I've got about 15lbs of saphire unbleached white flour left from my 25lb bulk purchase from 2 weeks ago. While preparing a wonderful zucchini bread recipe I noticed a "sour" smell from my flour.
It's been tightly sealed in the heavy duty bag I purchased it in and stored in the pantry at 70-85°F.
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Has my flour spoiled?
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What are the storage guidelines for flour?
Best Answer
The smell is of rancid fats in the flour. It is a very distinct smell, but hard to describe. I would agree that "sour" is part of it. The best way to learn is by comparison. Smell some fresh, clean flour and remember what it is like. Any kind of unpleasant odor than that is rancidity. You may have smelled it also if you opened a box of cereal that has been around too long, or even poppy or sesame seeds - anything with fats that sits around at room temp will eventually go rancid.