do I worry if I find NO bugs in my cauliflower?

pobody's nerfect

Thu, Aug 27 2009, 5:44 pm

so I bought some fresh cauliflower at the farmer's market today, and am in the process of checking it according to the Star-K instructions:

Floreted Vegetables

Fresh Broccoli and Cauliflower

1. Wash florets thoroughly under a strong stream of water.
2. Agitate florets in a white bowl.
3. Examine the water to see that it is insect-free.**
4. If it is insect-free you may use the vegetable.
5. If insects are found, you may re-do this procedure up to three times in total. If there are still any insects, the whole batch must be discarded.

Question is.... I haven't found any bugs! I had a few of these questionable 'things', but DH ruled it didn't look like a buggy at all (no feet, etc). anyhow, I redid the process for that batch because I didn't have a magnifying glass to be 100% certain. But now I've done a head and a half, and I'm getting nervous that I'm not doing a good enough job because I'm not finding anything!

any experienced buggy-checkers out there?

lilacdreams

Thu, Aug 27 2009, 6:04 pm

the bugs I have seen in cauliflower range from snails to tiny bugs that dont look like bugs atall. Thye are tiny dark brown lines that at first glance look like lint at the bottom of the bowl...but I was taught to use a little soapy water to get them loose - try that and see if anything is left at the bottom of the bowl - leave them int he soapy water for a few minutes.

yaelinIN

Thu, Aug 27 2009, 8:24 pm

The bugs lilacdreams are talking about are called thrips. They (aside from (lt green to green)aphids and rarely IMHO slugs) are what you will find. They are dark brown and look like little teensy-weensy lint (like the size of and "l" on this font). If you look really closely then you can see a pointy head connected to the body. If the cauliflower is organic, you probably should have these bugs. In fact, when I once tried to get organic cauliflower, that was the worst vegetable I ever checked (and I was a mashgicha for a CA kashrus agency for two years!). I never buy organic broccoli or cauliflower now! Otherwise, regular cauliflower seems to me to be infested 30-50% of the time and if so, I cut the florets off and wash the stem parts really well and make a kugel/quiche from them...

Hatzlacha!