poll: Storage Options

[jesse_the_k]

Once we've located the often-expensive ingredients we need for gluten free eating, we want to store them optimally. What’s your approach? Do you repack your purchases in your own containers? Do you keep stuff room temperature, or cold, or frozen?

Feel free to share any storage-related triumphs and disasters!

Poll #23088 Keeping it fresh

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 3

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My Packaging Tools

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fabric sack/bag
0 (0.0%)

paper sack/bag
0 (0.0%)

plastic sack/bag
1 (33.3%)

ceramic/glass container
2 (66.7%)

Packaging LOW FAT flours: rice, buckwheat, oat, amaranth

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original
1 (33.3%)

repack in flexible
0 (0.0%)

pour into container
2 (66.7%)

Temperature for LOW FAT flours: rice, buckwheat, oat, amaranth

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counter/cupboard
3 (100.0%)

refrigerator
0 (0.0%)

freezer
0 (0.0%)

Packaging for HIGH FAT flours: almond, chestnut, coconut, cocoa

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original
1 (33.3%)

repack in flexible
0 (0.0%)

pour into container
2 (66.7%)

Location for HIGH FAT flours: almond, chestnut, coconut, cocoa

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counter/cupboard
2 (66.7%)

refrigerator
0 (0.0%)

freezer
1 (33.3%)

Packaging WATER-SENSITIVE flours: xanthan gum, tapioca, cornstarch

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original
1 (33.3%)

repack in flexible
0 (0.0%)

pour into container
2 (66.7%)

Temperature for WATER-SENSITIVE flours: xanthan gum, tapioca, cornstarch

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counter/cupboard
3 (100.0%)

refrigerator
0 (0.0%)

freezer
0 (0.0%)

Oooh! Let me tell you about ....

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Comments

[runpunkrun]

I keep everything in the freezer like a paranoid loon and just want someone to tell me it's okay to leave the almond flour in the cupboard for the, like, 6 months it takes me to use a Costco-sized bag.

[fred_mouse]

I store almond flour in a glass jar in a drawer at room temperature in summer ('Mediterranean' climate, so >35^C daytime temps are common), and I've never noticed an issue. However, I don't think I've ever had it for 6 months.

[runpunkrun]

That's the thing. It takes me a while to work through a bag, and I don't know how to tell when almond flour has gone bad.

[jesse_the_k]

When the flour stops reading and exercising while spending all its time eating jujubes? /runs and hides.

More seriously, I get my almond flour in 1lb bags. I've tried Bob's and Arrowhead Mills and have settled on Eiliens, a local-to-me nut and candy supplier. Their blanched almond flour is a few pennies less than Bob's and its sell-by date is at least six months after I buy it. I spoon it out of its own 'plastic' (the crinkly kind) bag, then roll the bag down on itself and close it with a very long rubberband (at least three turns).

Since this comm has started, I've never had almond flour go bad at room temperature in my cabinets.

[runpunkrun]

I have a new 3 lb bag of almond flour, and I think I'm going to keep it at room temp this time and see what happens. It just gets so clumpy in the freezer and I'm tired of fighting with it.

[fred_mouse]

I only put flours in the freezer if there are moths in it. I don't think our pantry ever gets to outside temperatures, so I doubt it ever gets to >35^C, but I've not put a thermometer in it to check.

Also, I use big glass jars (~4 L) for flours I use a lot of, and smaller one (~750ml) for those I buy in small quantities. These are food safe, recycled. The big ones usually had pickles in, and have to be checked for remnant smell; the smaller ones have tomato passata.

[sonia]

I buy most flours in 1-2 lb plastic bags from Bob's Red Mill, and a lot of those say to refrigerate them on the package, so I just put them in the fridge with rubber bands to keep them closed. I pour what I need out of the bag into a measuring cup, which I know isn't the most accurate, but the baked goods seem to turn out okay.

Baking powder gets put in a mason jar because it takes a long time to use up and it's easier to scoop a small amount for recipes. It didn't say to refrigerate, so it's in the cabinet.

I'm open to recommendations for better practices!

Low effort room temp all the way

[jesse_the_k]

The only flour I've had an issue with is coconut flour. When I kept it at room temp, it completely failed to absorb liquid in a recipe -- but it was the first time I'd tried the recipe, so it could have been Alice Medrich's fault.

Since then, I slice open one end of the bag of my Let's Do Organic coconut flour, scoop out what I need, roll the bag back down, slip it into a zipper-lock plastic bag, squeeze the air out, and store it in the freezer.

Everything else stays in its original packaging at room temperature. I roll bags back tight and then use very long rubber bands to keep 'em closed.