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Food Storage FAQ

Food Storage FAQ

Comprehensive Food Storage FAQ v. 0.2.0, updated 08/30/2018

What is an Oxygen Absorber?
An oxygen absorber is a small packet of material used to prolong the shelf life of food. They are used in food packaging to prevent food color change, to stop oils in foods from becoming rancid, and also retard the growth of oxygen-using aerobic microorganisms such as fungi.

The active ingredient is an iron oxide powder, which when it chemically reacts (IE. rusts) removes oxygen from the atmosphere.

How do I know when an oxygen absorber is working?
The most obvious sign an oxygen packet is working is that it gets warm. When continuously exposed to oxygen, some can get so hot as to be uncomfortable to touch, and will often form condensation on the inside of the outer package.  On some occasions, typically when it’s very dry, an absorber might not get warm…that doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with it; it will work in your bag up to 7 days or until all the oxygen is removed.  Oxygen scavengers have a ridiculously low failure rate.  If you are calling to tell us ‘my absorbers didn’t work’, in 99.9% cases that’s wrong.  An anecdote to go with that claim:

We have had several cases where customers went so far as to simply tape up (or staple, or wrap in paper towels) their oxygen absorber bag and send it back with a nastygram attached about how their oxygen absorbers were broken.  In a couple of those cases, even after several days in the mail, we were able to put several of those unsealed absorbers in some random food storage project we were working on, and they worked perfectly.

In only 1 case in all my years of storing food and working with others doing the same, was there a verifiable case of ‘oxygen absorbers not working.’  Those were due to a supplier error…we immediately discarded the affected cases (they were years beyond their best by date) and reshipped good product to the customer (with some extra as an apology).

In the vast majority of cases, if your ‘oxygen absorber didn’t work’ it’s because the seal on your Mylar bag is compromised.  We recommend for the average 1 gallon bag a 2″ seal.  All those little seams you see when you iron a Mylar bag are potential ‘straws’ that will let air in, so you need a good large seal to make sure those straws don’t make it from the top of the seal to the bottom.

How do I know when an oxygen absorber is used up or no good?
This is one of the most frequently asked questions we get. The easiest way to tell if an oxygen absorber is good is to pinch the packet. If it feels ‘soft’ or powdery, the iron oxide powder is still in its original state and it is good. If it feels ‘hard’ or like a solid wafer in the packet, it is completely spent and should be replaced.

(An update to this question 8_30_18):  Please note that the manufacturing process of oxygen absorbers has changed and improved over the years since we started selling them.  While this may still hold true for many or even most oxygen absorbers, for many others it isn’t.  They will simply stay as a powder for their entire life, while good and used up.

At the end of the day, they only way to know whether an absorber is good is if it gets warm, and to buy them from someone you absolutely trust to discard old absorbers when they aren’t working any more.  (That’s us; I regularly throw away oxygen absorbers, desiccant and Mylar bags that aren’t 100%…better that than risking someone’s food storage)

How long should it take for my absorber to remove all the air from my bag?
Some conditions are better than others for the speed at which an oxygen absorber works. For example, in a very dry climate, it might take up to a week for an absorber to fully activate. In a warm, humid climate it might take only 48 hours.

How many oxygen absorbers should I use? (Updated)
For 1-gallon bags, you should use 1 500cc or 2 300cc oxygen absorbers. For 5-gallon bags you should use 1 2000cc and 1 500cc oxygen absorber. You should adjust this number up a little bit if you are storing less dense foods, such as pasta or some lentils, because the bags will contain more air even when full in comparison to very dense foods such as rice or wheat.

Please note I’ve changed this answer somewhat. Over the last 9 years since I did the original FAQ, I’ve worked with 100’s of businesses and thousands of customers who are storing everything from dried goods, freeze dried food to hops and cannabis to pharmaceuticals. While a 300cc oxygen absorber is enough in most cases, there are more fail (not many, just more) cases using just 300cc. Things like freeze dried food, which naturally have a lot of internal airspace, should definitely have 2. However, that is also slightly overkill, so the easiest ‘new’ answer is 1 500cc per 1 gallon bag. This amount will cover far more cases with far fewer failures.

Do I need to use oxygen absorbers with everything I store?
Most foods will benefit in longevity when using oxygen absorbers. However, they are unnecessary when storing sugar or salt, which will last forever all on their own. In some cases, using an absorber with these foods will cause significant clumping, although it won’t harm them otherwise. Also note that some foods may not store well for long periods of time no matter the method used (for example flour, yeast and some spices).

