1st mylar experience

[phblc0311]

Last nite was my first experience with the mylar and O2 absorbers, it hasnt even been 24 hrs yet but some bags are showing less air than others. i have a couple of questions

1. How long should i wait bf i put them in the buckets (used one gallon bags)

2. How would u know if seal is good, dont want to store improperly preserved food. Thanks in advance for any help

[Allamakee County]

I can answer #1: You really should have put them in the buckets right away because they can get really stiff and hard to work with after the O2 is absorbed.

[Madgie]

To determine if the seal worked, lightly pull at the seam you closed. If that holds you should be good. Also if the package doesn't draw from the 02's in a couple days you have a leak. Good luck!

[phblc0311]

thanks, i appreciate all the help

[Summer]

Originally Posted by phblc0311

Last nite was my first experience with the mylar and O2 absorbers, it hasnt even been 24 hrs yet but some bags are showing less air than others. i have a couple of questions

1. How long should i wait bf i put them in the buckets (used one gallon bags)

2. How would u know if seal is good, dont want to store improperly preserved food. Thanks in advance for any help

Congratuations!! It's not as scary in hindsight as it is beforehand, is it? I was terrified before my first time with mylar.

Anyway, you said the bags are showing signs they have less air. That answers #2. Your seals are good. I usually wait until this point before putting them away. I've had some that suck down hard like bricks and some that don't. Both are fine. Don't worry. I usually put the mylar into the buckets then fill them but only because it's harder to get bigger bags of mylar that are full of food in a bucket.

[lildrestl3]

What size OA did you use?? You can also push on the bags and see if any air or food is pushed out.. Congrats What did you pack away ? Sometimes the stuff might need 2 AO. like some pasta that has air inside the noodle...

[phblc0311]

I used the 300s in the one gallon bags. i think the differences in some of the bags was how much air i actually was able to get out befoer sealing them. All the seals seems solid so now i have the following items prepped from first mylar exp

100 lbs of rice ( live near rice meal, 100lbs for $30)
40 lbs of beans
10 lbs of elbow mac
10 lbs of pot flakes
10 lbs of sugar (no OA, thanks to u guys)

got a long way to go but i feel a little better now

[stephpd]

Originally Posted by phblc0311

I used the 300s in the one gallon bags. i think the differences in some of the bags was how much air i actually was able to get out befoer sealing them. All the seals seems solid so now i have the following items prepped from first mylar exp

100 lbs of rice ( live near rice meal, 100lbs for $30)
40 lbs of beans
10 lbs of elbow mac
10 lbs of pot flakes
10 lbs of sugar (no OA, thanks to u guys)

got a long way to go but i feel a little better now

Good job on first round!

[lildrestl3]

Very Nice Work.

[BorntoVenture]

10 lbs of sugar (no OA, thanks to u guys)

Sorry to hijack the thread but I searched for this with no luck, why no OA's with sugar? I've just ordered my first batch of mylar and OA's and will be storing sugar also.

Thanks!

[Cleaner44]

I have seen videos of this kind of thing but have never done it yet. I have recently changed my eating to be based more on meats, veggies and fruits and not so much grains, sugars and carbs. That seems to go against the commonly stored items. I would guess that I would need to learn to smoke meat, can fruits and do what with veggies? Does mylar make sense for any of this kind of food?

[TJETTN]

OA will turn the sugar into a hard brick

[Allamakee County]

Originally Posted by Cleaner44

I have seen videos of this kind of thing but have never done it yet. I have recently changed my eating to be based more on meats, veggies and fruits and not so much grains, sugars and carbs. That seems to go against the commonly stored items. I would guess that I would need to learn to smoke meat, can fruits and do what with veggies? Does mylar make sense for any of this kind of food?

Can, can, can. And dehydrate. Canned meats (you MUST use a pressure canner) are delicious and keep a long time, too. Smoked meat is wonderful but not as long lasting. You could always smoke it, THEN can it.

No mylar for any of those things.

Well, wait; maybe if you dehydrated them really, REALLY well, then sealed them in Mylar.

[riverrat]

Mine were sucked down and hard as a rock in a da y or two. Also, as already stated, get them in the buckets right away. They are hard and inflexable after the obsorbers do thier job.

[JRD505]

Originally Posted by phblc0311

I used the 300s in the one gallon bags. i think the differences in some of the bags was how much air i actually was able to get out befoer sealing them. All the seals seems solid so now i have the following items prepped from first mylar exp

100 lbs of rice ( live near rice meal, 100lbs for $30)
40 lbs of beans
10 lbs of elbow mac
10 lbs of pot flakes
10 lbs of sugar (no OA, thanks to u guys)

got a long way to go but i feel a little better now

You did all of that in the 1 gallons Mylar bags?? Then just stuck what like 5 of them in a 5gallons bucket or what??
I was considering doin that instead of filling up one 5gallons mylar bag of say rice, since you would have to use it more quickly.
Doin it in the 1 gallons bags seems alot smarter to me as u wouldnt have to rush to use it you know?

SO just wondering when i do this, should i just put 5 1gallons mylar bags in a 5gallon bucket or what??

Oh and one more thing, i heard that things such as potato flakes, flour, sugar etc does not condense as much as something such as pasta, beants etc.
Will this be a problem?

[Robin56]

Thanks from me, too, about the sugar not needing the O2 absorbers! But in this case, would you still need to store them in mylar bags or would Ziplock freezer bags be okay? (sorry .. new to mylar .. going to give it my first go tomorrow night)

[TxHills]

Originally Posted by Robin56

Thanks from me, too, about the sugar not needing the O2 absorbers! But in this case, would you still need to store them in mylar bags or would Ziplock freezer bags be okay? (sorry .. new to mylar .. going to give it my first go tomorrow night)

You can store sugar in mylar with no o2. You can store sugar in any air tight moisture proof container. Same with salt...no o2 there either. Make sure critters such as rodents can't get to them.

[phblc0311]

Originally Posted by JRD505

You did all of that in the 1 gallons Mylar bags?? Then just stuck what like 5 of them in a 5gallons bucket or what??
I was considering doin that instead of filling up one 5gallons mylar bag of say rice, since you would have to use it more quickly.
Doin it in the 1 gallons bags seems alot smarter to me as u wouldnt have to rush to use it you know?

SO just wondering when i do this, should i just put 5 1gallons mylar bags in a 5gallon bucket or what??

Oh and one more thing, i heard that things such as potato flakes, flour, sugar etc does not condense as much as something such as pasta, beants etc.
Will this be a problem?

I actually did both with the rice. I filled a couple of 5 gallon buckets for bulk storage and the rest in did in the one gallon bags. i did this for 2 reasons.

1. Easier to use the one gallonn bags and will not have to worry bout using them quickly

2. I am planning on making some buckets with a mixture of products for a grab and go bucket.

[MikeK]

Originally Posted by BorntoVenture

Sorry to hijack the thread but I searched for this with no luck, why no OA's with sugar? I've just ordered my first batch of mylar and OA's and will be storing sugar also.

Thanks!

First off, there's no benefit to it. Sugar doesn't oxidize and neither does salt. Secondly, the moisture in the O2 absorber pack causes the sugar to turn into a solid block. All sugar and salt need is to be kept dry and away from bugs and critters.