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n2fishin69

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Joined
Jan 26, 2017
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Location
Alabama
Hi, I am new here. I have been prepping a little for years, but have not stored any food for long term yet. I have been reading a book called "Beyond Collapse" and came across the below excerpt on putting away food. I have no plans on using this method. I do have supplies for proper dry storage, based on alot of what I read while lurking here the last few days. Thanks guys for the posts and info I have read. I just need to find time to start this weekend. My question is, based on the below except from that book, the author claims this can store for 20 years, how can these canned goods last that long?? Really? He is basically telling people to just throw stuff in a bucket with a hand warmer and tape it up. Very careless and misleading to the less informed in my opinion. I have found the book thought provoking so far, but this method is ridiculous. Any thoughts?
thanks, Jim




"If you're really on a budget, then do what you can without breaking your budget. If you’re
hurting financially, you can still scrounge up a month’s worth of food for two people for around
$70. Here’s how you do it:
● 15 one-pound bags of dried peas, beans, rice, lentils, or etc
● 1 64-oz box of powdered dried milk
Four cans of tomato paste
● 1 26-oz can of salt
● 1 16-oz jar of honey (real honey - check the label)
● 1 5-lb bag of self-rising flour
● 1 small can of baking powder
● 1 large box of cheap tea bags (100 bag size)
4 16-oz cans of ham or other cheap canned meats
● 1 60- or 100-capsule bottle of daily multivitamins
● 1 small can of ground pepper
● 1 4-lb bag of sugar
● (Optional) - a couple cans of cheap spices (seasoned salt, garlic powder, etc)
And now to make it storable:
● 1 small box of sandwich-sized zipper bags
● 2 sturdy buckets with tight-fitting lids
● 2 chemical hand-warmer packets
● Electrical tape
● Duct tape

First, get the buckets and toss in the bags of beans, rice, lentils, etc. The reason we use onepound
bags is for proportioning and convenience. Next, get out the small zipper bags and punch
a couple of pin-sized holes (the smaller the holes, the better) in them; you will use them to hold
your powdered milk, tea-bags, flour, etc. Next, use the bags to hold your flour, sugar, tea bags,
powdered milk and salt - be sure to label each bag with permanent marker so you know what’s
in them. Be sure to tear off the directions for the powdered milk and put that in one of the
buckets. Place all of your goods except for the hand warmers into the two buckets.
Just before sealing each bucket, open a hand warmer and put it in the top, then immediately
close and seal the bucket with electrical tape, then with duct tape. So why the hand warmers?
Well, hand warmers usually operate by rapid oxidation of the ingredients in the pouch. The side
effect is that it consumes oxygen as it does so. This means that all of the oxygen in your sealed
bucket will be consumed by the hand warmer - at first the warmer will be hot, but will quickly
cool back down as the oxygen is absorbed in your bucket. The lack of oxygen means your food
won’t spoil as quickly and the warmer will always be present to consume any oxygen that leaks
in through the plastic bucket walls via osmosis.
Properly sealed, this can keep your goods from spoiling for up to 20 years. Be sure to label.........?
 
Hi, I am new here. I have been prepping a little for years, but have not stored any food for long term yet. I have been reading a book called "Beyond Collapse" and came across the below excerpt on putting away food. I have no plans on using this method. I do have supplies for proper dry storage, based on alot of what I read while lurking here the last few days. Thanks guys for the posts and info I have read. I just need to find time to start this weekend. My question is, based on the below except from that book, the author claims this can store for 20 years, how can these canned goods last that long?? Really? He is basically telling people to just throw stuff in a bucket with a hand warmer and tape it up. Very careless and misleading to the less informed in my opinion. I have found the book thought provoking so far, but this method is ridiculous. Any thoughts?
thanks, Jim




"If you're really on a budget, then do what you can without breaking your budget. If you’re
hurting financially, you can still scrounge up a month’s worth of food for two people for around
$70. Here’s how you do it:
● 15 one-pound bags of dried peas, beans, rice, lentils, or etc
● 1 64-oz box of powdered dried milk
Four cans of tomato paste
● 1 26-oz can of salt
● 1 16-oz jar of honey (real honey - check the label)
● 1 5-lb bag of self-rising flour
● 1 small can of baking powder
● 1 large box of cheap tea bags (100 bag size)
4 16-oz cans of ham or other cheap canned meats
● 1 60- or 100-capsule bottle of daily multivitamins
● 1 small can of ground pepper
● 1 4-lb bag of sugar
● (Optional) - a couple cans of cheap spices (seasoned salt, garlic powder, etc)
And now to make it storable:
● 1 small box of sandwich-sized zipper bags
● 2 sturdy buckets with tight-fitting lids
● 2 chemical hand-warmer packets
● Electrical tape
● Duct tape

