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A quick and fool-proof baking tip for how to test flour to know if you have self-rising flour or all-purpose flour!
I have a tiny, tiny pantry. It is possibly the smallest part of my entire house. This summer, my cleaning spurt extended into my pantry to clear out items that we weren’t using, generally straightening the shelves to be more orderly and where I could actually find what I was looking for whenever I opened the pantry door.
I purchased new canisters to decant my flour, sugar, and other items into that had a tighter fitting lid since pulling my old glass canisters in and out of shelves had begun to get a bit of a hazard with the lid flying off as I removed them.
In our haste to get things moved about, one thing that happened was that items weren’t labeled as well as they were previously. Wouldn’t you know at the next day was my sister’s birthday party and it was time to make her Chocolate Pound Cake with Fudge Icing that is a must-have for her birthday. Not knowing which of the flour canisters held self-rising and which held all-purpose, I had to do a little testing and thought it might just be a tip that you might could use as well.
Here’s how to test flour so you can always know if you have self-rising flour or all-purpose flour in a pinch.
Add about ½ teaspoon of each flour to separate glass ramekins or bowls. Then, stir in ½ teaspoon white distilled vinegar into each of the flours and watch.
The flour that bubbles and foams – just a little – is the self-rising flour. The one that does not is your all-purpose flour.
Why? Well, the baking soda that is in the self-rising flour reacts with the vinegar to foam and bubble just a bit.
And, that’s my handy dandy tip of the day!
Here’s another one, don’t be like me and just take two seconds and label the canister when you decant. HA!
Love ya,
Robyn
Your error may have helped many people with this situation so thank you for sharing. Love your blog. Recipes, ideas and helpful hints.
Robyn, that is a handy tip. Sometimes we put something up thinking we’ll remember what it was or that we’ll go back a bit later and mark it. For me, I don’t seem to get around to doing that like I was supposed to.
Fantastic tip. Pinned for my granddaughter and myself. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks, thats a good tip to know
Another way would be to taste a small amount of each flour. The self rising will have a salt flavor.
That is a great tip. I shared it on twitter, because like me I’m not sure many people know how to check if you lose labeling. I bet the cake turned out great.
Now I know.
Thanks for the tip Ms. Robyn.
God bless?
Robyn, I always learn something from you! This is a great one. 🙂
That’s a great tip.Every time I get confused too to choose the right flour and local shopkeepers often sell the all purpose flour in name of self rising flour.Thanks for sharing the tip.
Thanks – I just cleaned out my pantry and found a canister I had forgotten to mark and didn’t know if it was bread flour or self raising. this worked perfectly. Cheers.
Thank you i really didnt want to buy another bag
Of flour only to repeat my mistake gain
Thank you, I thought I’d put the wrong flour in each container. Must have bought old SR flour as its not working very well. Now I know I will add a little more Bicarbonate into the next lot I use.
Thank you. I have some AP flour that I need to check if it’s still good before I head to the store. This should do the trick!
Great – I’m glad it is helpful for you! Thanks! xo
Aside from vineger what else can I use?
Here I am in 2020 trying to figure out which flour I purchased!! I decided to jump online and search!! You are a Godsend!
I’m happy this article helped you.
Love your tips!
Thanks, Brenda. I hope they help.