Packing rice and beans for storage
Posted by fienen@reddit | preppers | View on Reddit | 52 comments
Out of curiosity, when you break down large bags of rice and/or beans into smaller units for vacuum sealing, what weights/volumes do you split them out to? Or do you do different sizes?
chilidawg6@reddit
I break them down into serving sizes to make meals. This way, I don't have an open bag of partially used food. For example, two cups of rice per bag is enough for a meal. If I need more, I can always open another bag.
TBone205@reddit
I out 4 cups of rice in my mylar bags . It seems to work for me . I dont eat lots of rice though and Im a single person cooking for 1.
Maleficent_Mix_8739@reddit
Before I began freeze drying my own beans and rice meals kits I was buying bulk and scaling them out to 2 pound bags. I vacuum sealed them and would store 4 bags in my kitchen and the rest in commander bins in the basement. I’ve had beans and several types of rice stored for up to five years with no issues just vacuum sealing with no additional absorbers or silica packs. The beauty of vacuum sealing is that a compromised bag is obvious. I use LEM bag rolls and a heavy duty LEM sealer.
Drawsblanket@reddit
What’s your freeze drying journey been and what are some learnings you can share?
Maleficent_Mix_8739@reddit
I gotta add one more thing that was mindblowingly excellent….. dominos pizza!
So basically you can make or order your favorite pizza (thin crust works best), freeze dry it and you will have created a nutritious and satisfying chip like food that doesn’t require reconstitution or even warming up. It’s become a car trip staple that’s not a damn mess. A small warning to those that like jalapeños on their pizza like we do, those peppers go from mild to wild, so just be ready. Also, the garlic bites DO NOT do well unless you rinse off the majority of the oil…just saying.
Drawsblanket@reddit
Omgggg that sounds amazing! Anything else you’d avoid freeze drying?
Maleficent_Mix_8739@reddit
There’s a few things that either don’t freeze dry well or require additional steps. Raw pork bacon is a NOPE, but cooked bacon does good if cooked on a foreman and thoroughly rinsed. Whole milk gets weird so you you have to thin it down with water first, you have to do honey the same way. Basically anything with a high fat count has to be either thinned down or precooked and rinsed. Brisket flat strangely enough does extremely well just raw and ground up. The flats we smoke that we want to store get “pulled” then freeze dried for later use on street tacos and other dishes. Guacamole, despite the high fat content also does extremely well. Luckily there’s various guides online and the machine comes with a good amount of pointers and do’s and don’ts. It’s also worth noting that the newer machines are far more efficient and finish much faster. We’ve had a couple of things take a full 24hrs but most finish in about 18. Many of the older units took upwards of three days.
Drawsblanket@reddit
Thank you!
Maleficent_Mix_8739@reddit
You’re most welcome
Drawsblanket@reddit
Hey I was just eating potato chips and I wonder if you’ve made freeze dried potato slices and if they’re like potato chips at all?
Maleficent_Mix_8739@reddit
We did try that….not recommended 🤣
If you want to try it just get a box of au gratin or scalloped potato’s off the shelf and pop one in your mouth.
The best way to do potato crisps is with a traditional dehydrator, we do them frequently using that method.
I did make a pretty delicious potato cracker like thing in the freeze dryer using loaded mashed potatoes that I compressed and cut into sections before drying…those were awesome.
Drawsblanket@reddit
Hahaha ty! 😂
Maleficent_Mix_8739@reddit
We’ve been this for awhile now and kinda have it past a science to a routine….but when we first got the machine we did a fair amount of experimentation. Some stuff was great some things not so much.
We named our machine “bean dancer” for a reason 😏
One little oops turned into a fantastic mess.
Maleficent_Mix_8739@reddit
It’s been amazing and I wish I’d have gotten into it sooner. The whole “they’re expensive” is absolute hogwash, that’s just fear of the unknown talking.
My savings in dog food alone has paid for the machine and all the woohoo accessories I bought when I ordered the machine.
