food storage question

Aunt Peg

Aunt Peg

Inactive
I'm sure this has been discussed here many times, but I need some quick info on this. If one wanted to store say 5 or 10 bags of rice (50 lbs ea), what are your suggstions?

I saw on another thread about storing water, someone said don't use large plastic garbage bags, they have pestisides on them. I was shocked! That may have my first thought for storing bags of rice!

So maybe I skip the garbage bags. Maybe I could put them in metal garbage cans, after I buy new ones and scrub them out. I had a thought of putting some bay leaves in the can to keep pests out. Is that a good idea? I would prefer something that I can buy locally, not send for some expensive plastic drums through the mail. What are thoughts on pests? I'm not sure that I have the patience to vaccum seal large quantities in small bags.

Thanks in advance!
 
A.T.Hagan

A.T.Hagan

Inactive
Anything that will seal air tight and is heavy enough that an insect can't chew through it will work providing it's food safe. Metal trash cans are not at all air tight. Canisters of thick plastic, canning jars, one gallon jars, juice bottles, two liter soda bottles, these can all be made to work.

Have you looked at the Prudent Food Storage FAQ? It's free to read or download.

.....Alan.
 
C

Claudia

I Don't Give a Rat's Ass...I'm Outta Here!
I've been putting the bags of rice into a Ziplock type baggie, then storing them in large portable coolers - I dare a mouse to chew its way into one of those!
 
S

summerthyme

Administrator
_______________
Just remember that it takes about 5 gallons storage capacity to store 30# or so of rice.

Meaning if you really are planning on putting by 500# of rice, you're gonna need several garbage cans. But the cans would work... I stored pasta and rolled oats in galvanized (purchased new, and stood them up on 2X4"'s to keep them off the cement floor- to eliminate condensation problems in a basement which occasionally was damp) successfully for years.

For long term storage, seal the can lids with several wrappings of duct tape.. to keep any possible critters (especially the flying kind) out.

For REALLY long term storage, consider buying some mylar bags and sealing the rice in them before putting them in garbage cans or rubbermaid containers. If you do that, you don't have to worry about the "food safe" properties of the large containers.. the mylar will protect the food inside.

Summerthyme
 
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Para36

Contributing Member
There is always a tradeoff on storage options in terms of space, container cost, food stability etc. I have for 3 years now stored rice in the original 50 lb sacks and can't find any evidence of any problems. They are stored inside at around 65-70 deg. I store beans, flour and a few other things that I think are more perishable in mylar lined 5 gal pails with an oxygen absorber. Even though initially I thought I had a lot of storage space I could maintain at around 65-70 deg it sure gets used up fast. I have found that in the case of rolled oats I can transfer the 25 lb bulk bags to the standard 5-6 gal mylar bags and store these on top of each other up to a depth of 5 bags. Just when it seems like I run out of all conceivable storage space I come up with another idea for cramming more into what space I'm using or some new space altogether. Needless to say many of the ideas come from this forum.
Para.
 
Dinghy

Dinghy

Veteran Member
I just ran across something that I didn't expect.... I went to the cellar to get a bag of lentils for my soup. There was a bag of rice in the bucket with them. When I picked up the rice, the bag was real sticky. Apparently the plastic breaks down somewhat after a few years. Now I'm going to have to go through all my buckets and maybe have to dump all the rice into something else! Just something to think about!
 
Mongo

Mongo

Veteran Member
We buy Thai jasmin rice in 40# bags. We just store them in a big Tote bin with some bay leaves thrown in there for good measure. Never had a problem.
 
tangent

tangent

Membership Revoked
we've got some 25lb bags of rice in kindof a heavy, reinforced nylon bag and the resident mouse just ignores them...

seems like a reasonable way to store it LT...

-t
 
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