I ordered 20/50/100 Oxygen Absorbers, I’m definitely not going to use that many…what should I do with the rest?

The best way to store oxygen absorbers is to use a small mason jar with a gasketed lid.  You’ll know you have a good seal because the absorbers will pull the pop-top down. (If you have a Food Saver and jar attachment, you can use that to draw out excess air) Try to use the smallest jar possible to minimize the work the absorbers you are storing need to do to clear the jar.  You can also re-vacuum seal the absorbers in their original or another oxygen barrier bag. Second best to using a mason jar is to use a Mylar bag. Please note, oxygen absorbers will NEVER cause a bag to contract, no matter how many are in a bag. See my answer below about ‘why didn’t my bags get hard.’

What is Mylar?
BoPET (Biaxially-oriented polyethylene terephthalate) is a polyester film made from stretched polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and is used for its high tensile strength, chemical and dimensional stability, transparency, reflectivity, gas and aroma barrier properties and electrical insulation.

A variety of companies manufacture boPET and other polyester films under different brand names. In the US and Britain, the most well-known trade names are Mylar, Melinex and Hostaphan.

To be honest, Mylar isn’t any better or worse than many other sealant layers, such as branded films of LLDPE. It is just the most widely known.

Wait, your Mylar bags aren’t clear; what’s up?
The polyester film is combined with an aluminum foil layer and in some cases one or more other sealant layers of PE, PET, and/or LLDPE (Linear Low-Density Polyethylene); this allows for good heat-sealing, UV protection, incredibly low odor transmission, and high puncture resistance. Aluminum foil is the best barrier layer available in food storage packaging today.  Some Mylar bags may have one or more specialty layers as well (for example, our 7.5 mil bags have a layer of Nylon which helps with tensile strength)

How do I seal Mylar bags?
Please see this post and video about sealing Mylar bags. Mylar can be sealed with a variety of devices, including a hotjaw sealer, clothes iron, or hair straightener.

OMG, I can see pinholes of light coming through the Mylar bag, why is that?
All foil structure Mylar bags will have small pinholes in the foil layer. There is a measurement, ‘Pinholes per meter squared’, that is part of the specification of foil bags. Pinholes affect all foil structures, from a thin 2.5mil bag to the thickest 7-8 mil bags. The other transparent layers of the bag keep the integrity of these bags, and it is only very rarely (less than 1/100th of 1%) an actual ‘pinhole puncture’. Plus, some pinholes are so small they are invisible to the naked eye, but they are still there.

Why don’t my bags get hard when I use an oxygen absorber?
This is our third most common question. While there will often be compression of the Mylar bag after sealing due to the oxygen absorber, an absorber is only removing the 20% of the atmosphere in the bag that is oxygen, leaving the 80% that is nitrogen intact.

There is also a specific density of food to headspace (air) that is also required. As I mentioned above, you could put 100 oxygen absorbers into a small Mylar bag and it won’t contract. Obviously there is plenty of absorption capacity, but the packets themselves don’t have the required density/shape to allow contraction. In terms of headspace, as little as .1 liters of air can cause extreme contraction in one bag and mild contraction in another.

Please note also that 3.5 mil bags tend to show their compression a lot more, down to the shape of a kernel of wheat. 5 mil bags may ‘feel’ tight but show compression much less. A 7 or 7.5 mil bag may simply ‘feel’ compressed without much visible sign.

A tip: when sealing alufoil bags make sure you remove as much of the ‘headspace’ as you can; this is the area at the top of the bag you seal. Even a little headspace can use up much of the power of the oxygen absorber.

You Folded the Bags, eek!  Does folding hurt Mylar Bags?

The short answer is no, folding does not impact the longevity of food stored in Mylar bags.  The longer answer can be found here explaining why.

Can I store Hops in Mylar Bags?

Yes, much of the hops industry has moved to Mylar Bags for transport, storage and sale of their product. The barrier properties of a Mylar bag simply can’t be beat for the cost.

Can I store cannabis in Mylar Bags?

Yes, as above, the new best practice for storage of cannabis is either in large or small Mylar bags. Large 5 gallon Mylar bags (18”x28” to 20”x30”) are often used for flowers and storage. Small bags, sometimes clear front or and sometimes solid silver or colored are used in almost every dispensary and by every cannabis distributor.

