? About Using Dry Ice in Wheat Berries

I bought quite a large quantity of wheat berries and am looking for someone who has used the dry ice to kill or keep out the weevils.   All I need to know is if I can lay the dry ice touching the wheat?   I think I can but want to be sure.   I know not to put the lid on tight as it will build up gases and explode.   I had specific instructions but can't find them.

One of the people on our Healthy Choices site said to come here because there are visitors that come here who should know the answer.   Maybe I'll get lucky.   Thank you.

http://www.recipezaar.com/bb/viewtopic.zsp?p=3099164

http://www.bluehorizonsfarminc.com/serv04.htm

May I ask what are wheat berries? I've never heard of them.

Granny, it also beats the hell out of me why people call wheat KERNELS whet berries. Yet they call some breads whole Kernel bread.

Doesn't make any sense to me either.

As for the dry ice, I have never used it. BTW, how do you know you have weevils in your wheat? Have you seens them?

When I buy grain in 50 lbs bags I put them into the freezer for  3-4 days. Then I spread it ut on a sheet (in a warm room) and let it dry for a couple of days. If your wheat is dry and stored air tight in a cool, dry room it will not explode or my house would have blown up a long time ago. I store my dry wheat in 6 gallon food grade plastic buckets, add a few oxygen absorbers  and close with Gamma Lids (special air- and insect tight lids you can purchase)

I get the oxygen absorbers from waltonfeed.com. I bought my buckets and lids from our local representative for Alisons Pantry (out of Utah).

I don't know what you call a large quantity. Right now I have over 300 lbs of wheat  stored and am buying another 100 lbs of hard white as soon as they get it in. Hard Red I can get here because it is grown here in sw ND but soft white and hard white I have to buy somewhere else.

grelo, I've just always called them wheat berries because that's how they are referred to at the Bosch store where I've taken many classes and bought many kitchen gadgets.   I thank you for your help - I figured you'd be the one to help me.   I don't know I have weevils, but more as a preventative.   I have about 200 lbs - bought when the Bosch was having a truckload sale.   Since wheat keeps going up, I thought I'd stock up a little.   I have mine in the 6 gallon buckets with the Gamma Lids also.   I will look into the oxygen absorbers, that sounds easy.

I live in Utah, but am not familiar with Alisons Pantry, but it is so easy to get the buckets elsewhere.

Thank you to the others on here too for helping me - the Blue Horizons Farm link had the perfect answer for using dry ice.

Mojazz,

I know buckets are easy to get but you have to have food grade plastic.

Many farmers here buy laundry detergent powder in 5 and 6 galloj buckets they later use on the farm but those are not good for storing food in.

The Gamma lids are a bit high priced but the "scew" on and don't wear out like the lids you have to bust open with a lid lifter, with a lifter the lids wear out a lot faster..

Look at the website of "alisonspantry.com". They have some of the same things as Waltonfeed: dried vegetables and  storage foods  but their prices are a little hugher. They do have the buckets and gamma lids. I buy from a local representative. Their Ghiradelli Dutch pprocess cocoa powder was real real reasonable in 5 lbs packages and so were the Ghiradelli chocolate chips. Most of their merchandise is prepared foods in larger quantities but I don't buy any prepared foods at all. I only ordered the hard white wheat and the chocolate/cocoa and the gamma lids and a few buckets because I already had buckets.. I bet you can find a local rep if you live in Utah, that way they charge only 10% for shipping. Right now they are out of hard white wheat but will have some again from the fresh harvest in a few mionths. It will be a LOT more expensive I am afraid but what can you do?

I did buy 50 lbs of cornmeal from them at $21.00 and shared with two friends, two of us keopt 15 lbs ea and the third person took 20 lbs., worked out real good that way.

I will have to re-order some oxygen absorbers, they come in packages of 100, look like those small envelopes of sugar you used to get in a restaurent, only a bit larger. Maybe you even live close to Alisons Pantry and can shop there. We did spend two winters in St George before it grew so much and really liked it., that was in 80 and 85.We were in an RV park in Washington, right outside of St George and the small park was way at the south end of Washington with a view over the valley, real nice.

The storage foods in Alisons Pantry are called "Rainy Day foods". Grain and flour (from Lehi Mills) is under "baking Supplies)

Let me know how you make out.