[Jard]

First, here is my idea.

I want to pack 4 or 5 1 gallon mylar bags into a 5 gallon bucket and then seal the bucket with some oxygen absorbers.

I would fill the mylar bags with either beans or rice, and I would use absorbers on them too. That way if somebody opens one bucket, they will have both rice and beans, in their own 1 gallon sized bags. I figure if somebody is only going to have one bucket, and least they will have a few choices. I also wanted to put a thing of salt in there, and some bullion cubes or something with better shelf life for the rice.

I'm wondering though, if the bucket isn't full like it would be with just beans or rice, will the absorbers outside of the mylar bags just colapse the sides of my bucket? Could I use maybe a 300cc absorber to get a good seal instead of a 1000cc that would suck the sides in?

Also, any good suggestions for something I can put in there to flavor the rice, that will have a long storage live?

Thanks,

Nate

 

[nveagle]

As long as the mylar bags in the bucket are sealed there is no need to waste O2 absorbers in the bucket as that could make it hard to open the bucket or could cause the bucket to fail. Why the need to put absorbers in the bucket? The rice/beans/spice mix is a good idea.

 

[boyscout]

I've been thinking about this too. My thoughts are that if you need to BO, you can grab a couple buckets with a mix variety in them, rather than having to haul 5+ buckets that are full of one thing only.

Another reason would be if you are so inclined to help someone out, hand them a bucket with a little of everything.

 

[scarcherpilot]

While it may cost a tab bit more, I also prefer to use smaller bags of stuff. In a SHTF situation, it would probably be better to open a small bag of food one at a time for freshness sake than to open a huge 5 gallon bucket (bag) of something. Then you are stuck eating 5 gallons of that food before it goes bad. Could get real boring over time

As for flavorings, I would definitely recommend salt. Salt never goes bad and it sure makes Rice and beans taste much better. I don't know enough about Bullion cubes, but I would imagine they have water/oil in them and they might go bad, but as I said, don't know enough about them to truly say.

 

[Levant]

The one problem with 1 gallon Mylar bags in a 5 gallon bucket is that you won't get 5 full bags in the bucket. It's not very efficient. Even so, it is also the route I have gone. There's just no way I would use 40 lbs. of rice before something got in it.

 

[Jard]

The one problem with 1 gallon Mylar bags in a 5 gallon bucket is that you won't get 5 full bags in the bucket. It's not very efficient. Even so, it is also the route I have gone. There's just no way I would use 40 lbs. of rice before something got in it.

Ya, so I could fit at least 4 full bags, then some salt, and what for the rice? Some sort of broth or something I can put on it, but what has a decent shelf life?

 

[haha49]

you could bag the bags after if your really worried about it spoiling.. but in a bucket that will have air leaking in kind of pointless...

 

[SHTF]

Those vacuum sealed food set-ups are inexpensive and they work really good. You could vcuum seal your food and put them into any number of containers. I brought mine for around $25 a few years ago. It's still going strong. The bags are freezer and microwave safe, and reuseable too.

 

[Levant]

Use Mylar bags. They're much better than the Seal-A-Meal type bags as barriers to oxygen and water.

As for how many to pack in a bucket; you can get four, depending on what's in them. It will take some trial and error to see how to pack and shape the bags while vacuuming so that they fit. Otherwise you're going to get into the whole square peg and round hole thing. There are square buckets which aren't exactly square but might help get more into them than a round bucket.

 

[Jard]

So here is how it worked. I'm happy with it.

 

[Barders]

I really like this approach! What is the cost for those 1 gal bags? Do they come smaller than that?

 

[test]

Where did you get the 1 gallon mylar bags? Also, the cost? I was also thinking of doing this but can only find the large 6 gal bags. Thanks.

 

[Levant]

Here's my vacuum packed spaghetti.

http://i312.photobucket.com/albums/ll329/Levant357/Preparedness/DSCN0564_Reduced.jpg

I should post my rice, too. I'll have to get some pictures of more of my vacuum packed stuff. Maybe even my el-cheapo setup for doing them. Hopefully this weekend.

 

[Jard]

.35 per bag x 4 = 1.4
.25 per ox absorber x 8 = 2.00
6.49 per bucket
1.99 per lid

11.88

I really like this approach! What is the cost for those 1 gal bags? Do they come smaller than that?

Where did you get the 1 gallon mylar bags? Also, the cost? I was also thinking of doing this but can only find the large 6 gal bags. Thanks.

I purchased the bags and absorbers at http://www.sorbentsystems.com/

Yes, they have all sorts of sizes in bags, and absorbers.

 

[1stcavmp77]

where can you buy the 5 gallon buckets and lids?

 

[Levant]

I should post my rice, too. I'll have to get some pictures of more of my vacuum packed stuff. Maybe even my el-cheapo setup for doing them. Hopefully this weekend.

Here's a thread with the pictures of some of my vacuum packing efforts.

http://www.survivalistboards.com/showpost.php?p=339675&postcount=10

 

[Lowdown3]

Jard- looks like you have a lb or 2 lb. container of salt in the center of the bucket. Usually anything that's in a cardboard/heavy paper type original container should be re-packed. This type of packaging holds moisture for a long time.

 

[family man]

great idea! can you answer a couple of questions....

what's the shelf life of your beans and rice now?

how / where do you buy in bulk?

did you end up putting bullion in the bucket?

how many days ration would you say would be in this bucket? does two cups a day per person sound right?

again many thanks

 

[Levant]

Beans and rice properly sealed in an oxygen free environment should have a 30 year life span. That does not mean they will have the same quality as when first packed but that they will be palatable and nutritious in a survival situation. Edit to add: According to information on sorbentsystems.com, a crease in the seal will reduce the oxygen barrier properties of a bag by 95%. So just sealed is not good enough to get maximum shelf life; your food must be properly sealed.

Buy in bulk from where you can buy locally. Paying shipping on dry grains in less than a ton quantities can be very expensive. I find that my local Wal-Mart is as cheap as any place I could order online for beans and rice. Sucks, though, that you can't buy wheat there.

I do have to order in my wheat because I can't find a local bulk supplier but I read in another thread, can't remember if it was this site or not, a suggestion to check with your local health food supplier for special ordering wheat. When I get ready to order next, I am going to check that option to see if it is any cheaper.

 

[bobd42]

we pack everything into regular ziploc back in serving sizes after we freeze it for seventy two hours . Then we put it all into one mylar bag and seal that . we are also running test on ziploc bags packed into food grade buckets using bay leaf anf oxygen asorbers with no mylar , after 9 months we still are all clear with no infestation .