Fumigation Of Grains, Etc...


Updated: Weekly - BiWeekly

To insure that you have a good food storage program, various methods have been devised to keep down spoilage and bug infestation. A number of methods exist for storing staples such as wheat, oats, rice, rye, barley, corn, pasta, popcorn, and grains in general.

Remember!  The higher the oil content, the greater care you must employ for temperature conditions. Store your perishables in a cool, dry place (60 - 70 degrees; 40 - 60 is even better) and fumigate against bug deterioration and oxygen spoilage.

Oxygen will attack the oils in your basic staples rendering them unsuitable for consumption, not to mention the bad taste and offensive smelling compounds formed in your food storage. It creates rancidity which can be dangerous to your health. You must remove the oxygen present in the storage containers. There are several ways to do this by replacing the oxygen with an inert gas--one that does not react with the oils in whole foods. We will illustrate two of the ways that we like best and that are cost effective.

This is why, for food storage, we like storing equally as much white rice and flour as whole wheat flour and brown rice--the latter two have oils that can go bad, causing you to destroy some of your whole grain supplies. The white rice and flour have the oils milled out of them.

To avoid this complication from bugs and/or rancidity of oils going bad in your storage program, follow the instructions below for all types of basic staples--whole or refined.

For wheat storage, we highly recommend the Red Hard Winter Seed variety. Whole wheat comes in what is known as "Wheat Berries." The hard variety is easier to mill or grind. The Red Hard Winter Seed is higher in protein quality too.

Again, you need to make sure your grains (wheat, oats, rice, rye, barley, corn, etc.) are fumigated to keep out weevils which are little bugs and worms.

They get into your food supply that you build yourself from staples from your grocers by the very fact that even though white flour, for instance is processed; insects, bugs, etc. are everywhere and lay their eggs in the processed product.

When you open your food staples in a year, you may find additional protein moving about in the flour, etc..  This may be unesthetic, but it is not dangerous to your health, and we plan to cook 'em up in the biscuits or whatever we make with the white flour, etc.

If this bothers you, then there are ways to fumigate for bugs such that when they hatch, there is no oxygen present for them to live.  This also helps with oils in foods, to stop or reduce the rancidity via oxidation that the oils can undergo, spoiling those foods you store. We only recommend storing white rice or flour in the hot attic, since no oils should be present.  But weevils may be.  Other foods may have too much oil in them and break down too rapidly.  Use the below methods for oil containing foods, but store in a cool, dark, dry place for longer shelf life.

White flour or white rice may be stored in their original package(s) in your storage containers using the methods below also.  Weevils will still be deprived of life-giving oxygen.

If you store your food in plastic pails, make sure they are food-grade. Other plastics are made with chemicals that are not good for your health and leech out into your stored food. Though food-grade plastic pails stop moisture, they are porous enough such that oxygen can filter into them, destroying your long-term storage.  We also suggests you get Mylar metalized bags. They come in six-gallon sizes, strong, and food-grade, air and moisture proof.

Using food-grade plastic pails and Mylar liners inside the pails will give the protection you want when using the Oxygen Absorbers and Desiccants too.  Do not use garbage bags. They have chemicals in them not good for your health and impart off-taste to the food stored in them.

Seal the sacks, when full of your food storage, with an ordinary hot iron set just at the beginning of the Wool Setting.

When you look at your finished product(s) in a few days, you will have discovered, that by using the Mylar sacks, Oxygen Absorbers, and Desiccants, you have vaccum packed your food! They do that good a job of removing moisture and oxygen in preserving your food storage.

Mylar Sacks, Oxygen Absorbers, and Desiccants can be gotten from Nitro-Pak, see below.

Micro-organism Consideration:

In food storage of bulk foods, you must also consider micro-organism contamination.  All micro-organisms require carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, and hydrogen in one form or another. If any one of these elements are missing in their diet, or they are unable to convert the food into an element need by their chemistry, they cannot grow and multiply, and may die.

If they don't die, they remain in a vegetative state (non-sporulating) and await the opportunity to grow and multiply again. As soon as one of the elemental substances is made available, then they start growth and reproduction. This is why when you open your food storage, air, moisture, etc. is now made available to them--they become unvegetative and commence growing, you want to cook your food throughly if not used quick enough.

Sporulating micro-organisms can go and remain in a Suspended Animation state for decades without food. And await their opportunity to become active when food is present again. Once carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen are present that they can use, they can begin growth or germination.

Moisture Considerations for Micro-organisms

The food you store needs to be dessicated or dried also. Micro-organisms need moisture. By drying foods, you have eliminate one of the key substances for microbials to germinate. Drying was used since the days of the Bible.  It prevents food spoilage from bacteria. For instance, powdered milk and eggs, beef jerky, prunes, raisons, etc.

