How to Preserve Flour and Corn Meal

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Things You'll Need

  • Vacuum sealer and supplies

  • Quart size wide-mouth canning jars

  • Cool, dark pantry

  • Refrigerator

  • Freezer

Proper storage will help preserve your bulk grains.

Flour is fine ground grain, such as wheat, millet or rice. Corn meal is courser ground. Both flour and corn meal need to be stored properly to avoid the oils in them from turning rancid and to keep out insects and other possible pests. One strategy for preserving flours and meal is to store them air-tight in portions that can be used in a timely manner, and storing both the sealed and the opened product in a cool, dry, dark place.

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How to Preserve Flour and Corn Meal

Step 1

Learn how long your grain products will store. White flour, which has the bran removed and so has less oil, will store for about a year. Whole wheat flour will only store on the shelf for a month. Corn meal will store for about a year. Only buy as much grain product as you can use before it goes rancid.

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Step 2

Remove oxygen from your food to help it stay fresh the longest. A vacuum sealer will allow you to divide bulk grain product into smaller, more manageable portions that can be used quickly. After sealing the portions, freeze them.

Step 3

Store opened packets of grain products in quart-sized wide-mouthed canning jars. Keep the jars in a cool, dark pantry or the refrigerator. Corn meal, especially, should be stored in the refrigerator.

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