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How many bugs are too many bugs?
Our big 25 kilo barrel of flour suddenly came alive in our last heat wave. There were wriggling bugs all through the flour damn it. So I started sieving. It takes a while to seive 25 kilos of flour. I put the first 5 kilos in a big bowl and covered it tightly with a cloth. That didn't stop the ants from invading.
I had to resift that lot all over again. Continuing on slowly I realised that I had better speed up the whole process. That first lot, already sifted twice now, had bugs in it again.
This wasn't an invasion but a bloody pestilence.
Nasty bugs alive, alive o
They aint alive anymore. I bagged the whole darn 25 kilos and stuck it all in the big freezer for 48 hours.
I've had bugs before but never like this. I look at the flour and think 'do I really want to eat that?' Thank goodness it can't be eaten raw
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Let me tell ya a story about a boll weevil
Now, some of you may not know, but a boll weevil is an insect.
And he's foundmostly where cotton grows.
Now, where he comes from, hm, nobody really knows.
But this is the way the story goes.
Now, some of you may not know, but a boll weevil is an insect.
And he's foundmostly where cotton grows.
Now, where he comes from, hm, nobody really knows.
But this is the way the story goes.
The farmer said to the boll weevil
"I see you're on the square"
Boll weevil said to the farmer
"Say yep! My whole darn family's here"
"I see you're on the square"
Boll weevil said to the farmer
"Say yep! My whole darn family's here"
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Extra protein??
ReplyDeleteChomp chomp. I'll be making pastry tomorrow. Wonder if I'll find any little black specks
ReplyDeleteAdd pepper.
DeleteMy husband's grandma used to buy lard in five gallon buckets. back in the fifties. She was a farmer's wife, and one day she removed the lid, and ants had taken over in the lard. She told my husband not to mention it to the other family members, and used that lard to cook and make biscuits (southern biscuits), until every last drop was gone. My husband was six at the time, and suddenly went off homemade biscuits :)
ReplyDeleteSorry about your lodgers :)
~Jo
Sometimes you've just gotta do it. can't afford to throw out such large amounts. Ants are out in force this year. Somehow they seem tastier than weevils but I don't want to find out
DeleteOh dear - definitely a plague. That is a lot of flour to have to sift. Reminded me of when I was flatting in Auckland in the 1960's. We had some people coming to lunch which was roast lamb. Went to get the bottle of ready made mint sauce from the cupboard to find it full of ants. Imagine trying to remove ants from mint sauce - telling the difference between a piece of mint and an ant. We removed what we could and served it anyway just that we didn't have any ourselves.
ReplyDeleteOh those good old flatting days ! I bet there are lots of those sort of story to tell. What's a few ants between friends
DeleteI once had an infestation in a sealed jar of Basmati Rice. The critters must have come from India with the rice, and hatched out in my large jar. I put the whole lot on the fire so as not to let any escape.
ReplyDeleteWe get bugs in rice and macaroni now and again. I throw those straight out and clean the cupboards. These critters just wouldn't go away
DeleteI have to confess I opened a 10kgm bag of flour once and it was crawling! It went straight in the garbage. Such a waste but I couldn't deal with it. I remember one time my mom boiling a pot of cabbage on the stove and an earwig came crawling up to the top. She scooped it out, down the sink, and said 'Don't you dare tell anyone'. I didn't, but I didn't eat cabbage that night either,lol.
ReplyDeleteK has loads of tales to tell of when he was in the navy. Sometimes they sifted out the bugs and sometimes they didn't. So we are sort of used to weevils. This flour has been well sifted and then frozen. Don't think there are any survivors
DeleteOh boy that is an infestation, I hope they stay away now!!
ReplyDeleteThe yhad better. I've had enough and it was a long job in very hot weather. Enough!!!
DeleteI have also been overrun with ants this summer. I would dump the flour quickly (as if speed makes any difference but psychologically it does) and forget about it and move on.
ReplyDeleteK was in the navy and those bugs are nothing compared to what they used to be served up. We were discussing it with our neighbour who was the supply officer on a frigate. He laughed and told us some of his stories. It was all sifted at least twice and then frozen. Nothings moving. She'll be jake mate
DeleteWhen you couldn't even buy a bag of flour due to corona hoarding, I asked husband to try and find some. Eventually I was able to get a much bigger bag than I would normally get. I took out enough to fill my container that I keep in the baking drawer and the rest got put in a plastic bag in the freezer. I didn't want to take any chances! I can get "grossed out" pretty easily. -Jenn
ReplyDeleteWe haven't had weevils for years so I didn't bother freezing any of the flour and of course Murpheys law took over. This is the year we got the bugs. I usually freeze bags of rice and macaroni in the summertime before putting them on the shelves. At least you know there won't be any surprises
DeleteSounds like a big and not very pleasant job. I would have put it all in the compost pile.
ReplyDeleteSome did go on the compost but only because i tipped over a big bowl of the damn stuff. I got awfully sick of it. Next summer I'll make sure we buy smaller bags which can be frozen. Freezing flour and dry goods really does keep anything from 'regenerating'
DeleteWe freeze flour when we get it into the house. I dont do a lot of baking as I am no good at it. But I freeze it and then put it in a cool place after and so far no bugs. Damn things I bet the flour was moving!
ReplyDeleteFreezing kills anything that might start moving. Best thing to do.
ReplyDeleteFreezing is what I do! I actually did that with a doll I used to make (for decoration) of corn. Worked like a charm. But not too sure I'd be happy to sift all that flour!
ReplyDeleteI couldn't throw out so much flour. Honestly there were quite few swear words while I was sifting. A pox on all weevils
DeleteI've had ants in the house but not in food on such a major scale as that. We had weevils/pantry moths last summer though and they were in everything. Horrible.
ReplyDeletePantry moths are another thing. Then I do throw out the stuff. There's no getting rid of them otherwise.
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