# Keeping Flour in the Freezer



## booklover (Jan 22, 2007)

I freeze my flour to help kill the little buggies. However, I've been keeping flour in the freezer to fill gaps that open up. Is there a problem with keeping flour in the freezer (will it damage the flour, that is) and is this a suitable item to use to fill gaps to keep the freezer running most efficiently? Thanks!


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## Txsteader (Aug 22, 2005)

I also keep flour in the freezer and, to my knowledge, it won't hurt it a bit.


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## Guest (Oct 7, 2008)

I have no problem keeping flour in the freezer. I put it in ziplock bags that I squeeze the air out of, and it will stay fresh in the freezer for years that way.


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## unregistered29228 (Jan 9, 2008)

Definitely seal it in a plastic bag for long term freezer storage. I once bought a bunch of little bags of flour on sale and left them in the freezer unwrapped, a little too long. The flour had a strange smell and taste, sort of like freezer burn or the smell of raw meat. Hard to explain but I think it absorbed the odors from the freezer....


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## Guest (Oct 7, 2008)

Mom_of_Four said:


> I once bought a bunch of little bags of flour on sale and left them in the freezer unwrapped, a little too long. The flour had a strange smell and taste, sort of like freezer burn or the smell of raw meat. Hard to explain but I think it absorbed the odors from the freezer....


Same here. I had to throw some flour out because it smelled and tasted strange. The paper package it comes in is too permeable.

So I started putting it in the plastic bags, and had no problem since. I date it, and have used it when it was more than 3 years old and it's perfectly fresh when it's that old.


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## Guest (Oct 7, 2008)

Definitely seal the flour in something water proof even if you're just going to take it out after a few days. You don't want condensation getting into it after you've removed it from the freezer.

As a gap filler though flour is not very good. It doesn't have nearly the same thermal mass as an equivalent volume of water does so if you lose power the flour isn't going to keep the other foods cold for very long.

.....Alan.


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## unregistered29228 (Jan 9, 2008)

ladycat said:


> Same here. I had to throw some flour out because it smelled and tasted strange. The paper package it comes in is too permeable.


I was too stubborn/cheap to throw it out, so we ate it. Some of the smell went away after baking, but I learned my lesson.


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## booklover (Jan 22, 2007)

Thanks all!


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## Stephen in SOKY (Jun 6, 2006)

How long does flour & corn meal need to stay in the freezer to be sure of killing bugs? Can I safely frreze it in the the plastic lined bag it came in, then allow it to return to room temp prior to placing it in gallon jars? Thanks


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## Guest (Oct 8, 2008)

If it were me I'd freeze it in the jars to begin with. No chance of condensation getting into the flour that way if you don't open the jars after you've removed them from the freezer until they're completely at room temperature and any accumulated moisture dried up.

Three days in a deep freezer at zero degrees or thereabouts is the conventional wisdom in these matters.

.....Alan.


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## Stephen in SOKY (Jun 6, 2006)

Thanks!


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