Storing rice
 

I have a 25lb bag of white rice to store. I have a vacuum sealer roll that it will fit in ...... Is vacuum sealing it adequate and how long will it stay good?

Sam's Club also sells Unce Ben's rice .... should I buy that instead? ... and how long will it last?

Re: Storing rice
 

I can't speak for brands. Buy what you like, just make sure it is the freshest stuff you can fnd.

I have about 100lbs that I sealed up in August 07. I am eating it now. I bagged it into 4 1/2lb bags. I think it would be good for 4 -5 years easily. It seals solid like a brick.

I am using a bag, not a roll. It has the same thickness seal around the 3 edges. Might make a difference in durability compared to a bag that has 2 x seals from the vacuum machine. I've not used rolls so I don't know exactly.

I have been thinking I need some kind of flat thin rectangle box I can suspend these bags in, fill up and seal. That way I would get a more stackable brick. Still not the most important thing to worry about.

Re: Storing rice
 

That's what I used, because it is long grain (said to be drier).

5 gallon bucket, Mylar bag, O2 absorbers. Done deal.

Properly sealed, should last a few years.

Re: Storing rice
 

A couple things to consider.....

- Are you looking to store the rice for SHTF, and never open it until that magical time? If so, a single 25# bag might be OK (unless that single big bag develops a leak).:hissyfit_m: If, on the other hand, you're looking to use it as part of your normal rice "inventory" & rotate rice in & out of it as you use the grain in your kitchen, consider packaging it in smaller packages (2# - 5# bags).

- The FoodSaver bags (clear nylon/polyethylene laminate) are better than normal ziploc bags as an oxygen barrier, but nowhere near as good as mylar 4-7 mil thickness bags. For nice long term storage, you might consider mylar bags + oxygen absorbers.

If it's white rice, the vacuum packed stuff should be good for years.

If it's brown rice (with lots of oils & such), shelf life isn't as long, especially if you don't use oxygen absorbers.

Also consider a rigid walled storage container (plastic pails or a tight fitting cabinet) for bags of goodies. Otherwise, mice will have a field day with clear or mylar bags of food.

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A question to all putting up stores of rice.

What are you putting it into after the vacuum sealed bags ?

Buckets with oxygen absorbers and or descants ?

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You might check out the US Postal Service website (usps.com) for FREE Priority Mail cardboard boxes. These are solely for mailing stuff Priority Mail (honest!). Not for filling/vacuuming grains in bags.

Or storing spices in cabinets.

Or storing loose tools in the garage.

Not that I'd ever do such a thing, mind you. I just read about it in a magazine - yeah, that's it. A magazine.

Re: Storing rice
 

I put my white rice in # 10 cans with one oxy absorber in it. I put the brown rice in the 1/2 gallon mason jars with oxy absorber and vacuum sealed it. For Y2K, before the food saver/lid thing, I put the brown rice in quart jars, then in the oven at a low heat for about 1 hour, put the metal canning lid on and it sealed. The brown rice was rancid after 1.5 years.

Re: Storing rice
 

Re: Storing rice
 

Ok.

Probably a barbarian, here.

I eat a LOT of brown rice. Organic.

Buy it in 20 pound bags and throw it into

The garage refer.

Then transfer it into gallon ziplocs which

Go into the upstairs refer.

Never had a problem.


scyth

Re: Storing rice
 

So what went bad in 1.5 years? The "brown rice in the 1/2 gallon mason jars with oxy absorber and vacuum sealed" or the "brown rice in quart jars, then in the oven at a low heat for about 1 hour, put the metal canning lid on and it sealed"? Or both? I prefer brown rice and would love to find a way to make it last. Share your experience.

Re: Storing rice
 

Freezing (and keeping frozen) is the only method I know of that will prolong the life of high oil foods that tend to go rancid.

Re: Storing rice
 

The brown rice in quart jars in the oven on low heat for 1 hour went bad after 1.5 years.
I like brown rice better too, and only bought 25 lbs this time. Its in the 1/2 gal jars with the oxy absorbers and vacuum sealed. I have not put in in the refer as the previous poster does. It might be a thought. At the current time, I dont have space in the freezer for rice! T-bone the steer is more important! When he gets his new home in the canning jars, I might get some more brown rice (providing the sheeple have not woke up and raided costco)
I have not done a long term test of the brown rice in jars with the oxy absorbers. Guess we will find out soon. If all fails the chickens like the brown rice! Sorry I am not more help!

Re: Storing rice
 

Oxygen absorbers go inside the vacuum sealed bags. If you just throw them into a plastic pail along with (non-oxygen-absorber-containing vac sealed bags), they're quickly consumed by oxygen permeating through the wall of the HDPE plastic pail. That approach can also tend to give you collapsed pail walls & ruined lid seals.

I just throw some oxy absorbers into the mylar bag (or FoodSaver bag, if that's all you've got handy) before removing as much air as possible & sealing it. The sealed bags go in plastic pails.