I see another seller saying imported Mylar bags are no good and the American ones are better, is that true?

The short answer is no. The long answer is very long, but you can read it below or skip to the end!

The sellers saying this are selling almost exclusively on Amazon. In the early 20-teens, a new kind of infomercial came out, mostly online, that told people how to market and sell stuff on Amazon. Part of those courses teach sellers to ‘private label’ products that others are selling, and simply make the listings better, prettier, with nicer pictures and good bullet points on why you should buy their products over the originals. I’ll admit many of these kinds of sellers make prettier listings than I do!

I’ll also be very clear…there isn’t a whit of difference between a US made and an imported bag. They are made from the exact same filmstock, the same layers of Mylar, polyethylene, and aluminum foil, in the same thicknesses. The main culprit on Amazon simply had to find a way to justify that the cost of his bags is 20-30% higher, and the thickness is up to 20% lower than ours and is waving the ‘made in the USA’ banner to do that.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love Made in the USA products, so let me clarify. We sold only USA bags for many years…but honestly, the bags made by American manufacturers were simply not as good as what we sell now. They had a higher error rate on both orders and product. They had lower mil rates and inferior specs. If you want to support American companies, awesome, I do too! If you want the best product for your food storage? Don’t assume an American company makes that, because more often than not, they don’t. The error rate on Asian shipments is infinitesimal compared to American manufacturers. We manufactured 3 full CONTAINERS of product in Asia before we had a single (minor) problem in a shipment. In the early days when we were ordering single pallets of products from American manufacturers, we had problems on every order. Every…single…one (including the oxygen absorber fiasco I listed above). In two cases, they produced the wrong product and shipped it.

Another point on this question is that any seller who claims this just doesn’t know much about packaging. Mylar is ONLY made by a consortium that includes foreign companies (Teijin and Dupont). So any company that says they are selling ‘USA made’ Mylar bags may be speaking about the actual physical assembly of the bag, but very rarely are the films in Mylar bag manufacturing made in America (I know of only one plant in the US that makes it, and they don’t sell to this small Amazon seller).

Finally, one of the sellers who is saying these things on Amazon is purchasing from an American company that imports millions of Mylar bags from Asia. We’re talking many containers a month. There is no way the seller has chain of custody documents that can guarantee his particular Mylar bags are made in America.

Why did I spend so much time and space on the above answer?

Integrity. One thing many of my customers have noticed over the years is that I answer questions, emails and phone calls to the best of my ability (some months are not as good as others). And my answers are NEVER predicated on you buying anything from me. Many times, I actually steer people away from buying something because what I sell won’t help them achieve their goal.

I want people to store food. Whether its in boxes, glass jars, beach buckets, coffee cups or anything else, I just want people to be prepared. My answers to questions are based on this fact. I’ve referred folks to other businesses when mine wasn’t best suited to serving them. The LDS storehouse in Hendersonville used to refer customers to us because they knew we cared about not just the product, but the process of storing food.

I spent so much time on the above question because the seller mentioned is questioning my integrity. I wouldn’t sell you bags if I couldn’t sell you awesome bags. I wouldn’t sell you oxygen absorbers if I didn’t carry the most reliable brands of oxygen absorber. And when I do make a mistake, I usually follow it up with something like ‘oh crap, I made a mistake, here’s what I’m going to do to try to make it right.’

How do I contact ShieldPro or Discount Mylar Bags?

Email is always easiest for us. I still work in the warehouse every day and so its easiest for me to get to your question or issue if you email me. Our email is admin@discountmylarbags.com

However, if you do need to call us, that’s cool too! 615-945-0762

If you have a question not answered by this FAQ, let me know and I’ll update and republish it!

Thank you so much for being my customers all these years. I’ve been amazingly blessed to be in this business and able to work with many of the most industrious and imaginative folks you can imagine.

0 Comments Add Yours ↓

The upper is the most recent comment

  1. tommy kendrick #
    1

    Just received my mylar bags, using to store corn and wheat. Both grains are great long or short storage foods. With the purchase of a $25 grinder you have a wide use for the grains or you could use the Aztec/Indian method. A mason jar, a piece of cheese cloth, rubber band and a little water is a great way to sprout seeds. You can easily make Manna bread from wheat (dates back to 2,000 BC) and you don’t need an oven to bake it just sprout the grain. Corn and wood ashes or pickling lime opens up many more super foods. Survival when it gets tough boils down to one thing “going back to the basics”. I mean we need to go back a couple hundred years and lear and practice their methods. Does anyone think the human race got to this point with a PC,TV,Microwave and poptarts. I was luck, I had a grandmother and great grandmother that shared a little with me as a young boy. Enjoy and survive well!

