When freezing flour to kill bugs, It is important to keep it in a container that is airtight. Use a container that has a tight lid. This will not allow any moisture or air that flour bugs need to survive. Common flour bugs are weevils and freezing will also kill those.
Freezing kills tiny flour bugs like weevils and their eggs because they cannot survive in very low temperatures. To get rid of bugs in your flour, pack it in a freezer bag and freeze it at 0-5°F for 1 week. After that, use a meshed flour sieve to separate dead bugs from the flour.
Never put any flour in a freezer while it is still in the paper package that most of them are bought in. This is because if the paper becomes wet, it will allow a lot of moisture into the flour and this will spoil your flour. Keep the flour away from water as possible if you want it to last long.
How to get rid of flour bugs by freezing
While in the freezer, avoid things that may break the package. You should therefore place it in a way that any other thing inside there will not be interfering with it.
The secret of keeping bugs away from your flour is to keep it in cool areas. If you live in a warm environment and you have plenty, you may want to find a way of keeping it cool. This can really help you in keeping the flour for up to 2 years without pest’s infestation.
You can freeze the flour as long as you want to kill weevils. This means that you can always get it when you want to, use it and return the rest into the freezer. However, freezing flour at 0°F for about 3 days will have killed all the flour bugs plus their eggs.
How to separate dead bugs from flour after freezing
After that, you can remove the flour from the freezer and sieve it. Get a meshed sieve for flour in any store near you. Sieving your flour after freezing is also important because it is a sure way of getting rid of any eggs from the bugs. This is why you may need to get a fine mesh.
Flour sieves come in different sizes and the holes are also different. If you are not sure, you can carry a pinch to the store and they will help you get the right sieve. This will help you in separating the dead bugs from the flour. You will also be able to remove other impurities from the flour which will make it safer for consumption.
In ancient times, our ancestors used to have big saves made out of thin fine grass. They used this to sieve their flour whenever they noticed it was full of bugs. Even though they never trapped the tinny bugs, they consumed them and that is why we are all here today.
How to separate bugs from flour without a sieve
If you are not in a position to find any sieve in your local store, you can improvise one. Simply get a bright light cotton fabric. Bright colors are good because you will be able to see the separated dirt from the flour.
Add some flour on top of the cloth and spread this on top of a clean large and dry container. Use your hand to randomly move or stir it in circles. This will help the finer flour particles to pass into the container while trapping the flour bugs and their eggs on top.
What happens if you eat dead bugs in flour
If you eat flour weevils by mistake, you will feel a bitter taste in your mouth. Generally, any flour that is infested will always taste bitter as compared with the pure ones. This is one reason why many people do not like taking flour that is fresh from the firm.
However, eating those tiny flour bugs and their eggs is not dangerous and you should never worry about that. They do not affect you in any way and you should never avoid your meal just because you cannot sieve them.
Is it safe to freeze flour?
It is very safe to freeze a bug-infested flour because there are no harmful chemicals involved. The main reasons why you need to remove them are that they will make your flour go bad very fast.
They also breed very fast and this will make the flour taste bitter even after cooking. This can be very bad especially if you have flour for commercial purposes.
You can always identify weevil eggs because they appear to be brown. They are different from the flour color and you can even pick them up to be sure.
When you rub or squeeze them in your hands, they will have some bad smell and that is how you will know that there are flour bugs that you need to deal with.
How to prevent bugs in flour
How you store it also matters a lot. The whole freezing process to kill weevils and other bugs in your flour will be useless if you still do not know how to store it. Do not make the environment conducive for pests to thrive.
It is also important to avoid mixing overstayed flour with those that you just brought in. The best way to know if your flour is going bad is by smelling it. Any sour or bitter smell will indicate that it is going bad and you may need to discard it.
To be sure, you can always smell it when it is fresh. Keep your eye on the expiry date and if you notice a change in smell and color, then your flour is going bad. Consider supposing it sooner or letter. The flour will also attract other bugs like roaches because it is a ready meal.