Using 4 and 1/2 year old frozen WW flour?

14 years ago

Dang. I got all ready to make something, thinking I had recently bought Whole Wheat flour and the only stuff I could find was bought in June of 2007. Its been in the freezer all this time, in its original bag, and in a ziploc bag. it would be very inconvenient to have to go buy more today. I'm leaning towards not using it, but I probably could be talked into using it by you guys. What do you think?

Thanks.

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Comments (6)

Rusty
14 years ago
It seems it has been well wrapped.
I would open it and sniff it.
And let my nose be my guide. ;>)

If there is no "freezer" odor,
It is in all probability just fine.

Rusty
hawk307
14 years ago
I've used WW Flour with the same age,that wasn't even in the freezer,.
Worked and smelled fine.

I don't think there are oils in WW flour that can turn rancid.

Don't know if this is true with AP flour.

You will get answers from those who are familiar.

LOU
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catherinet
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks Rusty and Lou!
grainlady_ks
14 years ago
Three hours after wheat is milled into flour the nutrients began to degrade and the oils start to go rancid due to exposure to oxygen. Freezing will slow down the process, but it doesn't prevent it from happening indefinitely. After all this time about the only thing left in your whole wheat flour is some fiber and little else. The nutrition is long since degraded from long storage and your 4-1/2 year old whole wheat flour is essentially "dead" food, at best.

Oxygen + oil from the wheat germ = free radical damage because it was exposed to oxygen early on, and not frozen immediately after it was milled. Rancid oils don't have to smell rancid to BE rancid. If the oils smell rancid, then the oils have been rancid for a lot longer period of time than when it began to smell "off".

The good news is, you obviously aren't consuming this poor-quality food on a regular basis.

For those of us who mill our own flour, we do it so we get the highest amount of nutrition from our flour possible. Using 4-1/2 year old whole wheat flour, even though it's been stored in the freezer and may be safe to consume, makes little sense to do so from a nutritional point of view. Fresh is best....

-Grainlady
sheesh
14 years ago
As long as it smells fine and isn't frost bitten or freezer burned, I'd use it. If we only have a three hour window after milling before it starts to go rancid and lose its nutritional value anyway, you may as well go ahead and use it! I really wouldn't worry about eating "dead" food!

Flours are staples and have always been milled and held for long periods of time.
lindac
14 years ago
The reason some people don't like whole wheat bread, saying it tastes sort of bitter is because the flour has begin to go rancid. I can taste it. I've had it happen in WW flour that was just a couple of months old....eww....bitter. I taste some of the flour to be sure.
It's not a matter of it making you sick....it's about wasting your time and other ingredients on something that won't taste good. But of course if you are making something with a lot of powdered garlic and old bay and seasonings in it....you likely won't notice the difference.
But for a nice whole wheat bread sweetened with brown sugar, best go buy new.
Linda C

Using 4 and 1/2 year old frozen WW flour?

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Rusty

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Using 4 and 1/2 year old frozen WW flour?

Comments (6)

Rusty

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catherinetOriginal Author

grainlady_ks

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lindac

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catherinet
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