Long Term Storage of Dry Foods 

Another option would be using multiple 1 gallon Mylar bags stacked in the tubs so you only have to use a portion of the rice at a time.

I love how easy it is for you to correct yourself when you make a mistake:) some people still need to learn how to be wrong (even just slightly wrong) gracefully

How wonderful of you to mention The Kneady Homesteader.

Your humility in admitting your error makes you absolutely radiant and lovely. What a good example you are to me. God bless your day 🌸

Thank you for mentioning the Kneady Homestead. Heather has extreme injuries with a long road to go.

I sit on the pail and the lid snaps shut.Thank you for this video.

You have taught me more in 3 days of watching your videos than I’ve learned in years. Years! Thank you, teacher.

If my science teachers had explained things so clearly I would have loved science class.

I'm literally 5 minutes into your video and can already tell you are the one to watch!!!! Aloha from Hawaii

I put my flour, rice, corn meal, in the freezer for 2 weeks, take out, thaw to room temp, let any moisture evaporate then use food saver bags take out the oxygen then put in mylar bags with oxygen absorbers in food buckets this stuff will be eatable next century 😂😂but thats just me😂

Yes, 17 months ago, Heather entered a hellish existence. she still has more surgeries for her recovery. Kids are better but still recovering. Thank y'all for adding the gofund Me. Wonderful of y'all. Thanks for all y'all teaching me. Blessings, julie

It’s rare (for me) to see such gifts of teaching, communication, & practical applications like she exhibits. I’m thankful I ran across her plethora of wisdom and hope to be like her one day. She seems like an amazing woman to know and I hope she and everyone in her circle realizes that.

Probably someone else has made this comment but you can take your dry goods and divide them into smaller, separate bags (i freeze mine first) and then drop them into the mylar bag. When you have to retrieve a small portion of the food for use, it's very convenient to pull out a portioned bag without disturbing the others. You can use smaller O2 absorbers in each little bag.

Prayers

I use a small shop vac with a stainless steel "straw" taped and sealed at the end of the hose. Slip the straw into the bag just before sealing and draw out as much air as possible. Close the impulse sealer as you pull the straw out and BOOYAH! It removes so much air and tightens the mylar up nicely. The O2 absorbers do the rest!

My favorite people in RU-vid to learned from! Thank you Professor Pam for all your food storage videos to canning and all! I am confident to store my foods the way you do yours because you always backed with Science and Research 🔬🧐. And you and Mr. Jim are kind enough to share that with us! I can’t thank you enough but thanks a million 😘💗👍

You brought me to tears again, over the loss of Heathers husband. So sad and devastating. Thank you again for your wonderful videos. I always learn so much.

I’m so pleased you mentioned the trouble with the weavers. That’s what prompted me to pre-freeze and use oxygen absorbers in addition to vacuuming. I had carefully put white rice in a jar and stored it. When we came back a few months later the jar was filled with those horrid little creatures. Bless you for admitting that this happened to you.

Thank you for mentioning Heather and her family from The Kneady Homesteader. My heart hurts for her and her children. She will need lots of support and there is no nicer group than all the Homesteaders. God Bless! Thank you too for all your information on canning, storage, etc. I enjoy following you.

Thanks for the video.

I always love how you explain everything, you make it easy to understand.

Thanks for your shout out for Heather, kneady homesteader, her hospital bills must be enormous, I understand she is still in rehab

I enjoy your channel so much. Not too many people are able to admit their mistakes to all and also show how to correct it.

Praying for them now

Thank you for mentioning heather!

I will also pray for them.

I love your chanel,,, We learn so much from you in my house .. 🤗.. THANK YOU for all your, and Jim's HARD WORK!

This is such a sad, horrible situation. Her video telling about the situation was so devastating. Prayers to family. May they heal both physically and mentally.

I love watching you and I'm still learning. I'm in my 70's and I guess your never too old to learn something new. Thank you.

And I love that you used the word sublimate.

I am like a sponge and absorb all your knowledge when watching your videos. I love them and you!! Thank you for going into depth and explaining “why”. I retain information when there’s reasoning. You’re such a great professor and I’ve learned so much from you already. You are appreciated!!

