What Food for my Mylar Bag Storage?

[Guest Crud]

Tommorow (Saturday Feb 26) I will go to Sam's Warehouse and buy all the food for my long term storage. My question is what should I buy in general? I am going to store in 5 gallon buckets (Where do I get these?) and in Mylar bags.

My plan is to store Oats mainly. And White rice. Have oats for breakfast, rice for lunch, and then either oats of rice for supper. That should cover my carbohydrates.

Then I plan to get large varietys of beans. Which kinds store the best and which are cheapest?

Other than this, what should I be storing? Is brown sugar storable? I can supplement my food by hunting meat and fishing.

Other than that, any advice you can give me before tommorow will be great.

[Westwindmike]

Store what you eat now. If you like macaroni, store it. If you like chocolate cake, store the ingredients. The whole idea is to store what you use and use what you store. Rotate your stores, first in, first out. Good luck with your food storage. You will be ahead of 90% of the American people.

[Guest Crud]

But I don't know what keeps and what doesn't.

Another question, can I store powderd milk or does it have to be refridgerated?

[Guest Hoppy]

Crud, I agree with Westwindmike. You should store what you use and use what you store. Even the best prepared larders will not stay fresh forever. Identify items that you like and use currently and buy those. In reality, most boxed or canned goods can last for a long time, but you are best off using them regularly. For example, I have sealed storage boxes with food inside of them at an off site location from my residence. I keep a month or so worth of items that I use regularly in each box or storage bin. Every month when I go shopping I buy those items that I use and replace the ones that I pulled from my storage area. I keep 12 months worth of items. This means that I buy food every month, but I am always eating food that is about a year old. First in - First out. I also have several five gallon buckets of wheat and corn that I use for daily use. I grind my grains with a hand grinder and know how to use the items that I have. I use the same rotation strategy for the grains, but they last a lot longer than a month.

Some of the items that I keep in my bins are: Bags of dry pinto and butter beans, misc. canned vegetables, cans of tomato paste, pasta sauce, dried spaghetti and macaroni, a box of bisquick, pancake mix, pancake syrup, canned tuna, cheeze-its, powdered milk (yes it can be stored dry if it isn't opened), cans of evaporated milk, slim Jims, beef jerky, velveeta cheese, misc. candies, a can opener, blueberry muffin mix, spices, peanut butter, ramen noodles, fruit cups, etc. These items will last over a year, but I don't let them because I rotate them out.

However, if you are looking for a long-term off-site storage for many years then vacuum seal dried foods with as little oxygen as possible and store in cool, dry, dark locations. Truthfully though, a well thought out rotation schedule is more useful, less expensive because you know you will use the food and there is little chance of food spoilage. Good luck.

I hope this helps.

[Westwindmike]

Well said Hoppy!

[Glenn]

There are only a few foods that will never spoil. Honey, salt, sugar, corn syrup, white vinager. Not a very pleasing menu. I don't know if it is true but i've heard that Twinkees can be added to that list.

Glenn

[broylz]

dried milk can be stored for quite awhile. i store rice, flour, beans, salt and sugar in buckets. before you go into that though, i would suggest storing several months worth of canned goods, veggies, fruits, meats, soups, stews, chilly, etc... get 3-6 months of the stuff you eat regularly. if you eat alot of oatmean and rice, get that as well.

i get my buckets from the local walmart bakery, cleaned out for $1/ea.

last time i was in sams, i saw bulk rice, flour and sugar. i tink they had pinto beans in bulk but that was about it. not sure where youre at witout looking as im not familiar with dunlap but i know in the nashville area, there i a LDS cannery where you can buy bulk items cheaper and can them in #10 cans or buy bulkto repack in your buckets. several other places also sell bulk but you would have to look for best prices.

[Guest Crud]

Ok thanks guys. The only thing I bought so far was 150 pounds of rice for $60. I'm looking for online stores on where to buy bulk steel cut oats.

Here's a question, how should I store brown sugar?

Second question, would maple syrup have a long shelf life if properly sealed in mason jars?

Third question, 5 gallons seems like a lot to open all at once. How long would an opened bag of rice or oatmeal last?

[Guest FTG-05]

Start reading:

Frugal's Forums

Frugal's Forums

Consider starting smaller using paint cans:

Frugal's Forums

Frugal's Forums

Good luck.

[Guest Hoppy]

I just had a long and detailed answer, but I screwed up and it got deleted. I'll try again.

I'm not sure about where to get the flaked oats, but you can try a homebrewing store, but I think they're oats are either torrified or flaked already. I like rebelbrewer.com. They are located in Goodletsville and the owner is a great guy. I would rather try to get whole oats because they would store better, and then buy a non-electric oat roller and do it myself. That give more flexibility on how you use the oats.

Store the brown sugar in sealed, airtight, durable containers in cool, dry, dark location. I'm not sure how long it'll store.

Maple syrup may be a problem. It depends on if it is store bought with preservatives or if it is natural. Natural product will only last about a year or two even if sealed properly. If you have bought it in bulk and are planning to pour into separate containers then you are asking for trouble. The container must be properly sanitized with no head space of air and then should be canned like you would do with vegetables. Even with this technique you are still taking a big risk on the syrup.

You can store the oats, brown sugar, and maple syrup by making several barrels of Oatmeal Stout beer, but that may not be what you had in mind.

If 5 gallon buckets are too much, then fill gallon bags and seal with vacuum sealer and put them in the sealed bucket. Open the bags as needed.

To determine how long your grains will last you must figure out how much you will use for your family on a daily basis. If you will use 5 cups of rice a day and you have 5 gallons (80 cups) then the rice will last 16 days. If you use 2 cups a day then the bucket will last for 40 days.

I hope this helps.

[Guest Crud]

Thanks.

Another question, do I keep the food in the original container and store it in a Mylar bag, or do I open and pour it into the Mylar bag?