Rice and other long-term rations storage

[transmitterdan]

Originally Posted by dptconst

I have heard that micro waving grains prior to sealing in storage containers will prevent the weevil and other worm problems? Does anyone have experience with this?

It probably will kill hatched larvae. But I doubt it will kill unhatched weevil eggs. I think this is not a solution to help long term storage.

Weevil eggs are a bit like brine shrimp eggs. It's nearly impossible to kill them before they hatch.

[Jdege]

Originally Posted by reed1v

We stored rice and beans in 5 gallon paint buckets with sealing lids(Lowes, etc).

If you're using 5 gallon buckets, take a serious look at Gamma Lids:

[jheldatksuedu]

I use 3 liter pop bottles. I've used them for years. They are rather indestructible. I make a screw on funnel out of a couple cars glued back to back and one cut up. The 3 liter bottles are getting hard to find, used to be dollar tree stores, if you see them let me know. I have plenty but would like to know if they are still available for others.

I like the dry ice idea, and also would like to hear if the freeze works.

you can see my 3 liter storage and other good ideas at

Good ideas

I first started using 2 liter bottles as water bottles for back packing, crush them when done, blow them back up and reuse them many times.

[NornaBiron]

[QUOTE=j


I like the dry ice idea, and also would like to hear if the freeze works.[/QUOTE]

As I said previously, freezing bread flour in vacuum sealed bags works for me, I'm still using flour that I sealed and froze, before storing on board, two years ago.

[JanetGroene]

Some rules of thumb:
*Glass is a better moisture barrier than plastic
* Square containers store and stack more efficiently than round.
* Glass and metal are the best shield against rats, which easily eat through plastic, cardboard, foil and plasticized cardboard
* Oxygen barrier packets are cheap enough to put in every container
http://amzn.to/1RWOele, Not to be confused with dessicants (silica gel), which is also cheap enough to put a packet in every container http://amzn.to/1PiFiSh, Not to be confused with ethylene absorbers, http://amzn.to/1RWOele used to prolong the life of produce. They cost more and need periodic replacing. I don't know if oxygen packets expire, but silica gel packets can be heated, dried and re-used.
*Almost any non-perishable can be "canned" in canning jars heated just enough to make the vacuum lid suck down but not enough to scorch the grain, flour, nuts, rice, etc.
* If you have a freezer, put unopened bags of rice and other grains there for 24 hours, then return unopened package to "room" temperature and they should be vermin free at least for a while.
* If you're not squaemish and catch an infestation early before too much contamination has occurred, freeze the flour or whatever to kill the livestock, then sift and eat.

[Maka]

You can buy food already packed to last 25 years from any "Prepper" sight on line.
They also sell containers w instructions for packing and storing food long term.

You can buy CO2 and put it in containers to replace air ... and keep contents fresh, as mentiond earlier

Fill a sink or bucket w water ... leave the last corner of your sip locks open and submerge the bag ..the water will push all the air out .... then sip up the last 1/4 inch and you have a air free ziplock bag.

Rice is an excelent moisture absorbent .. in salt shakers in high humidity areas. Rice grains to big to go thru salt shaker holes.

Coat your egg shells w Vaseline ... they will stay fresh for a year not refrigerated. ( room temperature. )

[transmitterdan]

Originally Posted by NornaBiron

As I said previously, freezing bread flour in vacuum sealed bags works for me, I'm still using flour that I sealed and froze, before storing on board, two years ago.

^^^+1

Freezing works as it prevents eggs hatching.

[Jdege]

Originally Posted by JanetGroene

I don't know if oxygen packets expire

Oxygen absorbers are just iron filings and salt.The iron absorbs the oxygen and turns into rust, pulling oxygen out of the air.

They aren't reversible.

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by tonysail1

Hi all, and hope life is smiling on you.