You’ll find money making ideas, sweet treats etc all day online and those things are fun but some game changers for me have been the little things most folks don’t mention. Like being able to turn damn near anything you’ve cooked into a homemade “instant” version. A good example of this is my “infamous” beans and rice, a southern staple that my wife doesn’t embrace. I can make up a huge batch of it, separate it into 2 cup portions and freeze dry it for those times I get a craving. I’ve found that a Keurig and a food thermos make pretty good food companions for freeze dried meals, simply dump your freeze dried meal into the thermos, run the Keurig twice, close up the thermos and give it a good shake, leave it alone for at least minutes and you’ve got your comfort food without making a big mess in the kitchen. Another favorite of mine is grits, i like them with sugar, butter and milk…they’re time consuming and no one else in my house will touch em, so once again, I can make a mess of them up and store them for later “instant” enjoyment already mixed up how I like them. My mother in law likes Mac & Cheese, so we frequently make up a bunch for her that she’d store in the fridge. I asked her if she’d be my Guinea pig for freeze drying it and she got excited about it. She absolutely loves it and often just eats it straight from the bag like popcorn but when she does want it rehydrated she likes the fact that if she only wants a few bites then she can make just a little vs an entire box, so it’s the ultimate in portion control. We’ve noticed that freeze drying many things will make them more potent, herbs and cheese are good examples…I’ve got some extra sharp shredded cheddar cheese that’ll blow your mind. We buy eggs in bulk and make our own powdered eggs. You make yourself inflation proof against grocery prices. We’ll buy a case of brisket flats when they’re on sell, we smoke some, turn some into beef snack sticks and grind it for burgers and regular baking…the ground stuff and the burger patties we prepare get freeze dried. 6 month old reconstituted brisket burgers are excellent, even on a foreman grill. It takes less time to reconstitute than to “thaw”, freeze dried food weighs a fraction of frozen, since we vacuum seal in Mylar (a tricky task) we save tons of space, and we’re not throwing out anywhere near as much food when we clean out the fridge. We’ve processed everything from condiments, sweets, staples, complete meals, homemade dog food to vermipost from our worm bins.
We have a harvest right medium 5 tray system and it’s paid for itself over and over.
Drawsblanket@reddit
Amazing ty!!! You mentioned fridge storage and Mylar. When do you keep freeze dried stuff in Mylar (with oxygen absorbers?) vs fridge vs just countertop in like a ziplock box or something?
Maleficent_Mix_8739@reddit
I didn’t do a good job separating my thoughts, I get excited telling people about freeze drying plus I was dog ass tired, so there’s some run ons. We keep all of our freeze dried stuff in resealable (zipper type) Mylar. Amazon has a good heavy duty assortment of these that are extremely reasonable. I haven’t bought a regular ziplock product in years, stopped buying them when I got my first vacuum sealer. For perishable stuff I pack for a lunch if I’m headed to a job or such I use bento boxes or anchor containers that fit in my Rothco insulated lunch box. When I referenced the refrigerator it was about my mother in law. We were prepping food for her long before getting the freeze dryer. She’s fine using a microwave or coffee maker but we don’t want her trying to use a stove anymore. So we were making 2-4 boxes of her Mac and cheese at a time that she’d keep in her fridge and she’d heat up a bowl at a time in the microwave. Once we got the dryer this all changed and it’s no longer kept in her fridge. We don’t have anything that’s been freeze dried in the fridge or the freezers. Storage wise, we put everything in Mylar bags and then into commander totes organized by food group that are stored on heavy duty shelving in the basement. As for stuff on the counter, we use the “snap tite” food containers for almost everything in the kitchen except spices which go into medium sized refillable glass spice containers. As far as oxygen absorbers and silica packs, this really depends on what food we’re storing and how much time we have. Containers we have in the kitchen that get opened frequently get silica, less frequent gets oxygen absorbers. Now where “time” comes in, Mylar bags generally can’t be used on a standard vacuum sealer, there’s a trick to using the freeze dryer as a vacuum chamber but it’s not something the wife is comfortable doing. So when a batch finishes when I’m not home she’ll put the product into Mylar with oxygen absorbers and sets it on a shelf till I get around to doing the vacuum trick. Our deep freezer that use to stay packed full is now just mostly a temporary holding area for when we get stuff in bulk that we plan on freeze drying. So the only stuff we freeze now are just the things that either don’t freeze dry well or prepackaged frozen dinners, pot pies, eggs etc. I’ll have to take a few pics of our setups for group one day.
Frosti11icus@reddit
Don’t vacuum seal. Use Mylar bags and oxygen absorbers, they will last longer.
texican88@reddit
Could you vacuum with the absorbers? Or is it still better to use mylar bags?
Frosti11icus@reddit
You can, there’s not really a point to it though. You either put enough absorbers in or you didn’t.
tokenpenguin@reddit
There is a point if you’re trying save volumetric space.
OverInteractionR@reddit
I always pack mine with 2 absorbers and they look vacuum sealed after a day or so
Reasonable_Action29@reddit
Word of the day VOLUMETRIC
roxannegrant@reddit
I use Mylar bags, oxygen absorbers, and vacuum seal.
