Confirmed Food Life - Personal Experience In Long Term Storage

[xtry51]

Moved my buckets to our storage unit. View attachment 531262

Climate controlled or no?

 

[Palladin]

Climate controlled or no?

Yes

 

[Palladin]

Long shelf life foods

Personally, I do not concern myself with much in the way of feel-good food items. I dont need coffee to survive and I am not sure that drinking coffee is worth the use of water in regards to maintaining hydration. If I feel I need to enjoy some sort of consumable in order to improve my mental...

www.northeastshooters.com

 

[Andy in NH]

Is there a vacuum sealer recommendation somewhere in this thread?

 

[Mesatchornug]

I’d love to start learning to hunt, but I kind of need a job right now lol.

It's always time or money, right? If you're not working (I'm assuming, and hope to be wrong) this seems like a perfect time to be in the woods as much as possible.

[...] Dinty Moore [...]

I'm sorry to hear that.

 

[SDG]

2000cc absorbers for 5gal.
Amazon product ASIN B086CWKVX1View: https://www.amazon.com/AwePackage-2000cc-Oxygen-Absorber-Storage/dp/B086CWKVX1/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?crid=9H7G9C3GYE4I&dchild=1&keywords=2000cc+oxygen+absorbers&qid=1633968812&sprefix=2000cc+&sr=8-4


1000cc for 2.5gal
Amazon product ASIN B08G879RKTView: https://www.amazon.com/wisedry-1000CC-Absorbers-Dehydrated-Storage/dp/B08G879RKT/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=1000cc+oxygen+absorbers&qid=1633968851&sr=8-6


I do not alter based on what's in bucket/bag.

DO NOT put an 02 absorber in the bucket, outside the mylar bag. And DO squeeze or vacuum out as much air as possible from the mylar before you seal it. I squeeze.

If you do not follow the above you WILL collapse a bucket or break it because that O2 absorber will vacuum the bucket in on itself. Good luck getting the lid off after that starts to happen.

If someone wants a video, I can make a bucket and film it start to finish sometime in the next month.

I was thinking about doing the same thing. Good to know if I get to lazy to pull out the GoPro that someone else may be getting around to it.

 

[DJBrad]

It's always time or money, right? If you're not working (I'm assuming, and hope to be wrong) this seems like a perfect time to be in the woods as much as possible.

I'm sorry to hear that.

Hey, at least it’s not Alpo chunks.

 

[xtry51]

I do not have a vacuum sealer so I can't help there.

 

[Mesatchornug]

Hey, at least it’s not Alpo chunks.

you sure about that?

 

[Deleted member 12999]

Is there a vacuum sealer recommendation somewhere in this thread?

I just got one at Walmart. Food Saver brand. You can also vacuum seal by using Ziploc bags, putting the meat in, and then slowly dunking it into water until you are at the top of the bag just above the waterline, and then close it, it’s a quick and easy way to do it without buying a vacuum sealer, or at least until you get one.

 

[Andy in NH]

I do not have a vacuum sealer so I can't help there.

So you add the O2 absorber, squeeze out as much air as possible, then seal the mylar bag, letting the O2 absorber shrink the bag down?

 

[Quite_Exasperated]

Is there a vacuum sealer recommendation somewhere in this thread?

Yes! I just bought one. Now what the hell do I do with it? Foodsaver brand.

 

[xtry51]

So you add the O2 absorber, squeeze out as much air as possible, then seal the mylar bag, letting the O2 absorber shrink the bag down?

Yup. And they go full vacuum. The 02 absorbers are no joke.

 

[SDG]

So you add the O2 absorber, squeeze out as much air as possible, then seal the mylar bag, letting the O2 absorber shrink the bag down?

If you do it right you can basically see the impressions of the individual grains of rice through the Mylar.

 

[Andy in NH]

If you do it right you can basically see the impressions of the individual grains of rice through the Mylar.

So are there types of pasta to avoid that might puncture the mylar bag when it squeezes down or is that not a factor?

 

[SDG]

So are there types of pasta to avoid that might puncture the mylar bag when it squeezes down or is that not a factor?

I actually don’t know how pasta reacts. My family is mostly gluten free so the type of pasta that keeps is out of the question for us. I wouldn’t think it would puncture it though. Depends on the thickness of the Mylar I suppose. 8mil is pretty tough stuff, drop down to 4mil and it’s still sufficient but feels a lot thinner.

 

[KMM696]

I might be overthinking it, but every time I have mylar/O2ed pasta, it's been spaghetti because there's less dead air space so I can fit more weight in the same volume bag. No breakage issues in the ones I've used.

 

[xtry51]

So are there types of pasta to avoid that might puncture the mylar bag when it squeezes down or is that not a factor?

I have spaghetti stored. I stack it vertically by laying the bucket with (mylar bag in) on its side and filling it. You can pack the whole diameter then stand it up, throw O2 in and fold the top over.

I haven't had any punctures.

 

[Palladin]

If you do it right you can basically see the impressions of the individual grains of rice through the Mylar.

Yup. And they go full vacuum. The 02 absorbers are no joke.

Before and after

 

[Deleted member 12999]

What do you seal bags with? Are they self sealing?

 

[flippinfleck]

Is there a vacuum sealer recommendation somewhere in this thread?

Did anyone tell you to get a chamber sealer yet? If not, I will.

Get a chamber sealer. Oil pump.

And then get a 'heavy duty' standard vac sealer.

Chamber sealer bags are much cheaper for your every-day or large-batch storage needs. Wife and I will prep up to 50lbs of ground chicken for our pup at a time, never an issue with the chamber vac needing to rest.

Standard vac sealers require specific bags/rolls that are more expensive. Use this for items that do not fit in a 10x13 bag or so, as well as for vacuum sealing mason jars.

 

[Palladin]

What do you seal bags with? Are they self sealing?

seal the bags with my wife's hair flat iron. LOL works awesome

 

[Palladin]

So are there types of pasta to avoid that might puncture the mylar bag when it squeezes down or is that not a factor?

I've had great success with pasta elbows

 

[SDG]

seal the bags with my wife's hair flat iron. LOL works awesome

Same here some people advocate for an actual clothes iron but I haven’t found it necessary so far.

 

[xtry51]

I use a clothes iron and an aluminum level

 

[enbloc]

$399 on Amazon...

Avid Armor USV20

 

[flippinfleck]

$399 on Amazon...

Avid Armor USV20

Pump: No maintenance, dry rocker vacuum pump

Uses the same style pump as the foodsaver type sealers with the benefit of cheap bags. I don't have experience with this particular model though the others I've used with similar pumps generally had a cool-down period. I think this was more related to the sealer bar overheating, at least that was the language used in the manual. Longevity was an issue.

 

[JayMcB]

Yes! I just bought one. Now what the hell do I do with it? Foodsaver brand.

Buy the small and large mason jar fittings for this. You can vacuum seal dry goods there with O2's as well.

 

[flippinfleck]

Buy the small and large mason jar fittings for this. You can vacuum seal dry goods there with O2's as well.

Try this:

Amazon product ASIN B016OL1AB6View: https://www.amazon.com/FoodSaver-FCARWJAH-000-Wide-Mouth-Regular-Accessory/dp/B016OL1AB6/

 

[Manomet]

Those were unobtainable last year and when they did come up were gone in< 24 hrs.