Flour

lulu239, Apr 19, 11:16pm
Owing to a problem with my back and a fractured hip, I have not done too much standing and baking. I went to use my flour and found spots on top as though water had splashed in the container. I discarded it and cleaned the container and replaced it with a new bag. I had used the new flour, it was OK, and 3 weeks later the same thing had occurred. Some spots and the surface of the flour looked odd with a film of very fine flour. Has anone any suggestions? I hadn't checked the use by date. It was Pam's flour.
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dibble35, Apr 20, 3:46am
Could be that pantry moth has infested it. Usually get a wierd looking top layer when it does. Any fine webs anywhere?
lulu239, Apr 20, 3:57pm
No, nothing like that. I can understand , maybe, about the first lot, but not the second. It is just annoying to think that I may be going to use something that is not going to make a good product.
petal1955, Apr 20, 7:16pm
Use a proper "Tupperware" container and make sure you burb the lid every time you open it. You will have no problems with "water spots" in your flour
lulu239, Apr 21, 12:17am
That's a point. It's probably time for a change.
nauru, Apr 21, 1:59am
I also use Pams flour except for SR wholmeal flour which I buy from CD. I use the cereal type sistema containers for all my flours, never have a problem. They are also cheaper than tupperware.
sarahb5, Apr 21, 3:45am
Never had a problem with flour going off and I don’t even transfer it to a container - just keep it in the bag - probably had the current bag for over 6 months now
crazynana, Apr 22, 6:46pm
I use Sistema too nauru. I find them excellent and water/airtight. A lot of people on here say they are not but I put one in a bucket off water overnight and it did not leak at all. I think maybe they are washing them in the dishwasher and it is warping the seal in the lid. I always wash mine by hand as I think the dishwasher water is too hot. I have never had any moths etc in anything in all the years I have used them, but then before that I never did either in any container in 49 years of being married.
nauru, Apr 23, 3:47am
I have never had a problem either and like you I hand wash all my containers.
buzzy110, Apr 23, 5:41pm
My suggestion would be to put bag and all into the container with the bag sealed by one of those fancy clip type sealers or sellotape.

Three things could be happening. Firstly the flour could already be contaminated with insect eggs before it is even packaged and they are hatching and doing what insects do or the flour is going off. Otherwise you do have an insect infestation in your pantry and these little weevils or moths are somehow fining their way into the flour.

I don't think white flour that is not stone ground and has had the germ and bran completely removed goes off, but just to be sure about insect infestation or the possibility of it going off I always keep mine in the deep freeze. The flour is not materially altered by being kept in the deep freeze because it does not have any water so it stays exactly like the powder it is.
jan2242, Apr 23, 6:40pm
Sistema was sold to Mexico or somewhere. I bet the quality will be lost.
lythande1, Apr 23, 7:55pm
I don't like sistema, the clippy bits always seem to become an issue.
I keep flour in 2 containers, one is a large hinged lidded tin, was a pet food container, but what it says doesn't bother me. The other is a large glass jar, with rubber seal type push on lid. Huge.
That one is my bread flour container.
Keeps the moths out, both of them.
meetee, Apr 25, 3:29am
I have been told that wheat is being imported into NZ from China now and as I didn't believe it, did a search online and found that China is exporting inferior wheat but importing quality wheat from the USA. The same person said that they had been told that a well known pie factory have had to adjust their recipes to accommodate the inferior quality wheat. Makes me wonder if that is the problem as a lot of Pam's products come from China.
coralsnake, Apr 25, 11:03am
Sold to Newell Bros, U.S.A. As part of the sale deal Newell will continue to make Sistema in N.Z.

Their brands also include: Graco, Coleman [tents], Rubbermaid, Oster, Sunbeam, Paper Mate, Sharpie, Dynamo, First Alert, Elmers [glue], Foodsaver, Rawlings, Calaphon, Yankee Candle to name a few.

PS: Google can be your friend when you're not sure!
coralsnake, Apr 25, 11:09am
I buy a big bag then break it down into at least 4 bags putting each through the vac sealer.
Have a tight sealing canister when I need to use a bag.
lulu239, Apr 26, 9:37am
I did some baking a couple of days ago and found fawn coloured dusty bits on the shelf and one piece of cobweb so that has answered my query. It is the first trouble I have had with bugs for years thank goodness.
lilyfield, Apr 26, 3:31pm
I buy 5 kilo lots, store in paintbucket, sometimes for many month, always the cheapest flour I can find,never a problem.
pauline999, Apr 26, 4:14pm
I put my flour and cereal in the freezer for a week before using to make sure that any 'livestock' have died. Never had a problem since I started doing this.
crazynana, Apr 26, 5:14pm
The Warehouse had bags of flour on special the other day, and it has come from Latvia. It is packed in paper bags so I didn't buy it as you never know what is in the folds at the top of the bags. Probably not a problem at all but better safe than sorry.
nauru, Sep 29, 12:55pm
Was it the high grade flour?. It's OK, I bought a bag the other week to try. The packaging was good and I put the flour through my fine sieve before using it and it was clean. It's good flour too and cheap, made great bread and rolls so I bought some more and have it stored in my outdoor fridge.