Food - Drink
Should You Refrigerate Flour?
By MICHELLE WELSCH
Flour is considered a raw agricultural product, and can be milled using various ingredients like wheat, almond, oat, millet, peanut, potato, rice, and spelt. No matter which type of flour you buy, the way you store it can greatly lengthen or shorten its shelf life, and thrifty cooks might consider moving their flour out of the pantry.
The best way to store flour is to keep it in its original packaging or in an air-tight container (which will protect it from small insects called flour weevils) and keep it cool and dry. To keep flour fresher for longer, you can store it in the freezer or refrigerator, but let it return to room temperature before using.
White flour can stay fresh for up to one year in the fridge, compared to six to eight months on the shelf. Whole grain flours don't stay fresh for as long, because the oils from the germ and bran in wholemeal flour accelerate the aging process, but if you never use up flour as quickly as you'd like, the fridge is worth a try.