# Storing Food Long Term



## ms1984 (Nov 1, 2013)

Hi guys  My
name's Mike and I'm new to the forum, I've joined this and another forum hoping someone can give me some more info on the things I need to know. I want to store
food long-term, I have canned food but want to store grain, rice etc preferably lasting as long as possible! Does anyone have any experience in long-term food
storage, I know there's bags you can buy, but what the difference is between mylar and aluminium foil coated bags I have no idea! Anyone with any experience
or links I' be grateful. Thanks for your time guys and thanks for the forum!

Mike


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## dannydefense (Oct 9, 2013)

Mylar is a brand name for foil coated (aka polyethylene terephsomethingorother) bags. Same thing.

Welcome to the forums!


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## MrsInor (Apr 15, 2013)

Welcome from Minnesota. You might want to check out some of the posts here in this forum. I think some of them have links to you tube vids about properly storing grains, beans, rice, etc.


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

Welcome to the group from Arizona. I found the site below a few years ago and think their prices are reasonable and the shipping charges are real good. They also carry an aluminized Mylar bag with a "Zip lock"(r) closure to keep the stuff inside clean and bug free after you have to open it and easier to get ready to heat seal. They have some good, informative videos on how to. 
https://www.usaemergencysupply.com/emergency_supplies/oxygen_absorbers.htm


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## PaulS (Mar 11, 2013)

If you really want to store food for the long term then start canning. Canned goods are remarkably long lasting - up to 20 years. You can can cookies, cakes, bread, meat and most anything else - with the exception of dry goods. You can vacuum can your dry goods but that is different than canning in the "normal" sense.


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## techtony (Nov 5, 2013)

I hear folks on here all the time recommend canning. I can preserves and almost everything in our garden. We eat the canned goods within 6months to a year. According to the following site canned food that is processed correctly should last 1 year. I am weary of canned food over 1year, so you will need to come up with a canning schedule that allows you to use and rotate food out of your storage.

As for dry goods like flour and rice and beans.... you will need to vacuum pack it if possible, put in an o absorber and make sure the packaging is air tight. Remeber to rotate dry goods out too.

National Center for Home Food Preservation | Canning FAQs


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## inceptor (Nov 19, 2012)

Welcome from Texas.

It's my understanding that properly sealed mylar bags either vacuum sealed or with o2 absorbers in it can last for up to 25 yrs if properly sealed.

I am trying it for the 1st time with rice, beans, salt, oatmeal and grits. I just got my qt size mylar bags and 02 absorbers in today. This will be my 1st attempt. I intend to mark the date on the bags as well as the contents. I may cycle through these but I am not starting off with massive quantities as I am still in testing mode. Here is the you tube video I used to learn how to seal the bags.

The guy in the video is using the 5 gal bags but I got the smaller ones for storage and possible bartering.


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## Eternal_Prepper (Nov 12, 2013)

PaulS said:


> If you really want to store food for the long term then start canning. Canned goods are remarkably long lasting - up to 20 years. You can can cookies, cakes, bread, meat and most anything else - with the exception of dry goods. You can vacuum can your dry goods but that is different than canning in the "normal" sense.


I agree. Canning food is very essential for long term food storage. There are many different methods for canning your food that are too complicated to explain here but a quick google search will give you some good info on the topic. You have to adopt the best methods that most suitable for your food items.


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

As I said I use the Mylar bags and oxygen absorbers. Relatively easy to use. As an extra, I do a nitrogen gas purge for added safety.


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## Eternal_Prepper (Nov 12, 2013)

paraquack said:


> As I said I use the Mylar bags and oxygen absorbers. Relatively easy to use. As an extra, I do a nitrogen gas purge for added safety.


That's a good idea. I will look into this. Thanks


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## ms1984 (Nov 1, 2013)

Hi again, thanks so much for the information. I'm pretty excited to get everything ready although maybe I should have started earlier. Never too late though I suppose!  I found a loadof info at Mylar Shop Articles - Mylar Shop and Mylar Bags - SorbentSystems.com I decided I want to go with Mylar rather than other foil bags as, for the price extra, I think it's worth it. I ended up going with these bags: Heavy Duty Mylar Bag - 25cm x 35cm - Mylar Shop as I'm in the UK so the Sorbent Systems shipping is too much. They should arrive any day so I'll put up a review if / when they arrive! I haven't got a heat sealing thing but apparently an iron will do and this is a good video on how to do it (THANKS INCEPTOR!): 



 If anyone knows of any shops in the UK other than the one I picked I'd be grateful. Anyway I'll be back with a review and maybe a video on how to store grain if I can find a video camera. Thanks everyone and thanks for your time. Mike


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## rickkyw1720pf (Nov 17, 2012)

I copied and pasted the following.
1. Anoxic disinfestations:
At oxygen levels of < 3% all insects at any stage of development are killed within several weeks (ap. 4 weeks at 20°C, 2 weeks at 25°C and 55% RH).

Absorber technology reduce the oxygen level in the surrounding atmosphere to below 0.01%

While looking for info I came across this. It's kind of scary especially since the examiner has no skin in the game.

Wise Food Storage is packaged with dangerously high oxygen levels - Salt Lake City Emergency Preparedness | Examiner.com


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## scramble4a5 (Nov 1, 2012)

I opted to buy rice in a pail from Auguson Farms. Came shipped to my home, 28 pounds, stores for a long time. It wasn't that expensive either. One thing I have had to take note of is most of my food preps are dehydrated so I am stocking up on lots of water because I will need some to cook the food.


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

Except for canned food (and even a lot of it is shy on water content) nearly everything I have needs water one way or another. This is all part of the reasoning for putting away 1 gallon of water per person per day. Cooking rice will absorb all the water, noodles/pasta won't but until you're thirsty as hell, you probably won't want to drink it because of the starch. In my plans, I have menus set up to use the starch water in cooking the next meal. But you can't keep it indefinitely, the starch will be food for bacteria, etc. Some of my uses are in condensed soups, cooking rice, baking bread, and for dehydrated food packs.


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## Seneca (Nov 16, 2012)

Mylar gallon bags and 02 absorbers is what I use for long term storage. A kitchen vacuum sealer is helpful. I use the gallon bags rather than the larger ones so that I'm not opening up a large amount all at once and if there is a problem with what I've stored (a bad seal etc.) I may be able to limit it to one or two bags and not loose the whole pail.


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## Boss Dog (Feb 8, 2013)

Welcome from the Southeast (SC).
Edit: I'm packing dry goods in 5-gallon buckets with o'ring seals in the lids. Placing them inside in their original containers, throw in 10-12 black-eyed peas as a natural desiccant and seal the lid real good. Of course I'm not expecting these to last 25 years. I'll be getting a vacuum sealer hopefully in the spring.


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## kevincali (Nov 15, 2012)

My long term food storage? Leaving them on the trees 

Right now, just vac seal glass jars with oxygen absorbers. 

When things come in season, I'll be canning what I can


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## inceptor (Nov 19, 2012)

I have all the supplies to do this now, mylar bags, o2 absorbers and vacuum sealer. I am using the qt size bags. I intend to do 1lb bags of salt, 5lb bags of rice and about the same amount of beans. I will also package grits, oatmeal and other things like cake mix in small containers so they might be bartered also. With some of these things I am wondering if I cut a bag in half, seal the bottom of the cut bag, will it still seal as good as the other half?


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