# Food Storage



## The Mama Prepper (Dec 22, 2015)

I'd like to start storing flour, sugar, rice, beans and pasta in Mylar bags. How do I actually seal the bags? I've heard you need something that hits at least 400 degrees, would a regular iron work?

Thanks!


----------



## Slippy (Nov 14, 2013)

The Mama Prepper said:


> I'd like to start storing flour, sugar, rice, beans and pasta in Mylar bags. How do I actually seal the bags? I've heard you need something that hits at least 400 degrees, would a regular iron work?
> 
> Thanks!


We've always used a regular iron set on High. We use food grade 5 gallon buckets and Oxygen absorbers. The bag shrinks up very tight if you have a good seal and that lets you know that all the Oxygen has been removed.

Here's a video but Youtube has a bunch of them. Good luck


----------



## The Mama Prepper (Dec 22, 2015)

Thanks! I'll let you know how we make out!


----------



## Illini Warrior (Jan 24, 2015)

I've tried a whole slew of mylar bag heat sealing methods since the early 1990s - we used to have to DIY the bags early on .... regular iron works well - exact temp setting depends on model and the age of the iron - usually mid range (Wool) works good - looking for an even "melt" of the inner bag layer and a nice smooth seal of 1 inch minimum ....

The method I've found that works best is what I call "last corner" method .... smooth out your mylar bag completely into the bucket bottom - fill and shake/rattle & roll until you get a good solid food pack 1 -1 1/2 inches from the top .... get all your buckets ready & filled and somewhere toward the end get your iron heating .... use another empty bucket turned over as your heat sealing platform - piece of board on top works well works well for me - some people find heat sealing on a piece of metal helps them .... you'll have a good 12-14 inches of bagging sticking out of the bucket - folding it over to your sealing platform should be eazy .... if you have problem with keeping the edges even while using the iron - paper binder clips can be an assist ..... heat seal the entire edge except for one corner - leave it open a couple of inches - fold the bag down into the bucket pushing out all the extra air - leave that open corner sticking out .... complete all your packed buckets the same way ..... time to crack open that factory pack of 02 absorbers - start the clock - 15 minutes & counting (max open air time) .... insert your 2000CC of absorbers into the bags thru that open corner - start sealing those last corners .... fold the bags down flat & tite and start the lid sealing - tough job for the lite weights - get a soft hammer for sure .... a 1/2 inch of the lid needs to fit into the bucket - there's a gasket that needs to be compressed - the lid lock needs to fit over the matching member on the bucket - they use hydraulic ram pressure in the factories ....


----------

