Storing grains

[Almtngoat]

I know it will vary by grain but can I get a guestimate for our most important grains. I really like SoCD's HBB recipe and want to make sure I have the ingredients locked down, as in stored away. Can I get some storage parameters to go by for an Alabama garage.

[fizzix]

Cool, dry, unmilled, and vermin free will store for a year.
If you can store it in vacuum bags, all the better.
Milled grain will draw moisture, and "just in a covered bucket" will drop storage to about 3 months with a moulding risk.

Here's some threads on the matter.

You can do further searches with HD Google Search up above. Here's how to use it:

[Almtngoat]

Thanks that's what I figured

[TDick]

Cool, dry, unmilled, and vermin free will store for a year.
If you can store it in vacuum bags, all the better.
Milled grain will draw moisture, and "just in a covered bucket" will drop storage to about 3 months with a moulding risk.

Hadn't thought about vacuum bags Fizzix, thanks
Perhaps placing the vacuum bags in Lowes/HDepot storage buckets.

Goat, last year I went to feed store and bought cracked corn, wheat & barley. 50# sacks $12-$15 per and stored them in storage bins from Target.

They seemed to do fine in cool ventilated garage. Several weeks ago I noticed a little powder in the wheat and a few buggies.
Well as you know in addition to the regular summer humidity we have had these daily tropical rains for weeks.
Over the weekend I checked my bins and what a mess.
No pictures, let's just say it would have a made a pretty good science fair project.
One last thing. I bought cracked corn which I think is a mistake because I still had to grind it down.
In the future I'll either use deer corn from Tractor Supply - cheaper and I'll malt it - or just buy smaller fresh quantities of corn meal.

[badflash]

Protect in in metal as well. Mice live to get in and moths can chew through plastic vacuum bags. I had 100# of rye turned into bug poop and over run with bugs. It was in a plastic trash can and weevils got into it somehow. I had a bunch of barley in vacuum bags and miller moth's chewed their way in. Mice can chew through plastic, but not metal.

[The Baker]

From the Interweb, a destination called Kitchn:

"But how did the weevils get there in the first place? You may want to skip this part if you're squeamish but we think it's actually quite fascinating ... A female weevil lays an egg inside a grain kernel. (She can do this up to 254 times!) The egg hatches and for one to five months depending on the season, the larva lives inside and feeds on the kernel as it grows. Upon reaching adulthood, the weevil emerges from the kernel to mate – and look for new grains to invade. We're kind of amazed to think of this process taking place inside a bag of wheatberries we purchased six months ago and forgot in the back of a cupboard!"

So the insects did not find their way into the carefully sealed grain; the EGGS were there all the time and when the eggs hatched the insects found their way OUT?

Which is I guess why grain, etc. is fumigated.

Another quote, "The fumigant must be kept in contact with the insects for at least 7 days to kill all stages of the insect´s life cycle that usually exist in stored grains . "

So long term storage of grain at home is not indicated.

Geoff

[Truckinbutch]

Line a Brute garbage can with a clear bag liner . Put your whole grain in that . Buy some dry ice and pt it in on top of the grain . Seal the liner (twist and tie). No bad things happen in an environment without oxygen .
Cracked or ground grains have a much shorter shelf life than whole grains in any environment .

[jedneck]

My prefered method is in liquid form in oak barrel

[badflash]

From the Interweb, a destination called Kitchn:

"But how did the weevils get there in the first place?
So long term storage of grain at home is not indicated.

Geoff

Wheat seems to last forever as does barley. I have both in 55 gallon steel drums and have never had an issue as long as they are sealed air tight. Rye is the big problem.

[The Baker]

Maybe if the drums are sealed airtight AND THEY ARE WELL FILLED WITH THE GRAIN there is too little oxygen for the critters to live??
But I do like the dry ice!

Geoff

[Almtngoat]

My prefered method is in liquid form in oak barrel

Lol I hard you and agree and thanks to the rest of you for the advice

[seamusm53]

Does freezing grain kill the eggs? If yes - how long?

[The Baker]

Does freezing grain kill the eggs? If yes - how long?

Forever I suppose!

I don't know if freezing would kill the EGGS; more likely it would kill the living weevils of whatever stage but I don't know that.

But as to how long in the freezer it would depend a bit on how thick the grain is spread.

Geoff

[badflash]

Freezing won't kill the eggs.