How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It - James Wesley Rawles [37]
FoodSaver Vacuum-Packing Systems
One very useful tool for storage is a home vacuum-packing and heat-sealing machine, sold under the trade name FoodSaver. Yep, it’s the one that you’ve seen on those late-night infomercials. They really do work, both for evacuating and sealing plastic bags and for evacuating mason jars. To save money, it is probably best to buy one of these used, through eBay. Just be sure that the seller guarantees against it being dead on arrival. Test it thoroughly immediately after you buy it. Be advised that FoodSavers are designed to seal only one particular thickness of plastic bag, and they have a limited maximum width. You should shop around for bags and bag material on the Internet, as prices vary dramatically.
Here at the ranch, we have a large number of No. 10 cans of freeze-dried food. The disadvantage to opening a can to eat something is that once you open it, the clock starts ticking for how long it will stay fresh. Our solution? We use widemouthed mason jars, pour the No. 10 can’s contents into the jars, and use a FoodSaver V2830 to seal the lids onto the jars. This means we can take our time eating the contents, as opposed to eating the same thing day after day before it goes bad. Small quantities can also be stored in heat-sealed vacuum bags.
Freeze-dried Versus Dehydrated Foods for Storage
Because of their lower cost, here at the ranch we store nearly all bulk grains/legumes/honey and various nitrogen-canned dehydrated foods. We have just a few freeze-dried items, such as fruit and some peas that we got from Freeze Dry Guy (FreezeDryGuy .com). At a fixed-location retreat with copious storage space and plentiful water from a shallow well, dehydrated foods make more sense. If we were planning to G.O.O.D., then logically we would want more freeze-dried items—to take advantage of their reduced weight and volume.
Do-It-Yourself Bulk Food Storage: Buckets, Oxygen Absorbers, CO2, and Desiccants
To save money you will probably want to buy rice, wheat, and beans in fifty-pound sacks. Sacks are problematic, since what you really want is a vermin-proof, moisture-proof container that is airtight and preferably evacuated of oxygen. Those are the keys to true long-term shelf life, and none of them are provided by a cloth, paper, or woven-plastic sack. The solution is to repack bulk foods in food-grade plastic buckets. Here is how to do it:
Bucket-Packing Method
Line a bucket with a large food-grade Mylar bag and pour in the wheat, rice, or beans, shaking the bucket and tapping it on the floor several times to get the bag completely full. You don’t want any air gaps. Fill the bag so that the bucket is filled to within one inch of the top. Then toss two oxygen-absorbing packets (available from Nitro-Pak) into the bag.
Clear vinyl bags (often marked “V” or with recycle code “3”) are almost always food grade. Low-density polyethylene (LDPE or recycle code “4”) in film form—typically used in grocery bags and trash bags—is usually food grade, but some varieties have strange additives or coatings. To be sure, see the manufacturer’s packaging for details. If the package is marked “FDA approved,” “USDA approved,” or “food safe,” then the bags are food grade. Most Mylar is food grade, but, again, beware of odd coatings. Most Mylar bucket liners—such as those sold by Nitro-Pak—are food grade. The latter is my top choice for extending the longevity of stored grains and legumes.
Next, place a small chunk of dry ice on top of the grain, inside the liner bag. I usually use a piece that is about as big as my thumb. As the dry ice “melts” (sublimates) it will fill the bucket with CO2, displacing the oxygen. (Insects can’t breathe CO 2! ) Keep a watchful eye on the dry ice. Once it