Since the bags are so big you can't freeze it but you can....

Spread bay leaves around your kitchen or around the bags. This natural bug repellent is an old wives way of keeping the critters away.

Here is a link that might be useful: How to Keep Bugs out of Flour

If you have a freezer with room to spare..that is the best way...jmo

I keep my flour in the freezer. I have an upright that I keep especially for flour, rice, beans, and other cereal items that I use for baking... I break the large bags down into smaller containers.. available at Walmart and stack them in the freezer.

Carolyn

I keep mine in a freezer as well but since I don't use much of either I usually don't have such large amounts to worry with. But I think I would break it down into smaller containers and freeze it.

I too keep mine in my freezer especially my rice. I buy the giant bags of it when I go home to visit then split it up into the large size ziplock bags and put in freezer.

I do put bay leaves in my storage container jars that have flour and bisquick and stuff like that in them.

I do it with corn meal as well.

I freeze eveerything I can. Never tried the bay leaf thing.I have had a couple of weevil infestations. Had to throw everything out and spray,spray,spray.Even had the little buggers crawling in my package of hard tacos. Gross!

If you don't want to open the flour why not place the bags of flour along with several bay leaves inside another plastic bag and then seal that tightly with a twist tie? Plus you can just leave some bag leaves on the shelf near where you store your flour and rice.

The bay leaf thing is an old homesteading hint they are also good for bags of dry cat and dog food.

Just 24 hours in the freezer will kill all existing bug eggs when you bring flour or grains home.

Then just put it in Tupperware or similar containers for storage. Places like Smart and Final sell food save buckets with lids for bulk storage of food.

All the extra flour I would store in the freezer just to keep it out of the way.

Why would you buy anything of that size. It's hard to get rid of pantry bugs and you end up losing it all, plus other foods.

Many years ago I had a weevil infestation. After I threw everything out, I put bay leaves on my cupboard shelves and never had another infestation.

It just takes one time for a bug and you start taking extra steps. I freeze everything that I can. Of course, my freezer is usually stuffed. Maybe I should clean it out? LOL

I know you do a lot of breadmaking and other baking and use a lot of rice so maybe that's a reasonable amount to buy at a time, IDK, but I would give it some thought and not get more than, say 3-6 months worth at a time, which this may be for you. As for storage, I've heard of the bay leaves, but not sure if it really works. And it's really unnecessary if you seal it tight which you need to do anyway. Open bags of flour are bug/roach vacation spots and a few bay leaves aren't likely to stop them. You need it sealed and maybe the leaves will help some.

What's your outside temps now? Put the stuff into plastic bags into tight plastic containers (5 gal pails with tight seals and a plastic seal works well) and keep it in the garage if you have one. Stuff it in a cooler, covered pails, totes or something and stick in a snowbank if you need to and have the spot for it. I doubt you'd have enough room in your freezer for that much product. I suppose by now if there's bugs they're in there so if that's the case, it's too late now but just some options for the future. If you don't have freezer space when buying it, I'd leave it in the car and freeze what you can, then seal it. Check with deli counters for glass pickle jars. They make great flour canisters. You might want to give some thought to a vacuum sealer too. You might have enough different uses for it to justify the cost.

Although backroom conditions have improved around here dramatically, I saw too many bugs and rodents in the back rooms of stores to not seal and freeze everything I can. Pasta, flour, sugar, rice, and anything that's not sealed in a plastic bag in the box. That's an absolute around my place. I'm a real stickler on that. Literally within seconds of it coming home, pasta, flour, etc is put in the freezer or a cooler in the garage (during the winter) and/or plastic bagged. I know people think I'm paranoid about it but like I said after seeing the mice running across the floors in the back of a grocery store years back it just stuck in my mind and hearing from people who've experienced infestations, well I'm gonna just be paranoid!

You're not in as much danger as the southern climates but bugs are a real PITA if you get them and they're not easy to remove once infested. Plus, you're in an apartment, right? You also run the risk of neighbors not being careful and the little buggers can come for a visit from you. A friend had to move from a great apartment because they couldn't get the roaches under control. When they are crawling out of the laptop computer (which they did) you know things are bad!

I assume you're buying these sizes for price? Be sure to factor in the cost of containers, extra ziplocks, plastic wrap, etc when you think about price. I imagine you could even look at a small freezer and factor in the electric expense if you go through a huge amount but I doubt it would be cost effective. Stores have flour on sale at all major holidays and it beats the "cost club" pricing anyway. If you have an Aldi around you can check their prices too. Might be a better alternative.

But for now, seal that stuff up tight! Even if you have to use ice cream pails, Press-N-Seal wrap and an extra layer of good plastic wrap will make a pretty tight seal. Wrap in a large plastic bag and/or put in a tote for storage in a closet or corner.

I had a friend who had a terrible infestation in her pantry. I went over to help her sort through and clean out and we found moth and beetle larvae in EVERYTHING, including unopened packages of pasta, dried peppers, etc. The scariest thing was when I opened a tightly closed jar of peanut butter! We assumed that things in cans were safe (right?) and tossed everything else. Everything.

Supposedly they can get thru ziplocs and tupperware. I had a weevil infestation once, but considering I've been married 21 years-its not enough to get me to load the freezer with my pantry items. What I have read on the flours, is to freeze it for 24 hours to kill any microscopic eggs. If you have an extra freezer, it could be done one bag at a time. If not, maybe a friend does. After that, I wouldn't worry about it. You could get a large pet food type plastic bin with a tight seal to store it in as opposed to the paper bag type material flour comes in. Same with the rice.

I've got one of the flours in the freezer now. I also have some 5-gallon pails with lids, that were used for wine-making. They had powder in.

I've used them for other uses, so I'll wash them out with water and javex prior to storing my flour.

I put some bay leaves in my cupboards and in my open bag of rice as a precaution.