  2. 2

    Sir, thanks for the note! I agree, we’ve made some bannock, and I definitely want to get into some of the different bread-type foods such as you are talking about; my wife was talking about making some ground flour tortillas this year. I am going to try to cook them Les Stroud-style on some hot rocks. I’ll definitely let everyone know how it goes!

    Although I must say I do have around 20 boxes of Pop Tarts stored!=) My wife says I am the only person in America that eats unfrosted blueberry Pop Tarts!

  3. mike d #
    3

    >>>Although I must say I do have around 20 boxes of Pop Tarts stored!=) My wife says I am the only person in America that eats unfrosted blueberry Pop Tarts!<<<

    Can you long-term store pop tarts? bags and absorbers???

  4. 4

    I wish! When I say stored, I mean in our storage pantry, not our long-term supply. Pop Tarts have around an 8 months shelf life, which means they are probably good for at least a year, and maybe 18 months. I continue to experiment with eating foods well past their expiration date; I haven’t died yet!=)

  5. sarah #
    5

    I am new to long term storage and was wondering what would be better the zip milar bags or the other?

  6. Roxann #
    6

    Can I use the oxygen absorbers in mason jars that I have dried zucchini in and was going to vacuum seal? I bought them with that intention but when I got the package and read the suggested use it seems like they are for larger containers.

  7. 7

    Thanks for the question! You absolutely can use them in mason jars. For a 1 quart mason jar, a 300cc absorber works perfectly. If you bought the 2000cc absorbers, yes, they will be a little large for a jar. Let me know if you’d like to return them, I’ll gladly provide a refund.

  8. Janet #
    8

    Just got my bags for 5 gallon and 1 gallon food storage. BUt I was wondering about bugs….do I need to worry about them hatching in my wheat and similar items if I’m properly sealing the bags and using the oxygen absorbers??

  9. 9

    Ma’am, thanks for the question! Oxygen absorbers are ranked 3rd for their ability to control bugs. Generally, a low oxygen environment stops insects from multiplying, eating, or doing much of anything…but the studies are inconclusive about a low-oxygen environment killing bugs. For that, I recommend either freezing your wheat prior to storing, or flushing first with carbon dioxide (Dry Ice Flush), and then using oxygen absorbers, or just flushing with CO2 and leaving sealed. A good CO2 gas flush will leave about 2% oxygen in your container, which will extend the life of your food, but not quite as much as oxygen absorbers, which bring oxygen levels down to .5% or lower.

    Many also recommend Diatomaceous Earth (the kind available in your garden supply store, not the pool store) as a way to kill bugs. I don’t have any experience with it, so I don’t know the specifics, but many swear by it! If anyone else has any info, please add!

  10. Barbara #
    10

    What is shelf life of food stored in mylar bags?

  11. 11

    Ma’am, that’s a very good question, and it depends highly on a number of factors. If you check out the post The Enemies of Long-Term Food Storage to take a look at some of the conditions that affect the answer. For example, if you store your food, with or without Mylar at 70 degrees instead of 60, you could lose as much as half the shelf life. If you store food in mason jars, which is one of the best methods, but leave them in the light, they will lose many of their vitamins and minerals. Also, some foods store well, such as white rice, but counterparts like brown rice, don’t store well.

    In the MOLT article, I linked to some LDS studies on how long some foods lasted when stored in a particular set of conditions (up to 30 years). At Advice and Beans, we are setting up some of our own experiments to determine how certain foods fare, because while there are many studies that test how well (or not) #10 can packing works, there are as far as I can tell, no controlled studies of how Mylar and Oxygen Absorbers work.

    I wish I could be more specific, but the real answer is ‘it depends’ on a whole host of factors. If you have a specific food in mind, I’d be glad to research some more information for you!

  12. Leland #
    12

    Do you have to bend or strike the O2 absorber packet to activate or does it just start working when the outer packet is opened? If the answer is the former how long do the O2 abs. packets last when out of the outer packet?

