed Mike. I was hoping for something like: perfect loaf ignore use-by dates. C.

[Midsmartin]

What mostly goes off in old food is fats oxidising. Flour will probably last for years.

I have just eaten a pack of tortilla wraps a year past their use by date, which were absolutely fine. Must have been irradiated or something in the factory!

[johnstevens77]

When I was chef instructor on the Hilton Cruise ships on the Nile,(1982), the flour was stored in wooden boxes on deck and was always full of weavils. The on board bakers just sifted the weavils out and used it as normal. I must say that some of the lightest and nicest croissants and danish pastries I have seen were those produced on board. However, at home in UK now, I don't buy self raising flour anymore, that used to go off after about 3 months from opening so I now make self raising flour as and when needed. 45grs baking powder plus a pinch of salt per KG regular flour.

john