What Preps are you doing this week

[FEISTY]

Wish it was more exciting , but ... huge bag of white basmati rice (on my way to filling my first 5 gallon pail ), huge bag of pasta, several kgs of red lentils, replacement chocs and sweets, 4 large jars of curry sauce, 6 cans of tomato puree, extra meat for freezer (for non power down situations), 3 more bags of coffee and 100 cheap paper plates. I bought a large quantity of beer, but the BB date isn't really that long and I reckon it's not worth storing it away ... . I'm keeping to one item per pail, eg rice, but there will be several 1 gallon Mylar bags, so it doesn't all have to be opened at once and it'll be easier to mark up. One thing I've started doing is buying special offers and looking for bargains. Bought a bar of basic soap for 15p (oh, forgot the extra Simple soap and 3 extra tubes of toothpaste) - don't know if I'd use this on my face (sadly, it has perfume in it), but it should save on the more expensive soap for pre-scrubbing my son's manky school shirt cuffs . If it doesn't take the skin off my fingers, I'll be buying a lot more of it! This prepping lark is costing me a fortune over and above my normal shopping, but I'm feeling positively serene . In the next few days there'll be a lot of Mylar bagging going on around here. I also got around (thanks to whoever posted about the IDs - Briggs?) to ordering my son a Peanut Allergy bracelet. Family members will be in different countries for one reason or another this summer, so DS and I will head off to the big smoke for a few days. I've also ordered a couple of large quick drying microfiber towels for my daughter who is off to far flung country and needs to keep her back pack "tight". They will be packed away afterwards "just in case". Hope everyone who's going has a great weekend at the Bushcraft event down south.

[bob the builder]

Bought 3x 50ltr screw top barrels off eBay for £11 each inc delivery. Now to decide what to put in last one. 1 is for dry dog food, 1 for guinea pig saw dust. Thinking pasta for the last one but how much would it take to fill and how long will it keep?
Need to get back into bulk buying again and build up our stock levels to pre house move levels.

[jansman]

Bob,those screw top barrels are good. If you fill'em with pasta etc. just leave it in the packets and pack it down. It is how I store all my gear.
Don't buy them again though when you need more. Go to your local Indian restaurant, they have them with mango chutney etc. in, although they are only 20+ litres or so, they are free.

[jansman]

In fact, I have a few empty barrels available right now. I am reorganising *stuff*, so I am going to pack some of my 'emergency' kit down in them-stuff like mess tins, spare torches,stoves,and other assorted cr@p. That will be my project.

[Decaff]

I have been given a big plastic bucket from works canteen that had mayonnaise in, if I dishwash it would it be OK to store rice or pasta do you think? Bit concerned as mayonnaise is greasy and would hate to spoil food.

[jansman]

If it had mayo in, it is food grade. Put the rice in, in the original packing. The date is on the pack, and it is easier to handle when you need some. Works for me.

[FEISTY]

I'm prepping rice in two different ways. The first is for my preferred wholegrain rice, which only lasts for 6 months or so regardless of how you store it, because of the amino acids that go rancid. This has been frozen (I do this with all dried food when it comes into the house to stop any little critters in their tracks ) and packed in it's original packaging (with UB dates) together with a silica gel sachet in large Lock 'n 'Lock type containers in a kitchen cupboard that's hardly used (keeps it dry and as dark as possible). Working up to storing 6 months worth of what we would use in that time. The second is for white rice (and for any other long term dried food storage), which we don't eat and is for prepping purposes only because it lasts for decades if stored correctly. If your container is food grade (which it is), clean and air-tight, it's perfect for this. You can store it directly into a clean container (but yours is "contaminated" , so this isn't recommended) and it would be fine for a long time, but the best way is to store it is in Mylar bags with an oxygen remover inside the bag. With no oxygen, no build up of anything nasty - the Mylar bag keeps the air and light out and the container keeps vermin out (it doesn't have to be airtight if you use Mylar, but the cleaner, drier and more air/water tight the better. Rice, pasta, lentils, etc stored in this way will keep for decades. There's nothing wrong with storing it like Jansman (in original packaging inside a bucket), but then there's still air in the original packaging and it won't last past the BB or UB dates on the packet. It depends on how quickly you plan on using it. I reckon you could get away with a combination of Jansman's method and mine, by just making a tiny snip in each of the bags and placing enough oxygen absorbers in for the whole bucket. The bucket has to be airtight though and I'm not sure whether the sides of the bucket would buckle. 'Grief - it's a whole science in itself ! I'm no expert, but I have been researching and prepping a lot of rice/dried foods lately. I'm also a perfectionist and like to do things right . I hope this helps. I'm wondering if I should be dividing some of my preps between our two kids in our Will. We are slim, young and fit at 50 and 58 !

[Decaff]

Thank you both for helpful replies. I will order some of the oxygen absorbers, seen them on Amazon.

If I freeze the rice first will it not go wet when defrosting before putting into tub?? Would I freeze pasta first also? Forgive me for sounding dim but would hate to do that then have lots of bags of wet pasta/rice.

Great idea, I had a couple of boxes of dry cat food that had critters in. Took a while to work out where they were coming from and thankfully I do store most of my food in plastic containers as it makes it neater in the cupboards (think sleeping with the enemy film, that's how i like my cupboards to be!!) Now practically everything bar tins and jars go into containers. Not having that problem again! Disgusting they were.

[FEISTY]

Thank you both for helpful replies. I will order some of the oxygen absorbers, seen them on Amazon.

If I freeze the rice first will it not go wet when defrosting before putting into tub?? Would I freeze pasta first also? Forgive me for sounding dim but would hate to do that then have lots of bags of wet pasta/rice.

Great idea, I had a couple of boxes of dry cat food that had critters in. Took a while to work out where they were coming from and thankfully I do store most of my food in plastic containers as it makes it neater in the cupboards (think sleeping with the enemy film, that's how i like my cupboards to be!!) Now practically everything bar tins and jars go into containers. Not having that problem again! Disgusting they were.

Yes, I've thought long and hard about the "damp" issue. I should have mentioned that I put the packets into a Lock 'n Lock type container first, still in its packaging before putting it in the freezer. When I take it out I dry off (or let it dry) the container before opening it up, adding a large (re-usable) silica sachet and leaving that to work for a day or two. The rice, etc, always seems bone dry when I decant it into the Mylar bags. It takes days of processing before I'm happy to pack it up. There's oxygen in water too (H2O) so I wonder if the oxygen absorbers absorb that leaving only the minimal hydrogen. Any chemists out there who can advise us further? The "critters" come in the stuff you buy from the supermarket (usually in the form of eggs). Not only will the cold conditions in the freezer kill off both any lurking live, but it will kill the eggs. As a double whammy, the lack of oxygen will kill them too. "I'm a safety girl!" (Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman, also in Sleeping With The Enemy ). I, too, love the neat cupboards, but not the loathsome, controlling Patrick Bergen . It's not your fault if you get them, but I've long since learnt it's best to stop them being a problem in the first place, as they are, as you say, disgusting .

[iSkynet]

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