This is specific to storing basic food preps in 5 gallon buckets, I figured this was worth its own thread but for reference : Food Prep, long term storage
This project turned out easier than I thought and figured Id share here the simple lessons in case anyone wanted to repeat. In short: one 5 gal bucket of rice or beans will yield about 19 meals and initial cost about $43 (see details) and will store for like 30 years...
The setup is: one 25lb bag of white rice or beans (your choice), one 5 gal bucket, one mylar bag, one 2000cc oxygen absorber, one 2x4 about 2ft long and one clothes iron. Thats it. This will yield about 19.4 meals for one person. Multiply this by how many people you need to feed and for how long.... see details below. Total investment $43 per bucket of food but that gives you 9 extra mylar bags and O2 absorbers for more buckets.
the method is: take the mylar bag put it in the bucket and fill it with the 25lbs of rice or beans (one 25lb bag fits perfectly in one 5 gallon bucket). Put in at least one 2000cc oxygen absorber per bucket. Cut out the nutrition and cooking instructions from the bag and put that in there too if you want, I thought this was a good idea but if you do this only use the material from the bag it came in. Roll the mylar up to get excess air out, place the 2x4 over the bucket and then spread the mylar open end over that, even it out and iron it to form the seal... dont worry about any extra air in the bag. Write the contents on the mylar bag or on the bucket lid, put the lid on and set aside. Wait 24 hours and check the mylar bag, it should look similar to a vacuum sealed bag if it doesn't do over with a new mylar bag and new O2 absorber.
your done. Store in a dry cool place.
-----------------
the details:
One 25lb bag of pinto beans yields about 258 servings at 150 calories each. Using a 2000 calorie per day meal plan this works out to 19.4 meals for one person per bag (2000/150=13.3, 258/13.3=19.4). 25lb bag of white rice is almost identical yields 18.8 meals per bucket at 2000 calories per meal. My suggestion is to do one bucket of rice for every bucket of beans to even out your survival rations of daily protein and carbs. Multiply this by how many people and days you want. E.g.: if you have a family of 4 and want 30 days of food you will need six 5gal buckets; 3 of rice and 3 of beans.
cost was, $1.99 for the lid, 5.99 bucket, 20 bucks for 10 mylar bags and O2 absorbers on Amazon, 15 bucks for the 25lb bag of beans at Costco. Bag of rice was cheaper, 10 bucks if I recall.
Amazon.com: 10 Dry-Packs 5 Gallon Mylar Bags and 10-2000cc Oxy-Sorb Oxygen Absorbers for Dried Dehydrated and Long Term Food Storage: Home & Kitchen
random stuff... I noticed "pinholes" in the mylar bags. Did some googling... my consensus is don't worry about them they are normal where the metal layer in the mylar separates from the plastic layer at folds and creases and flakes away. The plastic layer is not compromised. This is just my opinion, some folks felt otherwise but that explanation made sense to me. I didn't feel like buying more bags and will just check on my bags in a few months, they should look similar to a vacuum sealed bag, see pic below. Would love to hear opinions on that. ?
don't open the O2 absorbers until last minute then immediately put the rest in a zip lock, squeeze the air out and close and maybe put in a jar with lid. Probably should use those extras up within short order or just throw away. Best thing would be to vacuum seal the extras.
I didn't fret about buying buckets with gamma lids and seals. I got the buckets at Fred Meyers, they had cheaper ones but were not as "roundish" and not "food grade" but I don't think that matters. I figured the mylar bag was to seal the food and the buckets main job is just to protect the bag. My guess is that the gamma lids will protect the food either without mylar or if the mylar bags fail or tear, (eventually the O2 absorber will get all the air out of the bucket too...). I figure the mylar bags are tough enough inside any plastic bucket. Would love to hear opinions on that...?
I chose rice and beans for protein and carbs vs long term storage. I figure on adding one bucket of random stuff like tea, spices, salt, sugar, bullion eventually to add some flavor and mix things up... whatever will last. But the basic nutrition is covered... it would suck to eat nothing but rice and beans for a long time though. I might eventually consider adding a bucket of some other main staple items too but the idea here is to first cover the very basic nutrition needs of survival. I'm not into or knowledgeable about nutrition details so I would love to hear anyones opinions on surviving on just rice and beans.?
