Shelf life of Cake flour

[vilasman]

I got about 4 or 5 boxes of Swans Down cake flour about a year ago. It was on closeout sale becaue it was reaching it's expire date. I put it in the freezer and it's stayed there ever since until we moved. Now half of it's in the freezer and half isn't. Is any of it any good?

 

[Andy M.]

I'd expect all of it to be good.

 

[KAYLINDA]

Does flour ever go "bad"? Just wondering...mine never lasts long enough to know.

 

[Andy M.]

I believe it has a very long shelf-life. Whether it lasts 'forever' is another story. As far as I know, only honey lasts 'forever'.

 

[PA Baker]

The bags of flour I buy (usually King Arthur) do have "best when used by" dates on them. I know that whole wheat flour shelf lives are shorter than white. I've never had any around long enough to see what happens if you use it well past the recommended date. I also don't freeze my flour so I'm not sure if that preserves it longer or not.

 

[Andy M.]

PABaker:

Good point, my answer was for cake flour per the original question. Whole grain flours will not last as long because they can go rancid.

Freezing flour for more than 72 hours serves to ensure you won't have any little critters popping up in the bag. It will also extend the life of whole grain flours.

 

[PA Baker]

I just checked my box of SoftaSilk cake flour and it does have a "use by" date on it of Jan. '06. I probably bought it about a year ago (haven't baked as many cakes as I'd like lately!) so it seems to have a relatively lengthy shelf life.

 

[mom2girls]

It is a great idea to store your flour in the freezer. My thought is that if if is kept on the shelf that those nasty little bugs could get it.. YUK. I buy huge bags of flour but I go threw it so fast that I do not freeze it. mom2girls

 

[kleenex]

http://www.siemermilling.com/Services/SiemerTalk/siemertalk.html

will this link help???

 

[marmalady]

It won't go 'bad', but as it gets older, it gets drier; this is true of any white flour.

 

[GB]

I just watched Alton Brown's Good Eats episode about making bread last night. He mentioned that certain flours (Whole Wheat I think was one of them) contain a lot of the germ which contains fat. Since it contains fat, it can go rancid. I don't personally know anything about flours. I am just spouting what I heard Alton say LOL.

 

[vilasman]

I learned the freeze flour trick from my mom, who was a school cafeteria manager.