Dry storage using canning jars question

[BARRACUDABILLY]

I have a question about storing my dry goods in canning jars.
I have been storing up beans, rice, flour, ect in tupper ware or what ever kind of containers I could find, A friend of mine suggested I use 1/2 gal mason jars so I bought some and started using them.

My question is what kind of shelf life should I expect by using this method of storing and if this is a decent method what can I do to make it better? right now I buy a bag or two of extra beans rice ect I open the bags and fill a new washed out jar and screw the lid down nice and tight. the jars look pretty but I am more into eating the saved foods later than looking pretty on the shelf. I read another thread that said I should freeze things to kill the bugs before storing and that is also something I will start doing this also. See I have done learnt something from you guys already...thanks for any help advice

I like the idea of dry storage than I do of freezing. if I loose power I might loose my stash.

Thanks again
B.B.

[Brosia]

throw an oxygen absorber in with it to lengthen the storage time? and make sure that jar is completely dry first.

[GroundHawg]

Silica gel and a deoxygenator would be great. I'd just leave the stuff in the bags they come in. Put bag and all in the jar.

[BARRACUDABILLY]

Thanks for the replys but what is an oxygen adsorber? and where do you get them?

my mother in law can suck the life out of a room mabe she can suck the oxygen out too?

Thanks again my "stash" of jars is growing and I do not want anything to go bad, I try to rotate things out but I do have several jars of dried beans that are two years old.

[cudalyon]

We must have married sisters....lol

[kenno]

I have dried beans that are 9 years old which I stored in mylar bags/5gallon buckets after freezing for 2 weeks @ minus 15 degrees. There has been a degrigation in flavor and texture after I cook them, mostly with the black beans. The Navy (white) beans are still great! Actually the white beans are like new taste wise though the nutrition value maybe down 50%. I have also kept white rice for 5 years the same way with no lose of texture or flavor. I had white flour and white sugar stored for years as well but I went through that in just 4 years, it was just fine in all respects. Flour and sugar stores better than corse grains because there is very little air/moisture that gets into it after it settles.
I think glass jars are actually better than a plastic bucket/mylar bag. My only suggestion is to rotate them through the deep freeze (dry goods only)to kill any critters that might have gotten into the foodstuffs in transit. Some folks use bay leaves as a bug killer as well but I find them over powering, flavor wise.

[GroundHawg]

I keep beans, flour, meal, rice, oatmeal, etc. in a freezer. The little beastie eggs in my vittles won't hatch if kept cold enough. I've had some for probably 15 years that are still usable. I keep my garden seeds in there too.
I grew Merit corn 2 years ago from seed I found in the freezer from 1992. It's germination rate seemed as good as the new seed.

We occasionally lose power around here (Greer, SC). It is usually due to ice in the winter. It's cold outside anyway so I've never had to even worry about the stuff in there thawing out. I keep a bunch of drink bottles in it with frozen salt water just in case. If the power was out for a long period, I have a generator and gas. I also have a small solar panel, a battery bank and an inverter. I've been running my ham equipment off the battery bank for 20 years.

[Big_Saw]

My wife is a canning freaking GURU. I swear, if she could find a big enough jar, we'd can the house.

She'll buy crap at the store that I could never imagine eating (or at least, enjoying), and buy 10 of 'em, just so she can stuff 'em in a mason jar and say, "Well, got that covered."

I mean come on, who cans pickled brussell's sprouts?

I swear, if TEOTWAWKI happens, please head for my place, I expect to open the ApocoShop & Go immediately.

[Applejack]

I have heard of pickled brussell sprouts but never tried them. Does's sound to good. I'll stick with pickled okra and pickling cucomers. people here also pickle watermelon rind. (not tried that either
Applejack

[jafo (0^0)]

Hey B.B. Just a quick note on dry canning ,you can get a masion jar vac @ the kitchen store for both sizes of jars & use an auto break bleader vaccume to suck the air out then screw the lid down& you can then just unscrew the lid & pop the seal ,be careful to not bend the lid , pour out what you need then put the lid back on use the masion jar vac / break bleader & reseal til next time. Most things will last for 10 to15 years P.S. USE A NEW BREAKBLEADER VAC!!!jafo

[merlin1358]

Buying at Sam's

Go online and look at the selection of long term storage foods available at Augason Farms, they have all sorts of stuff prepackaged in bulk buckets, sugar, salt, some types of beans, rice etc. with up to 25 year shelf life.

[Applejack]

I use 1/2 gal. mason jars for rice, beans, plain m&ms and jelly beans. I put an oxygen obsorber in the jar and use my seal-a-meal to seal the top and then screw the lid on. I have kept beans and rice for years like that and it works great. As for flour and cornmeal, I freeze it for 6 to 8 weeks, take it out of the freezer and let it dry out for a couple of weeks, then I put in mylar bags with oxygen obsorbers, put that into 5 gal buckets. I leave it in the bags and can get about 5 or 6 - 5lb bags into the buckets and seal them. Hope this helps.
Applejack

[RICHFL]

There is a better way to store bulk dry goods.

Buy some 1, 2, or 5 gallon mylar coated plastic bags. You put your bulk food, and oxygen absorbent into the bag. Press out the air, and seal the edge with a bag sealer. Place the bag into 6 gallon buckets or larger drums. They will last 25 years if kept in the dark and cool. They will not break when and if they fall like glass can.