Mylar Bags

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They come in different sizes and thicknesses. I would go for at least a medium thickness. I do use a crimper made especially for mylar, but I know people who do use a regular iron with success. If you plan on getting into the food that you sealed in a bag, then the zip lock mylar might be a way to go. But you'll pay more for it. Some use the huge mylar in a 5 gallon bucket to store a lot of rice, for instance. I don't like to open up that much at a time, so I use the 8 x 10 inch bags, then put them in a bucket or bin. Include oxygen absorbers in your order, but don't use them for sugar or salt. Remember, mylar is not rodent proof, so even if food is sealed in them, put them in a sealed bin or bucket. I use the meals in a jar recipes and bag them in mylar for quick grab convenience meals. Do enough of them and you'll have meals for a year.
 
Amish Heart said:
They come in different sizes and thicknesses. I would go for at least a medium thickness. I do use a crimper made especially for mylar, but I know people who do use a regular iron with success. If you plan on getting into the food that you sealed in a bag, then the zip lock mylar might be a way to go. But you'll pay more for it. Some use the huge mylar in a 5 gallon bucket to store a lot of rice, for instance. I don't like to open up that much at a time, so I use the 8 x 10 inch bags, then put them in a bucket or bin. Include oxygen absorbers in your order, but don't use them for sugar or salt. Remember, mylar is not rodent proof, so even if food is sealed in them, put them in a sealed bin or bucket. I use the meals in a jar recipes and bag them in mylar for quick grab convenience meals. Do enough of them and you'll have meals for a year.
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don't confuse the newbies with the zip locks - you still heat weld close the bags >>> the zip lock feature is for after the decades of storage and you have your SHTF pantry set up - just like a bag of Doritos today you'd be zip closing up your master bags of beans & rice in between the meals ....

I personally have a few bags of 1" binder clips stored away with a mixed color batch of Gamma lids - a bunch of scoops also >>> ready for the buckets I'll be busting open for the SHTF that hopefully never comes .....
 
Yes, you do still heat seal, but they are handy if you are opening and closing the bags, but still intend on eating what's in them that month. Other bags available that I just remembered are the kind that you can stand upright while you fill. But, the thicker and fancier the bag, the higher the price. The best prices I've had has been when I've ordered 1000 bags, o2 absorbers for each bag, and the bags were roughly 9 x 11 inch of medium weight.
 
You can do alot of it yourself and save a bunch of money, and it can be more geared to your taste. When I started out I wanted a years worth of main meals for a family of 7. So, I took the meals in a jar recipes (online or there's books) and made the recipes and put them in mylar instead. I would make about a dozen of the same recipe. For our family size, it would take double the original recipe. Once I hit 365 of them, I felt better knowing I at least had a years supply of dinners if we needed it. Then I expanded.....
I buy a lot of dry goods and repackage them. And keep expanding the pantry. Last week was tons of Bisquick. Today I bought a bunch more Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix in the large boxes. I repackaged potato pearls a few days ago that I bought in bulk. Oatmeal is another one...get it in 25 lb bags and mylar package it in more usuable amounts.
 
Jazzykatt said:
Does anyone have any recommendations for what brand of Mylar bags are best to use? Also, does sealing them with a home heat source such as a flat iron or clothing iron work well? My husband and I went to Cabela’s but they only had the clear storage bags and those are not for long term.
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I store many things in 5 gal buckets, so I get the large mylar bags for those. Read reviews before you purchase. Look for ones that include oxygen absorbers. Be sure to check each one for tiny holes before storing anything in them by opening them and looking inside. Holding them toward a light works well. They are refundable if you find holes in them. I get mine on line.
 
Jazzykatt said:
Thank you!! We bought some emergency food but they can be costly so I want to do it myself.
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commonly missed fact is that you will likely do a better DIY job than the commercial company >> Augason Farms advertises a 20 year storage - but doesn't bother to use a mylar bag in their bulk packaging - you're wasting your $$$$$ with their BS .....
 
Just bought my first mylar bags and a couple of cans of tuna to put in them. Seams to me (get it?) that using a heat source to melt the bags to seal them is alot of work. Why can't you just use tape to seal the bag? Like you have the top of the bag ready to heat, but you just use two strips of tape, one on each side, with the bottom half of the tape on the bag, so when you put the two strips of tape together the top halves meet over the top of the bag to make the seal. That would be air tight, no? Easier to reopen and reseal later too.
 
