Long Term Storage of grains, pulses,powdered and dehydrated produce.

I store grains and pulses in 3 litre fruit juice PET containers for bulk storage and in one litre PET milk bottles for my hiking tuckerbag. These sized containers have a wide mouth for easy filling, are insect proof...and more forgiving of being dropped than glass containers. These containers are not rodent proof though, and thought needs to be given as to how you will store such containers against rodent attack.

Keeping track of usage is simplified in standard measuring units rather than bulk, and any spoilage is limited to individual containers only., rather than the bulk storage supply being contaminated.

the image shown below shows soda pop bottles...but I prefer the more brick shaped juice containers being more efficient at utilising storage space.



Via: Long Term Food Storage---Done Cheaply! | Earthineer

 

Our way to deal with the rodent threat is 3 VERRRRRRRRRRRRY bored housecats Our outside cat helps too. He had a chipmunk for lunch a couple days ago.

 

Yep, cats work around here. Well worth putting up with their superior attitude. Tho they often bring us a share of the catch.

 

Mine always brings me the whole catch, thankfully. He's never figured out that they're more than a fun toy, until they stop moving and making noise. I get the very wet, hole ridden carcass for a gift, once I get home from work!

 

We stumbled onto a cache of new one gallon glass jars several years ago. We place them in plastic milk crates that we have found. They stack great and the close fit keeps them safe. We use Argon to Oxygen purge them. The plastic drink bottles have Clorox'd water.

 

I have dried different fruits for several years now, and have canned things like apple butter, different jams, and pieces of fruit like apricot halves etc. They still taste good after three years, they never last longer than that. Whatever is on sale gets canned or dried. My goal is to learn how to put up as much of my own food as possible. So I think my next step is to: #1 learn how to use a pressure cooker to can with, and learn how to put up grains, beans, and oatmeal. I am curious about mylar bags. Any input would be greatly appreciated