DIeTER WAS goInG TO baKe hIS DRieD FOoDS FoR A whiLe AT 200-250 DEGeeS tO kiLL bUgS And whATNoT!!!!!! RIcE!!!! paSTa!!!! HuH???? DOEs nOt his MEtHod alSO drY OuT The foOd of EXcEss MOiStuRe????? WHy doEs diETeR LiKE The woRd moIsTuRE????? MOiSturE!!!!! WeLL???? HoW AbouT It????? WHAt is wrOng WItH THis picTurE?????? ViTAmiNS???? HuH????

-- Dieter (questions@toask.com), March 16, 1999

Answers

Dieter,

Here are the instructions to prepare your food: Turn oven on broil to 500 degrees. Wait 5 minutes. Insert your head into oven. Count to 2000

-- @ (@@@.@), March 16, 1999.

Dieter, you adorable troll you, my method for storing pasta and grains calls for freezing the packages for a few days (kills any live bugs, but not eggs if present), then tossing into food-grade 5-gallon buckets with some bay leaves. Not as foolproof as oxygen absorbers, nitrogen or dry ice, but may help get me through next year.

-- Brooks (brooksbie@hotmail.com), March 16, 1999.

hEAt wiPES ouT BUGs, yeS, BUt alSO NUtrIENts, baD. hAS diETEr tRieD FREeze-DrYIng???

-- dinosaur (dinosaur@williams-net.com), March 16, 1999.

@--

LOL! (Dieter, darling, you know I don't mean it....) :>)

-- Scarlett (ohara@tara.net), March 16, 1999.

Dieter,

Freezing staples like rice, beans or grains is a good way to kill off small critters that might want to share your stash. Of course you might enjoy the thought of a bit of extra protein along with the grain- it's a matter of personal taste. One plan (I think it was from the Food Storage FAQ which is online at several sites- sorry, no URL handy) calls for freezing things for a couple of days twice about a week or so apart, bringing the stores back to room temp in between, to be thorough. They say freezing kills hatched out critters but not eggs, and the week long interval between cold snaps allows any eggs present to hatch after "winter" is over. Then the second freeze gets 'em.

Heating your stores is another way of doing the same thing but a bit harder to pull off successfully. The temps you mention are a good bit too high if I recall correctly (I don't use this method so I can't remember the proper temp- seems it was around 120 to 150 degrees).

You can use other methods like applying food-grade DE (diatomaceous earth) to keep out critters, or storing things in air-tight non- permeable containers filled with nitrogen or using oxygen absorber packs to remove oxygen. Critical points in food storage are moisture levels, temperature, oxygen, light and insect infestation. Skipper Clark's book, the Food Storage FAQ, James T. Stephen's books and many other sources give good information on these points.

Much luck,

-- (li'ldog@ontheporch.com), March 16, 1999.

DiEtER, 200-250 DeGrEEs iS Way TOo hOt, 150 DeGrEEs Is MoRe LiKe iT. YOu WIll ExpeRiEnCe a GrEAT DeAL Of ViTaMIn LoSs, As WeLl aS EfFecTiVelY SteRIlIzInG WhAtEVeR gRaIn YoU heAt... fOr ExAMplE, GRaIn So HEaTEd Won'T SprOUt. fReeZiNg Is A beTTer mEtHOd oVeRaLL. ThE ONlY tImE yOU SHoULd HeaT YoUr GrAiN iS IF YoU FiNd lIvE InsECts In iT. hEaTiNG wIll KilL tHeM AnD LeT yOu SalVaGe The fOoD. i HoPe tHat CleArS iT uP. InfIdEl!!!

-- sparks (wireless@home.com), March 16, 1999.

DiETEr, you're a doll...I have my extra flour in the freezer now but will transfer it to other containers with a bay leaf. Freezing does not kill the larvae, but will kill any little critters lurking who have already hatched. The expert word is that freezing does not kill larvae but to tell you the truth I'm not convinced of that. AND, on the QT, we think we are already eating a bit of bug protein each time we used stored dry food...and we don't even know it...Protein is protein...

Now would you like to talk about the efficacy of keeping stored seed in sealed containers in a refrigerator?

-- Donna Barthuley (moment@pacbell.net), March 16, 1999.

THaNk YoU???? aLL???? DIeTer Did NOT KnoW PRopER TEmPS, IS thAt nOt trUe????? DIeTeR IS FOoLISh SOMetImes!!!!! YEs??? NO???? yeS???? YES!!!! nO??? BEWaRe thOuGH INFIdELs, DOES iT noT TAkE A FOoL To Know a FOoL???? THAnK YoU!!!! GOoD MORniNG!!!! DieTer woULd trY HEAT BEcaUSE DIetEr's freeZer IS SMaLL, And it iS CUrrEntLy PAcKED FuLL OF ORgaNS!!!!!

-- Dieter (questions@toask.com), March 16, 1999.

DaDdY DiEtER!!!! MOmmY WaNtS YoU To Go HoMe AnD StOp AsKiNG DumB QuEsTIonS! DaDdY Is A JaCkAll!! DaDdY WhAt Is A ScRotUm????

-- Son of Dieter (sonofadieter@answewrs.com), March 16, 1999.

Why would Dieter's freezer be full of organs? Won't the keyboards be too cold to play?

-- Bill (BookWormNM@uswest.net), September 20, 1999.

Donna says: " The expert word is that freezing does not kill larvae but to tell you the truth I'm not convinced of that. AND, on the QT, we think we are already eating a bit of bug protein each time we used stored dry food...and we don't even know it...Protein is protein...

I donno. All I can say is that I sure as heck don't want to KNOW that I'm eating those crispy critters. Nevertheless, I heard somewhere that PB is allowed to be composed of as much as 30% insect parts. For the longest time I did not eat peanut butter because of this. Now I am neck high in denial. It is better this way.

-- coprolith (coprolith@rocketship.com), September 20, 1999.

OH NO! You guys should NOT wake DiETeR up! You have reactivated an old thread. He will not be a happy camper.

-- Gayla (privacy@please.com), September 20, 1999.