  13. Dave #
    13

    I don’t want to sound stupid, so please work with me here. I just received my first package in the mail. Everything is in a vacuum packed back. Once I open this I’ll have 50 little packs. Do I open the little pack and toss it in before sealing, or leave the little sealed pack intact? If I’m to leave it intact, how much time do I have before the remaining onces expire?

    yeah…it sounds like a dumb question even after reading it the 3rd time.

    Thanks for your comments back.

  14. brenda #
    14

    I just wnated to know how many cc do you need to seal a quart jar

  15. 15

    Ma’am,

    Sorry for the slow reply, I missed this! For a quart jar, I would use 100-200cc.

    Thank you!
    Tobias

  16. Ben #
    16

    I bought some of your zip mylar bags for long term tabacco storage…should I use o2 absorbers in the bags also?

  17. 17

    This is the best, most articulate and accurate description of Mylar bags and O2 absorbers I have ever found. Good job.

  18. Donny MacAulay #
    18

    Confused, could you explain in the reader digest version?
    What are the pros and cons between, vacuum sealing, vacuum sealing mason jars and canning with mason jars and #10 cans. I’ve spent the last two days with your site and like it but I’m confused with the different processes. I’ve been reading about the other systems and still confused. I’m still to new to the system. It could get expensive trying each system. I know it could depend on what you what to do, so I only ask some help between the systems. Do you recomend any sites to read up on?
    Any help would be nice and thanks for your store. I plan on doing business with you.
    If you wish to add this to your FAQ, please go ahead.
    As a educator I do feel giving all the information out and let the student make up their own minds and ask questions.
    Donny

  19. 19

    Ben, I would not use oxygen absorbers with Tobacco. Tobacco requires moisture/humidity to taste it’s best, and 02 absorbers require moisture to work, so you could dry it out significantly.

    Your best bet is a humidor of some sort. I would check out this thread at Survivalistboards, (http://www.survivalistboards.com/showthread.php?t=28685) as I’m not really an expert on Tobacco storage (I gave up my 3 pack a day habit many years ago!=)

  20. 20

    Donny,

    I’ll try!=) Vacuum sealing only reduces the oxygen of any system to about 2%. Oxygen absorbers reduce the oxygen level in packaging (either jar or bag) to .1%. While it may not sound like much, it is almost a 20-fold reduction in Oxygen, which is the biggest danger to your food storage. This is why no matter which system you use, I would recommend absorbers over vacuum sealing, or in addition to. (though do not use a vacuum on Mylar, as generally speaking it is not intended to be put under a full vacuum)

    For tons of info, check out http://www.survivalistboards.com and do a search for Food Storage, Mylar, Oxygen Absorbers, for literally hundreds of threads on every subject. (Also, while that’s my 2nd recommendation for SBoards in 2 comments, I am in no way affiliated with the site, although I do have a Merchant Account there).

    I hope that helps!

    Thank you!
    Tobias

  21. CRT #
    21

    What type of oxygen absorbers do you carry? B or D?

  22. Marian #
    22

    I ordered O2 absorbers from A&B and the first few worked great. The rest, which I placed immediately upon opening the main pkg in a mason jar and vacuum sealed, were less than half as effective. This occurred with both pkgs so I know our speed had nothing to do with the problem. I’m not happy with O2’s so I’ve gone back to just plain vacuum sealing in mylar bags with an additional 4 mil inner poly liner and storing in 6.5 gal screw top pails. I don’t plan to keep this food for 10 years, I rotate every couple of years. So far, no problems. I use food grade DE as pest prevention and have yet to have loss. What’s the greatest disadvantage to this method as opposed to using expensive O2’s since I’ll be using the supplies within a few years? Thanks.

  23. Greg #
    23

    What’s the best way to combine ingredients? For example I want to put mac-n-cheese with bacon bits in a mylar bag; my question is should I combine all the ingredients, or put the macaroni in one bag, and then the cheese, dried milk, and bacon bits in seprate bags? If I do not combine the ingredients all in one, should I use seperate mylar bags for the other main ingredients, or use plastic bagies for the other ingredients and then put them inside the main macaroni bag?

  24. dave #
    24

    You stated”I would recommend absorbers over vacuum sealing, or in addition to. (though do not use a vacuum on Mylar, as generally speaking it is not intended to be put under a full vacuum)” I was thinking of using food saver bags with a mylar bag inside vacuum sealing and adding an oxygen adsorber. Would this work, or do you think it would be to much stress on the mylar. I guess you knid of confused me with the ” or in addition to” statement. I just wanted to get the max out of whatever is stored.

