[amym505]

I have heard by putting flour and other grains and dry goods in the freezer for about a week before storing will prevent bugs in the flour.
Can you imagine opening you flour, cornmeal, pasta after a few years, only to find it full of wevills or mealy bugs. Bummer!
Has anyone had this problem?

 

[Toyama]

I have! They are little black bugs that look like (mice poop), but smaller! I have went through so many bags its terrible! My mother always put all this stuff in the freezer but I never asked why. I surely hope that she never feed me these bugs! From what I read before, they are shipped with a few bugs in them where the processing hasn't taken them out and of course they multiply. Bird seed is the same way. I have had bird sead go very bad before where the bugs have clumped the sead up together. The best way to get rid of these (after) electric might go out is to have mylar bags and O2 absorbers where nothing can grow in the bags. I know its expensive, but just get enough for a few months to a year.

 

[amym505]

I have also read that you can scatter Bay leaves around your flour and grains and that is is a deterrent to the bugs.

 

[dontlookatme]

i was eating cereal once and half way through, i saw the weavels in my bowl. i instantly through up. it traumatized me from eating cereal until a year later i was able to finally eat a granola bar. since then. i buy the resealable cereal bags and i keep my cereal in the refrigerator.

 

[MountainMan]

It's protein... just sayin'.

 

[Leon]

vac sealed grains will keep a long time and there's no air for the bugs to breathe so it stays infestation free

 

[C5GUY]

vac sealed grains will keep a long time and there's no air for the bugs to breathe so it stays infestation free

I always store my grains and beans in Mylar bags with at least 1 2000cc oxygen absorber in each bag. I iron seal all but one corner and then use the wifey's vacuum cleaner with the crevice tool to suck all the remaining air out of the bag before I seal the corner. Sucks the bag around the product and then I store it in a HYDE 5 gallon bucket with a "O" ring seal lid. In my opinion grains and beans stored like this will be consumable for 7 to 12 years. The color might degrade over time but the product will still be viable.

 

[MountainMan]

Where do you get these oxygen absorber's? I live in a single wide with my wife, 3 kids, and mooching brother in law so space is limited. I'm about to rent a small storage unit and get started but I don't know what iron sealing is or anything like that.

 

[MountainMan]

I have heard by putting flour and other grains and dry goods in the freezer for about a week before storing will prevent bugs in the flour.
Can you imagine opening you flour, cornmeal, pasta after a few years, only to find it full of wevills or mealy bugs. Bummer!
Has anyone had this problem?

My wife's always frozen that stuff for a few days before she puts it in the pantry. She said it's what her grandma did. I never knew it was true.

 

[dontlookatme]

Where do you get these oxygen absorber's? I live in a single wide with my wife, 3 kids, and mooching brother in law so space is limited. I'm about to rent a small storage unit and get started but I don't know what iron sealing is or anything like that.

U can buy them on ebay. Or I heard u can use the hand warmers too. And YouTube how to store food. shows u many great ways to store food long term.

 

[amym505]

Where do you get these oxygen absorber's? I live in a single wide with my wife, 3 kids, and mooching brother in law so space is limited. I'm about to rent a small storage unit and get started but I don't know what iron sealing is or anything like that.

I get my oxygen absorbers from http://www.beprepared.com. the prices are pretty good, but they only have 1 size. There is a member on the forum from http://www.discountmylarbags.com. I had bought mylar bags in the past and they have oxygen absorbers too.
When you store your foods in a mylar bag, with oxygen absorbers, inside a food grade bucket with good seals, it extends the life by years. Make sure you use the number of absorbers needed for the amount and type of food you are storing.

 

[MountainMan]

This stuff is complicated.

 

[C5GUY]

Where do you get these oxygen absorber's? I live in a single wide with my wife, 3 kids, and mooching brother in law so space is limited. I'm about to rent a small storage unit and get started but I don't know what iron sealing is or anything like that.

I get my oxygen absorbers from http://www.beprepared.com. the prices are pretty good, but they only have 1 size. There is a member on the forum from http://www.discountmylarbags.com. I had bought mylar bags in the past and they have oxygen absorbers too.
When you store your foods in a mylar bag, with oxygen absorbers, inside a food grade bucket with good seals, it extends the life by years. Make sure you use the number of absorbers needed for the amount and type of food you are storing.

I too get my mylar bags as well as my oxygen absorbers from http://www.discountmylarbags.com/. You can buy these as a kit with like 5 to 10 bags along with the 2000cc oxygen absorbers included. It is not near as complicated as you might think. There are a ton of great videos out on this process that will help you.

 

[MountainMan]

Gosh. Ask a simple question, get 50 answers. You guys are always full of great info. Here's another one for 'ya. I'm going to rent a storage room tomorrow. If I follow your instructions should I still spend the extra coin on climate control or will I be okay?

 

[amym505]

Gosh. Ask a simple question, get 50 answers. You guys are always full of great info. Here's another one for 'ya. I'm going to rent a storage room tomorrow. If I follow your instructions should I still spend the extra coin on climate control or will I be okay?

I guess it would depend on where you live, and if it is affordable. If I had my wish it would be climate controlled. We have such drastic changes in temperature here.

 

[MountainMan]

K. Glad I asked. We have really drastic changes in weather here and our BOL. I wouldn't have thought it mattered and could have ended up with a lot of wasted food.

 

[C5GUY]

You will always be better off maintaining your food stores in as cool of a climate as possible. With that being said in a case of SHTF there will be no way to have climate controlled storage. You would be shocked at how little space 5 gal. buckets of food properly stored will take up. Mine are stacked 5 high on top of each other and I still have a ton of room left in the closet where I store them.

 

[RuDown]

Hello All,
I have a question for all of you. I have about 40 pounds of sugar to store. What would be the best way to store all of this. Right now I have it in its original package and vacuum sealed. The seal keeps breaking though. Can I store it like flour? Someone told me to keep it and my rice together. Is there any truth to that? Let me know what you think.

 

[amym505]

I don't know about storing it with the rice, but I would store it in a mylar bag with oxygen absorbers in a food grade container with sealed lids if you are looking for long term storage. I have some stored in just a food grade bucket with oxygen absorbers for shorter term storage, like within the next year.

 

[preppernanna]

ebay is good ,also beprepared.com is another place to get oxygen absorbers and buckets with or without lids. home depot carries buckets and gamma seal lids. I dont reccomend placing grains in a storage building unless it is climate controlled, as it should be kept below 75 * for best quality .