My latest trip to the supermarket was to pick up several varieties of beans, rice, cornmeal, grits and pasta to top off my 5 quart jug storage. When checking out I had half a cart full of 6-12 pounds of each item and the checkout girl was looking at me kind of funny. Finally she asked, what was I going to do with all this? I have a stock answer for these people. “I donate it to my church so they can feed needy people”. A smile came to her face and all was now fine in her world…
About my food storage let me be clear here, this particular type of dry bulk food storage is for “Hard Core Survival Eating” or to stay alive in the worst of times. Not included or discussed here are my can meats, fruits, vegetables, dehydrated foods and spices that will increase the amount of meals stored.
I’ve been working on this six month level for about five years. It’s not that it was expensive to do but figuring out just what to store was the hard part and I made a number of mistakes along the way. The test cooking of these items as I went onward took the most time. I’m now quite happy with what I have in stock and maybe you can get some ideas for yourself from the item list below. This is a quick look at what I do and how much I store of dry bulk food. I’ll get into more detail and recipes in later posts.
The total amount of food I have stored here excluding all the wheat grain and all purpose flour that’s used for bread and baking is a total of 976 cups of dry food. When prepared, this dry amount will at least double and sometimes triple depending on the food after it’s cooked. So the actual yield will be 2-3 cup meals from just one cup of dry stored food.
I use two methods for my dry bulk food storage:
You will see that I have two methods of storage. One is in five quart jugs and the other is in 5 gallon buckets.
Five Quart Jugs; The Best Way to Begin Dry Food Storage:Why five quart jugs?
In the beginning I didn’t want to buy 5 gallon buckets of dry food without being able to test cook meals first. What if I didn’t like it? I’ve just wasted that money so I needed a way to buy and store smaller amounts first and test cook it to see if we liked it.
Supermarkets carry many of the survival dry foods in 1-5 lb bagged quantities and for all the different grains or beans that the supermarket doesn’t carry most health food stores carry those in small amounts.
The jugs let me have a large variety of food items in a small space and I can spend $5-$6 a week building the initial amounts and then test cook them along the way. I’m also a believer in using this food at least on a weekly basis. For one, it saves money on the food budget and the other is it allows constant practice of new recipes and how to cook great tasting meals while leaning the many tricks of cooking with dry bulk foods. With my jug system I have 24 varieties of dry food stored in 48 jugs. So there are two jugs of each variety giving me 2½ gallons of each in a very convenient way to access any of these foods. The shelving unit is in the extra bedroom closet. Some of the most used foods in the jugs can be refilled from the bucket stock.
Here’s what my jug storage looks like.
5-Quart Jugs in the Closet Pantry, 24 varieties in 48 Jugs:(4 Shelves Used, 2 Jugs of each = 2.5 gallons or ½ a bucket of each variety)(*also in 5 gallon Bucket Stock)
Top Shelf #1
Potato, Instant Mashed
Milk, Instant Non-Fat
Cream of Soup Mix
Rice, White Long Grain*
Barley, Pearled*
Oats, Rolled
Shelf #2
Elbow, Pasta*
Egg Noodles, Pasta*
Spaghetti, Pasta*
Orzo, Pasta
Shells, Pasta
Penne, Pasta
Shelf #3
Rotini, Pasta
Wheat, Hard White*
Garbanzo, Beans
Lentil, Beans*
Grits
Corn Meal
Bottom Shelf #4
Pinto, Beans
Red Small Kidney, Beans
Navy White, Beans
Sugar*
Salt, Table*
Salt, Canning
Bucket Storage:Why 5 gallon buckets?
That’s pretty simple as it’s the best way to store large amounts of dry bulk food cheaply and safely. As you can see I only needed 18 buckets for my six month storage program and it fits nicely in three shelves of a 18 x 48 x 72 inch tall heavy duty wire shelving unit purchased from Sam’s Club. You can buy these wire shelving units most anywhere. These shelves hold 650 lbs per shelf so they’re pretty stout.
Here’s what my 5 gallon Bucket Storage looks like:
5-Gallon Buckets (18 buckets):(3 Shelves used, *packed in gallon bags)
Top Shelf
1 Flour, All Purpose White
1 Barley, Pearled*
1 Beans Lentil*
1 Salt, Table
2 Sugar, White
Middle Shelf
4 Wheat, Hard White
2 Rice, White Long Grain*
Bottom Shelf
2 Pasta, Elbow*
2 Pasta, Egg Noodles*
2 Pasta, Spaghetti*
In the buckets alone excluding the Wheat, All Purpose White Flour, Salt and Sugar buckets I have there are 704 meals in the buckets. That’s 704 meals or 234 days for one person! As you can see it doesn’t take a lot of room to be prepared for the worst.