    Also when using just oxygen adsorbers, do you just add contents and correct amount of oxygen adsorbers than sealer and allow the oxygen adsorbers to work?

  25. 25

    Ma’am,

    Wow, sorry I missed this and for the slow reply. The holidays were crazy and I just didn’t get a chance to get to the blog much.

    The general reason to use 02 absorbers is that they remove to .01% oxygen in a package, where a vacuum seal only lowers the oxygen percentage to 2% or so. I’m not sure why absorbers you put immediately into a jar, especially vacuum sealed, would lose so much potency. Most of the absorbers we use in our house have been in a jar for well over 6 months. Could it be you were using them with different types of foods or amount of headspace and so they seemed less effective?

    If you are rotating every couple of years, what you are doing is going to work great, and I would definitely skip the expense of absorbers.

    Thanks!
    Tobias

  26. 26

    Most of them are Type A general use absorbers. On occasion we will have other types on hand.

    Thank you!
    Tobias

  27. 27

    Again, sorry about the slow reply, I am just now catching up! I like to put items in their own bags inside a larger bucket. I would keep the macaroni and bacon bits separate at the very least. The cheese and dried milk could go together, but I worry if you put the bacon bits with them in plastic bags you’ll have cross-contamination of odors. (Still likely edible, just not optimal). We keep on hand smaller Zip Seal Mylar bags for items that could be considered ‘flavoring’, such as bacon bits. Depending on what quantities you are working with, our buckets of Mac and Cheese include 3 gallons of Macaroni or so, and then 3-4 smaller 1-quart bags of the other ingredients. If space is an issue, we’ll fill out the bucket with various sundries such as spices or utensils.

    Thank you!
    Tobias

  28. 28

    Good question, I am trying to remember the conversation exactly.=) I recommend absorbers because they are up to 20 times more effective in removing oxygen from packaging than vacuum sealing. (2% oxygen remaining with vacuum sealing vs. .1% with oxygen absorbers). You could definitely use an Oxygen Absorber in the packaging or between a vacuumed food saver bag and Mylar to prevent vacuum stress on the bag. The danger with plastic-type bags in general is Oxygen passthrough, so you’ve solved that with the absorber either inside or outside the vacuum bag.

    Yes, when using absorbers, just put your food in, squeeze as much air out as possible, and then seal!

    Thank you!
    Tobias

  29. Jennifer Hood #
    29

    So storing flour and or pancake mix isn’t a good idea? If I did, no oxygen absorber would work on these?
    How long would the shelf life be?

  30. 30

    Ma’am,

    There are mixed reports on storing straight flour. 2 years was the generally accepted threshold for a while, but some LDS reports are indicating it can be kept up to 8-10 years if stored well. As flour is used in much cooking, I would rotate it to be on the safe side. We keep about a year’s worth on hand and go through it pretty regularly, and so far we’ve never had any issues with it.

    Pancake mix has a much shorter shelf life due to contained oils, and I wouldn’t count on it for more than a year. Oxygen absorbers will help the shelf life on both, but neither is a perfect long term storage food.

    Thanks!
    Tobias

  31. dave #
    31

    Do you think it would create to much of a negative effect on stored food that has been vaccumed sealed in mylar, with Oxygen adsorber, then sealed again in a vaccum sealer bag, if it was stored in a food grade bucket(with gasket lid) and kept in a gargae that is not climate controlled?
    ( sorry that was long winded)

  32. 32

    Dave, thanks for the question. If you look at our last post, it talks about temperature and its effect on food storage. What it boils down to is, yes, you risk compromising your food’s shelf life if it is left without climate control. While you have light and oxygen (and potentially moisture) protected against with your packaging, the 4th enemy of food storage (I use the Term MOLT (moisture, oxygen, light, temperature)) has a direct correlation on shelf life. In the article I talked about how, in general, for every 18 degrees warmer your food storage is (I use a baseline of 60 degrees), you lose +/- half your shelf life. Additionally, depending on where you live, a freeze/heat cycle can also cause crystallization and damage to the structure of your food.

    I hope that helps!

    Thanks!
    Tobias

  33. tim #
    33

    im totally new to this. Ive noticed your reference to MOLT. How can you regulate temperature in a worst case scenario. Could a person bury their fodstuffs in mylar and five gallon buckets. Whats the best way to preserve temp at 60-70 degrees in worst case.

