Heres something I dont understand (surprise!). I keep 5 lb of whole
wheat flour in the freezer because I have gathered that the oils in
whole wheat go rancid at room temp. Okay, I got room in there, its no
problem. So how come when I go to the grocery store its in the baking
isle on the shelf next to the white flour? Flour is basicly packaged in
a tight brown paper sack folded and glued at the ends, thats enough to
keep it from going rancid until I buy it and freeze it? Am I freezing
(baking and eating) rancid flour and I just dont know the difference
because I dont have a mill yet?

hutchndi

Could it be that it's really not true full grain, but has the germ
removed? I mean that those bags are sitting for month on the shelf.

Who knows what they can call full grain flour?

If you don't have a mill, best is to find a health food store where you
can mill what you buy.


Samartha

hutchndi wrote:
> Heres something I dont understand (surprise!). I keep 5 lb of whole
> wheat flour in the freezer because I have gathered that the oils in
> whole wheat go rancid at room temp. Okay, I got room in there, its no
> problem. So how come when I go to the grocery store its in the baking
> isle on the shelf next to the white flour? Flour is basicly packaged in
> a tight brown paper sack folded and glued at the ends, thats enough to
> keep it from going rancid until I buy it and freeze it? Am I freezing
> (baking and eating) rancid flour and I just dont know the difference
> because I dont have a mill yet?
>
> hutchndi
>
> _______________________________________________
> Rec.food.sourdough mailing list
>
> http://www.mountainbitwarrior.com/ma...food.sourdough
>
>

Your typical "whole wheat" flour, like Gold Medal brand-type "whole
wheat" flour, is really white flour with some of the germ and bran added
back to give it some whole-grain look. There is no comparison between
that and either a true whole-grain flour, whether you buy it from
Stone-Buhr, Bob's Red Mill, Giusto (sp?) King Arthur, or someone else
or mill it yourself. Trust me -- I have baked with all three, and while
I'm not exactly a picky cook or baker, there are substantial differences
between the Gold Medal-type flour and the real thing.

Melinda, who currently buys white wheat berries and mills them in an
electric grain grinder but who was perfectly happy buying Giusto (sp?)
flour in 25-pound bags when there were more people living at her house

hutchndi wrote:
> Heres something I dont understand (surprise!). I keep 5 lb of whole
> wheat flour in the freezer because I have gathered that the oils in
> whole wheat go rancid at room temp. Okay, I got room in there, its no
> problem. So how come when I go to the grocery store its in the baking
> isle on the shelf next to the white flour? Flour is basicly packaged in
> a tight brown paper sack folded and glued at the ends, thats enough to
> keep it from going rancid until I buy it and freeze it? Am I freezing

Ok, so usually I only add a small percentage WW to White now, maybe a
cup in 5 or 6 cup recipe. So would that big difference you mention be
noticable? Should I even be bothering to keep my King Arthur WW flour
in the freezer?

hutchndi

On 5 Dec 2005 04:44:23 -0800, "hutchndi" >
wrote:

>Should I even be bothering to keep my King Arthur WW flour
>in the freezer?

Howdy,

That would depend on how quickly you go through it...

That's also the reason that markets can leave it out
unfrozen.

Before I started to mill my own, I did keep it in the
freezer for just that reason.

All the best,
--
Kenneth

If you email... Please remove the "SPAMLESS."

hutchndi wrote:
> So how come when I go to the grocery store it's <whole wheat flour> in the baking
> aisle on the shelf next to the white flour?

How come there are packages of toaster pancakes in the freezer section?
How come there are packages of frozen garlic bread? Or 45 shelf feet of
cake mixes complete with stabilized (for-ever) icing? Or two aisles of
carbonated, colored sugar-water?

The grocery store isn't Mother's breast. A lot of it isn't even food.

Yes, you should keep your KA WW flour in the freezer, for more reasons
than rancidity.

Grocery stores keep small amounts of stock so it turns over fast. That
same flour could sit in your kitchen for a month or more, and not only
might it go rancid, but if you get an insect infestation that would be
one of their favorite foods.

But if all you are doing it adding 18 to 20% WW flour to white flour, it
might be cheaper and easier for you to just buy the commercial "whole
wheat" flour and use it.
hutchndi wrote:
> Ok, so usually I only add a small percentage WW to White now, maybe a
> cup in 5 or 6 cup recipe. So would that big difference you mention be
> noticable? Should I even be bothering to keep my King Arthur WW flour
> in the freezer?