Deep freeze as long term dry starch storage.
Posted by Sea_Side_1567@reddit | preppers | View on Reddit | 18 comments
I'm wanting to buy a freezer second hand, and then filling it with dry starch like rice, beans, lentils. It seems like such an easy method, the cost of a deep freeze running for a year is around 40$. Second hand deep freeze is around 100 to 250$. When the grid goes down, all your dry starch are in near perfect condition? Seems like a no brainer and not having to worry about long term food storage techniques. It packs really dense in the bags they are bought in. I've had preps before but i was lazy so i wonder if they are in good condition to eat, I don't want to waste food again.. But this method doesn't really require trust, if the freezer is still running, it's good to go.
No investment in buckets, or glass, or oxygen absorbers, and trying to follow all the tedious step by steps. Just get another deep freeze and fill it up.
Am I missing something? or is it not popular because it takes space.. can't stack it.
AI says there is 880,000 calories in 12 cubic feet of dry rice. Which feeds average human 1.6 years.
Thanks for reading and let me know your thoughts..
TheMrsH1124@reddit
I bought a deep freezer and a fridge second hand. Both for very very little money. Both are still working like mint 5+ years later. No regrets. . . EXCEPT
One of them must have come with German roaches.
I lived with that hell for years. It followed me from house to house. I was only able to escape them when we moved during a particularly cold winter and I was able to ensure that every single thing was thoroughly frozen before being placed into our new home.
Be wary!!!!
jen_n_ga@reddit
My sister-in-law just moved in with us briefly. She brought her own coffee maker and it had German cockroach eggs in it! We are now having to pay $600 to get rid of them!
TheMrsH1124@reddit
Ugh ugh ugh I'm so sorry!!!!
Make sure they are actually gotten rid of. We paid lots of money for years and were told it was just a tough case.
Nope. We were being scammed.
-jspace-@reddit
If you buy a used one, have an exterminator check it out before bringing it inside .. roaches, bed bugs etc ...
jen_n_ga@reddit
Yes! Definitely check for bugs! My sister-in-law decided to sell her house without a place to go. She's staying at our house for a few months.
She brought her coffee maker. It turns out that it has German cockroach eggs. We are now having to pay $600 to get rid of them! I'm so mad!
JuniperJupiter4@reddit
Too energy intensive for something that can be stuck in a bucket and be fine for years.
Internal_Raccoon_370@reddit
Depends on the type of rice, doesn't it? White rice will keep for a decade or more but brown rice will go rancid in a few months because of the higher fat content, wouldn't it?
iambecomesoil@reddit
White rice will keep near indefinitely. Brown rice can have problems so don't store brown rice. You'll have less dietary fiber but you can get that through things like your beans which you can store near indefinitely as well.
daringnovelist@reddit
I always fill my open spaces in a freezer with dry goods and ice packs. You can always remove some when you need more freezer space for other things.
Just make sure you package it well, because it can take on some of that freezer smell over time.
Sweet-Leadership-290@reddit
Dried goods make excellent "ice packs" for injuries
In addition a full freezer requires less electricity than an empty one to maintain temperature
👍👍
Sweet-Leadership-290@reddit
Waste of freezer space IMO.
Here is what you are missing. Proteins and oiis are the hardest components of the human diet to difficulty during hardships. In addition, Dried white rice can be stored for up to 10 years at room temperature.
There are approximately 1,728,000 calories in 12 cubic feet of boneless cooked beef
12 cubic feet of lard contains approximately 1,020,000 calories.
If you are a vegetarian there are 2,160,135 calories in 12 cubic feet of peanut butter.
eyepoker4ever@reddit
Get buckets for free. Go to Meijer or any grocery that has a bakery and go to the bakery section and ask them for their empty buckets. You'll have to clean them out but they're food grade and often have o-rings in the lids. just keep visiting the bakeries off and on until you have all the buckets that you need.
Jolopy4099@reddit
Never heard of dry starch storage. Can you explain it?
JRHLowdown3@reddit
Waste of space in your freezer. Definitely not a money saver in any way, shape or form.
When you pack properly with mylar and o2 absorbers, the ONLY thing wasted that can't be reused is the oxygen absorber. If you pack correctly, not "cut off the excess" in an OCD/analytical fit of hysteria as pushed by new folks, the mylar will be reusable also- you won't be losing length of the mylar.
Doesn't require power. And before the "it's got to be 63.4 degrees or it will go bad in 3.5 seconds" type non sense comes up, we have stored food in HIGH HEAT and HIGH HUMIDITY in S. GA and N. FL for 40 years without any serious issues.
Put up the deer you shot, the rabbits and chickens you raise in your freezer. Putting up grains in your freezer is beyond a waste of resources....
Helluva week here on this forum re: food storage... a lot of crazy ass ideas and unnecessary "concerns" that are keeping people from MOVING FORWARD.
Overthinking and under DOING will NOT feed your family when the time comes.. Just a PSA for all the new folks.
Ryan_e3p@reddit
While chest freezers are phenomenal for storing food while using very little energy (often as low as 30W) and can go days without power when properly stocked, there is so little moisture content in dried beans, rice, etc that it is not the best use of space. That space would be better utilized for proteins and other foods that need it.
Being concerned about "investment in buckets" while needing to invest in a much more expensive storage solution that requires power seems like you may have some mixed up priorities.
i-eat-b33s@reddit
Agreed. I like my chest freezer and they do stay cold without power for a bit, but I don't think it's a good use of storage for exclusively dry goods. Maybe something with oils that could go rancid though? I keep things like walnuts in mine.
silasmoeckel@reddit
You want to buy a 500 buck freezer to avoid buying 50 bucks in buckets? Your one years power use is on par with the one time in 30 years buckets bags absorbers.
Dont get me wrong I love my deep freezers for prepping but why store rice and beans in them vs protein.
Rheila@reddit
Buckets are cheaper and don’t cost anything to run. I have been keeping rice, beans, lentils, grain, sugar etc in buckets for 15lbs years. I do use them, but some are years old as I’ve learned my preferences etc and what I actually cook with. Gamma seal lids for the ones you want to be opening frequently to use. Regular lids for ones you don’t. I don’t use Mylar or oxygen absorbers and have not had a single issue.