I had to throw out 20 lbs of beans tonight - what a waste...

[bluegrassmom]

Ug. I'm just disgusted. I've stored beans for years. I know how to do multiple timed freezings on my dry goods to get them ready for longer term storage. But I think the container I put these particular beans in was the cause of their demise. They were in these plastic food containers that I got from Sam's. If I had stopped to give it some thought, I could have figured out that they were no good for real storage. One container had buggies in it and the other had a very off smell. (sigh) At least it wasn't my whole bean supply. I still have beans left, stored in better containers that are fine. I guess this is a good reminder to not put your food in something thinking you'll re-do it later. Because sometimes you forget and then things get ruined. Blah.

[ANewMe]

Awww....so sorry to hear that. I know you are frustrated, but better to find out now than in a bad situation..

[Amishway Homesteaders]

not that YOU did it but..............................

 

we keep telling people that sometimes 'cheap' isn't the best way to go!

 

Like on food storage items sometimes places like Wallyworld has things 'cheap' and most of the time they are 'CHEAP' so in the long run you have to go out and buy again (or get better someplace else) and you lost whatever you had stored in them as well as having to chuck them out.

 

Same thing with canning lids - We NEVER buy them at yard sales EVEN IF they are new in a box and only 50 cents! Because we have no way of knowing how and where they were stored. 6 months later is not when I want to know I got junk!

 

Now things like used canning jars (not the wire kind), oil lamps, Dishes,etc. are fine (as long as you check them over first) and we ALWAYS replace any wicks no matter how good they look. Things like that are get seeing that 'new' would cost so much more. And like the canning jars ,people ask us why we don't know new so we are not putting food into old jars? We tell them after the first time they use their 'new' expensive jars - then they are OLD too. LOL

 

Now I have NEVER! and I mean NEVER bought used T-paper at a yard sale!

and I don't care how high it goes in price there are just some things I want NEW!

[Ambergris]

I've done that, too often.

[Mt_Rider]

Bluegrassmom, dontcha just HATE that! We all work hard to build up preps and mistakes can be costly.

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Ahem, Michael!

 

 

"Used Tpaper", indeed!

 

 

 

MtRider [....queen of thrift store/garage sale but....I'm with AH on that one! ]

[Centexan]

Regarding your beans going bad.....I had some of the same luck with some rice....lots of rice. I stored several 5-gallon buckets with mylar bags and oxygen absorbers inside (did it right)....but got really busy and ran out of mylar bags, so I put off getting more and stored a lot of rice in the plastic bags they came in from the store, in a rubbermade tote, in the closet. Welllllll.....a couple of years later (yesterday) I found the tote. The rice has bugs-a- plenty and unfit to eat. I thought I would sift out the bugs, heat it in the oven for a few minutes to kill any eggs, and store it to use in making dog food (as an extender). Don't know how good that would be for animals, but they already eat scraps sometimes.

[Jingles]

Did you check and see if they germinate before you tossed them? We lost a whole bucket several years ago and we tested the beans to see if they germinated and yes they did so we planted them the next spring to see what they would grow. We ended up refilling the bucket that following fall. Just a thought. The bugs didn't bug the plants.

[bluegrassmom]

Did you check and see if they germinate before you tossed them? We lost a whole bucket several years ago and we tested the beans to see if they germinated and yes they did so we planted them the next spring to see what they would grow. We ended up refilling the bucket that following fall. Just a thought. The bugs didn't bug the plants.

 

Well, shoot. No, didn't think of that...

[Ambergris]

I was bucketing cornmeal, black eyed peas, barley, and rice last night.

 

WEEVILS! The rice was riddled with it. The barley had some. One of the bags of black eyed peas had one--but where you see one bug you have a thousand eggs.

 

I'm guessing it came in with the rice, which I bought over the course of the past week and a half. Since I've had it at home more than a few days, the store says the rice is my problem. I've had the black eyed peas since NYE, and the cornmeal for the same period, so if I had the problem I think it would have shown up more in the meal. (The rice I bought at the NYE sales is long gone...)

