Canning flour for your emergency food storage supply makes a perfect contribution to all the other foods in your supply. So in this post, we’re going over how to can flour at home.
When it comes to flour, you can’t just set it and forget it. Canning is a great way to store flour if you have to stock up. Since quarantine is advised, canning your own flour prevents you from running to the supermarket every two weeks.
Flour is a vital ingredient kept in any preppers pantry. This year, the pandemic and quarantine made a lot of people turn to bake as a way of being productive. From banana bread to cookies, flour has become a hot purchase item.
Canning 101
Canning is a popular way to store dry ingredients with low moisture content. It’s a great way to preserve dry ingredients in the long run. Here’s how you can do it at home.
What you’ll need:
Glass Jars
The traditional way to can flour is by placing the flour in glass jars. You generally want to use quart jars instead of pint jars. This method prevents vermin from chewing at bags and mold formation.
Flour of choice
Keep in mind that different flours have different storage times but canning works fine with all kinds of flours either way.
Instructions
Step 1: Prepping the cans
Clean your glass jars first. Once they’ve been washed and dried, it’s time to preheat the oven.
Step 2: Oven time
Preheat your oven for about 200 degrees Fahrenheit. After they jar dry, put your jars in a baking pan or a cookie sheet. The heat kills any possible insects or eggs that are present by sealing it. It also prevents the eggs and larvae from hatching.
Step 3: Fill in the goods
Fill the jars with flour and leave half an inch of headspace. Once your oven reaches 200 degrees, place the jars in and leave it for an hour. This step allows the flour to process in the jar. If you try to can food with more than 10 percent moisture, bacteria can build and just waste the whole thing.
Step 4: Sterilize the lids
Place the lids in boiling water on the stove for 10 minutes while waiting for the flour. Dry them and place them on a clean towel.
Step 5: Get the jars
After one hour, remove the tray carefully with your oven mitts or potholders. Then, use a clean damp cloth and wipe the rims of the jars. Keep your oven mitt on. You might burn yourself if you don’t use mitts. Place the lids and rings on the jars as tight as possible.
Step 6: Back in the oven
Put the tightly lidded jars back on your tray and place them in the oven for 30 minutes.
Step 7: Let it chill
After half an hour, take the jars out of the oven and let them cool on a cutting board, clean dishtowel, or a non-heat reactive countertop.
Step 8: Listen in for the ping
Sealing the lid is crucial in this step. Patience is the key. You’ll eventually hear the satisfying sound of the lids pinging indicating your lids have been sealed.
Step 9: Label
Don’t forget to label your flour and set the expiration date because yes, flour does expire.
Step 10: Storage
Store it in a cool dark place. If you don’t know where the heck you can store your flour at home, read below for storage tips.
Storing
When you purchase flour, you need to know how to store it properly. And, there are three things to remember when storing flour.
Store in an airtight container
Oxygen is a big reason why flour spoils. The paper bags they come in from the store are fine but when it reaches your home, time is against you. This is the key to keeping your flour fresh and ready to use.
Store in a dark place
All the dry-canned items should be stored in a cool, dark, and dry area in your house. This step promotes airflow.
Light is flour’s common enemy. This is because it generates heat and encourages oxidation. This is the main reason why flour is stored in a cupboard, cabinet, or an enclosed space.
Stored in a cold space
Flour has natural oils that can go bad when it gets hot. Storing it in a cool dry place kills possible pests and prevents rancidity. Prevent it from going bad by keeping it in the freezer or the fridge. You can also choose an area that is naturally cool like the basement, garage, or cellar.
Keep it Fresh
White flours like self-rising flours and all-purpose flour should be tossed after three months if stored in room temperature, and six months if stored at a cool temperature. But, in the fridge, it can last up to a year and two in the freezer.
Flours with more natural oils like whole-grain or whole-wheat flour spoil easily. It should be tossed after a month at room temperature, three at a cooler temperature, six in the fridge, and a year in the freezer.
Conclusion
Keep in mind that a dent in an old lid can cost the flour’s freshness. Although jars are reused and found anywhere, be sure to buy new rings and lids to avoid any sealing problems.
It might be tempting to fill the jar until the top but don’t. Make sure to leave half an each off the top before placing them in the oven.
Be careful when you handle the jars because they can get extremely hot. Use towels or oven mitts.
Keep the temperature steady at 200 degrees Fahrenheit.
Since flour already has low moisture, canning reduces even more moisture to prevent the flour from turning stale. This method not only works well with flour but it also works well with white rice, rolled oats, potatoes, powdered sugar, dried fruit, carrots, soup peas, pasta, cereals, lentils, cake, quinoa, bread mixes, white sugar, cheese powder, and dehydrated dairy products.
I hope you liked this canning post on how to can flour at home. If you want more canning recipes, check out our post on canning bacon and the one on canning spam that also tells you how to make spam.