The 4 buckets of stored Wheat can bake a total of 120 loaves of bread to go along with your meals.
Food Storage Containers:
US Plastics Corp for the Storage Containers I use. Direct Links below.
US Plastics Corp for the Storage Containers I use. Direct Links below.
Gamma Seal Lids #1859
http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=24282&catid=686&clickid=partnumber&partnumber=1859
White 5 Gallon Buckets #2286
http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=23220&catid=752&clickid=partnumber&partnumber=2286
5 Quart Clear Plastic Jugs #66425
5 Quart Jug Lids, Foam Gasket, White #60251
Mylar Bags:
Sorbent Systems, http://www.sorbentsystems.com/products.html
12.5 x 18x4.3 mils thick: Used to store 1 gallon of food in each bag.
20 x 30 x 4.3 mils thick: Used in 5 gallon buckets.
12.5 x 18x4.3 mils thick: Used to store 1 gallon of food in each bag.
20 x 30 x 4.3 mils thick: Used in 5 gallon buckets.
Oxygen Absorbers:
Honeyville Grains, http://www.honeyvillegrain.com
For my convenience, I only buy and store/stock 500cc absorbers as it is a common size that can do everything I need without the added expense of stocking multiple absorber sizes. However you can buy the size that suits you particular needs best.
For my convenience, I only buy and store/stock 500cc absorbers as it is a common size that can do everything I need without the added expense of stocking multiple absorber sizes. However you can buy the size that suits you particular needs best.
Here’s how I use the 500cc size:
1-500cc oxygen absorber per pint canning jar.
1-500cc oxygen absorber per quart canning jar.
2-500cc oxygen absorber per gallon bag.
10-500cc oxygen absorbers in a 5 gallon bag/bucket.
1-500cc oxygen absorber per quart canning jar.
2-500cc oxygen absorber per gallon bag.
10-500cc oxygen absorbers in a 5 gallon bag/bucket.
Light weight wire shelf unit in Closet Pantry
I bought mine at Target. These are commonly available at any hardware or big box stores.
Heavy Duty wire shelf unit for the bucket storage I bought at Sam’s Club.
45 comments:
I can't stop drooling over your food storage. It's neat and organized and fantastic! Those jugs really are a good idea. So far we only use buckets and mylar and jars.
I can't begin to tell you how impressed I am with this arrangement, it is exactly what I envision when I imagine what my food storage set up will look like. Thank you so much for such a detailed post, especially the source for the containers, I have been looking everywhere for some kind of uniform clear plastic that did not cost a small fortune. Great post!! Please keep them coming you have inspired me to get busy.
Mermaid and Laura,
Thanks for your kind comments. The thought that I can help others get on the path of basic food storage in a controlled and useful system without having to go through the trial and errors I did is rewarding.
Have a great New Year!
YM
Oh MAN~ I have food storage envy. I'm getting some of those jugs. They're absolutely perfect. I was raised to have a year's supply of food storage, and my basement overfloweth, but it's nowhere near as neat as yours.
Marianne
Glad to see you found something to help yourself.
I checked on some of your books, nice work! I wish I had your talent…..
I am so impressed! it never hurts to be prepared, I am following your blog,hope you will follow mine as well,got to go now, but i will be back,you have a great and helpful blog. blessings jane
Fantastic,loved it all.You are a very clever one.I am very impressed also and you helped me a lot.Thanks for all the information.Very organize and easy to do, after you did the hard work for us.Thank you for putting this on the web.DKK
Always enjoy your posts. I have five kids and the thought of storing enough for everybody can be overwhelming. I started buying an extra flat of canned goods at each grocery trip. I also asked Hubby for a pressure cooker for Christmas so I can cook the beans and grains better! Thanks for all the info and experience you share. I keep coming back.
Vcky13,
Thanks for stopping by. The presure cooker will be one of the best investments you can make when cooking dry bulk foods and making them into quick and great tasting home made meals!
Where do you get your 5-quart jugs?
Hi There! What a great blog. I just found you and plan to follow you.
I found 5 gallon buckets and gamma seal lids for MUCH cheaper at beprepared.com, and the shipping was about 1/4th of what USplastics was charging. Just thought you might want to know for the future, or maybe your readers would like to know. The buckets are imprinted with the emergency essentials contact information, but if that doesn't bother you, it's a great deal.
Hi Debsdialogues,
Thanks for stopping by,
For all the stuff that I buy check out the contents list on the right side. I have listed all the web sites I use for my stuff “A list of web links I use”.
