Food Storage: The Actual Shelf-Life of White Flour
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- čas přidán 19. 06. 2024
- White flour is a great basic dry good that is a wonderful addition to your home food storage plan. The problem is that white flour has a shorter shelf life than other basic staples like white rice, dry beans, rolled oats, and wheat berries.
In this video, we bake bread out of flour that is 28 years old, 19 years old, and fresh white flour. The bread mixer that I use is a Bosch Universal Mixer and I seriously LOVE it! You can find it here shrsl.com/3c4zv. I'm not a fan of the blender attachment but the food processor attachment works great.
Learn more about this experiment at TheProvidentPrepper.org.
Food Storage: The Actual Shelf-Life of White Flour
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Love your show. Caution to viewers: When you find a product with mold after opening, gently escort it outside and don't stir it into the air. The mold spores easily go airborne, and it will really stink to cross contaminate your 'clean' flour with spores from the vintage mold that would love to find a new home.... or pollute your work area.
TO ALL CONTENT MAKERS
Please use actual DATES not words like Yesterday, Lastyear, ect.
not 1994, 2003, and yesterday.
They should use, 1994,2003,&2022
THANK YOU!!!
No expert but a BS in microbiology. Mold spores are prolific in the air, wouldn't stress about a couple old colonies of pennicilium. That first old can had some moisture in it.
I like when Jonny says it's not as good but if I had to I would eat it... Absolute honest survival mentality
I came here in with a question...
...And now I have 28 (years of) answers!!
Thank you for the video.
And greets from Brazil.
So I already commented that this was a great video, but I wanted to add another regarding some KA AP flour from 4/2011 that I just used from my freezer. It was still in original packaging and I sealed it in a freezer bag (most of the air removed). Used it yesterday. I got same smell, texture, and baking texture as a new bag of flour. Was excited with the results.
I’m sure the older flour doesn’t preform the same, but I’m also sure that if it was all you had, everyone would be very happy with it.
Your family is absolutely blessed. I love seeing good people.
Ohhh ... thanks. You are so kind! We are very blessed.
I'd like to see you do the same test but from wheat berries.. That would be the real test.
The old flour could be used to make play dough or Christmas ornaments great for the grandkids to paint for a tree even if for outside tree. A wreath made of dough for the a back or side door. Can be used for modeling clay. Works for making a glue and paper mache.
I have used "old" flour by watering down my buggy pepper plants and sprinkling with a screen all over the plants to kill bugs. At least it's natural.
Just #NOT the moldy one.
If you prep and deep store continuously, then when a lot of flour hits a set age , say 20 years, bake it into hard tack and seal it up...it could be used later as part of " iron rations" for specific uses and needs. Hard tack has been known to keep for very long periods.
What is hard tack?
@@nude_cat_ellie7417 Flour, water, a touch of salt if you have it.
Bake until dry, let cool, bake again
@@nude_cat_ellie7417 - It is a simple biscuit or cracker.
For sure can be used for making play dough😊 I wouldn't throw it out
@@nude_cat_ellie7417 it was a very common food in the old west days. Pioneers and cowboys often had it carried it with them because it lasts a very long time. Because of how hard it is, it was often dipped in their coffee. It’s a great prep for long term storage.
FYI when I was in USMC out in the field if we got M&M in the MRE it was a welcome treat. About 2010 I put up a 5 Gallon bucket of M&Ms in a mylar bag and Oxygen Absorbers food grade bucket 2021 I open the bucket and they tasted Great my 82 yr old mother filled two Glad bags full and eats them! so I put up Another 5 Gallon bucket and it cost me About twice $$$ this time
Something to keep in mind when you make a one-to-one comparison with flour of different brands and from different years (let alone types of flour) the flour itself and the end product will likely be of different quality because the quality of the flour depends on where the grain was grown, the growing conditions (i.e. moisture and sun exposure) it experienced plus how it was processed (for what purpose.) The flour you purchased was bread flour and the cans only stated "white" flour.
Nonetheless, I highly appreciate how you examined the quality of the canned flour!
I'm with your hubby: might not be as crazy about the taste but if it was all I had ...
You know, it’s true about the brands of flour tasting different. I really only like King Arthur if I am to buy flour at the store. My flour snobbery will have to end in TEOTWAWKI, or some long event. We will all be blessed with our food storage, and be happy we can eat.
I agree comparing flour from bag vs storage can is not a good comparison.
