flour mites :-(

[paperclipsarebetterthanstaples]

I posted a request for some easy baking recipes a few days ago - and was REALLY looking forward to making some cookies but when I've gone to get the ingredients out there are mites in my flour :-(

One lot is just in it's original bag (opened and folded over) but the other is in sealed container - both lots are about 6 months old. Why have i got mites?? I've bleached the container AND the cupboard but how can i avoid them in future??

I think they are present in the egg form in a lot of flour - it is a bit ewww making when you get the flour down, all excited for a bit of baking because you NEVER do it and the flour is moving! The fuckers were crawling all over my cupboards once. I just chuck the flour away if i don't use it quick enough.

All flour has weevil eggs in it, I believe, and if it's left too long they'll hatch (hence the instructions to never mix old and new flour). If yours hasn't expired you've been unlucky. Was the container clean when you put the flour in it or did it have a trace of flour in it already?

THey are bastards, aren't they?
Throw everything packety out, I am afraid. they get EVERYWHERE.

(unless you're not bothered about eating them that it; they won't actually hurt you)

Ooh - i don't know if it was washed between flours - If i'd filled it i definitely would have washed it. DP probably wouldn't have :-( i should eating biscuits now!!

Ooh - i don't know if it was washed between flours - If i'd filled it i definitely would have washed it. DP probably wouldn't have :-( i should eating biscuits now!!

My money's

My money's on a bit of old flour hanging round the container long enough for the eggs to hatch and invade everything...I sympathise, my DH leaves open packs of flour everywhere and there's always bits spilling out. I've told him that when the inevitable weevil apocalypse occurs, he's going to be fumigating everything.

After we had weevils I cleaned the cupboard out and swapped cupboards around. Waited about a year and then swapped them back.

Now all flour gets put in the freezer for 4 days to kill off the eggs so they can't hatch. Flour in Tupperware containers.

It was hideous when we had them, was due to open flour packs hanging around for too long. They got everywhere and I had to throw away so much food.

I generally use the presence of flour mites to tell me that the flour is a bit stale and has been open too long! Not really bothered by the fact that we might eat one or two, but I think they only manifest in flours that have been open too long.

I used to live somewhere tropical so kept flour, pasta etc in the freezer. The eggs are already in the flour but it seems more reasonable to eat the eggs rather than the weevils.

Ewww I've had a couple of batches infested, new packets in date. Scrub everything chuck all your packets. Didn't know about the eggs always there ewwwww!
Freezing a good tip not that I've room in my freezer

You get them in rice as well. Do you get them in porridge oats too?

I live somewhere hot and humid and we get them all the time. Freeze the flour and then sieve. The eggs are in everything