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Letter Re: Insect-Free Long Term Food Storage
Jim.
I have been buying flour and corn meal in five pound bags and placing in the
freezer for a couple of weeks to destroy any "nits" still in them,
and after that putting them in plastic bins. I really have no idea if this
works long term, but would appreciate any suggestions on whether or not there
is any method to preserve these items other than this. I have a Porkett hand
grinder, but to grind wheat fine enough for bread flour is difficult. Thanks,
- Charlie P.
JWR Replies:
Just freezing the grain doesn't kill all the insect eggs, which can hatch later.
You need to use either dry ice (CO2) or oxygen absorbing packets, (the latter
available from Nitro-Pak and
several other Internet vendors), to get a 100% kill of adult bugs, larvae,
and eggs. I've posted details of the dry ice method a few time in SurvivalBlog.
It
is also
described
at in my "Rawles
Gets You Ready" preparedness course and in Alan
T. Hagan's Food Storage FAQ.
You also asked about wheat grinders. To grind fine flour, I recommend the
Country Living grain mill, available from Ready
Made Resources and several other Internet vendors. It is an excellent mill, designed for a lifetime of use.
We have one here at the ranch. It is a hand mill, but because its driving wheel
has a V-belt ("fan belt") slot, it can be easily converted to be
powered by an electric motor, a bicycle, or even a water wheel or windmill.