 

THANK YOU, WINN DIXIE!

[themartianchick]

Not good... Can you try contacting the manufacturer? Maybe they will send you coupons for replacements. I would also share some truthful information along with it like that you are trying to save money in these tough economic times to support your family of x number of children. I'd go further and talk about the high risk of layoffs in your industry and that you are trying to hang on by the skin of your teeth and continue to make ends meet... You know...that kind of thing. Often times the companies will try to rectify the situation. You could also take it up the corporate food chain at Winn Dixie!

 

 

[Virginia]

My DB and SIL had beans stored in totes, upstairs. They have had an ant problem for several years, downstairs, mostly in the kitchen. Had it treated several years to get rid of the ants. This fall, cleaning out the upstairs closet, the discovered the ants had gotten in to totes, and the beans were mostly dust. I never knew ants could and would do that. They are going for air tight buckets now.

[Ambergris]

I'm still too angry and upset to talk to anyone there.

[michelle]

That is so annoying but I think we'll all had something similar happen. Sorry you lost some of your preps though I've been there and it's not fun.

[ScrubbieLady]

I was bucketing cornmeal, black eyed peas, barley, and rice last night.

 

WEEVILS! The rice was riddled with it. The barley had some. One of the bags of black eyed peas had one--but where you see one bug you have a thousand eggs.

 

I'm guessing it came in with the rice, which I bought over the course of the past week and a half. Since I've had it at home more than a few days, the store says the rice is my problem. I've had the black eyed peas since NYE, and the cornmeal for the same period, so if I had the problem I think it would have shown up more in the meal. (The rice I bought at the NYE sales is long gone...)

 

THANK YOU, WINN DIXIE!

 

A friend of mine is cooking her old rice and feeding it to her chickens so they have some warm during the really cold/icy weather(they are pastured so if it is snowy, they stay in their house which is really just supposed to be a place to keep them safe at night. It has upped her supply of eggs.

[Annarchy]

I found one of my brown rice bags smelled rancid, spread it out for the birds.... they didn't even like it.

Thank God I only lost one pound.

[Dave Digs Dirt]

Could I ask a couple of questions about points I don't understand?

 

1) are you feeling that the bugs were already in the beans/rice and other dry goods when bought or that they got in because of a poor quality container?

 

2) do you routinely freeze your dry goods prior to storing them in containers?

 

3) what is there in brown rice that could turn it rancid?

 

Reason I ask is because I have never had any of these problems with my 5 gallon plastic bucket or Totes-stored dry storage goods but I don't know what I may be doing differently. Perhaps a humidity/ location/air supply or whatever difference?

 

TIA

 

Dave

[themartianchick]

Dave-

 

In the past, I have purchased flour/baking mix that had some sort of moths that flew out of it. In the flour, I found some signs that the bugs had been in there long enough to hatch out of eggs and shed some sort of skin or something.

 

Many people freeze their beans, rice and other dry goods in order to kill anything that might be alive in the packaging. The idea is to kill the bugs and eggs so that they don't start eating all of the preps or spread to other prep containers.Then the items are generally divvied up into better containers that are airtight and oxygen absorbers are dropped in prior to sealing.

 

Brown rice has oil in it because the bran has not been removed. This means that brown rice doesn't have as long of shelf life as white rice. In my case, I don't like white rice at all. I only stock a small quantity of brown rice for myself and I try to rotate through it rather quickly. White rice has the ability to last for 20+ years, if properly stored.

 

The main problem with most storage totes is that they usually have holes under the handles that can allow bugs in and the lids aren't quite airtight either. I do like to use totes for storing non-food supplies or food supplies that are already sealed in something. This seems to keep all of the little nasties out. Living in an old house, our biggest concern seems to be the annual invasion of mice. I don't use the oxygen absorbers and buckets like some folks do...I like to put alot of my goods in jars to keep them safe.

[ScrubbieLady]

I found one of my brown rice bags smelled rancid, spread it out for the birds.... they didn't even like it.

Thank God I only lost one pound.

 

 

She cooked the rice.