The #1 Kitchen Hack That’ll Transform Your Cooking Routine

We’ve all been there: It’s 3 p.m. and a cookie craving strikes. You ditch all of your different duties and preheat the oven, seize your baking sheet, and head to the pantry. Inevitably, it’s a little bit of an eyesore. You remorse not organizing your cluttered, overflowing cabinets (however don’t fret, we’ve obtained suggestions). Behind the half-eaten luggage of cereal and tortilla chips are your flours. The shelf is caked with a skinny layer of mud. Hoping for the perfect, you verify the best-by date. It expired in 2021. Oops. You set free a sigh, go for a handful of packaged cookies, and head again to your desk. Sound acquainted?

If so, at this time we’re sharing the right way to retailer nuts, seeds, and flours. Don’t fall sufferer to rancid seeds or stale flours! Because drool-worthy recipes, like this, are well worth the contemporary components.

Feature picture by Matti Gresham.

Nuts, Seeds, and Flours Have a Limited Shelf Life

A well-stocked kitchen is our love language. If you’re something like us, nuts, seeds, and flours are staples. They discover their method into granola, muffins, and naturally, candy loaves and snack-worthy breads. We usually discover ourselves within the bulk bin part of the grocery retailer, filling our luggage with walnuts, almonds, pumpkin seeds, and hemp hearts.

Unfortunately, not figuring out the right way to retailer nuts, seeds, and flours can result in meals waste. They have a restricted shelf life. Nuts and seeds comprise a fairly excessive quantity of oil, and these wholesome fat are delicate. When uncovered to warmth, gentle, and oxygen, they’ll flip rancid. This ends in a harsh, bitter style (and abdomen ache). Similarly, flours even have an expiration date.

The Best Way to Tell If Your Flour Has Expired

As with all packaged meals, flours have a best-by date (expiration date) printed on the bag. This signifies its freshness. However, these labels aren’t necessary. They don’t denote security. Therefore, your flour could nonetheless be suitable for eating even after the best-by date.

The finest strategy to decide whether or not your flour is secure? Smell it. While contemporary flour has a impartial odor, unhealthy flour smells off—it may be stale, musty, or nearly bitter. It may look discolored. Additionally, in case your flour has come into contact with water or moisture, giant clumps of mildew could seem. In this case, you need to instantly discard all the bag.

Shelf Life of Various Types of Flour

With their various dietary profiles and processing strategies, some flours have an extended shelf life than others.

Refined flours

These have the longest shelf life. They can preserve for wherever from six months to 2 years. Examples embrace:

• All-purpose flour
• White bread flour
• White cake flour
• White pastry flour
• White self-rising flour
• Other white, starch-based flours (like potato and tapioca flours)

Whole-wheat flours

These flours have a a lot shorter shelf life than refined flours. Whole-wheat flours comprise the grain’s bran and germ (that means they’ve been processed much less). While which means they’re wealthy in fiber, vitamins, and wholesome oils, they spoil sooner and are extra delicate to gentle, moisture, and air. Depending on how they’re saved, whole-wheat flours will preserve for 3-4 months. This class contains:

• White whole-wheat flour
• Pumpernickel flour
• Whole and medium rye flour
• Buckwheat flour
• Whole-grain flour blends

Gluten-free flours

Gluten-free flours (and flour blends) usually comprise nut or root flours, which makes them faster to spoil. You can count on them to final 3-6 months, relying on storage. 

Nut flours

Almond, coconut, and different nut flours comprise nut oils that make them spoil sooner than wheat-based flours. Like gluten-free flours, nut flours will preserve for 3-6 months, relying on storage.

Tips and Tricks: Prevent Flour From Going Stale

First and foremost, let’s speak about packaging. Most flours are available in a paper bag, which isn’t hermetic. That means moisture can get into the flour. Even extra disagreeable are tiny bugs and pests that may get into the bag, too. To preserve flour as contemporary as doable, comply with these steps:

1. When you get dwelling from the grocery retailer, put your new bag of flour within the freezer. Leave it there for just a few days.
2. Transfer the flour out of the bag and into an an hermetic container. A plastic storage container with a good lid is right (listed here are extra-large containers), however a big reusable bag is completely effective, too. Any sort of impermeable container will preserve out pests in addition to moisture.
3. Store within the pantry, however keep away from heat, sunny spots. A cool, dry place is finest.

That stated, to maintain flour tremendous contemporary, retailer it within the freezer or fridge (an hermetic container remains to be finest). This is likely to be an particularly good thought if your home runs heat, should you reside in a damp local weather, or should you don’t undergo flour in a short time.

Can You Use Expired Flour?

Unless your flour seems to be (or smells) prefer it has gone rancid or stale, you can prepare dinner and bake with it. That stated, you should utilize expired flour in quite a lot of different methods. For instance, it really works as insect repellant, selfmade glue, stainless-steel cleaner, a face masks, play dough, and extra. For extra DIY choices, see right here. Otherwise, you possibly can compost expired flour.

Nuts and Seeds: Approximate Shelf Life

Onto nuts and seeds. For a simple, printable information, see under.

4 Ways to Prevent Nuts and Seeds From Going Rancid

To assist prolong their shelf life, be certain to retailer your nuts and seeds correctly. You’ll get the dangle of the right way to retailer nuts, seeds, and flours very quickly.

Buy them contemporary.

When doable, purchase the freshest nuts and seeds you will discover. Farmers markets are nice for this. Otherwise, bulk bins are sometimes a superb place to look (as a result of they have a tendency to have a fast turnaround and are restocked usually). If doable, style before you purchase to make sure freshness. Also, attempt to solely purchase what you want.

Buy uncooked nuts and seeds, entire.

Raw nuts and seeds will keep contemporary, the longest, once they’re entire. Once chopped, toasted, or floor into flour or meal, nuts launch their oils. As talked about, these oils are then uncovered to extra oxygen, which makes them go rancid extra rapidly. Get within the behavior of toasting or grounding nuts/seeds at dwelling. Not solely does this assure freshness, but in addition your toasted walnuts, almond butter, and flaxseed meal will style higher. 

Use hermetic containers.

Same as flour! Once you come back dwelling from the shop, switch your nuts and seeds to hermetic containers. Empty pasta bottles or mason jars work, too! This retains air out—which ends up in brisker nuts—and prevents outdoors odors from getting in.

Take benefit of the freezer.

Storing your nuts and seeds in hermetic containers is step one, however it’s much more essential to maintain them chilled. You’ll discover a theme with the right way to retailer nuts, seeds, and flours: the colder, the higher. If you intend to make use of them within the fast future, it’s effective to retailer the hermetic containers in a cool, darkish spot in your pantry. To preserve them contemporary for for much longer, retailer your nuts and seeds within the fridge or the freezer. That method, they’ll be unaffected by fluctuating kitchen temperatures.

We hope this information to the right way to retailer nuts, seeds, and flours is useful! Drop any suggestions and tips into the feedback under.