Super Pails

[Brosia]

I've got the mylar bags and O2 absorbers on their way. The bakery lady "forgot" about me and they tossed their buckets, so I'll have to go back again. What I should do is leave a couple of business cards or something with the local bakeries, so they can call me. I've got a couple of projects in mind for the Cub Scouts too, so I wouldn't mind having lots of pails.
Hitting the Costco this weekend to purchase some rice, I'm thinking wheat will have to be mail-ordered.
I don't have a heat sealer for the mylar bag, but I do have a hair straightener. Wonder if that would work....

I've read that bay leaves work great for pest control in pails (and don't flavor the food.)

Soon as I get everything in order, I'll post pictures.

[West Texas!]

I have buckets I've bought, and buckets I filled....CO2 is your friend.

[cudalyon]

....CO2 is your friend.

Yes it is....I have a bottle of co2 that helps my beer escape from the keg to my glass.....Mmmmmmmm Beer!

[jetskrtal]

I've got the mylar bags and O2 absorbers on their way. The bakery lady "forgot" about me and they tossed their buckets, so I'll have to go back again. What I should do is leave a couple of business cards or something with the local bakeries, so they can call me. I've got a couple of projects in mind for the Cub Scouts too, so I wouldn't mind having lots of pails.
Hitting the Costco this weekend to purchase some rice, I'm thinking wheat will have to be mail-ordered.
I don't have a heat sealer for the mylar bag, but I do have a hair straightener. Wonder if that would work....

I've read that bay leaves work great for pest control in pails (and don't flavor the food.)

Soon as I get everything in order, I'll post pictures.

You can use an iron to seal the mylar bags.
I've heard the same thing on bay leaves,but haven't tried it yet.

[Jimbo]

Iv'e been buying the buckets at Lowes Hardware. They are HDPE #2 which is food grade and I figured out that they were cheaper than any of the Preparedness sites would get them to me after shipping. Same manufacturer as most of the Prep sites!

[shootertutor]

Wheat

A few local families are looking for a closer source for wheat (central Texas).
50 pound bag for $25 sounds good, until you add $18 for shipping.

We have been grinding our own, and making bread for several years now.
Until a year or so ago, used a $19.99 Mexico-made hand grinder, then purchased an electric.

I highly recommend starting NOW. Just like fresh-ground coffee beans make a more flavorful cup, bread is the same way. Healthier also.
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"Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God"
(Benjamin Franklin wanted to put that on our seal.)

[Brosia]

I was doing some research because I was going to get some buckets at Home Depot. I figure it was worth the $2.48 to avoid driving back and forth to the bakeries and begging. The bottom of the buckets say HDPE 2, which food grade buckets are made from; but these are not necessarily food grade. It could be due to the dye, or because it's recycled hdpe. But since I'm going to use mylar bags, I think it'll be okay.

And it's easy enough to find lids online.


STILL haven't put my superpails together, but it will be soon. i see Honeyvillegrain.com sells a lot of the foodstuff in big 25 lb bags, and shipping is less than $5!

How Much Food Fits in a Container

[Morguns1Cam]

I "roll my own, Food grade buckets, mylar bags, vac-pac with oxygen absorbers inside. I bought my Vacuum sealer and mylar bags and oxygen absorbers, from www.sobentsystems.com. (the neat thing about their vac-sealer is it works on any kind of bag , unlike the Food-saver type that has to have the special textured bags) Ive bought buckets and lids from www.houseofcans.com but they really shaft you with the shipping, probably due the the bulk not the weight.I think the minimum order for the 6gal buckets I bought was 12, I think that will hold me for a while.
A thing I learned about the mylar bags is get at least a 4 mil thickness, thinner bags puncture easily (rice grains are sharp on the ends) . or you can try double-bagging and then vac seal the outer bag.
Its a learning process!
Cam

[Mean Gene]

If I recall any of my science classes correctly the O2 in CO2 is oxygen.If anyone near you fills tires with nitrogen that might work a little better if you can figure a way to fill the pails with nitrogen.You'd be golden.
I have a vacuum pump for AC work I'm thinking if I could put a Schrader (bicycle tire) valve on the bucket and pump out the atmospheric air and refill it with straight nitrogen it might keep longer.

[kenno]

Well HECK and by GUM, wheat at .50 a pound? It better be gold plated!
All the info that follows comes from a cowpoke that lives in a semi-dry climate, even the rain here is dry, so if you folks live in the Carolinas or on the Gulf take special care to dry-out your victuals!
Back last century in 98' I put by some white rice, beans and such. Froze it at -20 for 2 weeks then it went into pre-frozen and thawed mylar bags,sealed with twist ties in gamma seal lid plastic buckets scavanged from differant sources, not all food grade, some from construction sites (pre-mixed drywall mud). All of it was stored in an outside shed that probably never got above 70 degrees but certainly got down to -20. We ate-up the white rice first, took a couple 5 years but it was good none the less, always cooked-up perfect. The white beans were the next most popular then pinto beans, black beans came in dead last and were the toughest to cook after 10 years. We used the pressure cooker to cook up the black beans after several years storage, by the time they were cooked to the point that they could be eaten, they were near mush. If you were hungry you'd shovel em in with narry a complaint, I religated em to trading stock. I had figgured the black beans would "Last" the longest and yet they were a disappointment,,victualy speaking. Had they lost nutritional value? I would say the Black beans lost about 50%. For me the White Beans were the most enjoyable/ palatable. Even after several years storage they were as tasty as when they came off the shelf. I figgured that white beans would suffer the most as the bean's skin is the thinest, but for taste and texture it came in first. So you can store a year or two's worth of basic foods with little effort and expense, beans and rice are still below .50 a pound when bought in 25 pound bags. If you can buy grain from a feed store whole grain (unmilled grain) like barley is about .30 a pound, whole grains last for many years if frozen and sealed. Cleaning and milling grain is a very simple operation, at the most primitive level it takes a few hours work to process a days worth of grain. Entire civalizations have existed on grain, there is no mystery to it's uses,. The internet has answers to all your questions. When in doubt grab a hammer!
The greatest ally and the greatest foe to survival is situated between your ears and behind your eyes.
My 2 cents

[Morguns1Cam]

Nitrogen Purge

Im not sure what effect, if any the nitrogen would have on the stored food, none I would think,But It will displace the oxygen and since its heavier than air you can "fill" the bucket with it put the food in and cap the bucket. Since the Nitrogen is heavier than the air, it will force the air out of the bucket, you shouldn't have to vac the air out.