This is also the reason high sugar and salt concentrations have been used to cure meat and make jams and jellies--it preserves foods. It removes moisture whereupon bacteria are inhibited or destroyed.

Without moisture, food cannot diffuse through the micro-organisms semi-permeable membrane and the growth of the bacterium ceases. Those organisms especially susceptible to drying or dessication are the vegetative ones. Spores, however, are generally not harmed.

Controlling moisture is a good way to control microbial growth, but do not relie upon it for killing living organisms. This is why you want to cook your food throughly after removing it from storage. Through drying, you reduce the growth and number of microbials, but may not destroy them all.

Fumigation:

  1. Dry Ice (frozen carbon dioxide):

    1. Spread some of your grains on the bottom of your plastic pail/plastic tote, etc. Add 1/4 to 1/2 pound of dry ice for each 100 lbs. of grain.

    2. Then pour in the rest of the grain.

    3. Place the lid on the container loosely, but do not seal it for one hour. You can wait up to 5 - 6 hours before sealing. If you seal it too soon, an explosion could occur, placing grain everywhere. In my family, we seal ours with melted parafin wax and duct tape. We get large new 33-gal. metal garbage cans; line them with large plastic bags, then apply the immediate above.   Or, you can get self-sealing containers with lids.

  2. Oxygen Absorbing Packets.  If the above seems like too much work for you, then order from Nitro-Pak Oxygen Absorber Packets (1-800-866-4876)--our first choice; or Live Oak Farms Catalog, their Oxygen Absorbing Packets (1-800-482-5560).

    3. These amazing oxygen absorber packets have totally revolutionized the storage food industry. It used to be that home storage was nearly impossible to do without expensive vacuum packing machines and weilder size bottles of nitrogen to flush the oxygen out. Not any more. These new U.S. Military Spec packets will remove up to 99.9 percent of the residual oxygen from sealed containers and leave an optimal nitrogen atmosphere--an inert gas, which is what you want.

    With the oxygen removed, storage foods keep their freshness, and nutritional value much, longer.

    1. Fill your container nearly full and place on top of the product the Oxygen Absorbing Packets; seal immediately--no need to wait.

    2. One (1) Oxygen Absorbing Packet per one (1) gallon bucket. Thus, for a 10-gallon bucket, you would use 10 Oxygen Absorbing Packets. It's that simple!

  3. By ordering from food storage companies, A and B are already done for you. However, having a little extra is to be on the safe side and is good for bartering.

    1. You can tailor more to your needs this way at less cost, and now is the time to learn to eat the foods you store and store the foods you eat.

    2. This is especially important for your children.

    3. Don't wait for the Chastisement to try and learn or teach your children to eat different foods, or yourself. Now is the time to do it.

  • Desiccants.  Before sealing up your bulk food in Mylar Bags, we hightly suggests placing a desiccant in with the oxygen absorbers. Now, you have controlled oxygen and moisture in your food storage program. You have eliminated the two most important things that insects, bugs, and micro-organisms need to survive. You stored food will last longer and taster fresher when you do this.

  • As we said earlier, that rancidity is caused by oxygen.  However, there is another way that rancidity is caused, and that is by Hydrolysis. This is why we just listed above Desiccants for moisture control. Rancidity is so important that we will give a short biochemical summary on rancidity and how it is brought about.

    • Two Ways For Rancidity To Occur:

    1. Hydrolysis (moisture) breaks loose short or small-chain fatty acids from the glycerides (many glycerol molecules together). Then, they are released into the surrounding environment and have a pungent, acrid smell and taste, depending upon the state or how far hydrolysis has progressed.

      Substances 10 carbon atoms or less in their fatty acid moieties are the ones creating the offensive smell and taste.  Butter and whole milk are specific for this. Though milk can also develope an off-taste and smell due to pyruvate being formed, giving rise to lactic acid.

      Margarine is often innocently claimed to become rancid.  However, margarine does not have short chain fatty acids that upon hydrolyzation cause a pungent, acrid taste and/or smell. It can be left off refrigeration and can become soft and lost freshness; but not become rancid.

    2. Oxygen. It adds to double bonds present in a fat such as polyunsaturated oils (PUFA) a pair of oxygen atoms at the double bond. When this happens to this type of fat, we form a fatty acid peroxide. This gives an unpleasant taste and another form of rancidity.  It is also a form of free radicals that must be nutralized.

      Fats without double bonds in their structure cannot become rancid via oxygen.  Regular shortening or lord is one because they are totally saturated. If any unsaturation does exists, it is of so little consequence that it biologically and bio-actively moot.

    Return to Menu