You compared Bread Flour to AP flour. They are not the same thing.
Agree you have to compare 'Apples to apples'! But also, to me, the bottom line is don't store White flour any longer than recommended. It needs to stay apart of your _Working Pantry_ that is rotated and perhaps not so much as an item in the _'Long term'_ pantry.
*I CONCUR!*
My bulk bags of flour go into my chest freezer for 10 days. (to kill bugs) Next, it's put into 5 gallon pails lined with Mylar bags. I then add _'over'_ the recommended amount of oxygen absorbers, and I seal the 5 gallon pail.
I recently opened a pail that's been there for *8 years, and it's PERFECT!* Great bread, and SUPER pastries!
I love videos like this. I’ve got some #10 cans of flour and it’s nice to know that they last.
I agree we should be rotating our stock, but nice to know it’s still edible after 20 years.
Anything can happen, so checking smell and structure of foods should take place every time we open any food, from home preserved methods and commercially packaged. Thanks for the time and effort you've gone to so we can see what can happen.
Yes, just today I dumped out a pint jar of canned turnips that I canned back in 2013. I was like "Do I really need to even eat this very strong smelling brown things at this point?" Gotta do a better job of working through things.
I wash all the pre-washed salads because of listeria/salmonella/ecoli recalls. I still buy the pre-wash/prepackaged because of the convenience (cut up) and that I don't have to buy so many veggies that won't stay fresh ( good for single people). I have a salad spinner to re-wash and keep remaining veg in the spinner (also acts as a crisper) in the frig. EASY.
@@TheProvidentPrepper I can chicken legs/backs/wings for my dogs' food supplement. I prepare and can just as I would for my consumption. The other day I opened a year old jar, mixed it with white rice for them and the smell was just a little off, it wasn't "bad" smelling. I ended up dumping it and tossing away. I reasoned there's no reason to feed spoiled food even to my companions, getting severe digestive distress and end up with a massive vet bill for the effort. A jar worth a dollar isn't worth it. So yes, I check all preserved foods.
I would of thrown that 1 away to. But remember flour was different back then. You have to sift it for lumps
Very cool experiment with valuable information! I don't go through much flour, so I have always stored mine in the refrigerator. Now that I've expanded my flour supply, I froze the flour for a week to kill any eggs, let it sit at room temp for a week, to dissipate any moisture, then sealed it in mylar bags with O2 absorbers. Glad to know it will be good for many years. Thanks for your time making this video!
@@TheProvidentPrepper should one keep the bag the flour comes in and put it all together in the Mylar bag with the o2?
For how long can you keep it in the fridge?
@@virtuousdesignsbyyessi1717 I don't think it makes a difference either way. It depends on what size bag I buy....25# bags are portioned out and smaller bag are just placed in mylar.
@@willeenthiart5401 Several years without a problem. Put it in an air tight container so it doesn't absorb refrigerator odors.
Excellent video! I was honestly surprised that the 94 bread cooked at all, and that the 03 bread was good! 😊 Pretty awesome 👍
I was ridiculed on another channel for stating I had around 15 can openers and planned on buying a few more top quality ones again. Some were trying to act like all I needed was a slab of concrete and so on. I'll stick with a good opener any day.
@@TheProvidentPrepper Thank you, I just received another two can openers in the mail today, I should be good for opening a few of my cans.
I was given 6 gallon bucket full of white flour with a lid without rubber that was from the 90's. When I opened it, it looked fine and smelled fine.
Absolutely fascinating study. I'm thinking the older flour, while it may not be quite as tasty or pretty baked as straight white bread, would perhaps be more suitable as something more flavored or disguised. Chocolate pancakes, for example? Or maybe a cranberry nut loaf? Something that would cover up its age.
Good point, & if you make bread & don't like the flavor, you can also turn it into seasoned croutons, bread crumbs for meat loafs, or homemade panko for frying. 👌
Great Video on comparing the age of white flour. Thank you so much. My favorite bread I bake for our family is half whole wheat and half white. It turns out beautifully. I also store my flour in Half gallon Ball Jars for long term use. I like the glass jars because there would be no "off" taste as it is vacuumed sealed and an added oxygen absorber. :)
How do you vacuum seal it?
I do the same
@@debbabbit9283 with a foodsaver machine
Notice grandma is the least picky "I'll eat it if I have to".
