Flour storage

[KathyJ]

Came across a great deal last night - picked up 50 lbs of bread flour and 50 lbs of whole wheat flour for $9.99 each. (.20/lb - really good price for my area) My only problem now is How do I store it????? Does it HAVE to go in the freezer or fridge? I think I will probably give some to friends...But I'll still have to store the bulk of it.

Thanks all!

 

[SizzlininIN]

I googled and found this inf. for you

http://www.ellenskitchen.com/pantry/flourfacts.html

 

[BreezyCooking]

I don't have room in my freezer for even a normal-size bag of flour, although I've heard that that's the best place for it. I used to use an old-fashioned ceramic canister, but regardless of how "moisture proof" they were supposed to be, I still ultimately ended up with moisture &/or bugs.

So, these days I just slip the flour bag into a Ziplock back & keep it in the pantry. No moisture; no bugs.

 

[SizzlininIN]

Thankfully, I've never experienced a problem with bugs in my flour or moisture......knock on wood. I too just put mine in a zip lock baggie.

 

[mudbug]

how much Tupperware do you have?

 

[KathyJ]

mudbug-yeah, no kidding....definitely not enough for 100 lbs of flour.
sizzlininIn-thanks for the link-didn't even think to check online...duh

I did get a suggestion on another board to check out restaurants which led me to thinking about restaurant supply stores. We have quite a few in the area. Found a decent price at Smart N Final - they also have the 50-lb bags of flour - their brand, for $8.69. less than what I paid for my "good" deal. oh well, if I only knew. But now I do. Just not sure on the quality. Hoping they have yeast also. Anyways, I probably will get a few containers there since they are food-grade to store the bread flour in. The whole wheat I'll have to freeze so it doesn't go rancid. My neighbor was going to check to see if they had room in their freezer. I just have the fridge freezer which is always full...

Happy bread baking to me.....

 

[jpmcgrew]

If you throw in a couple of bay leaves it will keep the bugs out, works for corn meal to

 

[Andy M.]

Bugs in flour don't get into the flour in your home. They are in the package from the flour mill in the form of larvae. Under the right conditions, they can hatch and show up in your kitchen container.

If you freeze your flour for three days when you first bring it home, any bug larvae will be killed off and you won't have a problem.

 

[SizzlininIN]

sizzlininIn-thanks for the link-didn't even think to check online...duh quote]

don't worry i do it all the time myself. Plus, by asking you get others opinions and tips too so sometimes I just go ahead and ask vs. googling. Also, others may have wondered about that sometime but never thought to ask and now they know the answer.

 

[licia]

I put my flour in the freezer for a few days also.

 

[Claire]

Bugs in flour is a strongly regional problem. There are places where I've never even heard of it happening. My sister had to keep even her 5# bags of flour in the fridge, or it would be full of weevils, no matter what she stored it in. So try to figure out who lives in your area. I've never seen a bug in flour here (NW IL), and believe it or not, not in HI either, nor VA, nor anywhere out west. BUT when I lived in FL just about any grain not hermetically sealed (and some that were, which means the eggs were in the rice/flour/couscous/etc when purchased) would come up with bugs. I suspect in some places I've lived you could leave the stuff in a loose-weave bag and not get bugs.

 

[Diane1415]

in the frontier days they would use a sieve to remove the bugs and larva before they used the flour. not a very appetizing idea but it apparently works.