# Weevils - solved!



## trids (Dec 4, 2012)

Weevils are those vile little bugs that spoil everything like oats, barley, pasta, rice, couscous, bulgar wheat, dried split peas, sunflower seeds, etc. And for most of my life I watched in dismay as they survived counter measures such as bay leaves, airtight containers, and freezing.

But then a few years ago I stumbled on the only solution that works for me. Although I can't recall where it was, in order to give credit, I can pass on the blessing of the solution:


Check by sight that your newly purchased product is free of bugs. What you can't see are the countless tiny weevil eggs that accompany just about all vulnerable products these days.
Kill the eggs by spreading out the product in a large open roasting pan, and sterilizing in a warm(*) oven. See below for details.
Store the cooled product in an airtight container
* By "warm", I mean a temperature that will not spoil the food, but it will be just too hot to handle the roasting pan comfortably by hand. For products like rice, oats, and pasta, I switch off the oven after baking for at  least half an hour; and then leave it to cool inside the oven. For products which might be more easily  affected by heat, like almonds and sunflower seed kernels, I limit exposure to 30 minutes and then immediately  take it out to cool.

 I can honestly say that I have never had a problem with weevils since  implementing this solution. Of course, I only use it for products that  show a tendency to harbour weevils. So I haven't tried it on things like  beans which I might want to sprout, because I've never found weevils in  my beans.

Hope this helps somebody - Merry Christmas!


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## danbuter (Dec 6, 2012)

Interesting. Luckily, I've never had to deal with the little buggers.


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## sparrowgrass (Dec 7, 2012)

Sticking all grain products in the freezer for at least 48 hours kills the eggs that are present, and is less trouble.  Some spices--chili powder and paprika for sure--will also harbor little varmints, so put those in, too.

I do this routinely.


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## silentmeow (Dec 7, 2012)

I use the freezer treatment and then place a bay leaf in in the bag - jar- box and they stay bug free while in the pantry. One year i had an infestation of all of my baking supplies in the pantry so tried the bay leaves and it really worked!  Bugs are the only downside to living in the counry!


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## Oldvine (Dec 7, 2012)

Nearly every grain product goes into the freezer for a while especially flour and corn meal.


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## RPCookin (Dec 7, 2012)

I'm going to have to try this, as the whole wheat flour I get here always seems to grow bugs.  Thanks for the tip.


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## sparrowgrass (Dec 7, 2012)

I have lived all over the US, and the farther south you go, and more the humidity rises, the worse the pantry pests are.  A forgotten dog biscuit under the fridge can be host to lots of winged critters--grain moths, grain beetles, weevils.  Bird seed is another host, or that pretty ornamental corn from the farmers market.  

Vigilance helps a lot--make sure there aren't any old stale crackers or cereal in the back of the pantry, and if you are a stockpiler, make sure you rotate old stuff out.  Shopping in places with a high turnover rate helps too--don't buy flour at the gas station, no matter how big a rush you are in--ask me how I know that!  Bulk bins seem to be a source of bugs in some places--maybe they don't clean them out in between batches of flour or grain.

If you get an infestation, pull everything out of the cabinets, vacuum the cracks and crevices, and wipe everything down with soapy water.  When you replace your food, try the freezer trick.  Those bugs can bite thru plastic or cellophane bags, and they are very sneaky about laying eggs around lids of containers, so put your cannisters or jars in the dishwasher.  I am totally anti pesticide, especially around food, so I would not spray anything in my kitchen.

More than you ever wanted to know about kitchen bugs:  G7370 Insect Pests of Stored Products | University of Missouri Extension

(I just read that, and I see that we have changed our recommendation on freezer time from 2 days to 4.  I usually put things in the freezer when I bring them home and take them out when I am ready to use them--could be a week, could be a month.)


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## Kylie1969 (Dec 7, 2012)

danbuter said:


> Interesting. Luckily, I've never had to deal with the little buggers.



Me either...have never seen them in our flour, rice or pasta luckily


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## Addie (Dec 7, 2012)

I haven't seen any critters since I left Texas.


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## Kayelle (Dec 7, 2012)

I too have never had a problem with Weevils, possibly because I live in a dry climate.  

Knowing about the freezing trick sure would have helped some time ago as I brought back a large and expensive container of dried Porchini mushrooms from Italy that evidently hatched the nasty little eggs and infested the container with Weevils........I could hear them speaking Italian and snickering as they chomped away at my precious mushrooms.


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## Addie (Dec 7, 2012)

Kayelle said:


> I too have never had a problem with Weevils, possibly because I live in a dry climate.
> 
> Knowing about the freezing trick sure would have helped some time ago as I brought back a large and expensive container of dried Porchini mushrooms from Italy that evidently hatched the nasty little eggs and infested the container with Weevils........I could hear them speaking Italian and snickering as they chomped away at my precious mushrooms.


 
Don't feel too bad. Maryanne Esposito bought a large box of mushrooms that she was going to use later in the day for a cooking class when she was in Italy. That afternoon when she opened her trunk, all she had left was a very large family of weevils. So if it can happend to the pros, it can happen to the best of us. BTW, for those that don't know. Maryanne is a TV chef who cooks Italian dishes on TV. Has been on for years.


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## trids (Dec 9, 2012)

The freezer trick didn't work for me - but then i didn't try as long as 4 days! In the end, when i took out some rice i tried to freeze condensation formed on it, which then led to it developing some sort of fungus / mildew. Had to through the whole 2Kg out!

On the other hand, roasting the little buggers has never failed me. 

But if freezing works for you, please don't feel I'm trying to change your mind.. I'm just giving people another option who have tried everything else without success.


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## sparrowgrass (Dec 11, 2012)

Your climate (or your bugs!) may be different than ours.  I freeze in the original wrappers--paper for flour, plastic bags or containers for rice/beans/etc, and have never had trouble with condensation inside the containers.  

Whatever works is good!!  (Down with bugs!!)


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