We let the loaf cool while we ate breakfast. The waffles smelled off somehow. We ate them anyway. They were OK, but what else could waffles drenched in melted butter and maple syrup be? My husband is the sort of person who is very concerned about eating food that has potentially gone off in some way. I'm more of a 'cut off the the rotten bits and keep eating' type. Of course, I realize that that sort of attitude toward food may wind up making me quite ill someday. Anyway, halfway through the meal one of us got the bright idea to check the date on the wheat flour. There was a 'best use by' date of 2015 stamped on the bag. Ooops. Could flour go off? We composted both loaf and waffles after the hubs consulted Mr. Google and found that flour can, indeed, go rancid. (We'd also cut off a slice, smelled it, tasted it and pronounced the bread to be pretty mediocre.) Who knew? Hopefully, we won't have to find out the hard way what the symptoms are from ingesting old-ass flour. Honestly, I think it would have been fine to eat the funky-smelling bread products, but we opted to be safe...I guess?
Wasted food or close call?
My older daughter has been trying to get self raising flour here in the UK for weeks, apparently it has something to do with the mills just not coping with the packaging of the flour rather than a shortage of flour. She's been adding baking powder to plain.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I can imagine that the distribution is being severely affected by a sharp increase in demand. We've a small bakery here that has begun packaging flour for 'residential use', if I can say that, and selling it to customers from a table put out in front of their entryway. Online ordering only. Pretty clever.
DeleteFlour and yeast (and pasta and rice) are in scant supply here.
ReplyDeleteSigh on the out of date flour. I suspect I would have risked it - and may have paid a high price.
Yes, it could have been very unpleasant. We've been lucky--pasta can still be had here.
DeleteAs soon as you said "wheat flour found hiding at the back of the cupboard," I thought -- "oh no! I bet it was rancid!" You were wise to throw out the finished product.
ReplyDeleteYeah, your Spidey-sense was onto to something there. ;)
DeleteYes, I heard about the flour shortage, but I haven't been out looking to buy any. I think with flour I'm most worried about critters growing in it. I have had experience in the past with finding flour with bugs in it. Ewww! Now I store it in the fridge.
ReplyDeleteEwww. Good call re: fridge storage.
DeleteWhat a shame as they looked so tasty. No baking powder or yeast here and I gather flour as well but luckily I have plenty of various gluten free flours.
ReplyDeleteIt's true they looked A-OK. It felt really strange to toss out food edible-looking food. Good that you're stocked on the GF flour.
DeleteI've known rancid, too. Word to the wise: in future store unused flour of all kinds in the freezer. It will never succumb to moisture and little creepy crawlers in the air. Straight outta da freezer, good to go, maybe even forever.
ReplyDeleteOh, wow. Thanks for this great tip, Joanne!
DeleteI am pretty sure we have some old-ass flour lurking in the dark regions of out pantry. We are low on flour in this area as well. Good luck in finding some.
ReplyDeleteI think that at the back of the pantry is the only place where old-ass flour can live. :S
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