Here’s where I bought the jugs:
http://www.freundcontainer.com/product.asp?pn=34408&cn=58&bhcd2=1295569858
Mike
Hi Jessica,
Thanks for stopping by and for your comments, they help all of us save money.
I just checked the prices of the two and BePrepared is currently cheaper by $0.73 for a 5 gallon bucket and a Gamma Seal Lid. So yes you are correct, thanks.
I have used US Plastics for many years and sometime they are higher and sometimes lower. They have always been a great company for me to do business with, very fast, accurate and always great and safe products. And yes shipping can make a big difference so it pays to compare.
Mike
Do you think it would be acceptable to use a home depot or lowes bucket with gamma lids if your food item is sealed in mylar bags with oxygen absorbers?
Can the non-food grade plastics from the home depot bucket get through the mylar bags?
Just curious. If air can not escape the mylar bags how can the plastic toxins penetrate the mylar bags?
Anon 6:08
Nothing gets in or out of a Mylar bag. So yes you could use HD buckets. A buckets main purpose is to keep rodents out and for organized storage.
What size bottle with the handles did you buy? This is awesome! I love it.
Stucki's, The jugs are 5 quarts each. You can find my source in the links at the bottom of the article.
Your setup is very inspiring. I buy 5 gallon buckets from a man in Orem, UT for $1 (bucket with lid). These buckets previously contained food items, usually a mint product. It's a great deal if Orem, UT is local for you. He can supply you with as many buckets as you would ever need. His e-mail is plasticbuckets(at)gmail(dot)com.
I wish I did but I couldn't get much farther away. Utah is the Mecca for food storage and I've learned a lot from the Mormons.
how do you store the idohoan instant potatos on the package they say it has a shelf life of about a yr and the way you do it how long woiuld it last thanks bob
Hi Bob,
As for shelf life or best by dates, that’s when the food product is at its best nutrition level and slowly loses its nutrition value from that point on. I have not seen lab results at what rate it declines but if it will hold its nutrition level for a year in store packaging I feel confident it will still have some value 5-10 years later if stored in Mylar bags with oxygen absorbers. I’m not too worried about its nutrition level at 10 tears because if it’s even half of when new, it’s still food to eat and if I’m depending on it, some food is better than nothing.
My guest room closet now looks just like yours! Hope you don't mind a copycat. I have also copied your water filter system and bought the same lantern. You are my mentor! Keep it coming! :)
I don't mind at all. I'm am very happy with sharing what I do because I've learned the right way by trial and error and a lot of common sense. One of the best reasons to use this method is it allows you to use your stored food evryday if you want because it's easy to get at. The other reason it allows you to start storing a number of dry bulk foods in small amount, most of which are available at your supermarket or health food stores. Once your jugs are full then start buying buckets of the most popular food.
Anytime you'd like to share pictures of how you're doing I'd like to see them!
yukonsupply@yahoo.com
Mike
So can bottled water be stored for a long period of time, or does it really expire with the expiration date the filtering companies stamp on the containers?
Anon 4:54
The FDA does not require expiration dates on bottled water, so you’re kind of on your own when it comes to storing water. They do say to store it in cool dark places as with any food product.
I do not store drinking water for long term use because it costs too much and you are limited to what you have stored. If you review my post about making your own water filter you can build your own for the cost of a few cases of bottled water and then have tens of thousands of gallons of safe drinking water always available when you need it providing you have a raw water source.
I hope these aren't silly questions, but I am just getting started.
Are the bags you are talking about the same as ziplock bags?
And with things like the white flower, how do you avoid the bugs that come when you keep flour out even in a stored container? Is it because there is no air getting it, or what?
Thank you very much for sharing your wisdom!
Crystal,
There are never any silly questions when it comes to being prepared. Asking questions first will keep you from making mistakes.
For the bags, no they are not ziplock or food saver type. Ziplocks are fine for lunch bags or a week in the refrigerator but never for long term because the simply do not seal well enough and let in food destroying oxygen.
My experience with food saver bags has also proved to be a failure. After a month or so some of them also leaked and let in oxygen.
The only bags to use are the proven Mylar bags used by the food storage industry. You can buy these from many sources including my source, www.sorbentsystems.com located in California.
For the white all purpose flour, I have yet to have bugs in mine even when stored in my kitchen storage jugs that I use weekly or in the 5 gallon bucket with just a Gamma Seal Lid. This is where I store 25 lbs at a time (lasts me about 4-6 months) for refilling the kitchen jug.
You will always avoid bugs in any dry food when sealing the food in Mylar bags with oxygen absorbers. No oxygen in the Mylar bag means that no living bug can survive or multiply.
