Guest Post: Dry food Storage Using 2 and 3 ltr. Plastic Soda Bottles

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Over the years I have tried several different methods of dry food storage with varying degrees of success and cost. I’ve tried buckets, Ziploc bags, and canning jars. What I finally stumbled upon almost by accident was 2 and 3 liter soda bottles.

I like sodas but hate to throw the bottles away! I had been making whirly-gigs out of them for the garden to keep the birds away but there are only so many whirly-gigs a garden needs and I had extra bottles and wanted to do something with them.

Looking at the bottles, I realized that they are durable, light weight, water tight, and once the soda is gone, free. What more could you ask?

I had saved up about a dozen of the 2 ltr. bottles and had a few 3 ltr. ones as well. they have wider openings and are good for large beans like limas, or for flour or meal.

To begin, I wanted a sterile container so I mixed about a tbs. bleach in a quart of water and rinsed and swished each bottle then rinsed with clean water and turned upside down in the dish drainer.

Another way to dry thoroughly is sit them in the warm sun without their lids, or, if you have one of those big Excalibur food dehydrators like I do, take out the shelves and lay some bottles inside. Remember to remove the lids. You can dry them in there on low heat usually in a few hours or just let run overnight. The point is, you want your bottles bone dry.

Next, get your space ready. you’ll need your bottles of course, as well as a funnel or another bottle cut in half to use as a funnel, clean work space, marker and dry food for storage.

I like to pre-treat my beans, rice, grains, meal, flour etc. with a couple weeks in the deep freezer, take out and allow to come to room temp and then put back in for a week or two. This really helps kill off any mealy bug eggs that might be lurking in your food. You’ll want to take your beans and flour treated in this way out of the freezer and allow to come to room temperature. Just sit on the counter overnight.

(You can also just put the filled tightly capped bottles in the freezer too.)

Now, all you have to do is, using your funnel or cut off bottle, fill your bottles with the rice, or beans or whatever you have, cap, use your marker to date and tell what’s inside and you’re done!

I have to say that this is one of the best storage containers I’ve come across yet.

Your food is safe, easy to move or store, won’t pop open, and is practically unbreakable.

You can also fold and insert oxygen absorbers if you like or desiccant packs for added protection and longer storage. Of course with things like sugar or salt, only the desiccant pack would be useful.

These are also excellent to store things like dried bean soup mix in for camping or for putting in your bug out bag (BOB). Being light weight and extremely durable, they are good to have in the BOB and once empty can serve other purposes like storing water.

You can also use 20 ounce bottles for smaller amounts of food that you want to store, or you can store seeds in them provided of course attention is paid to thorough drying.

I also leave the original labels on for the most part as I feel they offer some measure of added protection and aid in keeping out the light.

If you make your own dried soup mixes, or dried vegetables you can store them in the smaller bottles to take camping or in the event of a bug out situation. Dehydrated re-fried bean mix is delicious and easy to store in bottles like this, as well as ready to cook rice dishes.

Also, if you are able to get coke lugs, the heavy plastic bottle trays that the supplier uses, you can use those to put your bottles back in and stack them that way as well.

My husband was able to get a few of them from the coke man where he works and they are ideal for holding the bottles and stacking them. Otherwise, you can use cardboard boxes or just put your bottles in the cabinet if they are used often.

So, to recap. The pros of using these bottles.

1. they are cheap/free and easy to come by

2. they are durable, designed to withstand 200 lbs. of pressure, definitely tough

3. they hold foods in manageable amounts

4. water tight.

5. they are reusable

6. you can see the contents without opening to check for any problems before opening

(important if you worry about mealy bugs and the like)

7. fit easily into the BOB!

Cons

The 2 ltr bottles have a rather small mouth and so you are limited to what you can store in them, however, the 3 ltr bottles have a wider mouth and you can often use those for larger things like pasta or the big lima beans.

Other than that, I can’t really think of anymore cons.

Just one more thing.