First, get the buckets and toss in the bags of beans, rice, lentils, etc. The reason we use onepound
bags is for proportioning and convenience. Next, get out the small zipper bags and punch
a couple of pin-sized holes (the smaller the holes, the better) in them; you will use them to hold
your powdered milk, tea-bags, flour, etc. Next, use the bags to hold your flour, sugar, tea bags,
powdered milk and salt - be sure to label each bag with permanent marker so you know what’s
in them. Be sure to tear off the directions for the powdered milk and put that in one of the
buckets. Place all of your goods except for the hand warmers into the two buckets.
Just before sealing each bucket, open a hand warmer and put it in the top, then immediately
close and seal the bucket with electrical tape, then with duct tape. So why the hand warmers?
Well, hand warmers usually operate by rapid oxidation of the ingredients in the pouch. The side
effect is that it consumes oxygen as it does so. This means that all of the oxygen in your sealed
bucket will be consumed by the hand warmer - at first the warmer will be hot, but will quickly
cool back down as the oxygen is absorbed in your bucket. The lack of oxygen means your food
won’t spoil as quickly and the warmer will always be present to consume any oxygen that leaks
in through the plastic bucket walls via osmosis.
Properly sealed, this can keep your goods from spoiling for up to 20 years. Be sure to label.........?


Wow.... to start, they make oxygen absorbers to remove oxygen from something. There are a lot of sizes for whatever size container.

Next, I don't care much for the ziplock bags mentioned. And I'm not too hot for the idea of punching holes in bags so the hand warmer can suck up the oxygen.

What we do is bag up rice, for instance, in a Mylar bag. We've done smaller bags in 2 or 3 serving sizes and used a vacuum sealer (without the vacuum) to seal the bags with an appropriately sized oxygen absorber in each bag. Then, we fill up a bucket and put the lid on it. Oh, and only use food grade buckets.

We do rotate our stock - we use out of the rice, for example, and replace it. We also write the contents and package date on each bag.

Again, maybe this guy's idea is fine, but I wouldn't trust it.....
 
I have thought about using hand warmers to scavenge oxygen, but my concern is that they produce water vapor which could condense on the inside of the bag. I suppose you could also use a desiccant to absorb the water vapor.
 
Thanks! I have mylar bags and oxygen absorbers and plan to package rice, beans, peas etc in smaller portions as well. I plan on rotating out. Small portions are great for camping and backpacking trips. Would it help to put in oxygen aborbers in the bucket of bags before closing the lid?
Thanks
 
Hi, I am new here. I have been prepping a little for years, but have not stored any food for long term yet. I have been reading a book called "Beyond Collapse" and came across the below excerpt on putting away food. I have no plans on using this method. I do have supplies for proper dry storage, based on alot of what I read while lurking here the last few days. Thanks guys for the posts and info I have read. I just need to find time to start this weekend. My question is, based on the below except from that book, the author claims this can store for 20 years, how can these canned goods last that long?? Really? He is basically telling people to just throw stuff in a bucket with a hand warmer and tape it up. Very careless and misleading to the less informed in my opinion. I have found the book thought provoking so far, but this method is ridiculous. Any thoughts?
thanks, Jim




"If you're really on a budget, then do what you can without breaking your budget. If you’re
hurting financially, you can still scrounge up a month’s worth of food for two people for around
$70. Here’s how you do it:
● 15 one-pound bags of dried peas, beans, rice, lentils, or etc
● 1 64-oz box of powdered dried milk
Four cans of tomato paste
● 1 26-oz can of salt
● 1 16-oz jar of honey (real honey - check the label)
● 1 5-lb bag of self-rising flour
● 1 small can of baking powder
● 1 large box of cheap tea bags (100 bag size)
4 16-oz cans of ham or other cheap canned meats
● 1 60- or 100-capsule bottle of daily multivitamins
● 1 small can of ground pepper
● 1 4-lb bag of sugar
● (Optional) - a couple cans of cheap spices (seasoned salt, garlic powder, etc)
And now to make it storable:
● 1 small box of sandwich-sized zipper bags
● 2 sturdy buckets with tight-fitting lids
● 2 chemical hand-warmer packets
● Electrical tape
● Duct tape

