Rourke: This post was originally published here on ModernSurvivalOnline.com. It is just as relevant today.
Storing food continues to be my main priority in gathering survival supplies. Canned goods are the mainstay of much of my stockpile along with some freeze-dried. Over the past few months I have added some additional food via storing them in mylar bags.
Mylar packaging has been around for many years. Used for many different products – mylar has a unique ability to present an oxygen barrier and protect food for extended storage.
So – how do I store food in mylar bags? Typically for preparedness-related food storage – food is placed into the mylar bag, an oxygen absorber is placed in the bag, and then the bag is sealed(using heat). The oxygen absorber will eliminate almost all the oxygen in the bag – thus providing a very long shelf life.
In the picture above I have my supplies laid out – mylar bags, oxygen absorbers, some spaghetti, and my iron.
I also had some rice as well to store away.
Here I have placed some rice in the mylar and added the oxygen absorber. Next the top of the bag needs to be sealed up.
Note: Yes – a lot more rice can go in this bag.
Part of the “trick” to sealing the bag is to place it on something – and then run the hot iron over the mylar sealing it. As much as possible should be removed from the bag prior to sealing. I generally form a 1-2 inch sealed edge along the top. Once sealed – it is good to try to squeeze the bag to make sure there are no leaks.
There are any different sized bags available. I prefer the gallon size.
Above is one of my completed bags. Mark all bags with the date of packaging, contents, and approx amount.
Once I have several bags done – I place them in a plastic 5 gallon bucket and place the lid on it. I then mark on the outside the date of packaging and I list the contents as well. Of note I never pack a bucket with all one ingredient. I always mix up the contents – beans, pasta, rice, sugar, salt, etc. Why? In-case I have to pack buckets in a vehicle to “head for the hills” – I want to know that however many buckets I get I will have a variety of food items in each one.
Overall – this method is very expensive. I have some Amazon links embedded in this post showing some of the supplies I have purchased and used myself. Also – there are some good videos on YouTube demonstrating this process.
When stored under the right conditions certain foods can last a very long time.
Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.
Rourke
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before i close the 5 gal pail ithrow in asmall hand warmer.it works so well it will suck in sides of bucket. double seal..
Great idea, reddog!
My dilemma is that I can’t decide between the ziploc bags and the regular gallon bags. It’s just the two of us now, so I can finally afford to go ahead and purchase. Before now, we went through the food so fast that it wasn’t necessary to use them!
BTW, if you purchase cereal and such, you can re-use the mylar bags in them.
John, how do you think one of those vacuum sealer machines would work with mylar bags?
They may seal it if it has a manual seal function. However it won’t create a vacuum so you will still need oxygen absorbers.
JohnP – The vacuum sealer can’t work as far as sucking the air out because the mylar has no ridges. Only Ruffles have ridges. lol. The heat strip on the vac sealer might well seal the bag for you though.
Professional chamber type vacuum sealers work great with mylar. See Vac Master for instancehttp://www.homesteadharvest.com/vacmaster-vacuum-chamber-sealers.html. Mylar can be more easily torn than thick plastic bags so if you choose to vacuum seal them, be careful of sharp corners.
PR
CaptTurbo, thanks for the info, definitely saved me from some frustration as to why the bags would not have sealed.