Think_Cupcake6758@reddit
I portion the rice out into 2cup (or there about) increments because that’s what fits in my rice canister in the kitchen. Once it’s been vacuum sealed, the bags get stored in a gamma lidded container in the basement pantry. We generally eat rice at least twice a week so it’s getting used up pretty quickly.
TexFarmer@reddit
For bulk items like beans & rice, we always use 1/2 Gal Mason jars, they will hold a vacuum for decades & are impervious to all forms of critters, and can be reused infinitely!
jimoconnell@reddit
The cat litter we use comes in airtight heavy duty plastic buckets with handles. I wash these out and let them dry.
I put in a 5 gallon food safe Ziploc bag and put my dry rice and beans and whatever into it.
I don't deal with oxygen absorbers or anything like that.
IlliniWarrior1@reddit
you actually think that a clay company making cat litter is using FOOD GRADE buckets - and - they are somehow magically "airtight" without even a lid gasket ......
know why the dry ice packing method disappeared when mylar & 02 absorbers was delepoed for the professional packers? - because it's a failure - any prepper from that longevity can tell you that ...
do yourself - and - everyone that is depending on that food >>> save the food while you can - use the 30yr+ years of PROFESSIONAL food packing industry - use the bucket/mylar/02 absorber method ....
whats your life worth? - stop with the cheap proven failure methods .....
JRHLowdown3@reddit
This...
Often times people cut corners on food packing cause you think they will never ACTUALLY have to use the food themselves- hence the half assed stuff like "use soda bottles" "handwarmers like the stupid fat bastard on doomsday dumbasses showed" or my absolute favorite stupid new prepper idea- "put sheetrock dust into your storage food to soak up moisture" - Yes, some dumbass actually said that online....
If you plan well, you may not need to fight every day in a bad situation, but you need to eat every day or pretty damn close to that. Don't skimp and half ass on that.
jimoconnell@reddit
I rotate my stocks frequently enough that I'm not worried about them being absolutely airtight. I'm sure I've probably used a box of Uncle Ben's rice or a bag of dry pinto beans that have sat in my cupboard in their original packaging for more than a few years. I didn't die.
My main concerns are water, mice, and other vermin.
My goal is closer to a well-stocked basement pantry, rather than ensuring that my red beans and rice is fresh 30 years from now.
I know the buckets are not "food grade". I'm cool with that. I suspect more people here than would care to admit it are using the lidded buckets from Home Depot.
In the end, if all the food rots, I'll just donate it to an orphanage for a fat tax deduction. /s
That_Play7634@reddit
I've stored rice and beans something like this for 11 years no O2 absorber, no issue. But somehow moths got into the rice. The good think about the O2 absorber is it eliminates any potential bug problem
jimoconnell@reddit
Problem?? That's free protein! /s
If I'm still looking at these provisions 10 years from now, I'm sure I won't mind a bug or two.
As I said, I rotate and replenish. Pearled farro, especially. I buy it by the 11 pound bag and I've gone through two of them this year.
I discovered that stuff when I started thinking about all this and have grown to love it. It's very high in nutrition and can be cooked like rice, or even milled into flour.
felixheaven@reddit
I usually split rice and beans into a mix of 2 lb and 5 lb bags. Oxygen absorbers in Mylar have lasted longest for me and keep portion sizes convenient for rotation.
Working_Ad_5635@reddit
I've vacuum sealed for prep and did the 5 gallon hair straightener method and the 5 gallon bucket method wins for space efficiency and resiliency.
My issue with vacuum sealing at 2 quarts or smaller is how smaller mylar bags aren't even half of the thickness of 5 gallon mylar bags.
When you are done vacuum sealing small bags they are pretty crinkly and sharp and are prone to breakage unless you have another container system around them, which isn't ideal since the smaller sized bags aren't standard sized. So for these you end up doing some sort of packing material and Tyvek which is tear resistant plus a storage container. The combination end up taking a lot more space.
The benefits of the 5 gallon bucket with 5 gallon mylar bags is that the bags are thicker, the bags shape-form to the plastic bucket, and the space efficiency is much higher. You also won't have to buy a separate bucket or shelving system you can stack the food grade buckets on top of each other.
Financial-End2144@reddit
I use two main sizes: 1.5 lbs for individual meals or short trips, and 5 lbs for family meals. The 1.5 lb bags are great for bug out bags . The 5 lb size minimizes opening too many large containers for a family. Both fit well in 5 gallon buckets
Achnback@reddit
I don't vacuum seal. I pour them in a 1/2 gallon glass canning jar, shake down to settle everything down more. I then top off and seal with a new canning lid and ring. This is simple, requires no extra cool stuff. I am still eating stuff stored away years ago and still fresh. Best part, rodent proof.