  34. Dawn #
    34

    I have a question regarding using mylar bags. We packed some 1 gal bags with beans and lentils. Some of the bags have shrunk–sucked in–and others haven’t. Why is that? Should I open and rebag those who didn’t “shrink”?

  35. 35

    Heya Tim, thanks for the question. First it would depend on how much you have stored. If you only have a few buckets worth of food, you’d probably be eating through those quicker than they would spoil (assuming you are working with low-moisture foods to begin with like wheat). These types of foods have a pretty good shelf life even without buckets and Mylar. If it really is a worst-case scenario (no electricity), then ‘Earth’ (Ye old hole in the ground) is one of your only option for keeping food cool. (Texas in August, for example). We are pretty fortunate that we have a split-level home where the basement has earth about halfway up one wall. It stays cool in the summer (about 10-15 cooler than the upstairs with no AC on), and warmish in the winter.

    The problem with burying is if it is not done correctly, it is very easy to have infiltration of bugs, rodents, and especially water; I would do some test runs in your soil before relying on it for food. One method of cooling that requires some maintenance but can get some good results is evaporation cooling. Put wet cloths around whatever it is you need to cool. As water evaporates it uses heat to cause the reaction, keeping whatever is inside cooler; however, you need to make sure your cloths stay damp. There are more complicated versions of this that provide even better results, such as a zeer pot. Using 2 clay pots, one larger than the other, you nest them with a layer of wet sand in between and a damp cloth over it. As long as the humidity level is low, evaporation will suck away a huge amount of heat. You can Google ‘zeer pot’ for much more information about making a good one.

    Thanks!
    Tobias

  36. 36

    Ma’am, thanks for the question; this is one of the most common questions we receive! There are several reasons that some bags would suck down and others haven’t. First, compression can occur in some bags over others due to the exact amount of air they had remaining in them when sealed. Even something as little as a .1 liter difference in air volume can cause one bag to contract while another doesn’t, even though the oxygen is gone in both. 2nd, check your seals by pressing lightly on the bag to determine if any air is leaking out; if so, you probably have a bad seal and need to reseal the bag. Make sure the area to be sealed is clean of any particles from the food, as even small particles can create tiny break in your seal and cause air to leak. Finally, the more porous your food (some beans, pasta, and the like), the more 02 in the bag in general, and they potentially require an extra oxygen absorber.

    In some cases (though not in yours it sounds like), bags will never show compression. For example, potato flakes or cornmeal will usually not show any compression just due to their specific density.

    I hope that helps!

    Thank you!
    Tobias

  37. Forrest #
    37

    Can you store foods like rice, potato flakes, beans just in the mylar bags with oxygen absorbers, or should they be placed in buckets as well? Also I”ve purchased many packages of pasta. Should I take the pasta out of the priginal packages and put it inside mylar bags or should I leave them in their priginal packages and put in mylar bags for longer term shelf life?

  38. Forrest #
    38

    How can I store Bags of high quality dog food for long term storage? I was told by the pet store that because of all the fatty acids even in the expensive dog food that it will not last past the expiration date. I’m trying to figure out how to make my dog food last long term. Any suggestions?

  39. Tom #
    39

    Hello, I would like to store some ammunition long term and was thinking of storing it like food — mylar bags with O2 absorbers. What do you think?

  40. 40

    Sir,

    Hey there, thanks for the note. Some folks do stack the Mylar (I’d recommend above 4 mil bags for this), but buckets are generally used to protect them from damage as well as from rodents and insects; we use plastic totes as well such as you’d find at your local Walmart. We recommend you take the pasta out of the packaging to protect from microbial growth or other contamination that might be on the packaging. (You’d likely be fine leaving it in the packaging and poking a hole in it to let the oxygen mingle more freely, but it’s one less worry if you remove it.)

    Thank you!
    Tobias

  41. 41

    Sir,

    Good question. The pet store is correct. It’s very hard to make dry dog food last much longer, because the oils will spoil no matter how you store them. You will get a little extra shelf life by using Mylar and absorbers, but I’m not sure it would be worth the cost. Wet dog food in cans is the best way to store food for your dogs long term. We give both wet and dry to our dogs, but store mostly wet for LTS.

    Sorry I couldn’t be more helpful!

