— Melissa Bryant

Okay, so the, uh, overarching concern is spoilage, um, or rancidity, right? Uh, that's the, right, that's the term we often use when we're, we're talking about flour. That's, um, gotten old and starts to take on an, an off, uh, taste, uh, or, you know, flavor as well as an aroma. And, uh, sunlight, uh, direct sunlight will hasten that process, uh, as well as exposure to air, uh, as well as, uh, exposure to warmer temperatures. So if you can store your flowers, or even whole grains at lower temperatures and cooler conditions, you're gonna extend the shelf life of any of these products. And so, based upon my options here, pantry or refrigerator, you know, I would say refrigerator. Um, however, if you have another cool temperature location such as a basement or you know, some other place, then, uh, you know, consider that if that's gonna be a better place space-wise, because, um, if you've got a lot of flour or many varieties of flour and grains, then pretty quickly, uh, your valuable s space in the refrigerator could be taken up. So do consider some of these other places that are cool, uh, places in your home, okay? And just keep in mind that, uh, even in a cool location, given enough time, rancidity will set in so it, it doesn't give you, um, you know, uh, the, the, the forever card, uh, for storage, uh, but it just extends the shelf life, uh, for some period of time. How long is that? I don't know. It'll just depend upon your individual conditions, what you're buying, um, you know, and, and all those other variables that come into food storage. Okay? So give that a try. Um, always keep in mind with any foods to, uh, date it and try to use it as reasonably, uh, you know, quickly as you can to maximize the quality, right? As, uh, you, you cook with that product and, you know, once a flour becomes rancid, uh, it doesn't go away, right? So at that point, probably the best, uh, option is to discard it and then just renew your inventory.