First, get the buckets and toss in the bags of beans, rice, lentils, etc. The reason we use onepound
bags is for proportioning and convenience. Next, get out the small zipper bags and punch
a couple of pin-sized holes (the smaller the holes, the better) in them; you will use them to hold
your powdered milk, tea-bags, flour, etc. Next, use the bags to hold your flour, sugar, tea bags,
powdered milk and salt - be sure to label each bag with permanent marker so you know what’s
in them. Be sure to tear off the directions for the powdered milk and put that in one of the
buckets. Place all of your goods except for the hand warmers into the two buckets.
Just before sealing each bucket, open a hand warmer and put it in the top, then immediately
close and seal the bucket with electrical tape, then with duct tape. So why the hand warmers?
Well, hand warmers usually operate by rapid oxidation of the ingredients in the pouch. The side
effect is that it consumes oxygen as it does so. This means that all of the oxygen in your sealed
bucket will be consumed by the hand warmer - at first the warmer will be hot, but will quickly
cool back down as the oxygen is absorbed in your bucket. The lack of oxygen means your food
won’t spoil as quickly and the warmer will always be present to consume any oxygen that leaks
in through the plastic bucket walls via osmosis.
Properly sealed, this can keep your goods from spoiling for up to 20 years. Be sure to label.........?

Storing legumes (beans and such) in buckets with tight lids aren't good enough, beans will go rancid ;) You need food grade buckets w/gamma lids then add oxygen absorbers. Yes some canned goods can last 20yrs such as canned corn being an example though you would lose almost all the nutritional value in other words you will fill the gut but not the needs. FYI, hand warmers aren't food grade, why contaminate a sealed environment?

I see on your list flour and baking powder but no baking soda and yeast? Whats the tomato paste used for? No rolled oats and/or quick oats? Salt should never be optional ;)

Powder butter/eggs/milk in #10 can, will last 25yrs, you can also get Shortening Powder. Don't forget about cooking oils, extra virgin olive oils (medium heat) peanut oil (high heat) I keep on hand olive/peanut oils 2yrs shelf life though I also keep cold pressed organic coconut oil (extra virgin) medium heat, shelf life exceeds 7yrs. Just keep all the oils out of the light and cooler than 75deg-F optimal is 56 but not below 55.
 
Thanks! I have mylar bags and oxygen absorbers and plan to package rice, beans, peas etc in smaller portions as well. I plan on rotating out. Small portions are great for camping and backpacking trips. Would it help to put in oxygen aborbers in the bucket of bags before closing the lid?
Thanks

You can, but I won't. The idea is to suck up all the oxygen in each Mylar bag so you're not continually exposing the absorbers to oxygen. They have a limit of what they'll absorb.

Also, the absorbers are sized based on how much area they've got to cover. The way we did it, we used smaller absorbers.
 
I like using quart mason jars with a oxy absorber in them. I heat the jars on low temp in the oven first to ensure low moisture too. The plus side is the meal sized containers, and if something goes rancid you only loose one smaller portion. The down side to this method is its not as portable. The glass jars are somewhat fragile and heavy. Great for home storage though, and the jars are reusable over and over.
One thing to think about here is food storage is great, and I completely agree that having some to get you through an emergency Is wise. I think as much effort should be in learning to produce food though. No matter how much you are able to have in storage, it will eventually run out. Having a sustainable renewable supply is equally as important.
Another thing to consider when getting started with storage is buy what you normally eat. Having buckets of flour if you don't bake isn't going to do you any good. There's a prepper saying of 'buy what you eat and eat what you buy'. Meaning rotate your supplies. I also think it's good to store foods that need minimal prep to be eaten. Back to things like baking with flour, power or even an oven may be tough to come by during an emergency. Something you can easily eat on the go, and light enough to carry is good to add to your supplies.
These are just a few things to consider, but just the fact that you are thinking about being more prepared allready puts you ahead of the majority of the population.
 

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