Found tiny bugs in my mockmill...

[fitzgen]

Was grinding some rice flour and the flour that came out had some flecks of bran in it. That's weird? Rice flour shouldn't have bran? Left over wheat from earlier milling? Look closer. Bran is moving. Bran is actually little bugs. Look inside mill's hopper. Full of tiny little aphid-size bugs. Open up the mill. Area surround stones is full of these things. Trying not to wonder how long they've been in there or think about if they made it into my dough. Guess my flour's protein content has been ever so slightly higher than spec.

Cleaned what I could with soap and water. Gonna go to the hardware store to get some compressed air to blast out the other nooks and crannies I can.

But the question remains: how to store the mockmill to prevent them from returning in the future? I've just been keeping it in my closet (aka the extended pantry). This episode has made me wish I had some kind of giant ziplock bag or something airtight to keep things out.

Please give me any and all suggestions, I'm totally unsure how to proceed from here.

[Heikjo]

Can they have come from something you milled? If it was flour bugs, they can come from some grains you have previously milled.

Avoiding bugs entering externally shouldn't be too hard, but it's impossible to avoid flour bugs entirely since they live in what you put in the mill. Frequent inspection and cleaning helps. I also have some memory of Tom mentioning flour can be put in a freezer for some weeks to make sure no bugs survive for long term storage. May work on grains as well, but it require freezer room and patience.

[Timpanogos Slim]

A big enough ziplock bag is actually not that hard to do. They really do come in a ton of big sizes.

I bet you could find a bucket with a good lid that it will fit in, but getting one in a close enough fit might be frustrating.

You could put the whole thing in an unscented trash can liner and tie it off.

I cover the business end of my all-grain with one of those disposable shower cap grade bowl covers. And a bigger one on the 'filter lid' of the bucket that goes with it. I haven't come up with a smaller bucket solution yet.

But the eggs were probably riding along in some grain you milled. Freezing the grain should kill them.

[fitzgen]

Okay all my various grains are now in the freezer. Will monitor as I mill more flour and see if they come back.


Thanks!!

[HansB]

Okay all my various grains are now in the freezer. Will monitor as I mill more flour and see if they come back.


Thanks!!

Good, that should do it. When I get wheat berries I always freeze them for at least ten days and have not had any critters.

If my mill was infested I'd wrap in plastic and freeze it too.

[Pizzailolz]

I HATE it when my bran moves! 

I get those pantry moths that start as little spec in anything made from grain. I started putting all of my flours, corn meal, rice flour, etc in plastic containers that have the silicone gasket in the lid. Someone recommended the non toxic pantry traps and dang those things work  great! The moths still magically appear seasonally from anything grain related that's not airtight, like boxes of cereal, dry beans, etc. But as soon as they are moths, the pheromones in the traps attract them for a one way ticket to sticky town so they can't lay eggs.

[Timpanogos Slim]

I HATE it when my bran moves! 

I get those pantry moths that start as little spec in anything made from grain. I started putting all of my flours, corn meal, rice flour, etc in plastic containers that have the silicone gasket in the lid. Someone recommended the non toxic pantry traps and dang those things work  great! The moths still magically appear seasonally from anything grain related that's not airtight, like boxes of cereal, dry beans, etc. But as soon as they are moths, the pheromones in the traps attract them for a one way ticket to sticky town so they can't lay eggs.

My folks had a big problem with those for a while in the 90's. Lots of staples had to spend some time in the freezer.

[TXCraig1]

But the eggs were probably riding along in some grain you milled. Freezing the grain should kill them.

This.

[fitzgen]

I've got all the parts that I can disassemble from the mockmill in the freezer, but the big base and bottom stone won't fit in my freezer. Air blasted them as well as I could. We will see.

[jkb]

Extra protein.

[nanometric]

I went down the flour-disinfestation rabbit hole a few years ago, and came up with a simple (and relatively short) freezing procedure based on various studies. Here is a link to those studies:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1LjLXyGtDOyugLPTvQtBaiJFZFK6WHz2Y?usp=drive_link

Now, If I can only find my procedure...