It is important for everyone to have some food stocked up. Regardless of a person’s income of lack of it. Encourage your family and friends, neighbors and co-workers to put up at least a little food for the future. This is likely the single most important thing you can do to protect your own family because, if your neighbors and friends are provided for, you won’t have to worry about them being in need and perhaps turning to you for food. Many people are put off by all the recommended methods and supplies like Mylar bags or special drums or buckets. For those people that can’t afford those things try using what is freely available and perhaps even superior as a storage container. The ubiquitous soft drink bottle!

p.a. turner – http://endofempirenews.blogspot.com/

Tags: food storage, guest post

food storage | Rourke March 20, 2011

14 Comments to “Guest Post: Dry food Storage Using 2 and 3 ltr. Plastic Soda Bottles”

By Julia, March 20, 2011 @ 8:03 am

Pam! This is awesome! I’ve used plastic soda bottles, too, and they work like a charm. I’m glad someone else does it too!
By pamela, March 20, 2011 @ 9:37 am

Oh that’s great Julia! Aren’t they the best things ever? Especially since they’d get thrown out in the trash otherwise.
Oh, another use for them is in winemaking, but that’s another article! LOL
By pamela, March 20, 2011 @ 9:54 am

oh, and just a note, it’s p.a.turner! LOL
sorry about that, I can’t even get my own name right sometimes!
By GypsySixx, March 20, 2011 @ 9:58 am

Fantastic Idea.. First new idea I have seen in a long Time. Thank You for the Post !!! GypsySixx
By Badvoodoodaddy, March 20, 2011 @ 10:03 am

I have been using the plastic 2 liter bottles for water storage for a while now and they work great. I have also been thinking about putting some of my wheat and rice in them so that I can have a smaller amount of both to use on a daily basis so that I don’t have to open my big buckets to get some out. Great post and great idea for reusing plastic bottles and not throwing them away.
By Eleanor Hjemmet, March 20, 2011 @ 10:14 am

Wonderful! Recycling of the highest order!!! Thanks, Pam.
By Jason, March 20, 2011 @ 10:38 am

I’ve been using this method since the Y2k days and have even put the small oyster crackers into the 3liter soda bottles that have lasted about 4 years this way (the crackers). I also go one step further, I put a piece of electrical tape or duct tape around the cap to seal it better and as a anti-tamper device of sorts. I have also decided to utilize the 16oz,20 and liter soda bottles as ‘charity handouts’ if need be. These store nicely in milk crates. For these charity handouts, one soda bottle contains rice the other black beans and are taped together.

If you need a way to store them, ask for the soda bottle carriers at carryouts that are usually thrown out back. Those store the bottles great, especially if using them for water storage.

Heck, how about using unused paint cans to store items? I have about a half dozen gallon and pint metal cans put away full of refried dehydrated beans, soup mixes, ‘scotch broth soup’ mix and dehydrated vegetables using a couple O2 absorbers and rubber mallet. Six months of storage and so far they are looking good.
By Junebug Actual, March 20, 2011 @ 11:32 am

This suggestion has the greatest value to me than anything I’ve seen in years. Yesterday I spent quite a bit of time searching for a good local supplier for storage resources. By reading this article, my need for outside supply has been dramatically altered. Thank you very much Pam. Seriously valuable article.

JBA
By Rourke, March 20, 2011 @ 11:55 am

Jason –

Good thoughts. I am going to start saving my 2-ltr bottles and follow the advice in the post. I would be a little concerned about the paint cans – just want to make certain that they are air tight.

Thanks – Rourke
By pamela, March 20, 2011 @ 12:34 pm

oyster crackers! Now that’s a great idea!
and the electrical tape for bottles being stored longer is an added measure that I will be doing this year when I fill up bottles.
I’ll put them next to the kidney beans that I use for chili!
By Sheryl, March 20, 2011 @ 10:11 pm

I wonder what the shelf life for flour is if you’re using this method? Also, where do you get 3 liter soda bottles? I’ve never heard of them or seen them in the store. I live in Colorado.
By Booklvr, March 20, 2011 @ 10:36 pm

This is a fabulous idea! What a great way to recycle the bottle AND a free storage container for emergency food storage! I haven’t stored nearly as much flour or rice as I want because I was put off by having to buy a special bucket or mylar bags, so this solves that problem! Thanks so much for sharing this very practical idea; I am going to put it to use the very next time I go to the store (AND it’s a good excuse for buying more Pepsi, LOL!)
By Rourke, March 21, 2011 @ 1:47 am

Sheryl –

Here in the Southeast most grocery stores carry a few – often in store brand varieties.

Thanks – Rourke
By Cliff in Douglasville, March 21, 2011 @ 12:41 pm

After reading your post I went to look at how many of the 16.9 ounce water bottles we go through in a week. The plastic is light but they seal back up tight and are just right for a serving or two of rice or small amounts of grain. Great for charity. Great for pulling out a meal or two worth with out having to bust open the pails. Better to use them for storage than to send them off to the landfill.