Bugs ate my Stockpile!

[Mama Stu]

Originally Posted by nanaclaire I was wondering about that stockpiling (I'm new) because I found bugs in my cupboard this past summer and cleaned them out and moved all flour, etc. that was above my stove. Someone told me above the stove is not a good place. So put them into lock n lock containers in addition to moving them... but then thought about stockpiling and how in the world you would keep them little buggers out!!!!! So, when you freeze flour, rice, etc., do you just keep them in their orig boxes and freeze or move them into ziplocs, label, date, and then freeze? And when you said you freeze them 24 hrs b/f you stock them ??? not sure what you meant ...did you mean that after the 24 hours, you remove them from the freezer and stock them? Also, where do you all stockpile all this stuff? I was thinking of setting up a place in my fam. room (which is downstairs basement of sorts in a tri-level) or in my patio which is closed in here in MI but it still gets very cold out there w/o heat ...someone said I couldn't put them there... gotta find space!!!! What do you all do??? Thanks... I'm new here and just starting to learn how to coupon save and stockpiling, etc.

Just freeze in the original containers. Freeze for 24 hours as soon as you bring them home, but if you have stockpiles of those kinds of items and bugs aren't in them yet, it is not to late to freeze. The family room would probably be a better place to put your stockpile. I have one giant closet in my upstairs bathroom that holds all my HBA stockpiles. Then I have a large hallway upstairs that has 5 shelves that hold the cleaning supplies, the air freshners, and the food. I prefer shelves to tubs because I think they will hold more, but that is just my opinion.

[tdgirl]

I second the freeze. I even do it for my instant oatmeal, anything made with grains or flour or whatever. Everyone thinks I'm nuts when they open the freezer and see boxes of grits or something in there, but I'd rather be overly cautious than lose good food due to stupid bugs.

[SCCC2213]

Yikes and yuck! Glad to hear they listened to you and are sending something. Thank you for the tips too!

[cheapchick]

I was going to add freezing doesn't neccessarily kill the pests. I think it will kill the psocids but beetles are so resistant to freezing. I used to have pet rats in college and would buy 3 lbs of seed for them. After a while weevils (yeah I think weevils are cute...love those snouts!) and moths would rise out the seed. I thought freezing would kill them so I tied a rope around the bag and hung it out my dorm window for days and days in below freezing temps. I'd bring it in every few days to check and once those suckers warmed up they were fine! Some pests will die but in some cases freezing just preserves the eggs...freezing will keep the eggs from hatching though. All the stuff I tossed was still in date...the soonest exp date was Feb 2010.

Remember: eat your rice as soon as possible so you are only eating bug eggs and not the bugs themselves!

On the plus side all the Ziploc bags and containers I used to seal up my stuff were MMs!

Also on the plus side: insects are high in protein, low in fat, and all-natural...maybe I should have kept all that rice and pasta after all!

[loladooder99]

UGH Barf. I have been thinking about this more since i moved to a humid climate and now that I've heard about this i will be buying my containers sooner than later. Thanks for the reminder. ekk

[cheapchick]

Holy ****! I just got a UPS Express package and in it was a $50 American Express Card from PepsiCo for the pantry loss!
I think I'm glad I bought that infested Broccoli Au Gratin after all! :bugwave1:
Makes me wish the bugs had eaten my cabinets and countertops too!

[zoeys_mom]

Originally Posted by cheapchick Remember: eat your rice as soon as possible so you are only eating bug eggs and not the bugs themselves! Also on the plus side: insects are high in protein, low in fat, and all-natural...maybe I should have kept all that rice and pasta after all!

Hmmm, wonder if I will see a skit on SNL or another skit comedy hyping the benefits of rice with the added bonus of bug eggs

[philekallista]

A good option for keeping your grains and flours airtight is picking up some free icing buckets from your grocery bakery. After they empty them they throw them away, so if you go by and ask if they have any (and specify that they don't have to be clean) it's not much work for them to give them to you to wash and use for airtight food storage. The one time I asked my Publix bakery manager he not only insisted that I take 4 (I only asked for 2), but ran them through the dishwasher for me first. :) One bucket holds about 20 lbs of flour.

ETA: Wow, a $50 gift card! They must have calculated as if you bought all those boxes at full price! Hah!