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Don't use the bags. They can lose their seal sometimes. Get the wide mouth mason jar attachment for the food saver and store the rice in 1 quart mason jars you can get at walmart.

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I have been eating white rice stored from 1999 in a nitrogen environment with DE for the past year. Seems to taste and cook fine for me.

In other words, I would suspect at least 10 years if packed right ;)

Dave

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Ima, where did you hear about this process? This is almost sacriligious to grains, especailly grains high in oil. Heating accelerates the breakdown and oxidation process.

Keeping grains cool is the first rule
Removing all oxygen is the other first rule

s

ps Did you get your asparagus yet??

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This was the hip thing to do during the Y2K non event era. I can not remember where I got the information. May have been from my Morman friend or from a forum. Might be why my brown rice went rancid so fast. This time they are in the 1/2 gallon mason jars with the oxy removed by the food saver.

I did not order any asparagus. Only berry plants. They have not come yet! They were suppose to ship last friday. But I did get a goat!

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www.acehardware.com has the 1/2 gallon jars again!

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Yes, the bags can lose the seal if improperly sealed in the first place (wrinkles will do that), or poked with a sharp object or gnawed on by a mouse (unless protected by a plastic or metal pail).

If you look at the reviews of the FoodSaver mason jar sealer on Amazon, you'll see a number of folks who also warn users to check & recheck their "sealed" jars, since they can also lose seal after a week or so. The wide mouth jars seem less likely to leak than the standard mouth, though.

I like the "dense pack" ability of mylar bags in 5 gal pails, along with their robust handling characteristics. Try dropping a box of filled quart jars on the floor & see what happens. Oops.:36_1_25:

I'm thinking about getting a FoodSaver jar lid sealer for coffee beans & spices.

But for larger quantity things (200# or so of rice, let's say), I'll stick with oxygen absorber containing mylar bags in plastic pails.

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About the only reason I can think of heating grains would be to drive off excess moisture (to prevent mold), or to deactivate enzymes present in some grains (such as freshly harvested oats) that would otherwise cause rancidity.

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If one were to use a Mylar bag, why would they need food grade bucket with a gamma seal?

The rice will remain in the bag 100% of the time, and until opened, it should remain sealed from the bucket plastic/bugs/oxygen. Right?

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You'd only need the gamma seal for buckets you're opening & closing & reopening to use the contents. You're right about the non-issue of "food grade" with mylar bags. In that case, the mylar bags act as a barrier.

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Funny this should be mentioned about the bags leaking.

Seeing as how October was our first bagging session, I figured I would go back into the buckets to make sure all was well, and that the O2 absorbers had done their job and pulled a vacuum on the bags.

Long story short, I'm going to have to redo 6 out of 14 buckets. Turns out they are all the ones we did first (still in need of some practice making a decent seal). The others had pulled a tight vacuum and were just fine. Trick is not to rely on a thin line seal; make the seal VERY wide, several inches if possible.

Glad I went back and checked! Moral: check your buckets after sealing, in case you aren't as good as you think you are! :ok:

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Are you talking about the vacuum hose for the food saver? If so, I would highly recommend it as being one of the best accessories available for the process.

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Correct, but be careful what you use for buckets. DO NOT USE paint buckets or anything with petroleum distillates. The ONLY thing I would consider using is Plaster buckets(Joint compound)!!

One thing to consider when getting good food grade buckets. You will not be able to get them after TSHTF. They will become an irreplaceable asset and can be used over and over. The buckets from Emergency Essentials are the thick (.090) buckets and are about the best you can get. I know they get expensive but if taken care of they should last about a 100 years,( maybe not the lids)

Most of us don't need more than 4 of the Gamma seal lids. 6 tops

The big advantage of using both mylar and the buckets is double redundancy. If your bag leaks a little, the second barrier of the bucket will take up the slack. If stored in a cool place that will almost be an impenetrable barrier. Personally, I'm a CO2 fan, with O2 absorbers to catch any residual or leaks, and O2 absorbers in the bucket too before I seal it. But I'm not going to open it until I really need it. Could be years. Hope it is!!

sb

Re: Storing rice
 

The trick with the jars is in the process...

Use new lids, and heat the lids to get the seal softened (do not boil) and be sure to dry thoroughly.

You do this and pull a good vacuum, and you will have to use a spoon or knife to get that lid back off. You can even safely take the bands off.

I have yet to have a jar not seal properly.

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For those folks storing stuff in plastic buckets (like me) - avoid sunlight exposure to those buckets as much as possible. They will become brittle & very weak from the UV degradation of the plastic.

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The FoodSaver mason jar lid sealer is this type:

http://cgi.ebay.com/2-FoodSaver-Maso...QQcmdZViewItem

You don't even need an official FoodSaver to use them. See:
http://www.instructables.com/id/The-...Vacuum-Sealer/