newbie- milling FROZEN wheat grains??? and general long term storage
bought 25 pounds of organic hard wheat berries, packed into 5 poundish double zipped locked baggies in the freezer. they've been there for 2 weeks now to kill any bugs. read this is good practice to kill larvae and weevils?
i want to start milling a bag today, but now have a moment of panic- i have an electric all-grain mill a33x with grinding stones- whole grains are supposed to be DRY when milling, right? are the grains from the freezer still considered dry or now slightly wet???? will it mess up the stones?
now that the whole grains have been in the freeezer for 2 weeks, can i store the double zipped locked baggies into plastic buckets with lids(not gamma lids) in storage closet? do i need to be concerned about any possible condensation causing wetness on the grains?
super anxious b/c i've been waiting more than a whole month- (from placing order to today) to grind up these whole grains. hate to ruin my mill or have the grains spoil on me.
thanks!
I can't answer your question directly. I store grain in 5 and 6 gallon buckets with gamma lids. I use a little dry ice in the bottom of the bucket. I have stored grain for years and have had no problems. Other people seal grain in mylar bags.
I would let the grains from the freezer come to room temperature to eliminate the possibility of condensation on the grains.
Jeff
The pet food containers with screw-top lids are very good for grain storage. Most pet stores have them in many sizes.
Yes freezing will kill all the bugs and eggs in your grain. This is a matter of time and temperature. The colder the temperature the less time it takes, 2 weeks should be long enough.
I mill my grain straight out the freezer. Your mill might be different but my grain never never picked up any moisture that I can tell. You can also do a search on TheFreshLoaf for tempering which as I remember is adding water to grain until you get a certain level of moisture content. The level is fairly low but higher than what any condensation would give to the grain.
I just leave my grains in the freezer. If I need freezer space I just leave them out in the room in the bulk bags they came in.
well, i went ahead and just milled some whole grains from the freezer. they felt cold but not moist. sifted for stones and tossed them in.
boy, what a mess, i mill outside b/c of the noise and flour clouds, my dog does not like the noise but is happy to help me clean up all the flour that lands on the floor:) he likes organic wheat too.
I would let them come to room temp before milling. If they are hard like rice they should be okay for milling.