Grain storage question

[CM1021]

So I'm getting ready to start storing some grains long term but I have really no idea on all of this right now...I have been doing some research and will definately learn a lot about it from this site but I have a few questions...

First of all I can get barrels like this one barrels and totes (the top one, open top with a lever lock on it, food grade, and the ones I can get have a rubber seal in the top of the lid) for like 10 bucks... My question is are these ok to store grains in such as rice, beans, and others... Right now I'm going to be storing a lot of rice and beans...I figure these are the cheapest that I can start off with and everybody likes rice...RIGHT?? Also if these are ok to store grains...Is it possible for me to store two different grains in this same barrel if I put some sort of divider out of cardboard or some other material in between them...like rice and beens in one, and two other grains in another, etc... also how do you guys store them? I have heard everything from dropping some dry ice and letting it evaporate then putting the lid on to placing O2 absorbers in the barrel which I probably will anyways

Also what is the shelf life on rice? I know there are tons of different types of rice but what do most people store? just plain bleached rice or should I stick with un-bleached?

Sorry for the long post but any help you can give me I really appreciate it!! I am planning on putting tax refund towards a good amount of long term food storage so I'm trying to get studied up now...

Thanks,

CM

[Guest gw2and4]

I started baking bread a few years ago and bought 45 lbs of hard red and 45 lbs of hard white wheatberries. I keep them in 5-gallon buckets with gamma seal lids. I can't remember where I got them, but they were about $2 per bucket to get clean food-grade ones and about $7 per lid.

After 2 years of not baking bread, I cracked one open. The grain was still fine to use. I'm no expert, but I've personally had good results with this setup and think the gamma seal lids do a good job for 2-3 year storage.

Good luck finding the right solution.

Sent from my iPhone 4

[CM1021]

I definately will be looking into 5 gallon buckets...anybody know approx. how much pound wise you can fit into them? like rice or wheat or flour?

[Mike]

I would seal the grain in Mylar bags if you plan on using buckets. Put oxygen absorbers in there and you have food that will last 25+ years. #10 cans are what I have mine stored in.

Mike

[Dolomite_supafly]

You can get food grade buckets for free. Just go to any store that has a bakery and they generally have a lot they just throw away. My last trip I got about 25 buckets with lids that had rubber seals. They had plenty more but that was all I wanted at that time. They have 2 gallon, 3 gallon and 5 gallon buckets generally.

I filled one bucket up with rice two years ago. During the fill I added a cube of dry ice to the mix. Dry ice evaporates into Co2 which is heavier than oxygen and will displace all the oxygen. It basically pushes the oxygen out. I left the bucket lid cracked for about 12 hours to let the dry ice displace all the oxygen then I sealed the bucket. Another advantage to using dry ice is the Co2 will kill anything in the bucket.

I am planning on cracking it open in the next year or so to see how everything looks.

Dolomite

[CM1021]

Thanks for the response guys!! I will start checking with my local bakeries and see what I can find....

[Guest brentt]

I did some research about a year ago on this same topic. Havent started preping yet but I plan on it soon. Anyway I found that white rice was the way to go becouse brown rice actually has a little water stored in it and goes bad after a while, white rice, although being not as nutritious, if properley stored will last almost 4ever. They have found some in the pyramids over 2000 years old that was still fresh enough to germinate. They also have found honey in the pyramids that was still good... If you like honey on your rice..? Beans on the other hand was a little trickier. Even dry beans dry out after a while and are not as good (that is after many years). As for storage, both rice and beans are said to do best in a cool, dry, dark place like a basement.

That was my liitle bit of knowledge on the subject that I thought was useful and intresting. Im learning to so keep me posted.

[Dolomite_supafly]

Another problem with brown rice is they have oils in them. That is what makes them brown. This oil goes rancid after a while.

I had forgotten about honey. I guess it is time to go buy some bulk honey as well. Problem with that is I REALLY like honey so it will probably wind up being a revolving stockpile.

Dolomite

[Guest brentt]

SAMS club has 50lbs bags of white rice for around 25 bucks cheapest to about 45 bucks. Thought that was a good deal...?

Dolomite, I didnt check their honey but I always thought if I were to stock pile some maybe try some of the flea markets. I see your from knox, there is a guy at the expo flea market that sells his own honey in quart jars for 10 or 2 for 18 and I asked once for curiosity and he said hed take 2 for 15. You could use it as a sweetner, use it in your pemican mixture, its suppose to be good for arthritis, helps with cholosterol, bunch of home remedey ideas, and prob alot more benefits. Thats all I know of off hand. So it might be a good idea to stockpile some in your storage. Just try not to eat it all.

[Dolomite_supafly]

Walmart sells white rice for $6 for 20 pounds or at least did last year. A bit cheaper than the 50 pounds for $25. I leave them in their original packaging and put them in the house in a cooler, pest free location. I inspected them about a month ago and look as good as the day I bought them.

Dolomite

[Guest Jasen]

I would seal the grain in Mylar bags if you plan on using buckets. Put oxygen absorbers in there and you have food that will last 25+ years.

Mike

Agreed

[Guest Constructionist]

I also used Mylar bags and dry ice for my long term storage buckets. Another thing we did was to assemble "short term disaster" buckets as well. We packed rice, beans, salt, sugar, canned meats, etc. in a bucket sealed with a gamma lid, after letting some dry ice do its thing for a few hours. Every couple years we'll rotate stock in these buckets. For our true long term buckets, we still use the lids that have to be hammered on. Just make sure to have lid wrenches on hand, to make it easier to take off those lids.

Every so often, cvs or walmart runs buy one get one free specials on multivitamins. We buy several bottles, rotate our stock at home, and keep the extras back in case we ever need to supplement a long term rice and beans diet.

[Currently]

Inspect your grains ... especially white rice for bugs. We recently purchased a large quantity of white rice from an internet wholesaler and it was infested with rice weevils. By the time we caught on, all our dry goods was contaminated, especially the sugar. Now we have to get pest control in the house ... something I really hate to do.

Freezing in a freezer for 3 days will kill them. I don't have a chest freezer yet, my fridge freezer is full of food.

[Timestepper]

Inspect your grains ... especially white rice for bugs. We recently purchased a large quantity of white rice from an internet wholesaler and it was infested with rice weevils. By the time we caught on, all our dry goods was contaminated, especially the sugar. Now we have to get pest control in the house ... something I really hate to do.

Freezing in a freezer for 3 days will kill them. I don't have a chest freezer yet, my fridge freezer is full of food.

That sucks! Is there any way you can file a claim against the supplier or something? Man, I really feel for ya'!

[broylz]

last year i stored a bunch of stuff in freebie buckets from the walmart bakery. this week i will be repacking stuff in mylar bags with O2 absorbers finally. i get around 30-35lbs of white rice in a bucket, 25lbs of flour, same for sugar, and my beans are a mix of red kidney beans, great northern beans and split peas. id like to also find a local source for wheat berries instead of the flour i currently store.

as far as bugs go, i have only had problems once and it was a store bought 5lb bag of flour. it had one weevil in the top of the bag that had long been dead. i keep a bit of mouse bait in my pantry on the floor and spray for insects at least twice a year but maybe more if the ants are bad.