CTSwampyankee@reddit
By the bucket.
If I actually need this stuff, it will be a big issue and portion size will be the least concern.
wanderingpeddlar@reddit
I pour the rice into 1/2 mason jars and toss in an oxygen absorber. Works fine, is rodent proof and easy to handle.
IlliniWarrior1@reddit
kind of a basic premise involved >>> you want as little air void in the mylar bag as possible - more void the more 02 absorber needed - get it wrong and you got failure .......
and - there's no such thing as toooooo much 02 absorber - only wasted $$$$ on using more than necessary .....
daringnovelist@reddit
If you’re vacuum sealing, you don’t need the O2 absorbers.
Resident_Sky161@reddit
I use mason jars and a vacuum sealer with my food saver. It’s a cup that goes over the lid, it pulls all the air out, then I loosely tighten the rings on. I can tap on all the lids and tell if one lost vacuum, and then just real seal it. We do with with all our beans, rice, and flour
That_Play7634@reddit
Rice and Pintos for LTS go in 40# 5gallon bags, no vac seal, O2 absorber packs. They are kind of difficult to move around. Other beans and food for LTS go in 1 gal bags so around 5#. Bugout food in singe or 2 use sizes of freeze dried stuff, oats, instant rice, etc all with a tiny O2 absorber.
IlliniWarrior1@reddit
hopefully "vacuum sealing" doesn't mean the BS short-term process of sealing them into a glorified sandwich bag >>> SHORT -TERM - don't let anyone tell you different
the vacuum & heat seal machine was developed for cutting freezer burn on meat - short term of months - NEVER intended for anymore - definitely not for years & years - much less decades like mylar bagging ....
do your own testing - make a poly "pillow" using the poly bagging material and heat sealing >>> set the "pillow" aside and watch it go flat - it won't hold a vacuum more than a few months .....
RedJerzey@reddit
I use 1 gallon zip lock bags and put them into 5 gallon lowes buckets.
joelnicity@reddit
I usually do 4 cups. I just picked that because it made a nice square shape in the bags
JRHLowdown3@reddit
Properly pack with mylar liners and oxygen absorbers for long term storage.
It's completely unnecessary to pack into small packages but there are small 1 gallon mylar bags available if you wish to add more work.
"But what if I actually open a 5 gallon bucket of rice, will it all go POOOF in thirty seconds if I don't use it all up right away??" No.
When packing correctly, you leave the excess mylar liner, you do NOT cut it off level with the top of the bucket as shown by an OCD new person who didn't know WTF they were doing. You leave the excess, seal all but the last couple inches, fold the sealed parts in on themselves purging air as you go, then seal the last few inches.
Later when you rotate, you can cut just a small section of the mylar, scoop what you need out and fold the flaps over the cut. Finally, when the bag is emptied, because it's still full sized, you can cut the sealed edge off the top and REUSE THE MYLAR. However if you OCD nutjob it and trim the mylar to the top of the bucket like an obsessed crackhead, you won't likely have enough mylar to fit in the bucket again, so reusing it will be harder.
https://survivalandpreparednessforum.net/forum/the-basics/1154-diy-food-storage-basics-ask-questions-get-answers-etc
The thread on proper DIY food storage that has helped tens of thousands of survivalists over the years, all your questions are answered there.
juancarlospaco@reddit
Submerge in nitrogen.
Eredani@reddit
1 gallon and 5 gallon mylar bags for most white long grain rice and pinto/black beans.
Sometimes I will vacuum seal smaller 1 pound bags of lentils, navy beans, etc.
Dry_Barracuda2850@reddit
I think the size should depend on your intended use case.
If you intend it to be a meal carried with you on foot or by car then single to family servings meant to be used completely in one go.
If you intend it to be a pantry item that isn't likely to be moved and is likely to be used where either leftover food can be stored or an open bag can be stored easily. Then any larger size from 1-2 pounds to full buckets can be used.
ronniebell@reddit
Just packed up 20 pounds of dried flour corn. I put 4 cups in a 7 mil quart Mylar with 300 cc O2 absorbers. I store the bags in 5 gallon buckets.
Own_Cardiologist_989@reddit
I do gallon sized bags with gallon O2 absorbers.
humidsputh@reddit
I usually did 2# bags for both. I would weigh them and sharpie on the contents, date, and weight, plus any special cooking instructions. Then the packages went into 5 gal buckets.
Usually I would also make a few 1 lb packs to fill in empty bucket space and for occasions when I might run out and don't want to make a special trip to the store.
PrimmSlimShady@reddit
Maybe do the serving sizes on the package?
I've never done this so I don't have an experience with it