August 15, 2021 - 2:35pm
VERY Tiny Bugs in Rye Berries
A few times I've found VERY tiny bugs in my bucket of rye berries. They're definitely not flour weevils. I've had an ongoing infestation of those and am familiar with what they look like. They're much smaller than weevils—almost the size of a speck of dust and a light brown color. They're actually difficult to tell apart from the dust at the bottom of my bucket.
Does anyone know what these tiny things are? I've been googling different kinds of bugs that invade grains (a very unpleasant experience), but I'm only seeing weevil-sized bugs that are at least a few millimeters large.
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The only thing that comes to mind is flour mites.
Could they be book lice? We just had an issue with tiny, tiny little brownish bugs in the pantry and they went after paper products (paper cups, coffee filters) and pastas in cardboard boxes, rice in a paper bag, etc. It was awful. We bought a magnifying glass because we couldn't figure out what they were because they were so tiny! Even with max zoom on my phone camera, it was difficult to identify what these were.
They feed on mold which you may not be able to see so the best thing to do is try to lower the humidity inside your home. Supposedly they're not super damaging, just very annoying (and gross!). We bought a pesticide online that said it was also able to be used in food prep areas - safe after it dried. After cleaning out the pantry and storing everything we wanted to save inside tubs, we sprayed the pesticide all along the baseboards, grout lines, etc and left it for a few weeks while we bought and ran a dehumidifier. We went from 55% humidity inside down to 42% which is where we currently still are and they seem to be gone.
https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/63271/cleaning-grain-grinding-yikes-bugs
I discovered this years ago. When you get your grain, put it in the freezer for at least 48 hours to two weeks or more. It kills larvae which is present in all grain, no matter what. My wheat berries come in 20 lb bags. I transfer grain to more manageable storage, suck the air out and seal, label them with date, weight. and lay them in the freezer.
I looked at my rye berries today and noticed how dusty they looked, with dust accumulated at the bottom of the canister. Took the canister out in the sun and used a magnifying glass.... I can't see any bugs or movement, but some of the individual berries have holes in their sides (couldn't get a good photo of those). I plan to just toss these. But my concern is I don't know if it is from bugs or some sort of mold/fungus. They are very dry and until the last 2 weeks, humidity here in AZ is non-existent (single digits is common).
These have been stored at 75F in this sealed canister. Thoughts from anyone are appreciated!
Mary
When ever you see dust collecting, be suspicious. I also check noodle packages for dust before buying gently shaking contents toward package windows where I can't see the bottom. This is a good time of the year to check through cupboards, freezing and or baking using up stores, freezing ot vacuum packing the rest. The bugs are tiny hard to avoid. You can shake out a lot of them in a sieve or strainer and then mill, bake or cook them up. Washing will also remove a good many if you want to remove them.
I am just going to toss them. It's not a lot. I use a little rye when I feed my starter, and that has not been performing as well lately. It smells/tastes ok. Makes me wonder if the beasties don't care for the buggie "byproducts of metabolism" in the rye. 😉 Will feed it some fresh wheat flour only and see if that perks things up.
Thanks so much, Mini!
Mary
I would roast the berries in a frying pan and kill the little buggies before sifting them out. Roasted rye flour or chops would still feed the starter, it just won't rise much. Aroma and sour taste become the important indicaters and bubbles forming on side of the jar. Wash the jar out with hot soapy water and dry well before filling with the roasted berries. Grind and feed as before.
Will try this for the starter after I replenish my supply..... And bake with some of the unroasted rye too. 😁
I do occasionally make rye breads as well, just not lately. Summer baking in AZ doesn't inspire me to do more than bare bones sandwich bread lately, lol. Cooler temps should arrive in just a few more weeks! 🤞🍞