cornflour (and flour) shelf life

I once bought flour from a high end supermarket, in date, but full of those weevils when I opened the bag 😩

Gilly1952

This post set me thinking about the very old packet of icing sugar which I only use once a year to dust the top of mincepies. I just went and had a look - Best Before July 2015!! I can’t bring myself to bin it as it’s still almost a full box!!

Doesn't sugar keep for ever?
Honey does!

MayBee70

Allira

but have to be careful with the bay leaves as they’re poisonous to dogs
😲 I didn't know that.

Everything is poisonous to dogs. It was much better, pre internet, when I had no idea that anything was poisonous to dogs, given that the children were always eating things like chocolate, raisins and grapes. Then again I had spaniels back then who couldn’t steal things off counters. I then had a spaniel and a whippet so one would knock the food off the table for them both to eat. Thankfully I never gave my dogs anything other than dog food and stuff like xylitol probably wasn’t used in shop bought cakes etc. I found a plastic bag in the living room the other day that looked as if something had been stolen from it but never worked out what it was. Sometimes we put dog treats in a bag and forget they’re in a trouser pocket and she sniffs them out.

Everything is poisonous to dogs. It was much better, pre internet, when I had no idea that anything was poisonous to dogs, given that the children were always eating things like chocolate, raisins and grapes

Yes, I did know chocolate and raisins etc were poisonous to dogs years ago but I used to feed our last, very small, dog with leftover spaghetti bolognese (tomatoes) and he was always fine.

We had a spaniel once and he was a food thief.
It's surprising how far a small cockapoo can reach when something tempting is on the table.

This post set me thinking about the very old packet of icing sugar which I only use once a year to dust the top of mincepies. I just went and had a look - Best Before July 2015!! I can’t bring myself to bin it as it’s still almost a full box!!

The weevils can really travel, small as they are! It was a horrible few months. I sealed all of the crevices in my larder with masking tape, stuck bay leaves to the walls. Put cloves in my airtight containers. Washed everything down with vinegar and put some sort of powder on the shelves ( can’t remember what it was). Given that I found some in the tin of porridge I fear that they’re still lurking, waiting for an opportunity to make my life hell again. I had found weevils in flour in the past without them getting into everything so I reckon it must have been down to the humidity in the house at the time. I kept the dehumidifier running non stop for a while. I’ve also draught proofed my house so much that it probably doesn’t get aired as much as it should.

I didn’t know about the freezer tip for flour - I have had repeated weevil infestations so that’s good to know. Not in old flour either. I suspect it’s often in the folds of the packaging.

DD2 had pantry moths - they were gross and she couldn’t find the source. Just kept finding the larvae crawling up the walls and across the ceiling.

I have had flour go off as we tend to use maybe 5 or 6 different ones regularly but some others only occasionally. I taste old flours before baking with them.
You can tell if it's off.

It's the flour bought in big sacks that have gone out of favour (and been left) that have eventually gone off here. The last kilo or two of 25kg or 500g say from 16kg. I definitely remember those two.

Now I try to force myself to use the flours up in proper rotation (even if I'm dying to use that lush nutty Castelvetrano Flour!

...I don't always do it.

I'd keep the cornflour!

That’s why it’s important to freeze it for a while after purchasing it. It’s the only thing that kills them off.

Weevils don't get into flour when it's in bags or in flour containers. The weevil eggs are already in the flour when you buy it and they hatch.

Allira

^but have to be careful with the bay leaves as they’re poisonous to dogs^
😲 I didn't know that.

Everything is poisonous to dogs. It was much better, pre internet, when I had no idea that anything was poisonous to dogs, given that the children were always eating things like chocolate, raisins and grapes. Then again I had spaniels back then who couldn’t steal things off counters. I then had a spaniel and a whippet so one would knock the food off the table for them both to eat. Thankfully I never gave my dogs anything other than dog food and stuff like xylitol probably wasn’t used in shop bought cakes etc. I found a plastic bag in the living room the other day that looked as if something had been stolen from it but never worked out what it was. Sometimes we put dog treats in a bag and forget they’re in a trouser pocket and she sniffs them out.

