The last time I bought 25 pound sacks of beans, they bags they came in were triple thick - paper inside, plastic in the middle and paper on the outside. If I were to buy 25 pound sacks of beans, oatmeal, etc and put them in 48 quart ice chests...just add the silica gel or the stuff to dry the water out of the air...then seal the lid with aquarium silicon - maybe 2 or 3 beads - will that be enough processing of the food to give it the 10 year or more shelf life that that kind of stuff is supposed to have?
48 quart ice chests...
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The key to preserving food longer is: airtight, no moisture and cool non fluctuating temperature. If you can achieve those criteria, you are set!
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A 5 gallon bucket with a mylar bag that's sealed is the standard. Coolers can and do get heavy. Plus they don't stack easily. I'd go with the buckets.
Thank you. The only place I have to store my food is in self storage. It is climate controlled, with a range of 60 to85 degrees in the summer. I was hoping that the ice chest would lower that upper range.
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Unless you have an upper end cooler like a Yeti or something similar they do get warm on the inside. Your basic Coleman or Igloo just doesn't have enough insulation for the long haul.
mylar bags and 02 absorbers are manufactured in China >>> Why can't you simply obtain them? - 10 year storage really isn't much in the scope of the possibilities using the prime methods ...
So 10 years is possible with a nice, cool root cellar? or fridge?
Most longterm storage food will last 20 years. Wheat berries (not flour) will store forever! Sugar, salt, raw honey and a some other foods, stored properly will last forever. They have grown wheat found in Egyptian tombs! Rice will last 20...white rice. Brown does not last nearly as long. Beans will get too hard after 10...but are still good. They will need ground up to consume. Do you have a good manual grinder? Someone said you can pressure cook them and make the beans soft again. I have not tried it.
Frankly, where you are I would gather as much food as you can and not worry about storing it 10 years. Your country, same as ours, is going to see big trouble SOON!! Some are predicting China to have a huge war. CCP will be destroyed.
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That ice chest will work just fine.
most dry goods food will last 5 years sitting on a store or pantry shelf in their original factory packing >>> long term storage begins at 5 years - if you intend to use food within a few years of purchase just protect it against the pests & rodents ....
in regard to your plan - a modern day coolers would be good against bugs - about all - insulate only in the short term and absolutely nothing for air environment - you never use caulks or adhesives around food ....
find yourself some buckets that were used for shipping food - probably your best chance at finding something food grade - use mylar bagging & 02 absorbers properly >>> you'll have some edible food after 10 years ....
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Most restaurants will sell you the 5 gallon buckets. Just have to find lids.
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Why even bother with the buckets if she's got an airtight ice chest? It's the same principal. I store animal feed in a very large non working refrigerator/freezer unit. In their original bags. Same principal. I say if it's ice chests she has, then use them.
Ice chests are very handy. I have a fridge in our farmhouse, but usually need more room with the family size we have. I have two large ice chests in the garage I use as second refrigerators, especially this time of year when it's very cold outside. They keep things cold and are animal proof.
I would not use money to buy extra containers to replace a container that works fine. I would use the money to buy more food.
Ice chests are very handy. I have a fridge in our farmhouse, but usually need more room with the family size we have. I have two large ice chests in the garage I use as second refrigerators, especially this time of year when it's very cold outside. They keep things cold and are animal proof.
I would not use money to buy extra containers to replace a container that works fine. I would use the money to buy more food.
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I have been storing dried foods in 2lt coke bottles then pumping in nitrogen gas , items been in storage, since 2014 also use 20lt buckets for bulk storage, as there are only 2 of us I try to keep the container sizes reasonable so that not to much open at a time , it is high humidity where I live on the coast in Africa , also use 1lt yoghurt pots anything that i can get , we are in our 70's ,so not always food grade , i rotate the 100 kg of flour ( in 10 kg bags ) have had a few items not sealed right , tin goods i buy in trays of 12 then place the pack into a plastic bag with BB dates on , again these items been down since 2014 , well past Bb date just need to turn the pack over once a year to stop the food in the tins going dark on the top , I store in a reinforced 50 sq m Safe room with a 5000 lt water tank inside ,stays around 25 / 26 c but 80% + humidity ,,everything with added outer plastic bags, I also keep all my reloading items in there as well , different strokes for different folks in different countries:shtf
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Our humidity will get up to maybe 60 percent at it's highest in the summer, and I was tired of rusted canned tops and jar lids, so I use a dehumidifier to take it down to the low 30's. I also use lots of different containers, whatever I find, and free is even better. My mom drinks alot of juice, so I get her empty juice bottles for dry beans. We don't drink much soda pop, but I'll save those containers when I get them. I also pkg in mylar and put things in buckets. I haven't had an issue with long overdue food because we rotate all that we have, and have a good sized family. We have recently moved and a very large fridge decided not to work when we got here, so I use it in our milkhouse to store bags of animal grain in. Anything like that with a tight seal will keep rodents out.
Thanks! I appreciate the creativity in your answer - and the low cost of some of your solutions. Round tubs are free and useful, but do not maximize storage potential because of the round shape. There are steel garbage cans but they are big and $$. To prevent rust on cans I am planning to vacuum seal the cans in plastic bags - maybe mylar if necessary. I too am getting old - does not have to be 48 quart sizes. Ice chests come in a variety of sizes, but a 48 quart full of dehydrated and freeze dried food is not really that heavy. Plus the ice chest can be closed up again without the need for glues or tape. I suggested silicon glue for stuff that is not going to be touched for a long time - maybe years. The ice chest can accomodate all kinds of sizes of stuff inside as well. At some point in the future, an ice chest can be used for it's intended purpose - adding ice and keeping things cold. You can also fill an ice chest with nitrogen as well.
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Great ideas, pengyou
I am not rich, and I don't have much space to play with...so I have to be creative
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I understand your space problem. I live in an apartment!
