Prevent And Get Rid Of Weevils And Bugs In Flour

Have you ever measured your flour out to make cookies, only to realize that there were little black things crawling around?  Weevils can certainly put a damper on your cooking mood. Don’t worry. Here’s how to take care of the bugs in your flour and keep them from coming back.

Get Rid of Weevils Already in the Home

The very first thing you should do is throw out the food that has already been contaminated with bugs. Go through all of your opened bags of flour, cornmeal, rice, sugar, oatmeal, and any other staples you have stored. If you see bugs, throw it out.

Gather everything into a large garbage bag, and take it out of the house as soon as you are finished.  You want the bugs out so you don’t risk them showing up in more food in a few days.

Kitchen Cleaning

Once your remaining food has been declared bug free, it’s time to clean.  Wipe out and disinfectant every surface where you store food.  If you have a lot of loose crumbs in the bottom of your cupboards, a vacuum hose may help you to clean quickly. You can also vacuum out the cracks along the sides of your cupboard. This process will take some time, but remember you are doing it to avoid re-infestation.

Properly Storing New Food

Food that remains open in bags is prone to get weevils.  Prevent this from happening by storing your staples in containers with tight fitting lids.  As you purchase new items for your pantry, use either heat or cold to kill any bugs that could be inside.

Heat Method

Spread your food in a thin layer on a cookie sheet, and leave in the oven at 120°F for one hour.  The microwave can also be used, just cook for five minutes.  Keep in mind that this method is not good for fine-grained staples like flour, as spontaneous combustion can occur.

Cold Method

When you buy a new bag of flour or a different staple, place the entire thing in the freezer.  You can either store it here permanently, or if freezer space is at a premium, keep it there for four days before placing it back in your pantry.

To keep bugs in flour away, wipe up kitchen spells immediately.  Keep your cupboards clean, and your food in tight-fitting lids.

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Clean Your Kitchen With UV Light

The rising popularity of UV disinfectants has been exceptional to say the least; however, a lot of people are still skeptical if they work or not. After all, the idea of killing bacteria without sprays or bleaches may seem a little farfetched. Nonetheless, the truth is, UV light can actually be used to kill off germs in any surface and if you have been looking for a perfect cleaning solution for your kitchen, perhaps using UV light cleaners is a great start. There are some notable benefits of UV light as compared to other cleaning options. These include:

• Safer: The chemicals and bleaches used to clean and kill off germs are not as safe as you think. The chemicals they contain can be toxic and if you can avoid them, the better. UV light offers a more realistic cleaning and disinfection option that is far much safer compared to bleaches and chemicals. It is the perfect solution for people who don’t want to take any chances with the chemicals found in disinfectants.

• Very Effective: UV light cleaners can actually kill up to 99.9% of all germs found on the kitchen surface and anywhere else in the house for that matter. Not many cleaning agents can boast that record. Besides, using the UV cleaner is so easy. There is no mess involved; you just light it up and pass it over the surface you want to disinfect and you will be done.

• Far Much Cheaper: When you compare the amount of money you spend on bleaches and other cleaning detergents with the cost of a UV light cleaning solution, you will realize that there is a huge price difference. UV is cheaper compared to chemical detergents that would probably not give you the same result as the UV light.

Keeping your kitchen clean and disinfected is a very easy thing provided you know how to do it. However, if you are looking for an effective solution, you can try out UV light cleaners today. The Family Dining Room is a resourceful blogs that provides useful tips on food, home, and kitchen. Follow us for more articles and ideas for your kitchen and home.

Tips For Cleaning Strainers And Sieves

The strainer or sieve is definitely one of the most widely used kitchen accessories, but it is also the most commonly ignored one when it comes to cleaning and maintenance of the same. We start to notice that our strainers or sieves need to be cleaned only when we notice those ugly hard debris that get lodged near the perforations. It is recommended to clean out the strainers from time to time so that the debris would not build up. Some of the things that you’ll require for conducting such a task are: dish soap, scrub brush, sink plug or a large bowl, an old toothbrush and a kitchen towel.

The very first thing that you need to do is to plug the sink and fill it up to 60% of its capacity. Alternatively, you can use a large bucket or pot, whichever is preferable to you for cleaning strainers and sieves. Next, mix a bit of the dish soap into the water to create a frothy and soapy water. Now, put the sieve or strainer into the soapy solution and allow it to soak for fifteen minutes or so. This will loosen up the hard residue and make it easy to clean. After that, dip your brush into the soapy water and begin scrubbing the strainer. Additionally, you can also use your old toothbrush to scrub the hard to reach places. However, do make sure you sterilize the toothbrush first before using it.

Sometimes, when one has not engaged in cleaning strainers and sieves for a long time then the debris would be very stubborn. In such a scenario, one can use a kitchen towel for deep cleaning. Simply hold the towel against the outside of the area to be cleaned and scrub the inside part with the brush vigorously against the towel. Also, it is important to ensure that you rotate the sieve while cleaning it so that you can thoroughly clean the entire surface of the sieve. Once you are satisfied with the cleaning process, you can rinse the sieve or strainer under running tap water and then allow it to air dry.

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Schedule Your Kitchen Cleaning With This Easy Guide

The kitchen is the heart of many homes. It is among the most used rooms of the house and probably has the most germs. You can keep the kitchen clean by doing some simple tasks every day. The following kitchen cleaning guide highlights some of the tasks you can do to keep your kitchen sparkling every day.

On a Daily Basis

There are a number of important things that most people find tiresome to do or don’t see the necessity of doing them. If you want to maintain a clean kitchen, do the following regularly:

• Wash all the dirty dishes as they are used. Don’t let them accumulate in the sink.
• Wash the sink thoroughly (preferably using hot water to remove oil).
• Run the dish washer as required.
• Clean the counters to avoid attracting unwanted bugs.
• Put out a clean rag and hand towel for the next day.
• Empty both the dish washer and dish drainer.
• Sweep the floor.
• Put a clean garbage bag in the waste bin and empty the bin every day before you go to bed. This helps remove bad odor and pests from the kitchen.

Weekly Chores

Some kitchen tasks don’t necessarily have to be done daily but can be done weekly. The tasks include:

• Clean outside all the kitchen appliances.
• Thoroughly clean inside the microwave.
• Sort through the leftovers in the fridge.
• Replace dirty wash and hand towels with clean ones. Remember to wash the dirty towels.
• Clean the faucets and disinfect the sink thoroughly.
• Mop the floors (add antiseptic and detergent in the water you’ll use).

Monthly

This is when you’ll be required to do everything thoroughly. Most of the difficult chores are done at the end of every month. They include:

• Taking inventory of the items found in the pantry.
• Cleaning the dish drainer’s drip pan.
• Spot cleaning the grout.
• Removing everything from the fridge before cleaning it.
• Inventorying the food in the freezer as you sort out what needs to be eaten soon, tossed away or restocked.

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