I love yalls videos. I am rotating through 5 year old flour now. Almost done with that one and will move on to the 4 year old one. I also made bread with bag of new flour because it ripped open and I didn't have any sealer bags. I seal it in a seal a meal bag then put it into mylar. I think the bread was about the same in taste.
I really think rotation is the key, even for the longterm stock. Luckily, I found LDS here in France, they don't sell canned goods here, but they sell mylar bags for a more interesting price than elsewhere. That will help me to keep my stock rotating. The year's stock of flower I bought will be doubled and I'll put that into mylarbags with O2 absorbers, using the older one up, and before I go into the new one, I make sure to have the next at hand... And I learn to stretch wheat flower with rice flower for cookies and shortbread, with cooked potatoes for bread...the recipes are out there. Much love!
What a cool comparison! Thanks for doing all the work. I bet my chickens would love the old flour bread also.
I have been looking for this practical information for a while . Bless you for illustrating it so nicely! Addressed every one of my concerns! BTW, I am learning lots from your channel!!
Love the video. Always doing very important and practical experiments. You guys have the best knowledge on the actual shelf life of things. I loved when you made rice and beans that were decades old. So happy you did one about flour, as I have a few hundred pounds stored in Mylar and buckets. Now I know how long I have to eat it.
I dumped a lot of flour years back. Then I learned to air it out with cheese cloth or a thin towel. Love your videos.
Thanks for the info. It is always good to know how long your preps will last. Keep prepping🍞
I miss Thursday morning wake ups to grandma's bread baking. The smell of fresh breads and rolls and other goodys. All from scratch. That lady could cook and bake. Miss you Grandma.
Thank you so much for doing that experiment and sharing the results with us.
Thanks for another great video. I appreciate all of the time that went into making it.
Completely fascinating, thank you! Sourdough is always our favorite.
Thanks for the effort to evaluate the 28yo, 19yo and fresh flours. I buy and use King Arthur Bread Flour 14% protein. It's nonbrominated, not bleached and enriched (US law for milled flours). It's just good pure flour. I store in sealed mylar bags within with oxygen absorbers. I was expecting 5 years from the mill expiraton date but now may consider a couple years maybe beyond that. As I use/buy I rotate and will do so as long as I can buy new. Although now I am stocking more than usual and have laid in a supply of King Arthur All Purpose 11% flour for basic baking and also because if SHTF I'm sure I'll have neighbors or friends who didn't stock as much as me and I can share the AP flour with htem. I do have wheat berries in buckets and white AP flour in #10 cans. Thanks for the test and confirmation of my thinking. I bake 2 loaves per week, basic white using my Zorjirushi Virtuoso breadmaker.
Excellent video. I learned a lot. I have a couple of cases of number 10 cans of flour. The rest I'm putting up is in vacuum sealed bags. Frozen for a week first.
Thank you so much for all the effort and time that you put in to this!
I love that you did this baking of different years old of flour an made the bread and taste test with six different people.excellent test.I love rye bread the best than, pumpernickel bread than white bread than wheat bread.than the other types.I love my homemade white bread with my homemade jams and jellies on a slice.Thank you for this great test and bake,taste test.I have some that's at least 5-6 years old to try.
This was a great video..very informative. Surprised me a lot. Outstanding job in the flour testing and analysis. The testers had me laughing. The girls were so cute. I think you were all brave to test the 1994 flour..OMG 28 year old can of flour. I really believe this video helped a lot of people who are preppers..it certainly helped me..I better start in the rotation of my cans right away..thanks for a great show. 🥰
This was actually very informative. Thank you for this video. I was just going through my long-term pantry today and have whole wheat berries that are about 12 years old and flour that is about two years old. All in Mylar with oxygen absorbers. I was curious to know how good it would be and how long it will last so I’m glad I found this video! thank you.
Wonderful experiment, thanks! I usually add a cup or two of white bread flour to my batch of whole wheat bread as a “glue” so it doesn’t fall. I might use old flour for that.
It was good to see you can use O2 absorbers with flour. What a great experiment! Such valuable information!
My up north Minnesota cabin has all the storage food frozen or near 32 degrees F for six months. I can not believe how much longer storage food keeps in my cabin, off the grid, not heated, while I am in Florida all winter. Cold, dark, really extends food life.
You should put the flour into zip-lock bags & freeze that flour, and when you dump out the flour remove any mold spots before putting it in the Zip-lock bags.
