John Myers
Like every food in Germany, flour is given a best-before date. But is it immediately inedible afterward and has to be thrown away? Here you will find the most important information you should pay attention to.
How long does flour keep?
The best before date (MHD) indicates how long food can be kept and how long it can be used without hesitation. So it’s not an expiration date. Dry foods are generally kept for a long time. The shelf life of flour depends on the type of flour. For example, wholemeal flours spoil faster than fine wheat flours. This is because wheat flour has a lower degree of grinding. Flours with a high degree of grinding contain more fat and can therefore not be used for as long without hesitation. And the higher the proportion of shells and germs, the faster it can happen that flour spoils.
You can therefore continue to use conventional wheat flour type 405 if it is stored in an airtight, cool place, even if the best-before date has long since expired.
Here are a few guidelines for the most common types of flour:
Flour-type – shelf life
- Type 405 to 812 Up to 18 months
- Type 550, known as pizza flour Approximately 1 year
- Rye Flour Type 1370 About 8 months
- Wheat Flour Type 1050 About 6 months
Tip: Despite its shelf life after the best-before date, flour can change its taste and baking properties.
Identify spoiled flour
You can see, smell or taste whether your flour has actually spoiled after the best-before date. All flour should smell fresh. A musty or rancid smell is always a warning sign. And even if the product has already expired, it shouldn’t clump, but trickle finely out of the pack.
You can sometimes see pests with the naked eye. If you see even the slightest movement, then the product is definitely spoiled. In that case, you should definitely discard your flour.
Store flour properly
If you want to store your flour in bulk, you can leave it in the unopened package. Only when you use it should you pour the rest into a suitable container. Well, suited are:
- tight-fitting metal cans
- Jars with screw caps
- Plastic container with a tight lid
The packaging must be tight because flour quickly absorbs other smells. You should also store any flour, whether open or still in the original packaging, in a cool, dry, and dark place. If it is stored too warm and the humidity is too high, the enzymes break down more quickly. This affects the ability to bake.
Tip: The best storage temperature is 16 to 20 degrees Celsius so that the food does not go bad. Storage in the refrigerator is therefore not necessary.
