Critters in the flour...

[brickie in oz]

Critters in the flour...

I went to make some bread today and found critters have laid grubs in the flour....yuk....

The flour was in a sealed plastic tub too, I had to chuck out 10 kilograms of good bread flour.....

[Faith In Virginia]

Re: Critters in the flour...

This may be really gross to most but I think your bugs were already in your flour in a larvae state. As your flour gets old the bugs start to grow.

[brickie in oz]

Re: Critters in the flour...

This may be really gross to most but I think your bugs were already in your flour in a larvae state. As your flour gets old the bugs start to grow.

Hi Faith.
Yup I had thought of that, we had some flour in a sealed glass jar some years ago and after a while you could see tunnels appear in the flour and tracks on the glass.

I made the mistake of buying two sacks of flour this time instead of 1 at a time and it stayed in the plastic tub too long..

I did think about sifting this last lot but there was silk webs in the flour.

[david s]

Re: Critters in the flour...

i wonder if microwaving the flour would kill the bugs?

[brickie in oz]

Re: Critters in the flour...

Probably but they leave a silk trail.......yuk

[david s]

Re: Critters in the flour...

option 1. chuck the flour
option 2. sift out the bugs and their rubbish
option 3. bake bread but don't tell anyone about the bugs
I've tried all three options, not sure what's best. I bet commercial bakeries have the same dilemma

[brickie in oz]

Re: Critters in the flour...

I went and bough another bag of flour, critter free hopefully.
Im now trying some 80% hydration chiabatta.

[Tscarborough]

Re: Critters in the flour...

There are bugs in all flour. Here is how I deal with it:

Buy small amounts (5#)
Freeze it for a week

[brickie in oz]

Re: Critters in the flour...

Good tip with the freezing.
I made the mistake last time of buying 2 x 10 Kg bags.

[C5dad]

Re: Critters in the flour...

I freeze all of my grain and flour to avoid the little buggers. Have not had a problem in a while!

[texassourdough]

Re: Critters in the flour...

When I buy bulk flour I move it to a set of plastic food storage "canisters" (various sizes) that facilitate freezing to kill the larva/eggs. After a few days of freezing I find the canisters (which have tight, sealing lids) can be stored at room temperature for extended periods with no problems.

I am now freezing the linen and linen liners I use on my bannetons for bread making to reduce weevils also. (The one curse of weekly to biweekly breadmaking!)

[mrchipster]

Re: Critters in the flour...

I am now freezing the linen and linen liners I use on my bannetons for bread making to reduce weevils also. (The one curse of weekly to biweekly breadmaking!)

From now till March all I need to do is keep everything outside. Freezing things is not a problem in winter in Minnesota.

Chip

[brickie in oz]

Re: Critters in the flour...

We have all of a sudden what my son terms "pantry moths", never seen or had them before, any open packet gets larvae like maggots in them, and when they pupate they leave silky strings all through the affected food.

[heliman]

Re: Critters in the flour...

I have had a few of those nasty things paying me a visit in the past too.

I buy flour from the local agent and it's always very fresh. In the colder months I buy 2 x 12.5 kg bags but tend to reduce that to 1 bag in Summer to minimise the possiblity of bugs breeding in it.

I guess it's just one of the risks associated with the exciting job of pizza making.

[mrchipster]

Re: Critters in the flour...

We have all of a sudden what my son terms "pantry moths", never seen or had them before, any open packet gets larvae like maggots in them, and when they pupate they leave silky strings all through the affected food.

We had an infestation about 8 years ago when my wife's sister gave us her pantry supplies upon moving out of town. They got into everything grain related, oats, wheat, flour, rice, cereal etc.

We threw out lots of food for about 6 months until we finally got rid of them.

Here we call them meal moths.

Full cleaning and destruction of any suspect food was the thing that finally got rid of them. The egg pods seem unaffected by insect sprays or foggers. The moths and larve will die but the food is not usable if invaded IMO.

They seemed to be able to get into closed containers but at that time we did not try zip bags, thanks for the hint should we get them again.

Chip