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Putting up dried foods for 25 years PDF  | Print |  E-mail
Best Mylar bags, Oxygen Absorbers, Food Grade 5-Gallon Buckets & Gamma Lids
DON’T BUY Mylar Bags less than 5.4 mils thick.  The thinner bags allow light and air through
the surface of the bag and that spoils the food. Scroll down the page to see all of the options.
Choose carefully before you buy the bags.  A 5-gal bag will hold LOTS of flour, cornmeal, rice,
or beans. Whenever you open a bag, you get out what you need, put in NEW Oxygen
Absorbers  (more than one for a 5-gal bag),then you immediately IRON the bag closed again.  
For your needs, it may be smarter to get the smaller bags.  Perhaps the 1-gal bag that can
be re-sealed with the newly designed Ziplock strip is best.  Ziplock closures cost more,
of course, but I spend the few cents for the convenience.  You can fill it, zip it
almost closed, add the Oxygen Absorber, finish zipping it closed, and iron the leading edge. 
DON’T IRON THE ZIPLOCK STRIP.
LEAVE SOME UN-IRONED Mylar near the Ziplock strip. In a few years, when you need the
contents, carefully cut the Mylar selvage off and open the Ziplock strip.  Get what you need and
reseal it with the Ziplock strip.   Perhaps you’d like to package your dried beans and perhaps your
cornmeal in smaller bags. Maybe ½ gallon or 1 Pint size is best for your family. Notice that all
sizes of Mylar bags come both WITH and WITHOUT Ziplock closures. 
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    Oxygen Absorbers
Once you decide upon the bag size(s) you want to use, go to the Oxygen Absorber page and
depending upon the product you will be storing in that size bag, get the correct size O2 Absorber.
See the examples below.  Your best buy would be 300cc-500cc Oxygen Absorbers.  In the early
years of Mylar, only 5 gal bags were available.  Now, the only thing I have in 5-gallon Mylar are
my Kirkland BBQ Briquettes that I’ll use under and on top of my Dutch Oven when there may
not be electricity in the house.  I’ve moved food into 1-gal and 1-Pint bags.  All of my flours,
cornmeal, sugars, etc. are in 1-gallon bags with zip lock strips.  The Pint size 
bags will hold 2 to 3 cups of beans.  I’m using bags without Ziplock for those.  I’m putting things
like spices and cooking aids in the pint bags with Ziplock strips.  Baking Powder in SEALED
containers is okay, but Yeast, Baking Soda, Salt, and Corn Starch are ALL in danger from the
humidity and must be sealed with O2 absorbers.  Use the sizes best for your needs.
Only one 500cc would be big enough for a 1-gal. bag, but a 5-gal bag must have 4 of those. 
Plan carefully if you are getting several sizes of Mylar bags. Since I only buy 1-gallon and
1-pint bags now, I only buy 500CC Oxygen Absorbers
Scroll down the page to see all the options.
PINT Bag with ziplock or without --save money--use small O2  
 One Pint Mylar Bag
GALLON Bag with ziplock or without ziplock--use 300cc to 500cc O2  
 One Gallon Mylar bag
 
Food Grade 5-Gallon Buckets and Gamma Lids 
Food Grade buckets are a NO-BRAINER!!  Don’t take shortcuts with your food.  I have found
that 4 Mylar bags with 5-Lbs. each will fit in 5-gal bucket with a Gamma Lid. If it’s pint bags,
I get about 20-lbs of Beans-11-15 bags of beans, depending on beans.
While I understand that this information is specifically for food grade buckets and gamma lids,
I have confidence in the quality of their BLUE water barrels and the purification chemicals, also.
The 5-gallon food-grade buckets paired with gamma lids as a COMBO provides savings over
buying them separately.
They can be bought separately at Lowes, but be careful to get Food Grade, not their regular
buckets.  Lowes does not have the GAMA LIDS all the time.  If you have no buckets, bags, or
O2 Absorbers, start with the Mylar and O2 Absorbers.  Buy food and bag it properly,  LABEL
EACH BAG WITH THE DATE AND CONTENTS.  Set them aside in a large box and then
purchase the Food Grade buckets.  As you fill each bucket with the SEALED & LABELED
Mylar bags, put a Gama lid on the bucket and label the outside of the bucket both on the top
and on the side.  You can stack the buckets 2-3 HIGH depending upon the WEIGHT in each. 
NEVER 4 high. 
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  There is so much information that is useful for Prepping.  I will happily share information I have. 
Send me questions and I’ll try to help you.  I get about 350-400 emails per day, so if I don't
answer in 2 -3 days, write again.
      Callie Goodrum

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