# Long Term Food Storage



## ms1984 (Nov 5, 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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## Sourdough (May 22, 2010)

Please define.......you idea of long term.......


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

Here are some good sites that can help you reach your long term goals at an affordable rate.

Prepared LDS Family

Food Storage Made Easy

Stock Up Food


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## Cast-Iron (Nov 8, 2013)

Too many variables here. Mylar bags, when properly used with sufficient oxygen absorbers, will keep the contents usable for longer periods of time. Some foods, like wheat, store longer as a whole grain versus a processed flour. Light, moisture, rodents/insects, oxygen and temperature are all things you need to control for optimal shelf life. Lots of good information and vids on the web. You need to just do the homework for your situation. If you're on a budget, rice and beans may offer you an inexpensive way to start your reserves. If money isn't an issue there are numerous vendors with pre-packaged foods for you to choose from. Good luck!


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

I forgot to mention start small before jumping in with both feet.

#1 store a weeks worth of food and supplies. Once you have that move to...

#2 store a months worth of food and supplies. Again, once that is complete go to...

#3 store 3 months of food and supplies. And so on until you feel comfortable with your storage.

Good things to remember...

*Use One, Replace With Two.

Eat What You Store And Store What You Eat.

Rotate And Use Your Stores.*


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## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

*use buckets!*

Welcome, Mike!

Years ago, decades actually, when I took a class in food storage at a local LDS church, 5 gallon buckets were the primary storage container. Since then, mylar has come on the scene. Many people use mylar. Using mylar adds a layer of protection to your food storage, but I have heard stories about people who have food in mylar, and no other layer.

You can get mylar in a few different sizes. Some people use one large mylar bag in their 5 gallon buckets. Once it is opened, you can reseal it, or leave it open.

Other people use smaller bags and put several in their buckets. This way the bucket can be opened and one bag removed while leaving the rest of the contents protected.

Check out Orange Jeep Dad's post with photos of his grains which were in mylar.

http://orangejeepdad.blogspot.com/2013/10/our-first-country-problem-rodents.html

Rodents! They chew through mylar.

I like to use 5 gallon buckets with gamma seal lids. Gamma Seal lids are available in the paint department at Home Depot and cost around $8.00 each. You can find them in other places online and can be purchased in at least 6 colors--orange, white, yellow, blue, red, and black. They are a two part lid. The outer ring with a rubber gasket is snapped onto the top of the bucket. The inner lid screws on allowing you to get in and out of the bucket to retrieve your rice, beans, wheat, flour, pasta, potato flakes, or whatever you store in your buckets.

As an aside, OJD and his family of 8 recently had a house fire in which they lost almost everything, including vehicles. If you click around you will see photos and information about that also.

If you are at all close to an LDS Family Storage Center, you can get basics at one of the best prices. You can also order these supplies and have them delivered to you. November 1, 2012 was the beginning of new changes with the LDS food supplies. There are a couple threads in our forum already about the LDS center.

Current price list: http://providentliving.org/bc/content/providentliving/content/content/english/self-reliance/food-storage/home-storage-center-order-form/pdf/home-storage-center-order-form-usa-english.pdf?lang=eng

Food storage centers:

http://providentliving.org/self-reliance/food-storage/home-storage-center-locations-map?lang=eng

A thread on this forum that has been active recently. Read through the posts.

http://www.preparedsociety.com/forum/f36/lds-cannery-update-12458/

Good luck, Mike!


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## Tacitus (Dec 30, 2012)

ms1984 said:


> 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!


I use 5 gallon buckets with oxygen absorbers.

Make sure the lids are gasket lids:








Here, the gasket is black. Most of the ones I've seen are white in a white bucket. You just have to verify the gasket is there. Theoretically, the gasket lid will seal oxygen out, and the oxygen absorbers will deplete the oxygen inside the bucket. Oxygen absorbers:
















The absorbers will cause lower pressure on the inside of the bucket, though, so oxygen could come in through a leak in the bucket, the lid, or a faulty or incompletely sealed gasket. That is why many here use Mylar bags in addition to the bucket. You can seal grain or rice or beans in the Mylar bag with an oxygen absorber, and then seal it in a bucket.















Mylar is a trademark for a metalized polyester material. I suspect that the "aluminum foil coated bags" are the same thing (???), but if they are sold under a different trademark than Mylar, you may want to do some checking to see if it is actually the same thing.

I buy grains (e.g., hard red wheat, rolled oats, rice and dried whole corn) and legumes (e.g., pinto beans, black beans, red/kidney beans, white beans, soy beans, garbonzo beans/chickpeas, and lentils) and I store them this way. LDS indicates that they will be good for 30 years when stored properly (sealed, no oxygen, cool, dark, dry). I take this to mean they will be good indefinitely.


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## oldasrocks (Jun 30, 2012)

We do long term storage the K.I.S.S. way Used food quality buckets are available at local bakeries.

Freeze all beans, flours, pasta, noodles, rice and such for 30 days at 0 degrees F. This kills the bugs and bug eggs. Dump into 5 gallon bucket and seal. I've recently check flour we stored in 03 and its fine. We are eating rice from 00.

Stuff you buy in sealed packets are good for a long time like soup mixes.

Salad dressings,protein bars, and ketchup is bad after 6 months. Buy the dry packets of salad dressing only.

Canned goods are good for several yrs if stored properly in a dry cool place.


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## ms1984 (Nov 5, 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 http://www.mylarshop.com/mylar-shop-articles and http://www.sorbentsystems.com/mylar.html 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: http://www.mylarshop.com/mylar-bags/heavy-duty-mylar-bag-25cm-x-35cm 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: 



 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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## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

Tacitus, your visuals are great on your post! I realize that when I talk about something, like the gamma seal lids, I need to post a picture. Just talking about it is not quite enough! Your pictures are clear and for the visual learners especially, better than any words!

ms1984, I have an old seal a meal that I use to seal my mylar bags. It sucks the oxygen out and then seals them. I can tell you that some things seal better than others. I have tried sealing things that just poked holes in the bag and then you can never get a seal. Things like spaghetti are best left in their original bag which is then placed in mylar.


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

ms1984 said:


> 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 http://www.mylarshop.com/mylar-shop-articles and http://www.sorbentsystems.com/mylar.html 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: http://www.mylarshop.com/mylar-bags/heavy-duty-mylar-bag-25cm-x-35cm 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:
> 
> 
> 
> 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


My first mylar bags were sealed with an iron. I did it on my counter top with a metal ruler and an iron heat pad to protect the counter. Now I use my Foodsaver on the seal only setting to heat seal my bags.


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