long term food storage question

[Guest]

what is a good strategy for food storage? should you buy enough food to fill an entire 5 gallon bucket or should you use little mylar bags with different food stock with o2 absorbers each one and then seal the bucket?

[Matt In Oklahoma]

ahhh a million dollar question. Both have merits IMHO. For instance small bags are less likely to become contaminated after opening and if they do you can get another one. Also if you were to need to give some out they wouldnt see a big 5-6gl bag and want more. Smaller bags can be moved into packs if needed.
larger ones are cheaper and easier up front to store, label, catagorize etc.
When first starting out I bought a mixture of beans,salt, sugar and rice etc so i didnt get stuck eatin the same thing for a month. Now the mixed bag buckets are also my kits i use for friends/family after an event such as fire or tornando. Now I have progressed to big buckets with one thing. Just make sure you label/date the bags and buckets and save the cooking instructions, calorie data etc in the bucket too. Wouldnt wanna play the guessing game post SHTF

In other words I have no idea, it is something you will need to determine as to your needs/wants. neither is wrong IMHO.

[Lacey]

nmsneorrcom, I have just started learning about bucket storage and when I do get my buckets I intend to store smaller mylar packages for my beans and rice along with separate sealed spices, dehydrated herbs, bacon bits or jerky, and maybe some canned tomatoes with green chilies. I want to have food with flavor, and having everything together I think would be convenient. This is all in theory of course, as I have not seen or heard of anyone storing their beans and rice this way.

I also want to buy the small military P-51 can openers and put them in every bucket along with some paper plates and plastic ware. Maybe a recipe or two--some kind of instructions.

[Klayton]

Lacey, there is a guy on youtube that makes meal specific super pails. Basically doing what you are saying, not a full 5 gallon bucket of wheat, but rather a 5 gallon bucket full of proportionate size meals. Here is the first one in the series:

You can get your P-51 and P-38s here (also where I get alot of my EDC extras): http://www.countycomm.com/

Hope this helps. :)

[Lacey]

Thanks for the video and the link, Klayton!

[protus]

what is a good strategy for food storage? should you buy enough food to fill an entire 5 gallon bucket or should you use little mylar bags with different food stock with o2 absorbers each one and then seal the bucket?

It depends.

I see it like this.

When i pack food i pack in bulk. By this i mean if i have a 20 pack of 1000cc O2 absorbers i try to plan to pack 10-15 buckets.
This means when i purchase my food items they are in larger amount.
100 lbs of rice will suck up 3 buckets. As will wheat, beans and other similar sized items. That avgs out to around 30-35lbs per 5 gallon bucket.So do the math on how much fits into that many....
The problem is, time,effort and cost with the smaller bag route.
I normally dont want to waste the time packing 1 gallon sized bags ( 2-4lbs) , and filling a bucket full of smaller bags. This waste space in the bucket imho, and cost more as now i have to purchase more buckets and more mylars etc to fill the same amount as it would have been done the other way ( 1 product one mylar).
Also i feel that when you pack a bucket like that you are stuck with what you have opened. Instead of one bucket lid to close i have 3-5 opened mylars, that are now flopping around in a bucket. Many will say this will help with rotation vs a large bucket. Well,whats the difference between every 5 days opening a new mylar vs one bucket lid ? You still gotta use the stuff. And no once you open you bucket and mylar your food wont spoil in 5 days. If it does feed it to your chickens LOL then eat them!
" but protus i can grab1 bucket and have all that i need for xxx days if i gotta bug out"
This is a big plus..but id rather grab my BOB and other equipment before a bucket as i head out the door in a rush..lol( of course if theres time ill snag any buckets i can get ). Your bucket packed items should be for your LTS program. You wont open one for a 4 day hurricane/snow storm outage will you? That is what your STS items are for. You know the cans of DAK ham everyone rushes out to buy along with teh treet and spam and yoders canned bacon and chesse...mres...and freeze dried pouches......and the lowley typical can goods ( canned soups/veggies).

It really boils down to how much time you wish to put into it, how **** you are about counting "beans" down to the meal and all that jazz.

Like i said above..id rather just open my 50lb sack of rice,pour it in,,seal it, and grab my next bucket,,and repeat till all my stuff is packed.

I do see the method of small bags in the buckets a good way for those who wish NOT to pack such amounts of LTS foods and to have just a few buckets around or folks that just want to wet their toes in it all or just dont have long term plans ( they want stuff for a 30 day plan but want to store dry goods without worry of spoilage)

ymmv

[protus]

nmsneorrcom, I have just started learning about bucket storage and when I do get my buckets I intend to store smaller mylar packages for my beans and rice along with separate sealed spices, dehydrated herbs, bacon bits or jerky, and maybe some canned tomatoes with green chilies. I want to have food with flavor, and having everything together I think would be convenient. This is all in theory of course, as I have not seen or heard of anyone storing their beans and rice this way.

I also want to buy the small military P-51 can openers and put them in every bucket along with some paper plates and plastic ware. Maybe a recipe or two--some kind of instructions.

tomatoe products will ruin cans after a bit. You'll have a mess on your hands.
Dried spices are your best bet.
jerky, bacon bits.
Bacon bits are (unless real bacon) TVP ( textured veggie protien). This can be had in #10 cans from most lts food stores. Good cheap protien source along with a flavor/filler.
Jerky- unless it is dried enough, it wont last as long as the other items you put in those buckets. ( 1-3 years vs 5-20 for beans).

I am not saying that folks shouldnt pack food in smaller bags. What they need to do is think through what will last, what wont and how it will store.

There is a ton of good info on the net,,,, but there is also alot of "guessing" being done by those who ,only in the last 2-3 years have jumped onto the i wanna be a survivalist bandwagon.....and wish to spread that "guessing" as fact via internet mediums. Rsearch and dont over think.
Packing "dry" good is not rocket science.....if your treat it as such, you'll end up confused with no food packed at all... lol

[Monel]

I agree with Protus, For long term you need to put up a lot! I like to use mylar bags ans store them in a 55 gallon barrel, or a large trash can with a tight fitting lid. I feel like I can fit more in a smaller space.

[Lacey]

I have so much to learn..... I am just trying to be practical and trying to think of what things I would want/need for my dried goods to add flavor. And yes, I know, when you are hungry it won't matter if it tastes good or not. Call me spoiled. :)

I got some large containers of oatmeal practically free with coupons; and I bought honey, cinnamon and raisins to store with them. I also plan to dehydrate apples and store them in vac sealed bags. I think I have to dehydrate the raisins, but I am not sure. This is where research comes in.

Anyway, like I said...lots to learn.

[Klayton]

Call me crazy, but isnt a raisin a dehydrated grape? :confused:

[Lacey]

Well, of course, silly! Just kidding.

I thought someone would mention that, but I added that to my post because when I looked at my instant oatmeal packages the raisins were drier/shriveled than regular raisins in a canister from the store.

[Lowdown3]

Call me crazy, but isnt a raisin a dehydrated grape? :confused:

Yes but the raisins you buy in the store aren't "dry enough" for true long term storage. Best I've got with sunmaid type store raisins was just over a year. You can even feel the moisture in them when you handle them.

[Klayton]

Interesting! :)