Hope this answered your questions.
Mike
Do the Mylar bags keep out the nasty indian meal moths? (you know the ones that lay eggs, and then as little worms create a cocoon on the bag and eat you out of house and home --almost literally) that is my only concern about the whole food storage.
Hi Brandi
Mylar bags will keep out meal moths because it has a perfect heat seal, not even air can get into the bag.
However, no one can be 100% sure the food you’re storing doesn’t already have some type of bug in that food. This is where the oxygen absorber comes in. The absorbers used inside a sealed Mylar bag removes all the oxygen and ‘no bug’ can live without oxygen.
Hope this helps and if you have any other concerns please feel free to ask!
Mike
yukonsupply@yahoo.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indianmeal_Moth
Hi Mike,
Love your food storage neatness. This seems to take up very little space which we have in short supply. Thanks for sharing and inspiring. Regarding Crystal's concern about bugs in the flour - I have always used one or two bay leaves in my flour to keep those little devils out. The Bay Leaf actually stops them from growing. My Mom taught me this when I was just a little girl and it works for me. Just be careful that the flour you buy is weavel free before adding to your supply.
Beverly
Nampa, Id
Beverly,
Thanks form the neatness comment. It took some experimenting with various methods and containers but I think the current method is about as compact and affordable as you can get. For me it sure makes using the stored food easy to use which is important because you want to use this money saving food stocks every day if possible to save food budget money.
As for bugs in the flour: The flour used in the kitchen that is normally stored in a canister of some type needs to have a reasonable seal to keep bugs out. I use ½ and 1 gallon clear plastic jars with a screw top lids for my canisters. This makes for a difficult route for everyday bugs to pass through.
Can bugs come it the flour you buy from the store? Yes it is possible as there are several factories involved making the paper, printing and then the bag maker that are probably not 100% bug free environments before the flour is packaged. However long term stored flour using oxygen absorbers kills any of those bugs.
Hi!
I enjoy reading your posts . ThAnks for all the good tips! There is one tip when it comes to storing bulk dry food that I think is crucial in prohibiting the infestation of "bugs", and that is to put your food items in the freezer for at least 4 days. Freezing temperatures kill the eggs that are already in the foods we purchase. I know this sounds disturbing but it is a fact that it is impossible to remove all eggs before packaging and placed on the grocery shelf. I guess foods could be nuked, but how safe is that? I'll take the bug eggs instead. Lol.
I take the items such as flour, rice, oats and beans and place it in a double plastic grocery bag and then I store it in the freezer for 1 week. Different websites have varied lengths of time for keeping the item in the freezer, so I just leave mine in for 1 week to make sure. I suppose it might be overkill, but when it comes to bugs, I guess that's a good "thang"! When I remove the item from the freezer, I take it out of the doubled plastic grocery bags and allow it to come to room temperature. You may find that there will be condensation on the packaging. Don't worry. Just make sure that there is some type of air movement and before long everything will be dry. After that I either use this food for my short term food storage or I use Mylar bags, oxygen absorbers and 3 or 5 gal. Food grade plastic buckets for long term storage.
ALWAYS. Keep in mind the ENEMIES of food are:
Light
Oxygen
Heat
Moisture
Pests( bugs and rodents)
Lullabyemoon,
Glad you enjoy the article and thanks for your comment. As for freezing your long term stored foods first is added insurance to having bug free long term stored food. For most of us we don’t have the convenience of a large freezer with the space inside for this step.
So far I have not had a bug in my Mylar bagged with oxygen absorbers foods and plan to continue with the standard Mylar-Absorber method. Bottom line is nothing can live without oxygen.
Can you get your hand in the 5 qt jugs to scoop product out with a measuring cup?
Carolyn,
Yes, you can easily get your hand inside with a measuring cut to take out what you need. The opening is almost 4 inches in diameter. I do it all the time. This is another feature I like about the jug storage system, it is very convenient.
Wonderful blog! Thank you for taking time to share your info and photos. We are just getting started and have so much to learn. I feel you've just propelled me forward by many months! You can be sure I will keep paying attention to what you are sharing.
I have a question about starting. Is there a good source for the best beginning items if your finances are limited? Maybe you have something already here about that?
Hi GRae,
Thanks for stopping by Living Prepared and good for you that you are beginning to become independent, no one else will do it for you. I’m sure you will find a lot of information here to get you on your way, methods that I tested and use for myself.
Your question about; I have a question about starting. Is there a good source for the best beginning items if your finances are limited? Maybe you have something already here about that?
