salt for LTS

[Guest]

do you store salt in 5 gallon buckets with mylar? what is the best salt to store? do you go to feed stores to buy it in bulk? can you use regular road salt as a substitue?

[Lowdown3]

do you store salt in 5 gallon buckets with mylar? what is the best salt to store? do you go to feed stores to buy it in bulk? can you use regular road salt as a substitue?

Yes mylar and buckets. Some will say don't use absorber. I always have and it hasn't been a major deal. Your salt and sugar are probably going to need to be smashed and broken up 10-15 years in the future irregardless of whether or not you used absorbers. Just M.E. on that.

A lot of Sam's clubs will have 25 lb. bags for around $3.50 or so.

I don't bother with rock salt, road salt, water softener salt, etc.

[Cimarron]

if you use water softener salt, it's not iodized salt, and the iodine is added for two different reasons. One is to keep the salt from clumping. The other is to prevent goiter, which is a thyroid disease. It's important that when you do store salt, you get the iodized variety for your cooking.

you may use the other salt if you choose but why take the chance?

[Monel]

I just put it in Qt ziplock bags and then in the bucket. Save the mylar bags for foods that are perishable. Salt only needs to be kept dry. O2 is not a problem, nor is light for that matter. Sams has Morton Table salt in 25Lb bags cheap. Store more than you think you will ever need. It would be a great barter item. Also think about storing baking soda.

[1Admin]

Monel- ziplock baggies and other small plastic baggies like that don't do well over time. Most of those really thin plastics like that are designed to bio degrade after a couple years.

I've found that to be true more than a few times. You end up with this funky "goo" where the bag used to be.

[Monel]

I use at least "storage" thickness. I doubt that these bags will degrade into goo when not subjected to UV or petroleum solvents or oil of some kind. One of the items that are recommend for LTS is Ziploc bags. I think they will keep fine as long as they are not exposed to UV, solvents, or high heat.

[RyanMac]

I though salt was good to go however you stored it... I have been keeping them in the bags and container I buy them in. SHould I be doing something different?

[Monel]

I would put in some kind of sealed waterproof container at least. I could see it getting wet or absorbing moisture if stored in a garage for a long time.

[1Admin]

Ryan- no reason not to mylar Salt. One of the big things Mylar does that people take for granted is to keep SMELLS out of the product also- act as a vapor barrier.

I've seen two buckets stored in an area near where a fuel container failed. One bucket had mylar and the product was fine and didn't smell. Another bucket didn't, and the contents smelled like fuel.

[jackburton]

It's like they say "Don't step over a dollar to save a dime". Adding the salt to a 5 gallon Mylar bag bumps the price by $2. It seems like a no brainer to me to protect something so important. On a side note- Salt for $3.50 great price! I thought I had a good deal when I got it for $5 at Costco. You can never have too much salt.

[RyanMac]

Good point on the smells. I keep my salt in a pantry closet. But since I just bought some bucket supplies with mylar bags, I might transfer most of it. Of course, I need to buy some dry ice for the other stuff.
SO, should I heat seal he the mylar like other stuff? SHould I even add dry ice or O2 absorbers?
Thanks for the info. I am a complete newbie at food LTS.

[Klayton]

@RyanMac Did you say DRY ICE?? RUN FOREST RUN

Just messin' man. You shouldn't be using dry ice at all. O2 absorbers are good for almost everything, although I have heard there is a chemical reaction with sugar...

[protus]

idiots guide to salt storage-

get new or clean used food grade bucket.
get salt
open bucket
open salt
drum roll
dump salt into said bucket
put lid on bucket
dream of making salty hard tack come the PAW

:P

you can use mylars if you want to protect the salt, but O2's are not needed.

[Matt In Oklahoma]

got me a bag of rock salt, with about 4lbs in it, given to me cause "they had it awhile and are gonna throw it away". Well if your just gonna get rid of it.......
just happened to have a 1gl mylar bag laying around doing nothing! Cha Ching

[Jon Doe]

I've gone for the mason jar approach - I don't like keeping it in the original boxes or bags as they get worn and sometimes let a little moisture in. Seadl in mason jars with a few grains of rice seem to work pretty well for me. The one hazard is if you break the jar - might as well toss everything out as it's hard to tell if you have a small sliver of glass in your salt.