Storing oats in mylar bags

[kev]

How long will oats last for when stored in mylar bags with an oxygen absorber? I have some gallon mylar bags, I would like to fill them about half way with oats, seal, the fill the other half with oats.

These are the cans of rolled Quaker oats that you can get from the local china-mart. Open can, pour oats into mylar bags, insert oxygen absorber, seal, date and label bag, store in cool, dry, rodent free location.

Suggestions or other input?

[GENT]

I would be very interested in input on this also, we have lots of history of oats as a core staple on our wee isle up north where the men are blue and wear skirts, and the women are hairy and wear trousers.

Oats are an ideal food with loads of uses and are stupidly easy to prepare, better than wheat which can be awkward.

[kmech]

Been storing them for quite a while now. A 1 gallon bag (I got ours from LDS) will hold 10 cups. I throw a 200cc in the bottom of the bag and another in the top.

Edit, we don't split the bag

[Allamakee County]

Originally Posted by kev

How long will oats last for when stored in mylar bags with an oxygen absorber? I have some gallon mylar bags, I would like to fill them about half way with oats, seal, the fill the other half with oats.

These are the cans of rolled Quaker oats that you can get from the local china-mart. Open can, pour oats into mylar bags, insert oxygen absorber, seal, date and label bag, store in cool, dry, rodent free location.

Suggestions or other input?

I'd like to suggest (from my vast experience of doing this for about 3 months now) that you cut your bag in half to start with, seal the bottom of the top half to make a second bag, and go from there. Less awkward to work with, for one thing. Also less weird shaped.

[techo]

Rolled oats in #10 cans with O2's are rated for 30 years so I'll bet you can get close to that in mylar & buckets.
I'll probably be dead by the time mine go bad. If you rotate them every 15-20 years you'll have nothing to worry about.

[TxHills]

I have oats from Provident Pantry, but also some Quaker Oats in one gallon mylar w/300cc o2s, and a five gallon bucket with 2000cc o2s. I also put up some cinnamon and apples flavored in mylar. They were in the small serving packets, and I re-packaged them. HEB had their brand of these on sale five for five a few weeks ago. Don't know how they'll last....but seems like they'd be fine. I haven't seen that anyone has done that here, although I could have missed it.

[Bearack]

Per the LDS inventory sheet, properly stored oats can last up to 30 years. I uploaded their form but take it for what it's worth and do your own due diligence.

[MikeK]

Oats are one grain with an exceptionally long storage life. I've had them last for years just sitting in the pantry. Oddly enough, regular rolled oats seem to have a longer shelf life than steel cut oats. But I'm not sure why. Either way, they will both last for 20 years or more packed in mylar with O2 absorbers.

[homesteader1]

Originally Posted by GENT

I would be very interested in input on this also, we have lots of history of oats as a core staple on our wee isle up north where the men are blue and wear skirts, and the women are hairy and wear trousers.

Oats are an ideal food with loads of uses and are stupidly easy to prepare, better than wheat which can be awkward.

Kev was talking about oat meal (rolled oats) not oat groats (the seed inside the husk).

Do you know of a use for whole oats with the husk on. Can they be ground into flour?

[kev]

Thank you for the chart Bearack.

What I am thinking about doing, get some of those ziplock mylar bags in the gallon size, or half gallon size, seal them with an iron, and put several mylar bags into a 5 gallon bucket.

That way the "whole" bucket does not need to be opened. When you want the oats, open a single bag, and its resealable.

When I was sealing up my last batch of mylar bags, my wife asked about being able to reseal the bags after their opened - just to keep bugs, gnats,,,, an other stuff out of the bag. So I thought about ordering some of those ziplock bags, go ahead and seal them with an iron, and have the option to reseal them with the ziplock.

Looking at the prices, it seems that the mylar bags with the ziplock are only about 15 - 20 cents more then the ones without the extra ziplock.

Another idea I had was to buy some small mylar bags with the ziplock - something we could pour boiling water into and cook the oats inside the bag. This would be like 2 servings or single serving size bags.

[kmech]

Originally Posted by homesteader1

................................ Can they be ground into flour?

they most certainly can

[GENT]

Originally Posted by homesteader1

Kev was talking about oat meal (rolled oats) not oat groats (the seed inside the husk).

Do you know of a use for whole oats with the husk on. Can they be ground into flour?

Oh, well the same goes for oats in any form I suppose.

[kmech]

We've been putting 6-8 ziploc bags by themselves in the buckets for whatever is needed.

[kev]

Originally Posted by kmech

We've been putting 6-8 ziploc bags by themselves in the buckets for whatever is needed.

What size ziplocks bags do you use to get 6 - 8 of them in a 5 gallon bucket?

[kmech]

Originally Posted by kev

What size ziplocks bags do you use to get 6 - 8 of them in a 5 gallon bucket?

Uhhmmm, they are empty. Guess I should have clarified. I could have said it was a special 5 gal bucket.

[cranky1950]

Originally Posted by kev

Thank you for the chart Bearack.

What I am thinking about doing, get some of those ziplock mylar bags in the gallon size, or half gallon size, seal them with an iron, and put several mylar bags into a 5 gallon bucket.

That way the "whole" bucket does not need to be opened. When you want the oats, open a single bag, and its resealable.

When I was sealing up my last batch of mylar bags, my wife asked about being able to reseal the bags after their opened - just to keep bugs, gnats,,,, an other stuff out of the bag. So I thought about ordering some of those ziplock bags, go ahead and seal them with an iron, and have the option to reseal them with the ziplock.

Looking at the prices, it seems that the mylar bags with the ziplock are only about 15 - 20 cents more then the ones without the extra ziplock.

Another idea I had was to buy some small mylar bags with the ziplock - something we could pour boiling water into and cook the oats inside the bag. This would be like 2 servings or single serving size bags.

Wendy Mae did of video of just what you want to do. A link to it is posted here somewhere.

[survivalistmomma]

I don't recommend the whole oats for people. The husk is hard and sharp. It is usually mechanically removed.

[Lowdown3]

The wife eats oatmeal every morning made from quick rolled oats we put up in 98 and 99 in 6 gallon superpails. It takes her 6 months or more to rotate each superpail. She says she only uses about 1/4 cup per day.

Just roll the mylar back on to itself if it's only going to be open a short time (when you go to rotate).

[homesteader1]

Originally Posted by survivalistmomma

I don't recommend the whole oats for people. The husk is hard and sharp. It is usually mechanically removed.

Thanks. I was in the feed store yesterday and they had the whole oats but no oat groats. I purchased some oat groats last year at a health food store but they were expensive.

I did pick up a bag of feed corn. I opened it today. It looks better than the corn I purchased from a grist mill last year.

[MikeK]

Originally Posted by survivalistmomma

I don't recommend the whole oats for people. The husk is hard and sharp. It is usually mechanically removed.

You can sometimes find "naked oats" for sale. This is a variety that grows without a husk. But I think I'd just go for oat groats instead if I wanted the whole grain like that. They're a lot easier to find. I just store steel cut and rolled oats, myself.