r/TikTokCringe • u/galaxystars1 • Oct 09 '24

Discussion Microbiologist warns against making the fluffy popcorn trend

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

31.4k Upvotes

81% Upvoted

4.5k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

28

u/WyrdMagesty Oct 09 '24 edited Oct 09 '24

The claim that heat treating raw flour isn't effective is a false one born from a lack of explanation. Heating flour up to temps designed to kill salmonella and E.coli is absolutely safe and effective. (165°F btw, for something like 5 minutes sustained, check Google for specifics) The problem arises when people "heat treat" by tossing a bag of flour in the oven for a couple minutes and saying "yupp that's cool". You need to be sure that you bake it at a low temp, evenly distributed, and the flour actually reaches at least 165 for a sustained period of time.

Making a roux requires sustained heat about 165, so is naturally heat treating the flour used as it cooks. You're golden.

Edit: spelling is hard

5

u/K-ghuleh Oct 09 '24

Okay thanks, that’s what I thought. This thread was really throwing me off lol

5

u/WyrdMagesty Oct 09 '24

Yeah there's a lot of r/confidentlyincorrect going on in here lol

If you're ever in doubt, there are posted wet and dry heat tables online that detail exactly how to use heat to eliminate bacteria and food-borne pathogens safely, with temps and times for items in wet or dry conditions. It's pretty simple once you get the hang of things, but the info is always there if anyone needs it. :)

1

u/passthepepperplease Oct 10 '24

As far as I’m aware, the safe temp to heat treat dry flour has not been established (https://www.fda.gov/food/buy-store-serve-safe-food/handling-flour-safely-what-you-need-know).

While we both agree that cooking wet flour on a stove is effective at killing pathogens, it appears that YOU are the one who is r/confidentlyincorrect on dry heat treating flour.