Saturday, March 13, 2010

Long Term Food Storage

For those of my readers who have not begun storing food, now is the time.  Don't wait any longer because time is short.  Any of us with a job could be laid off or a total collapse could happen at any time.  I have been storing food for a couple years now and still do not have enough to make me feel comfortable.  You should have enough food to make it at least through the winter.  I would recommend at least a year's worth in case of crop failure.  You are growing and canning your own food, right?  My goal is to have at least 2-3 years worth of long term storage food for me and my family. 

I store the basics such as rice, beans, wheat, pasta, corn, oatmeal, salt and sugar.  If properly stored this food can last several years. You should pack your long term storage food into 5 or 6 gallon buckets using mylar bags and oxygen absorbers.  You can buy the buckets or you can possibly get them for free from a bakery.  You should try to obtain white food grade buckets.  Some of my buckets are from Home Depot, yes the orange buckets.  I bought them because they were the cheapest I could find.  There is a big debate about whether or not they are food grade but it does not matter if you use mylar bags.  So whatever buckets you can find is better than nothing.  Be sure to buy lids to the buckets that include a rubber gasket around the inside rim.  You will also need a way to seal your mylar bags.  I use a regular iron to seal them.

Below are some great videos I found about 2 years ago on YouTube which showed me how to store my food into mylar bags and buckets:







The below video shows you how to seal the mylar bags using a regular clothes iron.



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2 comments:

  1. AnonymousSaturday, March 13, 2010

    I do not use mylar bags. I store dry foods in white food grade buckets. I got most of them from bakeries. I stored 500 pounds of hard winter wheat about 30 years ago. The buckets are stored outside in a shed and are subject to below freezing temperatures every winter. I put a walnut size piece of dry ice in each bucket of wheat. I opened a bucket a few months ago and the wheat was in perfect shape. It made good bread.
    I fill 5 gallon buckets with flour, cornmeal, rice, dry beans of all kinds, and sugar. I do not put anything in the bucket except the food. I have baked good bread with flour that is 20 years old. The stuff keeps just fine. I have never had a bucket of anything go bad. While I rotate the buckets for use, they are all many years old. All of the buckets have rings in the lids.
    Stack 'em high.
    Mountain rifleman

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  2. idahobobSunday, March 14, 2010

    I use that wonderful, all purpose tool, my vacuum sealer, to seal and to get most of the air out of the mylar bags.

    Oh yeah, we also use oxygen absorbers.

    Our goal is to have food storage for seven years for ourselves and at least 10 other people. Ya just never who will come into your life.

    Bob
    III

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