Weevils in Rice.

PRIYA

With the up-coming global shortage of rice, can anyone tell me how I can keep weevils out of mine? One of my Indian friends suggested rubbing castor oil into the grains, before storage in air-tight containers. She also said this could be applied to lentils.

Has anyone heard of this, or have any suggestions for keeping rice/lentils for long periods of time?

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capt_mahajan

Meanwhile..

Bugs in my rice

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mani

My mum & aunt do this and it works. alternative neem leaves

PRIYA

Sorry Cap'n, I didn't mean to duplicate threads.

However, I don't know of anyone here who has neem leaves. I've tried bay leaves, also a few cloves, but I STILL get weevils. Maybe the African variety of weevils are more sturdy than the others. I've also tried leaving the rice out in the sun, which does tend to get rid of them, but after a few days there's more. I guess maybe the eggs hatch.

Nick-H

Castor oil is not very nice stuff to ingest; I'd rather not have it on my food.

On second thoughts, it's probably no worse than what's there already!

Given the overuse of pesticides in India, it's a wonder that all the insects aren't dead .

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kristinm

Keep in in the fridge or freezer - apparently it stops them hatching... ours is full of flour, rice, etc... the bloody things are in plague proportions here, even emerging from unopened packets of rice and flour!

PRIYA

Ah, you have the same problem. I've been told not to keep flour in the freezer, as this does something to the gluten, not that I have to worry about flour!

Nick, the castor oil is supposed to be washed off, when you're rinsing your rice, prior to cooking - likewise with the lentils - but I'm still waiting for confirmation on that one.

kristinm

Fridge I think is better... I hate those bloody things .. the little moths and the creepy weevils!

AvidTrekker

My mum uses castor oil on rice AND lentils.

Washes them off in the 2 to 3 rinses prior to cooking. Does keep the insects at bay.
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PRIYA

Thank you AT - That's the confirmation I needed.


(Now to find some castor oil )

AvidTrekker

Mum orders from some chap who pre-coats these with castor oil. Of course, she buys some 50 kg at once minimium, for this service. These services hardly cost anything in Mumbai, provided you know from where to buy.

I used to fight with mum over the castor oil taste. As expected, I lost.
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capt_mahajan

No sweat, and I didn't mean that. Just pointed out an earlier thread for your reference

Btw, did you try telling the worms that the early one gets caught?

Cosmic Sprite

Someone told me to add a few neem leaves to stored grain; haven't had a chance to try this out yet.

kristinm

No neem leaves here unfortunately...

naomi.miname

I'm told microwaving the flour for a short time will kill off any bugs AND their eggs without changing the taste of the flour, I've never done it tho.

I remember always eating flour out of the freezer when I was a kid, my mum always froze it, probably to keep the weevils out.