Helen,
You would think that taping as you describe would do the job, but I'm pretty sure you may be taking a chance of bacterial contamination. Rather than resealing with tape, maybe bag portions that you would expect to finish in a single meal and use heat to seal the bags as directed. I wouldn't want you to have to toss the tuna or worse, toss your cookies!
Dave
 
Helen Back said:
Just bought my first mylar bags and a couple of cans of tuna to put in them. Seams to me (get it?) that using a heat source to melt the bags to seal them is alot of work. Why can't you just use tape to seal the bag? Like you have the top of the bag ready to heat, but you just use two strips of tape, one on each side, with the bottom half of the tape on the bag, so when you put the two strips of tape together the top halves meet over the top of the bag to make the seal. That would be air tight, no? Easier to reopen and reseal later too.
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Not sure why you would be putting cans in Mylar bags? The cans are sealed already, but make certain there aren’t any dings on the cans and store carefully. For the Mylar bags to absolutely seal tight you must heat close them. Otherwise you are defeating the entire purpose of the bag. They even sell them now with zip lock seals…but they tell you clearly that this is NOT for long term storage. Don’t waste your bags on canned goods. Use them for grains, coffee, chocolate chips. 🤩🍪
 
I put cans in mylar bags with an O2 absorbent to prevent rust. I put a mylar bag in a 5 gallon bucket. Then I fill it almost to the top, fold it over a 2x4 placed on top of the bucket and seal it with a regular clothes iron.
 
Some of the heavy duty FoodSaver machines, like the GameSaver, will seal mylar but you have to do it twice. The cheap ones will not.
A hack I saw on YouTube to get a vacuum in a mylar bag is to use a piece of a ZipLock zipper to act as an air conduit. It only works with certain models of FoodSavers though.
 
I bought what was called an impulse sealer. It welded mylar with about a 1/8 inch bead. I like using the iron more, A good solid 3 inch weld. Combined with a vacuum pump (30 inches of mecury) and 02 absorbent all in a 5 gallon bucket should last longer than I will.
 
Helen Back said:
Just bought my first mylar bags and a couple of cans of tuna to put in them. Seams to me (get it?) that using a heat source to melt the bags to seal them is alot of work. Why can't you just use tape to seal the bag? Like you have the top of the bag ready to heat, but you just use two strips of tape, one on each side, with the bottom half of the tape on the bag, so when you put the two strips of tape together the top halves meet over the top of the bag to make the seal. That would be air tight, no? Easier to reopen and reseal later too.
Click to expand...

you not only need to heat seam the mylar bags - you need to do a top notch doing it >> the 02 absorbers create internal bag pressures that will pop inferior seams - and any flaws to the bag's integrity will create packaging failure ....

you need to match up the bag "lips" squarely and have a smooth unrippled finished seam - I use a pair of binder clips to square up the bag before that first initial small area seam in the middle - keeps the bag from skewing around while I iron it smooth & tite ....

good practice to get into for mylar packaging >> the powdery foods like dry milk, flour, pancake mix ect ect leave a residue on the inside bag lips - this is the critical area that needs to positively melt together - wiping it down with a damp rag after the food fill is good practice .....
 
Illini Warrior said:
you not only need to heat seam the mylar bags - you need to do a top notch doing it >> the 02 absorbers create internal bag pressures that will pop inferior seams - and any flaws to the bag's integrity will create packaging failure ....

you need to match up the bag "lips" squarely and have a smooth unrippled finished seam - I use a pair of binder clips to square up the bag before that first initial small area seam in the middle - keeps the bag from skewing around while I iron it smooth & tite ....

good practice to get into for mylar packaging >> the powdery foods like dry milk, flour, pancake mix ect ect leave a residue on the inside bag lips - this is the critical area that needs to positively melt together - wiping it down with a damp rag after the food fill is good practice .....
Click to expand...

It's best to use a funnel to fill bags with powders.
 
.... realizing I don't even own an iron...

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Thanks for saving me from myself
 
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