This project turned out easier than I thought and figured Id share here the simple lessons in case anyone wanted to repeat. In short: one 5 gal bucket of rice or beans will yield about 19 meals and initial cost about $43 (see details) and will store for like 30 years...
The setup is: one 25lb bag of white rice or beans (your choice), one 5 gal bucket, one mylar bag, one 2000cc oxygen absorber, one 2x4 about 2ft long and one clothes iron. Thats it. This will yield about 19.4 meals for one person. Multiply this by how many people you need to feed and for how long.... see details below. Total investment $43 per bucket of food but that gives you 9 extra mylar bags and O2 absorbers for more buckets.
the method is: take the mylar bag put it in the bucket and fill it with the 25lbs of rice or beans (one 25lb bag fits perfectly in one 5 gallon bucket). Put in at least one 2000cc oxygen absorber per bucket. Cut out the nutrition and cooking instructions from the bag and put that in there too if you want, I thought this was a good idea but if you do this only use the material from the bag it came in. Roll the mylar up to get excess air out, place the 2x4 over the bucket and then spread the mylar open end over that, even it out and iron it to form the seal... dont worry about any extra air in the bag. Write the contents on the mylar bag or on the bucket lid, put the lid on and set aside. Wait 24 hours and check the mylar bag, it should look similar to a vacuum sealed bag if it doesn't do over with a new mylar bag and new O2 absorber.
your done. Store in a dry cool place.
-----------------
the details:
One 25lb bag of pinto beans yields about 258 servings at 150 calories each. Using a 2000 calorie per day meal plan this works out to 19.4 meals for one person per bag (2000/150=13.3, 258/13.3=19.4). 25lb bag of white rice is almost identical yields 18.8 meals per bucket at 2000 calories per meal. My suggestion is to do one bucket of rice for every bucket of beans to even out your survival rations of daily protein and carbs. Multiply this by how many people and days you want. E.g.: if you have a family of 4 and want 30 days of food you will need six 5gal buckets; 3 of rice and 3 of beans.
cost was, $1.99 for the lid, 5.99 bucket, 20 bucks for 10 mylar bags and O2 absorbers on Amazon, 15 bucks for the 25lb bag of beans at Costco. Bag of rice was cheaper, 10 bucks if I recall.
Amazon.com: 10 Dry-Packs 5 Gallon Mylar Bags and 10-2000cc Oxy-Sorb Oxygen Absorbers for Dried Dehydrated and Long Term Food Storage: Home & Kitchen
random stuff... I noticed "pinholes" in the mylar bags. Did some googling... my consensus is don't worry about them they are normal where the metal layer in the mylar separates from the plastic layer at folds and creases and flakes away. The plastic layer is not compromised. This is just my opinion, some folks felt otherwise but that explanation made sense to me. I didn't feel like buying more bags and will just check on my bags in a few months, they should look similar to a vacuum sealed bag, see pic below. Would love to hear opinions on that. ?
don't open the O2 absorbers until last minute then immediately put the rest in a zip lock, squeeze the air out and close and maybe put in a jar with lid. Probably should use those extras up within short order or just throw away. Best thing would be to vacuum seal the extras.
I didn't fret about buying buckets with gamma lids and seals. I got the buckets at Fred Meyers, they had cheaper ones but were not as "roundish" and not "food grade" but I don't think that matters. I figured the mylar bag was to seal the food and the buckets main job is just to protect the bag. My guess is that the gamma lids will protect the food either without mylar or if the mylar bags fail or tear, (eventually the O2 absorber will get all the air out of the bucket too...). I figure the mylar bags are tough enough inside any plastic bucket. Would love to hear opinions on that...?
I chose rice and beans for protein and carbs vs long term storage. I figure on adding one bucket of random stuff like tea, spices, salt, sugar, bullion eventually to add some flavor and mix things up... whatever will last. But the basic nutrition is covered... it would suck to eat nothing but rice and beans for a long time though. I might eventually consider adding a bucket of some other main staple items too but the idea here is to first cover the very basic nutrition needs of survival. I'm not into or knowledgeable about nutrition details so I would love to hear anyones opinions on surviving on just rice and beans.?
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