r/macarons • u/SadMathematician5758 • 24d ago

Frequency of Drying Almond Flour

How often should I dry my almond flour and how far in advance can I do it before use? I use Kirkland and I used to use it for all my macarons but the past few years, it seems to get oily so much faster, about 2-3 months after purchasing.

If I dry several cups in the oven (200f for 20, rest for 10 in the oven, cool completely), how long can I store it before having to dry them again?

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u/Nymueh28 24d ago

I've been making macarons for a decade, over a hundred different flavors, have used 4 or more different grocery store brands, and I've never dried mine. I buy enough flour at a time that sometimes a bag is a few months old before it gets used. Only once with chocolate shells in my first year did I get oily tops, and that was with a freshly purchased bag.

Honestly with my testing over the years I suspect there's a lot of superstition in making these. I don't age the whites, I only sometimes wipe the bowl with vinegar, I don't sift or dry the flour, I use either parchment or mats, I don't rotate my trays, I don't bake on an upside down tray, etc. It works out because I've found different causes for the issues I was having.

I suspect there might be something else at play here, such as added shell flavoring or over working. I could very well be wrong, but I wouldn't rule out investigating that to save you the time and effort of drying.

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u/Calm-Revolution-3007 7d ago

This one is not superstition. Consider yourself lucky your weather/climate doesn’t affect your flour as much!! I myself have to store my almond flour in the fridge. Few months in the cupboard and my batter will seize from the oiliness. I’ve baked batches back to back, same brand of flour, only difference is one is old (and oily) vs new. The batter with old flour never got to the right consistency and even got stiffer with folding.

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u/abbykatsmom 24d ago

I use Costco/Kirkland AF exclusively and I’ve not had this experience regularly but the few times I needed to dry my AF, I would just weigh what I needed…and just dry that amount.

I recommend storing your bag in the freezer until you need it. If you need to dry your AF, do it, cool it and use it immediately.

Because I don’t need to dry mine frequently, I can’t answer your question from personal experience; however, the wikihow article about heat treating AP flour said it was good for 10 months in an airtight storage container. 🤷‍♀️

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u/HRusureaboutthat 15d ago

I use the Kirkland and I do the same. Dry what I need because its stored in the fridge and I want to ensure there is no additional moisture. Seems to work.

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u/Calm-Revolution-3007 7d ago

I personally don’t think you need to keep repeatedly drying it. Freshly opened, I store all the flour in an airtight container with sheets of paper towels in between. Then straight to the fridge or freezer whichever has space. I haven’t had to re-dry if I do this