Storing/Using Corn, Wheat, Oats etc...
 

I purchased some mylar bags and buckets as well as O2 absorbers. I got to thinking that I would prefer to store these grains and be able to use them on a regular basis as well. My question is if I were to store grains such as whole corn and wheat in a bucket without mylar or 02 absorbers, only bucket and lid and kept indoors at 72 degrees, what kind of life could I expect?

I understand the alternatives such as storing multiple smaller mylar bags and such however I am curious about what kind of life I could get just from a bucket in a closet that is maybe opened once a month...

Re: Storing/Using Corn, Wheat, Oats etc...
 

Around here you would have a high risk of having weevils in some of it. Many grains ship with weevil eggs alas. It keeps pretty well except for that, though not as long as with oxygen excluded.

Re: Storing/Using Corn, Wheat, Oats etc...
 

I'm still eating rolled oats that have been loose in the bucket that are 2+ years old now............ no bugs

Re: Storing/Using Corn, Wheat, Oats etc...
 

They found wheat in the Pharoh's tombs that was 3,000 years old and still sprouted......pretty sure they didn't have mylar bags or oxygen absorbers. :D

Re: Storing/Using Corn, Wheat, Oats etc...
 

Very old beans in long deserted pueblos have sprouted too, Andy. That very dry climate helped I am sure.

If you are lucky and nowhere in the linkage getting it to you -- from truck to elevator to truck to warehouse etc, is infested with weevils and your grain and beans arrive clean they keep a long time.

I have read that if you freeze it a few days that kills any weevils. If that is so, you would be good to go if you did not put any in the bucket without passing it through the freezer a few days.

Grains that still have the oily germ can get rancid, but temperature really helps with that.

Re: Storing/Using Corn, Wheat, Oats etc...
 

I was poking fun....

No doubt the climate in Egypt and the American Southwest played a key role in peservation......I wouldn't want to count on duplicating those results if dependent on the food.

I'd want the most insurance for my food insurance I could get.