Ratio of Rice to Beans

[DuppyDo]

Also check with your local deli's and restaurants. I've gotten some really nice heavy duty pickle one's that they just throw away.Dukin Donut's has nice ones they toss as well. They need a good cleaning when you get them, but you can really save allot of money.I've gotten literally dozens and dozens this way.
I use the mylar bags because i've read somewhere online that air still gets into sealed food grade buckets, even when sealed tight. They say air gets in through the pores of the bucket, i don't know how true this is, i'm certainly no expert on the topic. I just don't want to take a chance with these valuable food assets, so i go the extra mile. Overkill...? maybe...

 

[Icu4dzs]

You know I was just thinking yesterday about those Mylar bags. If I use the bags do I need food grade buckets? The bags are so inexpensive. The bucket costs are killing me.

Any advice?

gina

The food grade buckets are re-usable. They generally have less problems with storage of things that have fluid in them. I'm not clear as to where the idea of "air getting into the buckets" came from but if air can get in, fluid would get out...

Mylar bags are great but if not airtight will only protect to some degree. Packing with Nitrogen or CO2 is important. The food grade buckets are able to be sealed rather well. On the other hand, wheat which stores well in just a metal can or any place that keeps it dry will store indefinitely.

As one person put it, they'll leave it to some struggling family when he kicks the bucket" which in my opinion will deform the bucket and make it less useful to store that food.

 

[k0xxx]

I did a bit of web searching and found this info on another forum. I did a bit more checking and the information seems to be correct.

"1: They are one time liquid use (most water bottles are made of this stuff). Most of your spice containers are grade 1 plastic

2: Food grade. These can have dies and the dies would not seep out because it is the most dense out of the plastics. They sell food grade buckets in different colors and reusable water bottles in this grade. HDPE can not be recycled because of it being so dense. Do not store food in them if they have been used for chemicals and do not store oil in them. For long term oil storage use glass.

3,6,7: are used for short term food packing but leach xestogen (synthetic estrogen) from the BPA. The communist are trying to ban all of these grades of plastic in food packing. In SanFransisco they have baned them already.

4: is food grade but any dies can be leached out because the bond isn't as strong as #2.

5: They use for rubermaid and tuperware containers but have found that they leach chemicals when heated and storing liquid for long periods (they did a test with yogurt because yogurt is packaged in #5 plastic).

7: Has the letter "O" by it because it stands for other. So 7 grade plastic could be a combination or just unknown.

If you look in your pantry most of the plastics are grade 1, 2, and 5."

Also, according to a manufacturer, air will indeed leach through these buckets, but it is a very slow process and not a problem with most foods (the foods' shelf life is usually shorter than the time it would take for enough air to leach through to damage the product). Wheat berries and a few other foods, on the other hand, have a much longer shelf life and a mylar/metalized bag and some type of O2 removal is recommended for maximum shelf life.

The way that I see it, the small amount that I pay for the bags and O2 packets are just cheap insurance, and provide peace of mind.

 

[freemotion]

OK, I don't store lots of grains and beans and likely won't as I am more of a "rotater" and my thought is to have enough to get through a crisis until I can grow/forage more (like getting through a winter or a poor growing season, so I have only 100# of wheat in glass jars and that is more than enough).....so my question.....why wouldn't Mylar leach stuff into the food? It is a synthetic, after all. With the jars, it is just the lining on the lid that is synthetic.

 

[k0xxx]

Condensed from the Sorbent Systems website (manufacturer of mylar bags):

Mylar is an industrial trademarked brand name that is often confusing. In its basic form, mylar is a clear material made from polyester resin.Polyester film, ('mylar') when laminated to aluminum foil provides additional barrier properties and higher puncture resistance. An aluminum foil layer acts like a flexible can providing the best possible barrier properties.

The aluminum is actually what is in contact with the food. Storing food in glass, at least in my opinion, is about as good as you can get. However, glass is heavy, fragile, and not really practical for larger quantity storage.

As for rotating, we do also. We started out with much more that the 600 pounds of wheat that we currently have. As part of our prepping we have included living quarters and food for additional family members (with their help), should the need arise. That is one reason we keep a much larger store of grains and other staples, than a lot of other single families. The 600 pounds represents the lowest our stock has been in the 10 years since we moved here. Our plan is to, over the next six months, build our stock back up to about 1200 to 1400 pounds of wheat.