Food Preservation

These little guys (military spec oxygen absorbers) do a good job of making stored food go a long way.

http://www.nitro-pak.com/oxygen-absorbers-pak-of-50

lsayre wrote:These little guys (military spec oxygen absorbers) do a good job of making stored food go a long way.

http://www.nitro-pak.com/oxygen-absorbers-pak-of-50

Thanks for the link - that's a better price than I've been paying. Lisa

I've been canning and freezing and dehydrating for 30+ years. Yup, I'm old, lol. I can tomatoes, sauce, green beans, hot mix, jalapenos, sweet peppers, mushrooms, deer meat, pickles, beets, etc. etc.

Food question..... If you were thinking of getting & keeping a supply of rice, what kind would you get & how would you store it?

Freddie, I buy rice, flour, sugar, salt in bulk. Store the dry goods in gallon jars. You can usually pick them up at the grocery store for $.50. or so. They have a tight fitting lid and will keep for years like that. Bugs and vermin can't get in. Don't use the plastic ones, mice can chew through the lid and feast (ask me how I know!)

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Freddy wrote:Food question..... If you were thinking of getting & keeping a supply of rice, what kind would you get & how would you store it?

Like DonnaK said, glass jars are great for long term storage, throw an air eater in there and the shelf live is 15 or 20 years. The air eater is important because there are bugs and contaminants in all grain products you buy. You ever notice the birds flying around inside of Costco? Take away the oxygen and you stop any thing that might be in the product. If you have a black light you'd be surprised at what shows up under it. I remember some oatmeal I got once that was virtually alive under the black light but looked fine to the naked eye; store good product, garbage in, garbage out. Check out Craig's list for jars. People like my parents age are downsizing and just want them gone.

Take a minute to think about what kind of rice you want and what meals you will use it in. I recently discovered that all rice is not the same. Rice from Japan is going to be clumpy and Rice from India has more individual grains. How do you plan to use it? Zebra rice is a good Indian rice and what I plan to store in the future. We mostly use our rice with gravy or in a fried rice so we don't want necessarily want sticky rice. If you are using chop sticks go with the stickier kind. I haven't looked but I bet there is a lot of information about different rices on the internet. I have an Asian cookbook that I learned this from. Something to think about, I wish I had before storing 200 lbs of what I have. Lisa

This is a question for the expert.

Logfog, have you ever done the 5 gallon plastic with 4-5 of those Nitro's ? Was thinking Home Depot pails and top with an interior mylar bag...does the mylar bag seal itself so the food is pretty much separated from the pail even if were not food grade ?

Looking for rice to do this way...

Uglysquirrel wrote:This is a question for the expert.

Logfog, have you ever done the 5 gallon plastic with 4-5 of those Nitro's ? Was thinking Home Depot pails and top with an interior mylar bag...does the mylar bag seal itself so the food is pretty much separated from the pail even if were not food grade ?

Looking for rice to do this way...

I'm far from the expert but yes I use a few 5 gallon plastic buckets but the ones I have are made from food quality plastic and I have some lids I purchased that screw on and off for easy access to the food product. I tend to put things in them I use more often or that has a shorter shelf life. You can buy the buckets off line either full of product or just the buckets and lids. Try Walton Foods. I'd be reluctant to use just any ordinary plastic bucket; too many unknowns about the plastics for my peace of mind. That being said, I have seen on the internet a vendor who sells mylar bags made for lining 5 gallon buckets. I lost the web address when my computer died last month - sorry. Fill up the bucket/bag, drop in the air eater, seal the bag up and put the lid on. These liners would eliminate any concerns with the type of plastics used in the bucket. You could get used 5 gallon buckets from a contractor or other business. Once opened the product would have a normal shelf life just as though you'd gotten it from the grocery store. You could use the bag over a couple of times, too. It is interesting how they were sealing the big bags. They took a 3 ft piece of 1/4 square metal bar and attached it to a board. Don't ask how they attached it but they did. They put the board/bar between two chairs so they could stand the bag in the bucket after it was filled. They then laid the open end of bag over the bar and used a regular iron to seal it. They put on the bucket lid and it was go to go. If fact, you could seal the smaller mylar bags using the same 1/4 bar for that matter. Just set the board on the table and lay the open end of the bag over it. It's something to think about anyway. Good luck, Lisa

Uglysquirrel wrote:This is a question for the expert.

Logfog, have you ever done the 5 gallon plastic with 4-5 of those Nitro's ? Was thinking Home Depot pails and top with an interior mylar bag...does the mylar bag seal itself so the food is pretty much separated from the pail even if were not food grade ?

Looking for rice to do this way...

I find that new made in USA steel trash cans with a plastic liner make a good rodent proof storage container. Whatever goes in it must be properly sealed.