I’ve been wondering about flour and how it does for a long storage. Thank you for doing this video. Very interesting.👍🏼
What a great experiment!!! I store flour in half gallon jars that are vacuum sealed. Never more than 3 or 4 years old in a climate controlled environment. I have never had a problem. I don't store baking goods more than 3 years passed their date. I always wonder about these freeze dried or dehydrated foods we buy in #10 cans. I hope for the best. But, I guess it depends on the ingredient. That's why I only store ingredients and not meals with prepared food. Thank you so much for the great comparison videos.
Excellent comparison!
We store very little pre-ground. Nothing better than bread from just ground!
We have a very good grain grinder with flywheel and handle, which makes it eady to operate.
Do be aware that burrs (which grind grain) can wear out over time. Replacement burrs are a good idea.
Also, keep your grinder covered to keep it free of dust and dirt.
Just took my homemade loaf of white bread out of the large Zoe bread machine and I have to say I love that recipe! When we went to buy flour, some kind person at the LDS store advised us to buy the whole berry wheat, instead of flour. He also advised that we do not buy the red wheat, but the white wheat was tastier, unless you really like whole wheat bread. We love the not very nutritious, but great tasting, Wonder Bread! So, we got the white wheat berries. That experiment you did was really interesting and a great learning experience. Thank you for that. People that don’t bake might save their flour and use it a year later for a celebration dinner, only to find it is not very tasty. I wouldn’t keep my milled flour over 6 months as it gets stale, much like stale saltines do. My husband, who asks me to burn some cookies for him probably wouldn’t care, or notice for that matter, but someone who bakes all the time will. Hubby is just not a taste-tester! Again, that was really interesting. Thank you so much. Always enjoy your videos.
I have been thinking about that very subject for YEARS, and this is the first video I have seen that nails it! The only thing I would have done differently is to have the persons write down their own thoughts separately first before anyone said a word, then have them read the responses, then talk about it. Conversations have a tendency to sway each other and evolve. I would particularly have been interested in Grandma's(?) comments. Also, I agree your observation regarding the first opened container, there likely was a contaminant in the can that may have spread and affected the flour! However, do not take this as a criticism! This was and excellent video! Thank you for sharing it! It would be fantastic to see if a lab could determine how much the nutrition actually degraded.
Just a suggestion. Canola oil is highly processed and inflammatory. Use spray avocado oil instead. It has no flavor. And much better for you.
I just stocked up at the local LDS Bishop’s Storehouse in Indianapolis, what a blessing they allow sales to the public.
Fun experimented! Love your taste testers, so cute!
Sourdough bread is my favorite. I make it weekly for a few years already! A no. 10 can needs a different kind of can opener. I learned that when I was given two cans of can tomatoes and could open it.
This was great , very informative. Thank you for your information. Now I know what I really need to look for with older foods.
Good to know, I was going to avoid buying flour... but you have changed my mind :D Thank you!
One of my favorite videos! Thanks for this experiment!
Great demonstration. I have hyperosmia, or as my family says a “super snoot.” That metallic smell would have been overwhelming for me. I have to aerate oats stored in # 10 cans regardless of age. Thanks so much for sharing!
Well they had better come to you if they need to judge the safety of something they are about to eat!
@@nude_cat_ellie7417 😂 I’d be happy to help. 😂
@@barb7014 😹
@@nude_cat_ellie7417 Hey, it's a sphynx. They're underrated pets, very smart.
@@jc.1191 yes I love my naked kitties. 😁
Well, that was an interesting experiment and it is something you can learn from it gave you some result at the end. And i think it is important to do some experiments to see if you can store it for longer than normal shelf life. It is really cool actually thanks for sharing much appreciated and now i have learned something new.
Thank you for sharing this helpful information and it was fun to watch the taste test, God bless 🙏
Great info! Great demostration! Thank you!
every time i see a good can opener (good for my hand) and i have the spare cash? i buy it. now that doesnt hapen incredibly often, but i want one can opener AT LEAST stored in each of my main food storage areas...
My mom came over for the holidays & asked why we have so many can owners, I was so proud!
There's old saying "One is none and two is one' which may be used for any tool, including can openers.
@@readyok-
Can openers? 🥰
@@cookiemama4 yes! I have thing for them lol
@@stacey9003 absolutely one of my many mottos!
