Breadmaking & flour preservation

Don't know about storing flour - good quality plastic containers ? Last year we did 3 weeks on the CSR and Carnarvon Ra and used bread making kits for individual loaves - cooked in camp oven. There is a good variety available from super markets. The paper bag containers are strong - we didn't have any breakages. Hope this helps.

Camp Oven is the bomb for cooking bread. We use the pre-mixed bread making packages with great success.

I guarantee you flour does not need to be stored in the fridge. It contains no animal or vegetable fat and can therefore be stored almost indefinitely, at least until weavil eggs inherent in every flour hatch or other bugs get to it. Hate to point out the obvious but this is also why flour in supermarkets is stored in paper bags in the same Isle as canned goods.

Be careful though of humidity and dampness if for example you use or don't use air-con and heating etc. Moisture can turn it only because of the enormous amount of bacteria floating around in the air all the time - so it is not so much the moisture that is the problem but the bacteria that thrives when moist air is connected to an edible product such as flour. But his would be very rare. If in doubt just store it in an air-tight plastic scew top container, so safe.

Gawwwd man Flour is the staple of many an expedition - lasts for months at all sorts of temperatures we're gettin pretty soft when we start worrying about the flour - read a book on preserving food written by a yachtie - they can tell you the best things to absorb moisture eg rice salt(lets face it it gets pretty humid out on the coral sea) keep eggs fresh for 2 months, keep fruit fresh without refrigeration for 2 months etc etc, keep the fridge for important things like beer.

kezza

I would probably leave the breadoven behind. My experience has been with a Panasonic brand breadoven, works a treat until it becomes humid and doesnt appreciate air conditioning either. The old camp oven will be just as good if not better at turning out a loaf. If you're going to store anything in the fridge- put your yeast in there. Seal it in moisture proof container. Yeast will store frozen, but will die with moderate heat.(live yeast = bread, dead yeast = housebricks).

Read my breadmaker handbook the other day- yes it was a very quiet day! Anyway, it said wholemeal flour tends to go rancid over time as it containes the whole seed/kernel and is therefore more oily. You've probably got to wait a long time before it goes off but it's worth considering if your'e travelling in the heat for weeks on end.

Thanks so much for your replies - great feedback and info.