Rice for long term food storage - SHTF preps

Discussion in 'General Survival and Preparedness' started by larryinalabama, Nov 28, 2011.


  1. larryinalabama

    larryinalabama Monkey++

    I'm starting back on my preps and wonder what kind of rice everyone is stockpiling. The cheaper Walmart brand or the good Jasmine rice from Thailand. I like the this rice, its easier to cook without sticking together. The cost per 1 cup uncooked is .50$, the Walmart cost would be .40$. Plus the This rice comes in a tough bag.
    Also can I use rice as a moisture absorbent? I was thinking of putting rice in the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket of sealed beans as a moisture absorbent, will this work. I know it will help keep salt shakers shaking salt here in the humid south.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 17, 2015
  2. Pax Mentis

    Pax Mentis Philosopher King |RIP 11-4-2017

    We use plain white rice...partly just because I like it, but we also buy it in 40-50 lb bags and it works out appreciably less than $.40 a cup...we pay about $60-$65 for 50 lbs lately.

    Whatever you prefer and can afford is what I recommend.
     
    Sapper John and Wolfgang2000 like this.
  3. Seawolf1090

    Seawolf1090 Retired Curmudgeonly IT Monkey Founding Member

    My preference is for Uncle Ben's Enriched Long Grain Rice - it's what I grew up on. Have tried Jasmati, Bismati and others - they tend towards gumminess which I don't like. Jasmine rice also has a strong flavor, not conducive to some dishes I like.
    Uncle Ben's has proven to store very well too, without using mylar and O2 absorbers.
     
  4. Wolfgang2000

    Wolfgang2000 Monkey++

    White rice is one of the foods that never go bad AS LONG as you keep it dry and bug free.

    I get mine from 2 different sources. Sam's club, they have it in 25 and 50 lbs bags. We have a local Mennonite owned store that stocks bulk food stuff.

    I don't use mylar or O2 packs in my rice. Just desiccant packs.
     
  5. Falcon15

    Falcon15 Falco Peregrinus

    If you are wise, and I hope you are, you are stocking up on "Converted" white rice. White rice has been polished and has had all of the nutrients and goodness removed, this includes the oils found in the hulls of the rice grain. It has a shelf life of, oh eternity (30 years or so). This is raw rice that has had its outer layers milled off, taking with it about 10% of its protein, 85% of its fat and 70% of its mineral content. Because so much of the nutrition of the rice is lost, white rice sold in this country has to be enriched with vitamins that only partially replaces what was removed.

    Converted rice is raw rice that undergoes a cooking process while it is still whole. It is cooled, dried and the outer bran layers milled off, like white rice. The cooking process however drives nutrients from the hull into the grain (Converted retains: Calcium 6%, Iron 10%, Thiamin 25%, Niacin 15%, Folate 25% per 1 cup serving, while white rice retains: Calcium 0%, Iron 1%, Thiamin 0%, Niacin 0%, Folate 0%). Converted has a shelf life of 10 years in normal packaging. I have read reports from other preppers, that after 15 years their rice (stored in mylar bags with o2 absorbers) is just fine, taste wise.

    By the way, all preppers should be aware of Thiamin deficiency - Beriberi - was discovered in Asia where polished white rice was a common staple. I would much rather err on the side of caution, myself.

    Make mine converted.
     
    Mountainman, kellory, Agfadoc and 5 others like this.
  6. Sapper John

    Sapper John Analog Monkey in a Digital World

    Thanks for the tip Falc,That is something I wasn't aware of.
     
  7. Falcon15

    Falcon15 Falco Peregrinus

    It is what we are here for, to share knowledge and help one another! My pleasure!
     
    kellory and Pax Mentis like this.
  8. Seawolf1090

    Seawolf1090 Retired Curmudgeonly IT Monkey Founding Member

    Checking a bag of Uncle Ben's, it is indeed "Converted, Parboiled Enriched Long Grain Rice". It's the good stuff. More expensive than the foreign stuff, but stores better. I do occasionally eat the other stuff as it's cheap - but my LTS rice is U.B.
     
    Falcon15 likes this.
  9. beast

    beast backwoodsman

    i need to gt more brown rice from the UP, its native here and grows well in this climate
    kinda ate the last batch up :D
     
  10. larryinalabama

    larryinalabama Monkey++


    How does one go about deciding wheater rice is converted or not? We say blessing before we eat does that make the rice ok?
     
  11. Tikka

    Tikka Monkey+++

    We buy Thai Jasmine and Indian Basmati rice.
     
  12. BTPost

    BTPost Stumpy Old Fart,Deadman Walking, Snow Monkey Moderator

    It will be LABLED "Converted Rice" as in "Uncle Ben's Converted Rice" if it isn't labeled that way it is NOT converted rice.....
     
  13. larryinalabama

    larryinalabama Monkey++


    Got ya...... I will however pray to bless meals....just saying........
     
  14. Falcon15

    Falcon15 Falco Peregrinus

    There are other brand and "labels" Parboiled and converted are the most common. The best way to gauge is color before it is cooked. White rice is bleached bone white. Converted or parboiled is a yellowish color.
    White rice:
    whiterice.
    Parboiled/Converted Rice:
    ParboiledRice.
     
    Motomom34 and larryinalabama like this.
  15. larryinalabama

    larryinalabama Monkey++

    I actually dont eat a lot of rice but wil if SHITF, guess Ill look for the converted rice but I have never seen that in 20lbs sacks?
     
  16. Falcon15

    Falcon15 Falco Peregrinus

    Sams Club carries the larger sacks, as does Costco. Check the very bottom shelf at your grocery store, and ask any clerk in the store. Some stores will be glad to do a custom order.
     
  17. -06

    -06 Monkey+++

    Repacked about 20 lbs recently. Had bought several bags and had forgotten about them. I use gallon glass jars and put them into plastic milk crates. Four fit snugly in them and stack securely. We have four columns of crates about 6 feet tall stacked together. Thinking about tying them together at the top in case of earth quake or "Tremors" type invasions--lol.
     
  18. larryinalabama

    larryinalabama Monkey++

    Still curious if I can use rice as a moisture absorber, I want to fill a 5 gallon bucket with sealed dried beans. I was goint to put a cup or less of open rice on the bottom of tthe container as a moisture absorber,,,,,,,,,,, is that OK? willl it work?
     
  19. beast

    beast backwoodsman

    put the rice on top and change it occasionally
    as it absorbs moisture it swells and then will rot

    oops, put it in a cotton sock or something you can pull out easy
     
  20. Gunny Highway

    Gunny Highway Hard Work and Sacrifice blessed by God's Grace

    Remember to stock up on multivitamins too - when one carrot in a field will have 4 times the beta carotene of a normal carrot and another in the same field barely registers a trace - I say its prudent to cover ones bases
     
    Falcon15, Sapper John and Pax Mentis like this.
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