Rancid flour?

[Steve]

I recently purchased some imported Italian "00" flour. The flour was very dry and was packed into hard clumps which required the use of a sifter. When I made up a batch of dough, I tasted a tiny piece to see how it tasted. It was horrible! It was very sour and bitter... so much so that I had to spit it out! Yuck!!

There was no expiration date on the bag, so I am left to assume that the flour went rancid. Has anyone ever heard of this happening?  

[Pizzaholic]

do you have kids that are paper mache age???
go to pinata.com
(ha)
Pizzaholic

[Pierre]

Yes, Steve I have heard of Flour turning rancid or bad. I read about the expiration dates for the various types of flour in. In general the whiter more refined flours hold longer, the more natural flour with more bran (higher extrusion level and more ash) will get rancid faster.

Flour should be kept cool and dry (no warmer than 20°c and 65% humidity)

all purpose flour = 15 to 24 months
Darker flour = 10 to 12 months
Full grain = 6 to 10 months

The expiration time may vary depending on production methods.

Pierre

[Pizzaholic]

If the flour is indeed rancid, call the co that you got it from, and tell them. They surely dont want to send an order of rancid product to a customer. You might have to send them a sample of what you got, to prove the product was not fresh.
Call the company to fix the problem, if not satisfied with customer service, ask for a manager.
Pizzaholic

[Steve]

Already called them.

The flour in question was some Farino Tipo "00" flour imported from Italy. It was probably shipped by boat and then sat in a warehouse. It was nasty stuff.

[Pizzaholic]

not to mention that fresh salty air
Be a squeeky wheel and bug the heck outa a manager
or the owner
Geez, I know a little rice producer (Ellis Stansel, Geudan LA)
that sent me a 10# bag because of a similar product problem
They did that to keep a customer, and no I was not a sqeeky wheel.
Pizzaholic

[LMU Pizza Man]

I buys my '00' flour from claros store online. They are a local italian market. My flour was also imported and probably made the silkiest dough ever. I've gotten 9 1lb bags and haven't had any duds yet.

http://www.claros.com/

[Foccaciaman]

Thanks LMU I checked out the calros site. Wow what a selection.

And a six pack of 6 in 1 tomatoes is only $11.40 to have shipped half way across the country. I had no idea .

Hey at $1.79 a can thats cheaper than escalon

Hear that everyone.

The imports are cheap also....