sewNso

i was in a baking mood today. the grandson and i decided to use the bread maker. and i just kept thinking, smells like moldy flour. i even sniffed it, and said to myself, 'you are just imagining things'. put it in the bread maker, let it mix, and start to raise.
good, i thought, i'll make a chocolate cake. made it, from scratch, stuck it in the oven, and kept thinking, 'that flour smells moldy'. but i mixed it all up. then started sniffing the new bags of new flour, and the bisquick, etc.
for 5 minutes or so, and i thought----throw it all out, so i did and dumped the bread in the bread maker, and the chocolate cake in the oven. then the 5 lb flour bin also.
has anyone else ever done that?

Up North

I have had flour that smelled bad for some reason even if it is fairly new, I keep it in a sealed plastic container, I usually toss it because what I made with it also tasted funny, I thought maybe it was just me. Remember when Grandma had a flour bin and dumped in 50 lbs at a time? It never seemed to go bad.

kso

Flour won't mold unless it gets wet. The worst thing that can happen to flour is it will get weevils in it. Keep your flour in an airtight container in your freezer and that will never be a problem.

athomenow

I keep a bay leaf in mine to prevent the weevils. I buy mine 25lbs at a time from Sams because we bake all our bread. I keep it in several different tupperware containers and have never had a problem. I have also frozen it in an air tight container, never the bag.

mltquilt

I have had flour that has been in the canister for quite awhile and when I sent to use it there was a funny smell. Decided not to take any chances so out it went. New flour did not have the smell.

mltquilt

sewNso

my husband was a grain farmer for 25 yrs. i do believe it was made out of 'bad' wheat. but i just could not believe it. afterwards, i thought, if it was bleached, it could have been anything to begin with. couldn't remember where i had gotten it. cause i shop here and there. I can remember loading the grain bins out of the grain dryer, and the fine particles that dropped out of auggers or thru the bottom of the dryer. it reminded me of that smell, when the 'leavings' had gotton rained on, and not cleaned up right away. you know, they do 'bleach' flour. i think i will start looking for the 'unbleached flour' and give it a try.

this flour wasn't that old. not more than 30 days. i usually use 5 lbs in a month and half.

sewNso

i make almost everything from scratch.

Candela59

I only ever use unbleached flour. Why use something that has been "bleached"? I've read that there is even less nutritional value in bleached vs. unbleached. I know that not everyone can afford to but I only use King Arthur Flour both the unbleach AP and the new White Whole Wheat (this is a hybrid wheat). I usually mix 2/3 AP and 1/3 WWW in all my recipes including sweets. DH loves the nuttier taste and it is much lighter in texture than traditional Whole Wheat flours. Take a look at their website www.kingarthurflour.com I buy the flour in my local supermarket.

quiltinggirl

Just like Candela59, I buy all my flour and baking mixes from King Arthur Flour. I also store the products in Lock n Lock storage containers and have never had any problems with the flour going bad or smelling bad.

Tartan

I like unbleached flour better. I keep my flour in a resealable plastic bin. I have thrown out baking before. I was mixing the batter for a cake and one egg cracked/crushed very easily. I had already dropped it into the batter and got to thinking, "I wonder if the shell has been cracked from the grocery store?" Then I thought it might have bacteria in it so out went the cake batter. I figure it is better to be safe than sorry. Sure spoils the day though, doesn't it?