    Thank you!
    Tobias

  42. 42

    Sir,

    Thank for the question. If its standard brass or steel-cased commercial or surplus ammuntion, you don’t have much to worry about. While I’ve heard of some folks storing ammo in Mylar, people are still pulling ammo from ammo cans stored in the 1940’s and 1950’s and having great results. A bigger worry is condensation caused by temperature swings; try to mitigate those by storing in a cool, dry place much as we try to do with anything we store. If you use a gasketed container to store (such as a bucket with a Gamma lid) or something like an airtight gun safe, you can use desiccant to keep the environment dry.

    Thanks!
    Tobias

  43. Forrest #
    43

    Thanks for the great info. I received my mylar bags from you today and will start filling them up tomorrow. If I store Cornmeal as well as Potato flakes in mylar bags with absorbers, and in buckets, how long will they last? Wondering how often I should rotate them. Canned food is a great idea. Its shelf life is longer than dry dog food but is canned dog food still good after the expiration date on the can? I see most are only good through 2014. Thanks again for all your great advice.

  44. 44

    I have the same question as Dave shown below…

    Dave #

    09.26.2011 17:23
    13

    I don’t want to sound stupid, so please work with me here. I just received my first package in the mail. Everything is in a vacuum packed back. Once I open this I’ll have 50 little packs. Do I open the little pack and toss it in before sealing, or leave the little sealed pack intact? If I’m to leave it intact, how much time do I have before the remaining onces expire?

    yeah…it sounds like a dumb question even after reading it the 3rd time.

    Thanks for your comments back.

  45. Janet #
    45

    Hello, will ground coffee store longer if placed in mylar bags, then placed into buckets, or just a cheap tote? Or would it be better to buy and store the beans and invest in a coffee grinder? Thanks much, Janet

  46. Samigirl #
    46

    I would like to know if there was a place i could come to physically to shop instead of doing it online since i am so close to you?

  47. 47

    Ma’am,

    Thank you for the question! On Monday we leased a warehouse/office space. We will be at 118 Midtown Ct., Suite I in Hendersonville, however we won’t be operational there for 6-8 weeks. In the meantime, I can meet you anywhere close! Feel free to give me a ring at 615-945-0762.

    Thank you!
    Tobias

  48. 48

    Ma’am,

    I’m a daily drinker of coffee (multiple cups), and I wish I had better news regarding coffee. Coffee doesn’t store well no matter what you do, so it’s up to you to determine what will work for your taste. For example, you will probably get the best results from the vacuum packed ‘bricks’ of coffee, if you are looking for decent coffee. I hate freeze dried coffee, but it will last essentially forever, it just tastes awful (at least to me), so that is an option as well. I’ve never seen a verified study showing that Mylar and O2 absorbers lengthens the shelf life of coffee, so I wouldn’t rely on it other than potentially giving you an extra few months tops.

    On a day to day basis, we store (more like “keep on hand”) 2 types of coffee…the little teabag single packets made by Folger’s (we buy in bulk and it averages out to about $.24/cup), and the bright red 35oz containers from Folger’s as well; you can occasionally find them on sale for a great price at Walmart. We have used each at over a year old, and to me, it still tastes the same.

    The challenge with storing beans is that they are very high in oil content, which will cause them to spoil fairly quickly. I would definitely determine what your taste threshold is, and then store what you’ll need to match its shelf life or a little more. So if you use the 35oz canisters like we do, store what you will use for 6-7 months and regularly add more as you drink what you have on hand. The vacuum packs probably last a bit longer.

    I hope that helps!

    Thank you!
    Tobias

  49. Tom #
    49

    I really appreciate all of the great information!

    I see preppers out there using mylar bags as well as vacuum sealers with standard Foodsaver type bags for long-term food storage.

    When is it appropriate (if ever) to use standard vacuum sealer bags verses mylar bags?

    Thanks again!
    Tom

  50. 50

    Sir,

    Hey, good question. The main difference is that vacuum sealer bags are much less of an oxygen barrier than foil bags, by up to a factor of 100 depending on the quality of the bag. If you need to keep food in your freezer, vacuum bags work well. However, in standard conditions, oxygen passthrough is one of the dangers of MOLT (Moisture, Oxygen, Light, Temperature), and vacuum bags don’t provide long-term protection (they are also not a opaque, but that is usually mitigated by a bucket). Depending on how long you want to keep food in vacuum bags, you might be fine; for example, if you rotate your food annually, vacuum bags will likely work great. The longer you go, though, the more you’ll want a foil oxygen barrier bag.

    I hope that helps!

    Thank you!
    Tobias



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