# Better to store my own food or buy from a company such as mountain house?



## Wrangler rayan (Dec 17, 2014)

Last year I stored about 200lb of rice, bean, ect in mylar. But I'm not real confident about it. 

How can I tell if I did it right? 

Would I be better off buying food that's already prepared?


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## HuntingHawk (Dec 16, 2012)

Pull one of the bags out & make some rice.


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## Slippy (Nov 14, 2013)

2 is 1; 1 is None' and 3 is better...

So we store/rotate food purchased at our local grocery stores/farmers markets etc...we Can and put up the food grown in our garden...and we also buy Prepared Foods from Mountain House and Wise Foods, some of which have a 25 year shelf life. 

Diversification Son, Diversification...


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## Maine-Marine (Mar 7, 2014)

I am not a fan of most of the PREP foods for sale. I disagree wth most of their SERVING sizes

the only folks I would highly recommend is the LDS Store.. NOBODY beats their prices

Self-Reliance - store.lds.org

I am not Mormon and do no own the company

So the question Buy or do it yourself... BOTH!

How do you know you did it right... 1. the bag should shrink with the o2 absorber and 2. when you open it


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## Tennessee (Feb 1, 2014)

I have done it both ways and have the same reservations as you about if I've done it right.. So now I get my stuff from the LDS folks too. If I include my time I'm not sure I can do it myself cheaper. What I like about the LDS it's in #10 cans. So you only have to take what you need.

Self-Reliance - store.lds.org


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## Chipper (Dec 22, 2012)

Get yourself a vacuum packaging machine. Works great for food, ammo, fire starting kits, and just about anything you can think of. We vacuum pack everything in our go bags to help keep things dry and ready to use for years. 

Everything food wise that isn't canned gets the same treatment. I would rather have 20 sealed 5 lb bags of rice then try to keep a 100 lbs safe and clean. Safer IMO also. Chances are you won't contaminant 20 sealed bags as easily as one large bag and lose all of it. Easier to use for trade if needed and to haul with you.


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## Wrangler rayan (Dec 17, 2014)

2 bags of elbow Mac. 1 bag is tight the other not so much. I can't remember if I used 500 or 750 o2 absorbers. 1 gallon bags.

Should or could I repackage?

Or just use and get new?


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## slewfoot (Nov 6, 2013)

We buy mountain house, wise foods, we also buy beans, flour, rice and such when there is a sale at the store and vacuum seal.


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## Slippy (Nov 14, 2013)

Wrangler rayan said:


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Actually, they all look pretty good but what the heck, I'd go ahead and use the bag that is "not so tight".

You could repackage but why not use and rotate? Remember, you ain't always going to be perfect and being prepared is a journey of learning and never a destination. The Oxygen absorbers are not always 100%, at least that's been our findings. With food like dried pasta, all you're trying to do is eliminate oxygen and eliminate the ability for "critters" to get in and ruin it.


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## Auntie (Oct 4, 2014)

I find the packaged items to be very salty.


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## Ripon (Dec 22, 2012)

The serving size issue is not something the commercial vendors set. The dietary statements I'm pretty sure regulated by the govt. The nice thing about them is they give you some data that doing it yourself is harder to get. I don't care much about servicing size as I do getting 2k in calories a day and a certain amount of all the right things including protein and fat.

The Mormons are great for this service to those who will ask. I am not Mormon either and have been treated really great at our local spot.

As noted above. Both options make the most sense. I actually can / jar some home grown items, get some from the Mormon center, and buy some from Costo. I'm most concerned about my own canning / jar stuff but I eat some every year so far so good.



Maine-Marine said:


> I am not a fan of most of the PREP foods for sale. I disagree wth most of their SERVING sizes
> 
> the only folks I would highly recommend is the LDS Store.. NOBODY beats their prices
> 
> ...


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## Sharkbait (Feb 9, 2014)

Wrangler rayan said:


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You're ok.Air is made up of about 80% nitrogen.The o2 absorbers only absorb oxygen,leaving the nitrogen as an inert gas.Not all o2 sealed mylar bags will compress tight because of the nitrogen.This effects it in no way.


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## HuntingHawk (Dec 16, 2012)

So you buy stuff in a sealed can. Do you know the quality of what is inside? Preservatives? I buy vegetables from a roadside stand I can see & taste the food before I can it. As far as meat goes, try some canned corned beef then some from your butcher. Makes you wonder how they can call the canned stuff corned beef. I buy meat from the butcher & can it myself.
Learning to pressure can is your friend. There is also getting a vacseal.


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

I go along with Slippy, the bags that are tight are good to go. If I were going to test one, i'd open the loose looking one, but I bet it's ok. The bags will tighten up as the oxygen in the bag (21% by volume) is absorbed. I the loose bags had more air in it when you sealed it, it still used up the oxygen and left the nitrogen which is GOOD.


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## Piratesailor (Nov 9, 2012)

Maine-Marine said:


> I am not a fan of most of the PREP foods for sale. I disagree wth most of their SERVING sizes
> 
> the only folks I would highly recommend is the LDS Store.. NOBODY beats their prices
> 
> ...


I completely agree.. I use both.. Do it myself and buy from places like mountain house. It makes sense depending on what your buying and storing. And yeah open a bag and cook some rice..


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## pakrat (Nov 18, 2012)

Slippy said:


> 2 is 1; 1 is None' and 3 is better...
> 
> So we store/rotate food purchased at our local grocery stores/farmers markets etc...we Can and put up the food grown in our garden...and we also buy Prepared Foods from Mountain House and Wise Foods, some of which have a 25 year shelf life.
> 
> Diversification Son, Diversification...


Exactly! We do the same and store/rotate based on expiration (stated or estimated). It's best to do as many different home-process methods as possible... canning, dehydrating, vaccuum packing, freezing plus buying commercial rations... they do have advantages.

We consume expiring goods based on duration and vulnerability, eating frozen first, then dried/vacuum-packed, followed by canned and lastly commercially processed/packed. The only downside is that we're currently a family of four and not everybody likes everything, so we end up with some pretty strange multi-course meals at times.

We've been doing it this way since the late 70's (started because garden-grown and home-processed was all we could afford). We don't even think of it as prepping. It's just a lifestyle that we've brought ourselves to somewhat out of necessity over 40+ years, and it's a continuum that works well.


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## Slippy (Nov 14, 2013)

pakrat said:


> Exactly! We do the same and store/rotate based on expiration (stated or estimated). It's best to do as many different home-process methods as possible... canning, dehydrating, vaccuum packing, freezing plus buying commercial rations... they do have advantages.
> 
> We consume expiring goods based on duration and vulnerability, eating frozen first, then dried/vacuum-packed, followed by canned and lastly commercially processed/packed. The only downside is that we're currently a family of four and not everybody likes everything, so we end up with some pretty strange multi-course meals at times.
> 
> We've been doing it this way since the late 70's (started because garden-grown and home-processed was all we could afford). We don't even think of it as prepping. It's just a lifestyle that we've brought ourselves to somewhat out of necessity over 40+ years, and it's a continuum that works well.


Ditto Pakrat!


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