To start with, I recommend one of the best manuals and information sources is what I call the bible of food storage and it’s free, is the LDS Preparedness Manual. Here’s the link to the LDS Preparedness Manual download: http://www.ldsavow.com/PrepManualGeneral.html
As for the beginning steps to food storage and where do you start it’s pretty simple. I always assume there will be no utilities during a disaster aftermath so your refrigerator or a freezer will be no help at all.
That leaves you with just supermarket can goods and bulk dry foods like beans, rice and pasta, all of which are easy to store for 2 or more years.
Stocking can goods is easy and you probably have some already, just buy more of what you’re currently eating and the excess grow in amounts until you’re comfortable the extra cans is enough to feed you through the disasters most likely to affect you. That could be a month, 3 months or longer.
The rice, beans and pasta are all sold at your supermarket in 1, 5 and 10lb. packages so it’s easy to buy in small amounts with little cost. This is how I started, buying the small amounts and storing them in the 5 quart storage jugs I use and recommend.
You’re probably asking why beans, rice and pasta? First, we are talking about survival emergency eating so forget about steak and baked potatoes for dinner, you will be glad to be eating can foods. Here’s the main way I use them.
I like Campbell’s soups, so let’s take a can of Campbell’s Steak and Potato soup which tastes good by itself but I’ll add rice to it to bulk it up (increase the volume) is a belly filler. Example; If you take the one can which is normally 2 cups and add 1 cup of rice with additional water when cooked you have 5 cups of very filling and satisfying food. Same goes for beans and pasta, adding these to can soups, stews, etc. will bulk them up for a filling meal.
You’re probably wondering, how you are to heat them up? If you don’t already then buy a camping stove and stock up on fuel for it. All camping gear is really survival gear. The stove can also be used to sterilize questionable drinking and cooking water, water is more important than food because without water you will probably perish in a week.
The last item, actually should be the first storage item, is water. You can never have enough water on hand. The general rule is about a gallon a day per person to survive. A water filter system like I made, it’s on the blog, is cheap and as long as you have a reasonably clean water source you will have thousands of gallons of pure water available. And never forget, most all people are not prepared and they will be knocking on your door for your food stocks, something for you to ponder is being stealth about your food storage and should be strongly considered.
Hope this helps you get started.
E-mail me at yukonsupply@yahoo.com if you have any questions.
Always glad to help!
Mike
Hi Mike,
What is the difference between the 5 quart lids you have linked than the lids that already come with the 5 quart jugs?
Thanks,
Jenny
Jenny,
The lids that are sold with the jugs is unlined. The lids I link to have a foam liner or gasket in them for a better seal.
What size rubber mallet do you have there?
The mallet is a ‘dead blow’ and weighs 4 lbs. I purchased it at Harbor Freight for I think $10. It makes putting the lids on the easiest way without damaging them.
You stated in an earlier post you use a 5 gallon bucket of flour in about 6 months, and you use it to fill the smaller jugs in your kitchen. What are you making constantly that you use that much flour? It just seems like alot to use. It would be nice to get an idea of how and what is prepared to what you have stored, and how fast it is used. Your system is very well organized. Nice Job! Thanks for any reply.
Anon,
I know it sounds like a lot of flour to use but that’s not all of it! I also mill my own flour from wheat grain and the consumption of that is down to just over 50 lbs. a year while I’m working mostly with all-purpose white flour now. The white flour I’m going through about 3, 25 lb. bags a year (75 lbs).
A 5 gallon bucket just barely holds 25 lbs of all-purpose white flour. A single loaf of bread uses about 1 lb. of flour so 5 gallons (25 lbs) makes about 25 loaves of bread, I normally make 2 loaves a week so a 25 lb bag last only 3 months.
I like baking and it is necessary to do well for Survival Living so I constantly adjust recipes to be able to bake great breads and bread baked items like bagels, buns, pizza, etc. not only for Survival Baking but everyday living. I have an older couple living close by who taste test a half a loaf a week and many of my baking experiments for me.
In summary; Just 2 loaves of bread a week equals 100 lbs of flour a year. Based on that then when you consider burger buns and pizza etc plus experiments 200 lbs a year is easy to use.
In a few weeks I’m going to post an update where I currently stand on my food storage quantities etc. Stand by!
Thank you for the reply Mike. I wish I was your neighbor too! I will start little by little. The hardest adjustment will be "making" some things I just "bought" before. (like pizza crust) Maybe I will get a bread machine. Does that still count a survival preparedness? Haha! Thank you again! Bob.
Bob,
Making bread and pizza crust (dough) is really easy. You don’t need a bread machine, just a little elbow grease. Once you start making your own bread, buns and pizza dough you’ll never buy store bought again. Try it, it is easy.
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