By the way, I am so excited that you replied to me. I am a BIG fan!

I do so love your videoes! I've watched a lot of The Kneady Homesteader's videoes, too.

That story about root beer was GREAT!

You always have the BEST instructional interesting videos!!! Thank you for being so interesting.

You are a lovely Lady, good heart. From Portugal tank's.

I am so glad you mentioned Heather & her family at the Kneady Homesteader. Thank you for that.

God bless you beautiful lady great video love and blessings from Australia

Thank you for all the great tips. That sealer you have is very fancy, some of us just use a hair straightening iron. I picked one up at a thrift store for 50cents, works great! Also, some folk trim two or three inches off the top of the mylar bags, which makes less bulk to fold over and the pieces cut off can be saved to repair any holes in the mylar bags.

I just used a regular cloth iron on the big bucket packages. In fact, that iron was the only thing I had. Lots of ironing/sealing that evening. I did it during the dead of winter when the humidity was very low. Old house with baseboard heating dries out the air😉

a few words of advice on dealing with CO2 / dry ice 1. you can find out for sure if your bucket is full of CO2 by just moving a lit match into the bucket top- if it goes out you have no oxygen. 2. remember that CO2 is odorless, fast, and you CANNOT breathe it- thats kind of the point? well if you lean down into, say, a cooler chest you kept your dry ice in... you can pass out. keep your head CLEAR and make sure you are allowing any CO2 building up on the floor to vent

You are fantastic teacher! I have learned so much from you! Thanks! WOW!

I find weevils in pasta, noodles, cake mixes etc! So when I bring any of these home from the store, I tightly wrap the packages in saran wrap. I buy the wider large rolls at Sam's and a roll lasts for a couple of years. If when I open the package and there are weevils inside, they or their eggs were already there. However, I rarely find any after being wrapped first especially as I often stock up when the price is right. I am assuming they were getting there right in my pantry! It's a small pantry on the first floor of my house so it's a testament to the tenacity of those little bugs. After opening items not fully used, it's stored in real Tupperware, which has never failed me. Not totally on topic, but a heads up for regular timelines. But beware the bugs could already be there. Pam, thanks again for your helpful advice. 😎

Fantastic info! Lesson learned, just found bugs, ugh!

I saw this done once many years ago, and the way they decided the oxygen was all forced out was to light a match and hold it close to the side of the bucket on the outside. Maybe 2 or 3 inches down from the rim. The carbon dioxide will put a match out as it flows over the top. No guessing.

I just started watching your channel and I can’t believe it lol you are wonderful and I love you you just in to teaching me what I need to know you don’t run your mouth about your family there are one cook in South Carolina it awful watching her all about her family i used to love watching her every day and she don’t know what she is doing

Red you are a tough cookie hefting that heavy grain around! Dry ice is brilliant 👍🏻

You have a kind heart!

There is nothing more “shaking” than finding crawling “things” in our food! Shivers! Happens to all of us.... Ugh.

I just love how thorough you are and how you laughed at the thought of "burping" the bucket if it bulges. You are a priceless teacher. Thank you!! And thanks to Jim too! I've learned so much.

Always learning from you,Tks. Plus thanks for remembering Heather n children. Sweet lady with a long recovery from so serious injuries.

That you for teaching all of us. I have been eager to learn as much about food preservation as I can. Your channel has helped so much.

Such valuable teaching ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️

Thx for explaining everything so well

You are awesome. dry ice ..never thought to do that .Wow

Wow! So cool to see you work with the dry ice. I’ve never seen anybody package food for long term storage using dry ice. You explained it so beautifully and clearly. I really enjoy watching your videos because of the way that you explain the details and steps. I’m the kind of person that learns better when I know the how and why behind the thing. I’m also sort of nerdy for really cool science stuff so this video was a real treat for me. Many thanks! ❤️

Great Information... Thank you

A flat iron (the kind you use for hair) works really well too. Bay leaves will help with insects as well.

Thank you!

