10 x 5 Gallon Mylar bags - help with contents

[Justin Time]

Hi all, I'm new to prepping and have decided that my first 'project' will be the long term storage of food.
I've bought 10 x 5 Gallon Mylar bags and oxygen absorbers to match and the storage buckets are on their way.
The total cost for storage per bucket without any food contents is about a tenner. Would be interesting to see if anyone has managed to do this cheaper.

My questions are.
I have 10 buckets to fill. What should I put in them?

So far I've decided on:

1. Rice ( There are many different types. help on this would be appreciated)
2. Pasta (again some pros and cons of what type to store would be helpful)
3. Oats. (as above, are there better types to store than others)

I get a bit confused after this as there are so many different types of beans, peas, lentils etc..

My aim is for this thread to turn into a top 10, so all input is very welcome.

[itsybitsy]

Hi justintime - welcome to UK Preppers. Would you mind just posting a quick 'Hello' in the new members intro section? Thanks.

[Bladerunner]

Hi Justin,
As for rice, I would go with whatever you like eating. Don't go for really cheap rice like ASDA's cheap rice. It is really naff and goes all gloopy when you cook it.

Same goes for pasta, whatever you prefer. I would tend to go for one that has as little shape as possible, that way you would get more into your bucket. Spaghetti would probably offer the best when it comes to not losing space.

I am with you on the beans front. Not got a clue. I would love to know what sort of beans they use on "I'm A Celbrity" when they keep talking about rice and beans.

You can survive on just rice and beans as between them they have the relevent nutrients needed for survival, but not on their own.

Hope that helps but I am sure someone else will come along and be much more help.

Be lucky ( and absorbed )

[The-Great-Nothing]

Hi

Great thread. How did you manage to get the items for so cheap?

Could you do a bunch of pics / tutorial for doing this storage when you choose your foods

Cheers

Matt

[Justin Time]

Thanks for the input Bladerunner.
Looks like the Asda rice is going to the looters I was at the cash n carry the other day and saw a large selection of bulk rice which comes in sacks (will post more details up about this soon). It was the large selection that put me on the back foot. I guess long grain white rice is for me but I may go for some Basmati just for variety.
In the pasta stakes I defo agree that spaghetti will be best for the amount:volume ratio (was going to say it's more volumous), so will go with that.

Hi

Great thread. How did you manage to get the items for so cheap?

Could you do a bunch of pics / tutorial for doing this storage when you choose your foods

Cheers

Matt

I shopped around on tinternet for the bags and buckets Matt.
The 5 gallon Mylar bags and oxygen absorbers I found the cheapest In america (can't believe that with postage they were still the cheapest I could find). They were from a dealer called OakTea International on Amazon.
10 - 5 Gallon (20"x30") 4.3mil Mylar Bags & 10 - 2,000cc OxyFree Oxygen Absorbers $23.99
Shipping & Handling: $27.00
Total Before Tax: $50.99
Shipment Total: $50.99

(GBP 33.36)

The buckets with lids were from bonnymans.co.uk, they were the cheapest I could find from a lot of dealers including ebay.
These worked out at £52 including the postage.

So, my bad for the final price for the two. Looks like around £8.50 per bucket with bags and absorbers.

I'll be more than happy to update this thread as i go . Still need suggestions for the rest of my buckeats <---- see what i did there.

[Moony]

Oats should store about 8 years, pasta 8-10 years, go for a pasta type that is less likely to pierce your bags when under (partial) vacuum that the oxygen absorber creates. Typically these bags are not piecring resistant and if your sharp pasta edge makes a hole, thats a lot of useless pasta a year or two later. For rice go for white. Brown rice has essential fatty acids which quickly go rancid as they oxidize. White rice has the outer shell removed along with these fats, so will store longer but isn't as good for you. White rice should store for 8-10 years. Brown rice should last 1-2 years. This assumes mylar + oxygen obsorbers. Note the colder you store the better.
Salt, sugar and honey effectively store forever along with a few other items, theres a post here somewhere about very long lasting stuff to store.

I just did a batch of mylar-ing this week and found my 10"X16" bags could take:
3kg salt or 2kg couscous / rice / popcorn or 1 kg of pasta or oats. I'd recommend buying a jam funnel to help pour stuff neatly into the bags, although if you have bigger bags it should be easier. I ended up hovering up alot of spilled oats that wouldn't go down my tight little funnel that I used first

[itsybitsy]

I'd recommend buying a jam funnel to help pour stuff neatly into the bags, although if you have bigger bags it should be easier. I ended up hovering up alot of spilled oats that wouldn't go down my tight little funnel that I used first

I left dried goods in their original packaging before I packed them in the mylar. That gives an added layer of protection and means that stuff is also much easier to pack!

[hobo]

JT,

Reckon in customs charges if you buy from the States.

Hobo

[WhiteWolf]

These two vids are worth watching.

[Justin Time]

Thanks Moony, I never considered that the Mylar bags might puncture, I'll be careful for that. The bags I bought were advertised as puncture resistant but defo worth keeping in mind.

itsybitsy, I've thought of leaving dried goods in their original packaging but have absolutely no knowledge on how perishable the contents are with a view to long term storage and is there any oxygen inside the original packaging. All the packets of dried food I've looked at have a use-by date which is usually nowhere near 'long term' so i've stayed away from adding these items to my list. If anyone has info about this type of storage I'd be very grateful.

hobo, when the bags arrived from the US i was not charged any VAT or Duty. They were not marked as a gift and I was expecting customs and excise to add their 20% but it didn't happen. May have been fortunate here.

Thanks for those 2 vids WW. Bay leaves are a nice touch. Anyone using one of those foodsaver machines?