Mylar Bag Storage

[Harm]

Does anyone have any experience with storing in Mylar Bags? We are repacking our 72 Hour Kit and my wife came to me with a plan that I LOVE. She got two cook books, Mix N Meals and Meals In a Jar where we were able to find ingredients completely freeze dried that are just add water. Rather than buying Mountain House or something else for our family we're going to try and do our own. Looking for any tips, thoughts, concerns etc.

[DMGNUT]

I've bought the big mylar bags and super pails (about 6 gallons... slightly taller than the 5 gallon ones), at Honeyville, then put the bags in the super pails and filled them with beans, or whatever... etc (along with 5 or so oxygen absorbers).
Then pushed out all the air you can and fold the top of the bag over and "iron" it closed.
I used a small length of 1x4 laying across the top of the bucket and my wife's iron (set on cotton).
The bag is tall enough that it sticks out of the top of the bucket by 8 or 10 inches, so iron the very top edge only (remember, after pushing out as much air as possible).
Then when you need into it, if you cut off just the very top (where you ironed before), you can reseal it (you could actually reseal it several times... if needed).

[libertygranny]

we discovered that bugs and other vermin can eat through the mylar bags. If you are going to do the 'meals in a jar' type thing, I would use the 'seal a meal' (can't think of the name) type bags and sealer.

[iggy]

we discovered that bugs and other vermin can eat through the mylar bags. If you are going to do the 'meals in a jar' type thing, I would use the 'seal a meal' (can't think of the name) type bags and sealer.

I prefer the FoodSaver brand. Not only do I use the bags that they make, I use the rolls and make my own lengths. Short for home dehydrated vegetables. Long for unwrapped bath soap. I don't store bath soap in its original packaging. I unwrap, let it sit in my linen closet top shelf for a year, then package it in the FoodSaver- unvacuum. My neighbor bought a different brand (don't know what it is), can only buy the bags online and they just don't hold the seal well. Her bags cost almost 1.5 times what FoodSaver cost (and FoodSaver ain't cheap). I went over to see if she was doing it correctly - clean bag, nothing to interfere with the seal - looks like it seals, but weeks later the bag has air.

I vacuumed sealed hard red wheat in 3 pound bags 20 months ago. Still sealed hard as bricks. One of those flattened "bricks" is a lethal weapon IF you can lift and swing it!! I vacuumed seal the still packaged 1 pound brick of vacuumed sealed yeast - I have had a sealed brick of yeast loose its seal before, so I would rather vacuum seal it again to be on the safe side. My best friends/Home-Visiting Teachers/Foster Parents sealed up all of the dry food storage in Mylar bags using the dry pack canner when it was in our area. Years and years later after Sister passes, Brother goes through the food storage doing an intense inventory and every single bag has long lost its seal. There are no bugs in anything, but he is really concerned about the freshness. All I could suggest to him is that he open them and cook up a very small pot of each. See if they cook up normally. The dried beans never really softened up. He gave them to one of the larger families in the next ward who ground the beans into flour and is using it up that way. The lentils, rice, etc. seemed to be okay.

He opened up the 5 gallon bucket of flour - every single one of them had bugs. Nearly 8 inches worth on the top of the flour. He took the 10 buckets to the local dump, and dumped the contents into the huge bins (fit on semi's) and then tossed the buckets into the plastic recycling. 12 years ago they gave me one of those buckets of flour. There was only 1" of bugs on top when I opened it. I lived on the river then - so I dumped the contents into the river and busted up the pail. THAT is why I won't store ground flour. Not unless you freeze the flour and keep it frozen until you use it - you will get bugs!! Oh, the buckets were lined with mylar bags.

[Earthling]

Remember the flour scare about 4-5 years ago? Well, I bought a lot of flour before it became news and due to the 25 lb. size & number couldn't put them in my freezer. I have good storage conditions - cool, dark & dry & clean. So I am still using the flour in the bags I bought then with no problems with bugs or in baking with it. It has probably lost some nutrition. I guess there are a lot of variables as to whether flour will store. I did put some in metal gallon cans over 15 years ago when I had the dry pack canner at my house. I have no idea how good it is. By now it is either ok or bad. If it is ok then someday white flour might be quite a treat. Supposedly it doesn't have much nutrition to lose in the first place! :wink (2):