Thanks! This a great demonstration of why you should rotate! 😁👍🏻
Fascinating! That was a time-consuming project…but, what interesting results. Thank you. My favorite homemade bread is a combo of Einkorn and Kamut, freshly ground. Mmm!
Great reminder on the can opener, even for my day to day use, I use my Leatherman It comes with an old school can opener
Same with oats,bran and flour. I not only had stored for over a yr or two. It smelled,felt,looked good,and was. I ate it and am fine.Mainly check worms. Hard to tell. As you say look thoroughly. Thx for showing that little passed expiry is NOT garbage.Pretty soon ppl will be hungry enough to use,bake eat
Very interesting. I had been hesitant to go ahead and buy a lot of flour. Not any more! Thank you.
Great information. rotate, rotate, rotate. Thanks for doing this
Interesting experiment. I like squaw and sourdough bread. Thank you for the video. 🙏
Great video. Thank you for all if your hard work 💜
Really enjoyed this demonstration!
I LOVE LEHI!!!!! I use that flour all the time. I have frozen it for two weeks at a time and some of them I prepped, others I did not but I have used flour 2-3 years after the date. In my opinionL LEHI is the best flour i have ever used for bread!
@@TheProvidentPrepper I stopped telling people about it because there was none left for me at my favorite 99 Cent store! I just used some last night in my banana bread that I make! Heaven!
Based on what you showed the bad can signs were all on the bottom of the can, you turned it upside down. So I would suggest completely emptying all the cans to likewise look at the bottom lid condition. The 2003 may not have been as fine a grind when new, how would you know?
Great point. How many would think to do that?
You are so right. As an aside, I'm finding that the tops of just my cans of cannery milk that were canned like in 2012 are getting rusty for no apparent reason.
Thank you so much most people have just been guessing not actually testing it great video
Awesome experiment! Thanks for producing this video.
Really really great job, you all. Such great info to have. TY.
Great comparison.
First let me say I only store flour for short term (1 year +/-)
As mentioned, not all flour is the same for Bread and storing whole wheat berries as mentioned is best as long as you have a grain mill stored away with them.
AP with lower protein and High protein wheat flour.
Bread Flours can also be a blend of different grains.
To really compare you would need to know the specific berries used and the milling method plus the sifting.
Mom & Grandma used to always sift flour before use to aerate it and possibly to get any bugs out.
All in all... Do the best you can with what you have.
Love that you did the comparison. Now you have the “Official Taste Testers”. Hope to see them in future videos. This was a fun one to watch 👍
I agree. That was a lot of fun to hear their observations.
What a neat experiment. Glad the chickens got a treat.
This was a great experiment! Thank you!
Fantastic video guys! I learned a lot from that.
Let's be honest. If you are in survival mode, and yiu have mold like in this #10 can, you can scoop it out and bake it. The mold that may remain will be killed off in the oven. If you have options maybe you don't want to eat it but if you're surviving, you may not be capable of just throwing flour out.
Very cool experiment, thank you!
Interesting experiment. Thanks for sharing!
Great fun and informative video once again! I'd never hoard crappy white flour, maybe some wholemeal flour, but not much. It's so much better to store wheat grains and make your own nutritious flour from fresh! (as you said!)
(and grain doesn't take up any more room than flour! Infact, I've heard it's less!)
Excellent video. Thank You!!
Thank you, I was wondering about this exact thing just a few days ago.
This was really interesting - thanks for doing this!
Thank you for the information I use flour for thickening garvey and a few other things. Usually before I can use a bag up it gets clumps. I am going to buy some mylar bags and put half they bag in that
Thank you for making this important video.i have some flour in mylar bags that I need to use. As far as my favorite bread; I like whole grains the best, then garlic bread. 🤗
We like our home made potatoe bread. Using the instant dried potatoe flakes from cosco. It's delicious!
Great video I've been wondering about my flower Because it's still in the paper bags in 5 gallon buckets
So interesting. Thanks for sharing this. I've been wondering about this. I have mylar bags and oxygen absorbers. Think I will be doing my flour that way. Excellent video!
This was very interesting to watch. Thank you for making the video 😊
Very helpful and interesting. Thank you.
Excellent demo👍👍
Thank you. Very informative.
Great video guys, loved this one!
I appreciate this VERY much! Great info I have been looking for!
Glad it was helpful!
Excellent project!
Great review! Loved it!
Wonderful and informative !
Good stuff thanks a lot for taking the time to test🙂