I had a few bags of wheat that got missed when I was putting up wheat this summer. There are bugs on the bags and wheat dust visable. I hate to toss it and dont need it for feed now....any suggestions.
Is it still good for food if I drop the bags in a big chest freezer for a week or so then put then store the wheat right? Im sure the bugs will still be in there but dead.
I'm up for suggestions as wheat is expensive in my area now and I have a couple hundred pounds that got infested.
In Florida, it is not uncommon for grain barges to be infested with weevils. They sift the wheat and send it off to be processed and then to the store it goes. That is why people get weevils after buying wheat. The eggs missed when sifted, hatch.
You can sift the wheat to get the bugs out but it will still have eggs.
Anytime I repackage any grains, that I plan to store, I nuke it in the microwave for a half a minute or so.
I don't have much faith in the freezing process. I know a lot of people do it before putting away grains. But those same bugs overwinter just fine in some of the coldest states in the country.
The grain silos use food grade diatomaceous earth to keep bugs from infesting wheat in storage. Most of the baking mixes such as Bisquick use it to keep bugs out of the packages too. That's what I'd suggest. The silos use it at 7 lbs per ton. I use 1/2 cup per 5 gallon bucket. Also, if you're storing it in mylar with O2 absorbers, there won't be enough O2 to support life. You can sift the little dead fellers out before grinding it.
Mylar bags, mason jars, #10 cans or even soda bottles (with the use of O2 absorbers) will not only kill all the bugs but all the larvae and eggs too.
The idea is to keep the O2 level below 2% for 2 weeks. All of these items will do this and for far longer then then that. Using the appropriate sized O2 absorber in any of these containers will leave less then .02% oxygen and the food is surrounded by nitrogen, an inert gas. Left this way the food will be fine for decades. (less so in the soda bottles but that's because all plastics permeate air over time.)
These are the basics for long term storage of dried goods (food). It's not only the best and easiest way to store food long term, but also deals effectively with all bug infestations.
The idea of freezing bulk foods seems wasteful to me. I don't even own a deep freezer. Freezing will probably kill the live bugs but not the eggs, which are in the grains themselves.
Microwaving the food would probably do more damage then anything else. Not just to the bugs but to the food too.
Just sift prior to use. When I was stationed in Japan, boxed cake mix came with a label stating "This mix may contain dead bugs. The regional vet has determined they do not affect food safety, and recommends sifting prior to use." That was in 1994. I kept one of the labels to prove to my family back home that VETS certified U.S. Military Food Safety in Japan. Question was... did they think we were quadrupeds?
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