Storing Flour in Freezer

carter441, Jul 16, 9:01pm
Has anyone done this please? Is it a good practice? Any tips? Any concerns? I'd appreciate your thoughts.
wasgonna, Jul 16, 9:24pm
Just Google your heading. Lots of Q&A sites asking the same thing.
kay141, Jul 16, 9:32pm
Why? I have been buying flour for many years and have never stored it in the freezer. I used to buy it in 20lb sacks but as I don't use much now, I buy 200g at a time at Binn Inn.
carter441, Jul 16, 10:02pm
I am using 20 kg bags of flour!
kay141, Jul 16, 10:10pm
But why do you need to keep them in the freezer? It you are buying in large quantities, surely you are using them reasonably quickly.
valentino, Jul 16, 10:11pm
The main key thing with flour is storing in a "DRY" area, preferably in a sealed manner. The least air it is exposed to the better. FULL STOP.
lenart, Jul 16, 10:19pm
Processed white flour does not need to be stored in the freezer or fridge. Only flour made from whole grains needs to be stored in the freezer to prevent it from going rancid.
uli, Jul 16, 10:37pm
All flour can be stored in the freezer, provided you pack it into a thick plastic bag!

It also has the great advantage that you kill all weevils that accompany your flour to your house and prevent them from spreading to other items.

If you buy 20kg sacks because it is cheaper but you do not use it quickly then by all means keep it in the freezer.

I mill my own flour and if I have too much for a recipe it goes into a thick plastic bag into the freezer.

Also all my cracked or ground nuts go into the freezer.
buzzy110, Jul 16, 11:57pm
I store mine in the freezer in original packaging. I don't use mine very fast and it is impractical to purchase just a cup or two at a time.

Lenart kindly went splits with me in a 20kg bag of strong flour a little while ago so it was important to keep it in the best possible condition.

While it is in the freezer I know it will have no chance of going rancid or getting old and stale. Nor will it be subject to predation by unwanted insects. I think all flour has some sort of eggs in it because that is the nature of the beast. Long term freezer storage means that I will not open a bag I may not have touched for a couple of months and find it full of healthy bugs. It also means those same bugs will not chew through the packaging and escape into my cupboards, causing me a huge amount of work and waste to clean up the mess.

It is no bother to put into the freezer, and apart from coming out cold it is just like ordinary flour. It doesn't clump or get wet because it doesn't have any moisture in it at the outset.

I have absolutely no concerns and it is all positive experiences.
carter441, Jul 17, 3:45am
Thank you everyone. It seems you can put it in a thick plastic bag - it doesn't have to be in a container! Also it seems that it just comes out like normal flour! It does not get affected by moisture or anything. It comes out as it goes it. I hope I have this right! I don't want to put 20kg in there and find out something different!

By rights I should be able to put 20kg in the freezer - open it up take some out and then put the rest back in again and repeat the process.
uli, Jul 17, 4:09am
The reason you pack it into plastic is to keep the moisture out as each time you open the freezer a bit of moist air will go in (hence the snow and ice on the walls after a few months).

Yes you can take some flour out and close it up again and put it back into the freezer.

I use fairly thick plastic so it doesn't rip when shoved around in the freezer.
buzzy110, Jul 18, 8:40pm
That has been my experience exactly. I tend to take the whole bin (with all my flours and grains) out when I am baking bread. I put 3kg supermarket flour bags in the freezer as well, just as they come. I get out what I need, refold the bag and put it back into the freezer. It takes me about 6months to a year to get through an entire bag. I usually keep one bag of each type (high grade and pure) in the freezer at any given time. I get through the bread flour and grains faster but I have only used about 5kg of the strong flour so far and it has been months in the freezer.

Try buying a 3kg bag of flour and putting it in the freezer to see if it works for you. I sometimes sellotape down the bags to close until they are at least half used then I don't bother, I just use a multiple fold.
wildflower, Jul 18, 8:44pm
I've always kept my nuts in the freezer but unless you have a weevil problem I can't see why.
buzzy110, Jul 18, 11:01pm
Because fresh nuts go rancid which is why mine are always stored in the freezer.
buzzy110, Feb 28, 11:04am
I was looking in my freezer today and I saw that I also store my sugar there as well. I was wondering where my sugar got to. I have some slightly green windfall naval oranges and I think I should make a couple of jars of marmalade.