![]() Airtight containers seem to greatly extend the lifetime of the rice before the eggs hatch. However, I also keep rice for everyday use in a common clear plastic ostensibly airtight container, without freezing it, and that usually lasts fine, even several months. So, what I do is freeze the rice for 48 hours to kill the eggs (invisibly hidden inside grains of rice), and then seal in half-gallon mason jars for long term storage (I just vacuum-seal the jars, but even that is probably overkill - any air-tight seal should be fine). If the bugs haven't burrowed out yet, there isn't any problem eating the rice. I do not mean to recommend specific brands here but needed examples for known good container designs, the general theme is: hard materials, airtight and wide rubber or plastic gasket that is forced against the container with pressure, quality brand.Īlot all rice sold in the USA (from China and Japan and similar) has rice weevil eggs in them, but it takes time for them to hatch. These are also available in quite large sizes so you can protect a bag of flour, or a collection of many small bagged items (if none of them is pre-infested). The general consensus (from people that have had problems with insect infestation and posted their experiences to various internet forums) seems to be that two kinds of containers are usually effective at keeping bugs of any kind out of dry goods, and that most other types are unreliable:ġ) Glass containers with hinge and rubber gasket construction, look at the IKEA Korken series for an example, any reputable brand (IKEA, Fido.) should do.Ģ) Hard plastic containers with a gasket and four-sided locking tabs, for examples look at what Lock&Lock, Luminarc Pure Box, or Glasslock makes. ![]() I assume you soak the rice before cooking and get rid of anything that floats? It's a bit folklore-ish, but the countermeasure has been touted for decades, maybe longer. I don't know if it actually works, but it can't hurt: Try putting a few bay leaves in each container of rice. ![]() Bugs that are well fed and warm are happy, happy bugs. Thoroughly go through all of your food storage space, get rid of anything infested, put all you can save into impenetrable containers, and consider a (hopefully) one time use of a pesticide.Īlso, the cooler you can keep the stuff that the bugs like, the better. Get rid of anything that already seems like a breeding ground. If you don't have room in the freezer for all of a new rice purchase, go ahead and repackage it in the impenetrable containers, and rotate the containers until they have all had at least a full day in the freezer (a week is better). Glass or hard plastic containers (like tupperware) are impenetrable, Ziploc style bags may not be. Keeping the grain in the freezer for a week will kill just about any creepy crawly that's already in the rice, the impenetrable container will keep new visitors out. Keeping rice (or any other grain) in the freezer for a full day will help. If you can, put all grains you buy in impenetrable containers as soon as you get them home, and freeze them.
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