In Florida we have weevils, Indian meal months, flour beetles, etc. All are extremely common threats to dry food storage. Common. Don't skip the freeze/thaw/freeze/restore steps before packaging for long term storage. Those are not gamma lids. Those are regular five gallon bucket lids. Gamma lids have a base that goes on top of the bucket and then a screw on top. They are used for frequent usage where you are re-opening buckets. Gamma lids are expensive and completely unnecessary for long term storage. You just need the regular lids to seal down click, click, click, click (there are only 4 places the adhere so no need to hammer everywhere and risk breaking off the rim of the lid) and then a bucket opening wrench to open makes life much easier. If you need to use a hammer on edges of top, I recommend a rubber mallet. If you are going to bucket rice or flour or wheat, package it right after purchase if you are not going to do the freeze/thaw sequence

Rose I suggest you put your rice in small bags so you don't have to open your big bag

Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us 💗

You had me rolling when you said " ok, I'm gonna go get a hammer" lol. But seriously, with all the food shortages coming our way this is a great video. I am currently running an experiment on storing sugar in my humid basement. I have put a 5lbs bag of sugar in it's original bag, a quart mason jar full of sugar and a quart mason jar full of sugar with moisture absorber and vacuum sealed to see which last longer.

Wow very interesting about the dry ice …will certainly share this video with family and friends …thank you so much for sharing this knowledge…stay blessed .

tyty..i love how easy the dry ice method is..and im going to implement that

Prayers for the kneady homesteader...so sad 😔 On this mylar I use # 6 or 7 mylar bags the thickest I can find...I just cover a 2 ft PC of 2×4 put Towle over it and just use your Iron and seal on edge on high cotton setting on your cloths Iron.. I've been using over 20 yrs.. no problems

You can get free food grade buckets at your local bakery, or Costco bakery department. Helps to call ahead to have them save them for you.

Thank you, again!

Super informative as always. That is wild how you used to store it with an insecticide but that was the knowledge then. So interesting. Thanks Pam!

Just a tip: you can use a regular clothes iron on low setting. Seat close to the top and when you cut open for supply cut just under the seal. This leaves plenty of room to reseal over and over again. Love your channel 😁

I use a hair straightener to seal my Mylar 😀works really well. Learn ed something new with the dry ice, wow! Nice to have back up plans and extra knowledge. Thank you!!

Appreciate you sharing your knowledge. Thank you

You are my hero! I am so impressed at your strength. I am new to food preservation. I wish my Grandmother had shared her knowledge with me. Unfortunately, kids were not allowed in the kitchen.

Thank you

I just showed your demonstration to my 7 year old and he loved it! We are going to make root beer and I'm going to use the dry ice for my food buckets. Thank you for sharing!

GREAT info and presentation !!!

Lifting Heather and family up in Prayer. Thank you so much and Bless you for bringing this up. ❤️ ~~Sharon

I’ve bee watching all you videos .uou are a outstanding teacher .because you teach ,Why

Very good video. I understand the struggle you expressed sealing your Mylar bags. I use an iron and broom handle to seal mine which works well but I always struggle to keep the air out while sealing. Would love to try the dry ice but living in north Florida I’d be afraid of not getting all of the ice crystals. So love your videos. Thank you🙂

Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge...it is so appreciated...❤

I just thought you should know you aren't actually using gamma seal lids. The gamma lids have a twist top and cost anywhere from 7 to 12 dollars each. I like the dry ice method too but rarely use it because it's not so easy to get it where I live. Diatomaceous earth also works well in conjunction with the mylar, though I'm finding I don't prefer that method. Freezing for several days is good too, but not so convenient because you need to make sure your grain is good and dry before you seal it in the mylar. I find a flat iron is the easiest way to seal the mylar. A great way to remove as much oxygen as possible before completing your seal is to use a mini vacuum nozzle attachment that can be used with an upright vacuum cleaner. You just need to practice a bit with the nozzle and the flat iron to avoid letting air back in before you complete the seal. It works great. My buckets of grain are sealed almost rock hard even before the oxygen absorbers do their magic.

I keep thinking about them everyday!

