Out of date flour?

sleepymy

How long is too long?

I have about 4 bags of opened flour, one was out of date last June they're mostly GF and look fine, no damp, clumping, or crawly things (thank god _pale_). The tops of the bags were just folded over and they weren't kept in tubs ect

thriftlady_2

They'll be fine;) maybe a bit stale but not dangerous. flour has a 'best before' rather than a 'use by' date.

Swan_2

agree with thriftlady, it'll be fine

I've got a cupboard full even older than that & I'm still using it up, just don't tell the family

non_believer_2

Be careful - I went to use some flour last week that I had bought last spring, so use by date was probably last autumn (I had it in a tupperware and I had thrown out the original packet so I don't know for sure) and it looked a little dark in colour so when I opened the box to check it, I literally choked on the dust...it was absolutely toxic!

thriftlady_2

non_believer wrote: »

Be careful - I went to use some flour last week that I had bought last spring, so use by date was probably last autumn (I had it in a tupperware and I had thrown out the original packet so I don't know for sure) and it looked a little dark in colour so when I opened the box to check it, I literally choked on the dust...it was absolutely toxic!

I stand corrected sounds like it'll be pretty obvious if it's off.

Butterfly_Brain

I have used out of date flour before and it has done me and mine no harm and I haven't noticed anything nasty in it! It's common sense really with all stuff that has a best before date, we never had best before dates in the 60's and 70's and everyone survived

Swan_2

I've only ever had problems with flour once, & I lived for 20-odd years in an ancient isolated farmhouse where I had to get all of my supplies by the sack, & I never had any trouble

anyway, it was when I moved from there & was living in a modern recently built flat, & I found everything in my cupboards was crawling with those tiny mites, I'd never, ever, seen them before, it was absolutely horrible, there weren't just a few, the place was heaving with them _pale_

wendyphant

I often have my flour go out of date but go ahead and use it just check for weavles

JoolzS

The only thing I try not to use out of date flour for is bread. I'm not totally sure why, but I think it might have something to do with the gluten breaking down over time. This, however, could be something I've just completely made up in my own head .

I do know that out of date flour mixed with out of date yeast definitely does not equal bread in any edible form.

Julie

Swan_2

JoolzS wrote: »

The only thing I try not to use out of date flour for is bread. I'm not totally sure why, but I think it might have something to do with the gluten breaking down over time. This, however, could be something I've just completely made up in my own head .

I do know that out of date flour mixed with out of date yeast definitely does not equal bread in any edible form.

Julie

I've never had any problems with using 'old' flour for bread (or anything else, provided there are no weevils)
I used to have to get through a 56lb sack, & the last loaves were every bit as good as the first, but it was good flour to start with which might have helped, Dove's Farm Organic Wholemeal

I do agree about the yeast though, it does lose its potency over time, although I've frozen dried yeast, then defrosted & used it successfully

thenanny2die4

Resurrecting an old post rather than starting a new one unnecessarily...

Okay, so it's not quite flour, but I've just hauled a pack of organic wholemeal bread mix out of the back of the cupboard. It has a B/B date of April 08 .

I'm not inclined to even try making a loaf or rolls (although I suppose it will cost nothing to try - I don't have a breadmaker so it's just a bit of time) but I was wondering about pizza bases??? I've never made them before and I don't actually want to eat pizza tonight so if I made them today, I'd want to freeze them. How do I do this? do I freeze the risen dough (if it does) or do I cook them then freeze and add toppings later?

Rolls would actually make more sense in this house. Do you think it's worth trying or shall I just lob it out?