To topic - long-term rations are handy to have stashed away, even if I don't get away as much as I would like. I figure rice, flour, beans, coffee, sugar, pastas, dried fruits, spices, UHT milks and creams, tins/cans of all sorts, etc are all good to have lots of. With good rations stashed one can drop the lines and get going for a weekend, or even a week or two without even having to provision. I like when my boat is in ready-to-go mode - just makes me feel good.

Anyway, I have started collecting PET bottles (think Diet Coke bottles) for storing rice. I figure they hold a decent amount, they are free-ish, they will keep moisture out, are pretty abrasion and shock proof, and their shape will still allow an amount of locker ventilation. Square/rectangular plastic would be more space efficient, but they cost packets of cash.

Flour I can buy in a rectangular-ish plastic container, and that container is really useful for later storage use.

I store rice in the bags they are bought in sometimes - that's okay, and fits into spaces well.
Tins I just use fabric shopping bags that hold a nice 'brick' of 6-8 cans depending on size of tins.
Some things I will double-bag into zip-lock bags of various sizes - bags of stuff in the grams to kilo+ ranges.
I do notice a lot of bags hold excess air, and consume storage spaces - sometimes (depending on product) I prick a small hole in the bag, push the air out and tape over the hole again.
Abrasion has not been an issue so far, but I can see how passages might cause some issues (packing carefully should solve that).

So, what other tips are out there people?
How do you stash food for long-term storage.

The weevil lava comes in the food. Someone had suggested placing Bay leaf in your food lockers? Worth a try.

[Ribbit]

Originally Posted by Ann T. Cate

To me, weevils are icky! However, I really don't think eating them would do you any harm, sailors used to eat weevily biscuit, and I purely cannot imagine them picking out the bugs!

Hard Tack Biscuits (they were called 'Hard' for a reason)

Sailors used to bang them on the woodwork (tables, beams, etc) to knock the weevils out of them.

American Civil War recipe for Hard Tack here (I don't know if the photograph of soldiers at the time, has them so enthusiastic and cheerful at the thought of eating Hard Tack about to be served, or, if it was because they had just eaten them):

The American Table | Civil War Recipe: Hardtack (1861)

I must admit I do like the 2ltr square glass Kilner jars for storage. I make liqueur's with them, do pickled cabbage, pickled onions, pickled eggs, and they are a nice size for storing rice, pasta, beans, etc.

Fairly cheap too (over here anyway).

I'm thinking of going low carb and high fat too, so will have to do a bit of serious thinking about what to carry for long term use, along with practical recipes to be able to use the ingredients.

[Mattz]

A source of fresh veges is sprouts ~ mung beans, bean sprouts, lentils etc. They store well. Just soak them for 24 hrs, then drain and rinse them dawn and dusk for a few days and, bingo, fresh healthy greens! (I sounds like an advertisement!)

[buzzstar]

Most of the stuff prior to this post was accurate, including the antibug (weevils, etc) methods for grains and grain products. My advice, use several different methods, as they all have been known to fail. Use a Sharpie laundry marker to label what, date, and maybe technique. If you take canned goods or other prepackaged food with labels, use the marker on bare metal, because you do not want a can of raw beans as your sole dinner entree when you had your mouth set on the chili in an identical can that lost its label too.
I have not tried it, but some of the foods for "preppers" (emergency or disaster food) may be good, particularly if stored in its original packaging put inside a larger plastic container container. I suspect the producer has taken care of the food inside the original package as far as weevils and similar are concerned, but it still needs to be protected from external attack.

[nic26]

If your at home or have access to: 15-30 seconds in a microwave oven kills everything.

[NornaBiron]

Originally Posted by Cadence

The weevil lava comes in the food. Someone had suggested placing Bay leaf in your food lockers? Worth a try.

I have just thrown away rice and flour that was stored in hard plastic boxes with well sealing lids for 4 or 5 months with several bay leaves added to each container.

Bay leaves do not work at keeping foods bug free.

[nic26]

Search for the book "Sailing the farm" for how to grow and what to grow on the boat and elsewhere