Storing flour properly means you'll save money. Storing flour properly also means you’ll always have it fresh and on hand whenever you’re ready to bake.

So, these are two good questions. Let’s look at how long flour lasts, first. Flour manufacturers say any white flour (such as all-purpose or self-rising flours), stored at room temperature should be discarded after three months. They say also that if it’s stored in a cool spot in your home, it can last six months. In a fridge, the flour has one year, and in the freezer, it has two.

Whole-wheat or whole-grain flours won’t last as long, however, because they contain more natural oil, which makes rancidity an issue. Thus, you’ll want to use whole grain flours quickly as they’ll only last about a month at room temperature, three months in a cool spot in your house, six months in the fridge, and about a year in the freezer.

Now, how do you know if your flour has gone bad? Your sense of smell is your first defense with this. If the flour smells "off" (funky—not fresh—strange…) discard it. Baking with it won’t make anyone sick, but your end product won’t be delicious. One bite and you’ll know something is wrong.

So with all this said, here in a nutshell is what you can do to increase the storage time for your flours:

• Keep it in an airtight container. This is absolutely key, say the experts at www.allrecipes.com. Their food researchers explain, “Flour spoilage is accelerated by the presence of oxygen. No air, slower spoilage.” And know this: once you your flour home, even if you leave it unopened in its paper bag, you are in a race against time. At a minimum, put the whole bag into a three-gallon zip-top plastic bag and remove as much air as possible before sealing and storing.
• Keep it in a cool place. One idea is to store extra bags in the above-mentioned three-gallon-zippered plastic bag in a camping cooler in a basement (if you have one) or in a camping cooler in the garage in the winter.
• Store it in a dark place.

The allrecipes.com folks say we should try not to buy more flours than we think we’ll use in a four- to eight-week span, and try not to overbuy flours that are specialty, since they tend to take longer to use up.

While this seems sensible, I do prefer having lots of flour on hand for several months. I’m going to see if I can’t make some room for it in our chest freezer. I’ve had flour go bad, and it’s a painful waste. How about you? Any thoughts on this topic? We’d love to hear from you.