Miss Pam, I live in Louisiana and we definitely have to contend with humidity and insects. When I have utilized Mylar bags, i would leave a corner unsealed, press out the remaining air and then seal it off. That really made my sealing better. Having said that, the idea of utilizing dry ice sounds so delightful and really does take some of the expense out! I have two questions, if I may. How do you “burp” a bucket if needed and secondly, where did you get bags of wheat in bulk? Thank you so much for your fabulous educational videos! They are GREATLY Appreciated! I forgot to add, I have used nitrogen to pack bags before, but it requires renting or buying a tank

I like the impulse sealer. I’ve used an iron and a straight hair iron to seal and it wasn’t easy. Thank you for the hint

Great video! So glad I came across your channel! Love the detailed explanation and instructions!

Rather ironically this extremely space-age technique of storing grain in C02 is precisely how grain was stored in pits in the neolithic and iron age by the celts. Moist pits lined with clay were filled with grain and sealed with a cap of clay to exclude further air exchange. Some of the grain at the edges would germinate due to the moist clay, and produce C02 as a result, storing the bulk of the grain.

What a terrific video! I learned so much. I have never seen dry ice used like this before, this was exciting. Thank you so much for sharing this. ❤️ ~~Sharon

I use the bay lleaf in drawers,cupboards and even in my placemat drawers and it works great

I use a flat iron hair straightener its quick hot, easy to lift & works great😉just an idea .

For years I have put my King Arthur Flour into ziplock bags and put them into the freezer . Never had a problem , always make sure I rotate and also sift all my flour but never seen bugs or larve . Thank you for your information because I was thinking of dry canning . 🙂

Thank you for the video. Good information. I hope everyone who is preparing for the future by canning food and storing grain and beans and meals, will also think about their financial preparedness as well. Prepping is not just about food.

same happens to me. After awhile you forget to check your supplies. Sometimes I'm afraid to look

Using masking tape to mark the buckets allows you to use them later for other things

Just found this video and really appreciated the knowledge shared. Pam is the expert. I am not. BUT, I do one thing slightly differently that has helped us. When sealing mylar bags, I wait for about three seconds after the red light goes out before opening the impulse sealer. This allows the plastic to cool slightly after melting to seal, and it has worked very well for us. No more occasional un-sealed spots. Although it did not happen often, now it never does for us...

You are amazing! Reminds me of watching my grandma and mom working together in the kitchen when they would do food storage. I do have one question, I just bought a 50lb bag of rice. If I am going to be using it over the course of the next year or two is it necessary to use dry ice or a Mylar bag with oxygen absorbers? Or is it going to be okay if I just leave it in the bag I bought it in and put that into a plastic bucket?

I heard that....so sad....you have a great heart....along with most American people. Glad I found you!

Hi Pam....i'm doing a bit of research on storage bags and have often wondered why so many folks use Mylar bags instead of regular "Food Saver" type bags....they are both PET bags, the only difference I can find is that the Mylar bags are light proof and that Food Saver bags are much easier to Vacuum Seal....I have also found out (from a plastics distributor) that the OTR (oxygen transfer rate) is practically the same between Mylar and Food Saver Type Bags....so since I am sealing the bags up to put into a light proof environment, can you help me understand why Mylar is better or is it? Food Saver knock off's seem to be PET and less expesnive than the Mylar as both will allow oxygen in eventually.....I really can't find anyone that has discussed this. Thanks for any info you may have. Martha

You explained the information very well.

To simplify your sealing method: 1. Use a wood broom stick handle and lay it across your bucket. 2. Plug in your electric iron you use for ironing your clothes. 3. Iron to be heated up between medium and high. 4. Lay bag across the wood broom stick about 1 inch from the very top of the bag and put the iron to it to seal. The higher you make your seal at the top of the bag is better. The next time you need to open the and reseal it the bag is a little shorter for sealing. So, seal the bag over the stick near the top of the bag so you will have a long life from that bag of cutting open and resealing. Simplify No. 2: I would use smaller bags other the 5 gallon bags. You could use (5) 1 gallon bags. When you need food from your bucket you only need to open 1/5 as much (1) 1 gallon bag instead of all 5 gallon bag at once. 4 gallons remained sealed until you need it. You would reseal the 1 gallon bag when finished. You can still use the wood handle and iron. FYI: You could also add an Oxy Absorber between the bucket and the bags for full absorption.

Awesome video. Sad about family tragedy