ChrisC_77
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Grain moths in popcorn

Long story short. I bought 5 pounds of popcorn from a local farm last november. Stored it in air tight container...no problems. After that was gone, I got 5 more pounds. After I used the last of what was in my small container I keep over the stove, I opened my larger one and I had 6 or so grain moths. I poured it all in a bowl and made sure I got them out. Now, I opened it a week later and had one more. I don't know if there is anything I can to to remedy this or what. I don't want to toss this. Would it be fine to simply give it a rinse before I pop? I just don't want them to keep popping up. Thoughts? Thanks!

Chris

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applestar
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Most grains can be frozen to kill the infesting bugs, but I don't know if the popping quality would be affected in this case.

ChrisC_77
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Sounds like a good idea. I will do a small test batch to see if it effects the popping quality. I hope the freezing will kill the eggs to. I will see how it goes.

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!potatoes!
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it shouldn't affect poppability. we usually recommend freezing for 48 hours to make sure you get 'em all, at the food co-op where I work. make sure they're in something airtight when they go in, and stay airtight until they're back to room temp, so they don't condense water from the air as they're warming back up.

ChrisC_77
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Location: West Virginia (Zone 6)

!potatoes! wrote:it shouldn't affect poppability. we usually recommend freezing for 48 hours to make sure you get 'em all, at the food co-op where I work. make sure they're in something airtight when they go in, and stay airtight until they're back to room temp, so they don't condense water from the air as they're warming back up.

Thank you so much! I will do this. They are already in a relatively air tight ceramic container. So I will just pop it in for a few days and then hope it helps.

imafan26
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That happens with rice too. If you store any grain, you should empty the bucket and wash it out to make sure no eggs are left from the last batch before adding more. Freezing does work, I used to keep my rice in the freezer for a month before storing it in a tightly sealed bucket. Now, I toss in some bay leaves. Bay leaves are natural deterrents for pantry pests. They have to be replaced with every new batch of rice, but so far cleaning the bucket before opening up a new bag and bay leaves are working. It also helps to make sure the grain you are buying is fresh.



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