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Mike Avery Mike Avery is offline
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Default Best by date on rye flour

In article <eae928b8-fa63-422d-8eb0-
>, says...
> Have a once opened but barely used and well sealed sack of KA rye
> flour dated 6-6-07. Today is 1-4-08. Thoughts about using or not
> using it? (Using it will save a trip to the store.)


I usually refrigerate or freeze my rye flours and all my whole wheat
flours. This gives them a very long shelf life. If your flour has been
refrigerated or frozen, go ahead and use it, you should be fine.

If you haven't refrigerated or frozen your flour, that's a tougher call.
If it is a light rye, I think there is no problem. With a medium or
dark rye, there could be issues.

In any case, I'd smell it. The key problem with whole grain flours is
that the oils in them can get rancid. If you smell rancid or funky
notes, pitch the flour and buy fresh. Rancidity is a chemical breakdown
of the oils through oxidation, and it is not a short term health
problem, and not a long term one if you don't make a steady diet of
rancid foods. However, they are not as wholesome - or tasty - as fresh
foods.

Hope that helps.
Mike