If you feed birds, they love weevils!

but have to be careful with the bay leaves as they’re poisonous to dogs
😲 I didn't know that.

nanna8

I’ve found weevils in old unopened packets of flour so now I reckon anything more than a year old out it goes. The flour in question was kept at a holiday house, probably a couple of years old. Horrible little things that must have been there all the time unhatched.

nanna8 DD, who lives in the tropical north, always keeps flour etc in sealed containers in the fridge.

MaizieD

It's an absolute baby at a year and a half

I have never seen a weevil in any sort of flour in my entire life and I sometimes have bags for much more than a year It doesn't degrade either. Your flours are perfectly safe.

The dates are a legal requirement and for dried goods they're more likely to be based on guesswork than any food science.

It's an absolute baby at a year and a half
😁

I only once had something suspect in a bag of flour because I'd opened it, used some then left it in the bag. No, I don't know why because it always gets decanted into glass jars with a good seal or Tupperware containers.

Actually, I don't note the sell by dates when I decant dried foods so some could be past the sell by date.

I'd throw out rice past its date but not flour.

Two years ago I found weevils in a bag of flour. It was in the larder. The whole kitchen was infested with them even though I kept most things in containers but the containers weren’t airtight. They got into everything and I had to throw out lots of food. They were even in my stock cubes and they were in a cupboard on the other side of the kitchen. It took months to get rid of them. Even recently I found some in a box of porridge that was in a tin. Most of my store cupboard food is now in airtight containers. I now put my flour in the freezer for a while when I buy it. This will kill any weevils that are in it. I never want an infestation like that again. I think they thrive in the sort of damp weather that we now have. I found them crawling up walls for months. I put bay leaves and cloves everywhere to deter them ( but have to be careful with the bay leaves as they’re poisonous to dogs). On a Facebook page there were people that were still struggling to get rid of them so I was lucky that it only took a few months. They like things like dog kibble, too so that is now in airtight containers. An unopened box of Bonio was full of them. I’ve got some cornflour that’s over it’s bb date but it’s in an airtight container. I’d hate anyone to have an infestation of the horrible things.

I used to find weevils in fairly new bags of flour and always threw them away. Then I invested in large Tupperware containers for flour and have never had any problem since. I keep cornflour in a glass jar, don’t use it very often and suspect it’s way past its use by date!

ferry23

When I moved last year I threw out a little pot of ground ginger that cost 9d.

Yes, you read it right.

this reminds me of moving into a large Edwardian house with a pantry in 2006
when we had moved everything in, my OH gleeful found cans of Guinness in there amongst other delights, poured on into a glass, good thing he didnt drink from the can, treacle, best before 1997, like tar

I've realised from this thread that the moths I've been seeing might be meal or pantry moths of some kind so will have to have a thorough trawl of my food cupboard. Most of the dried goods that I keep are in sealed jars anyway, so hopefully not too much of an infestation.

Like others I have some fairly old flour but always apply the sniff test to see if it is musty as the flavour does come through in baking. I've always understood however that it's dangerous to eat rye flour that is old (Ergot poisoning) but apparently modern processing minimises the risk.

Any kind of flour must be stored in a dry place, and to avoid food moths or weevils in sealed jars, not just in the paper packaging it is sold in. The same applies to oats and barley.

I have never had any kind of flour going off.

I had an in-date packet of cornflour that had weevils in, and also had risotto rice with rice moth!! I still shudder at the thought! The rice was unopened and well in-date, Tesco took the package and refunded me with no quibble.

I have Homepride offer tins and store as soon as opened. My cornflour goes straight into Tupperware and I have no idea how old - I get a new one when it runs out

nanna8

I’ve found weevils in old unopened packets of flour so now I reckon anything more than a year old out it goes. The flour in question was kept at a holiday house, probably a couple of years old. Horrible little things that must have been there all the time unhatched.

They can be part of a new packet of flour, and will not harm if the "egg" is cooked, but they can hatch and not quite what you would want to eat.
Generic advice is to wrap and freeze a new pack to kill them off.

I put my bag of flour into a freezer bag and freeze it for a few days before putting into a tin with a tight fitting lid.
This keeps it bug free.

I vacuum seal my bags of flour as soon as I buy them. I've heard this will extend it's shelf life by a good 2 years, not that my flour lasts that long as I love baking and also make my own bread weekly.

yup freeze flour, cornflour and nuts. Keeps them fresh.