Out Of Date Flour

[Ric.ror]

How long over the date could I go and is there a test (like the egg one) to determine if its ok

TIA

[vodkancoke]

Personally, I don't use anything out of date so if it were me I would bin it. Flour, when it goes out of date, sometimes has wee insect things called weevils that crawl about in it. If you shake the bag and the flour starts moving, I would definitely chuck it!

[Barmaid]

Depends what you are using it for.

Do check for weevils first as vodka suggests (you'll know if you've got weevil, they will be instantly apparent).

[murraymints]

baked weevil pie....delish !

[woofgang]

weevils and other flour infesting bugs get into flour because it has been badly stored and therefore they have had access to it, its nothing to do with age as such...same as mould and mildew. If the flour has been stored so as to exclude bugs, air and moisture it will be fine. The exception is self raising flour where the raising agent may have lost its power and need boosting with baking powder. Flour keeps for years, I bet it has a "best before" and not a "use by" date?

[atalanta]

Sieve it. If there are any things left in the sieve which move about, they are weevils. Give it a good sniff and if you don't smell fustiness, it's fine. Best to keep flour in the freezer anyway.

[gollob]

So weevils only turn up after the flour is out of code then

[murraymints]

keep mine in rubber sealed glass jars....never a problem.

[woofgang]

no golob, read my post.....

[Brinjal]

I go with the nose test. If it smells musty I bin it. As previously said the weevil things sift out.

[Buenchico]

I've just checked the date on the bag of flour I use the other day to make a cheese sauce. It's August 2009. The sauce was fine and I've got no worries about continuing to use the flour. (If that bag gets forgotten about at the back of the cupboard, and I rediscover it in a few years time, I'd still have no problems with using it).

Further, I note that the date is 'best before' and not 'use by'. That means that there's no risk to health from exceeding the date but there could be a (almost wholly theoretical) risk of the quality degrading after that date.

Use your floor, Ric.ror. It can't harm you and I'd be amazed if you could tell that it wasn't bought today.

Chris