“Hot Jaw” Heat Sealer

Years back, when I first started long-term Mylar Bagged food storage, I wanted this clamshell heat sealer however back then it was $200.00. I’m not rich and couldn’t justify that amount of money then. Over the years this clamshell sealer has been dropping in price where today, it’s just $99.00! So I finally bought one!

It has an inline switch for Off, Low and High settings user selectable when sealing thin or thick Mylar Bags. Also has an LED lamp telling you the power is on.

The part number and power label:

Each jaw is independent (switch selectable, hi-low) and each jaw uses 25 watts. 50 watts total on high.

Also note: The sealer frame is molded from a poly resin and aluminum (metalized resin). This resin is as stiff and ridged as aluminum. Absolutely nothing flimsy about this “Hot Jaw Sealer”!

Here I’m verifying the actual sealing temperature:

To melt and bond the Mylar Bag inside poly liner to itself within 4 seconds, the heat needs to be 300+f degrees. On the LOW setting only one jaw heats-up for thin bags, on HIGH both jaws heat-up to the same temperature for thick bags.

Note: The handles do not get hot to the touch even when on High.

This is what the 9/16ths wide seal looks like on a new bag. No air will leak through this seal.

Here I’m re-sealing a 5-gallon bag of wheat grain I had to open. It is very easy to do with the clam-shell sealer compared to an alligator style sealer. It does not require the pressure grip of Hulk Hogan, just a firm squeeze for 4 seconds and you’re done.

The 5-gallon bag re-sealed.

After re-sealing the entire opening of the 5-gallon bag, I then cut a corner off to insert the oxygen absorber, squeeze out all the air possible and then re-seal that corner.

Corner sealed and ready to go back into storage.

 Some of the reasons why I purchased this sealer?

1.      The width of the seal. 14mm (9/16) vs 2mm found on some alligator style sealers.

2.      Two heat settings, low for thin (under 4 mils) and high for thick (over 4 mils) Mylar bags.

3.      The best tool for sealing a 5-gallon bucket with a large single bag while the bag and food is in the bucket.

Manufacturers Product Description:

Teflon coated, not just covered with Teflon cloth like the majority of sealers. The upper and lower serrated jaws on these will give a high quality, extra wide 9/16" seal x 6 inches long on any Mylar bag. Will seal 6 inches at a time. (For larger bags just make multiple seals and overlap them.)

Source to Purchase:

https://www.sorbentsystems.com/hotjaw.html

P/N: IPKHS-606T,  6” Teflon-Coated Hot-Jaw Sealer

Summary:

This Hot Jaw Sealer is a high-quality Mylar Bag sealing tool and easy to use.

Oxygen Absorber, How Do You Know if it’s Working?

Two days ago, I stored some more Elbow Pasta in 1 gallon amounts using Mylar Bags and Oxygen Absorbers. For those not familiar with using them here are a couple photo’s showing fairly well what to expect if you have done the procedures correctly.

Remember that the air we breath is 80% nitrogen and 20% Oxygen. Nitrogen is good for food preservation but the oxygen must be removed which is the purpose of the Oxygen Absorber.

So, how do you know if you’ve done the procedure correctly? See below.

This photo shows the newly bagged pasta with an oxygen absorber heat sealed inside. The bag has a typical amount of excess air inside right now. You just can’t squeeze it all out at the bag sealing time. The pasta in this photo is loose inside and can be easily sloshed around inside the heat sealed Mylar bag.

In this photo taken of the same Mylar bag 1 day after sealing shows the excess air (oxygen) has been removed or absorbed by the absorber and a tight vacuum has been pulled squeezing the pasta tightly and imprinting it into the Mylar bag. So tightly the bag has become a rigid brick of food. It’s so stiff you can pick the entire bag up by grasping one corner and extending the bag horizontally like a house brick.

If over time the bag relaxes or loses this vacuum it means the bag has leaked air inside from a poor heat seal or the bag has been damaged maybe with a small pin hole from rough handling and the food inside may be compromised.

Gamma Seal Lid Opener

As a user of 24 of the Gamma Seal Lids, I find that atmospheric pressure changes can make opening the lids sometimes like two monkeys having sex with a football!

Recently my wife told me that she has at times used a hammer to loosen the lids which got my attention quickly. There had to be a better way! Well there is. My prototype wrench needs only one person to open the Gamma Lids and is effortless.

Here’s what I came up with and anyone can make this simple wrench.

Here’s the wrench on the lid ready to unscrew the lid. All you need to do is grab the bail (handle wire) then the wrench and effortlessly unscrew the lid.

The wrench by itself.

For the materials all I used was a scrap piece of plastic from an old cutting board and 2 pieces of aluminum flat stock 1½ wide x 1/8 thick x 5 inches long. I bent them in my vice.

The aluminum is attached to the handle with a couple #10 screws and nuts.

That’s it! Simple and I like simple.

Mylar Bag Rupture

Something to remember:

When storing hard, edgy or sharp cornered dry foods in Mylar bags they can pierce or rupture low cost or thin a Mylar bag when the oxygen absorber inside eats the 20% oxygen in the bag. This creates a strong vacuum squeezing the Mylar tightly against the food stored inside. Below is a photo of one of my emptied one gallon Mylar bags that I stored Egg Noodles in. If you look closely you can see the raised bumps where the corners of the egg noodles were trying to poke through because of the vacuum. This and the other bags stored did hold a strong tight vacuum indicating a good bag seal. There were no bags ruptured (no vacuum leaks) and no danger of food spoilage. All the Mylar bags I purchase are 4.3 mils thick or thicker whether they’re one gallon or five gallon bucket sizes.

Here you can see the bumps where the corners of the egg noodles wanted to poke through.

Here are the egg noodles that caused the bumps. I Mylar bag my foods in 1 gallon bags because when my 5 quart jugs get close to being emptied the 1 gallon bag from my bulk stock refills them nicely.

Oxygen Absorbers

Most of us have heard about or already use oxygen absorbers, but for those who haven’t had the opportunity to use them, here are a few facts about them.

What Are and How Do Oxygen Absorbers Work?

Oxygen absorbers simply consist of a small packet made of breathable material containing iron powder which reacts with the oxygen in the air causing the iron powder to rust. It is the rusting reaction that consumes the oxygen molecules.

When the oxygen in the food storage container has been absorbed, the oxygen absorber ceases working because all the oxygen in the container has been absorbed.

Or they become "loaded" when all the iron powder is completely rusted the absorbing action stops. For this reason it is important to select the proper size oxygen absorber for the container or Mylar Bag being used. Selecting an absorber that is too small for the container volume will not have enough iron powder in it to consume all the oxygen in that container and your long term storage may be compromised.

How much oxygen does an absorber absorb?

All absorbers specify the amount of oxygen each packet can consume in “CC’s” (cubic centimeters). Again this is the amount of oxygen the absorber will consume, not the total amount of air in the container. There is only 21% oxygen in the air we breath and the rest is mostly nitrogen and will not harm the food being stored. So you simply calculate how much oxygen in cc’s you need to remove and use the appropriate size absorber. For more information about how to calculate those volumes visit: http://www.sorbentsystems.com/o2absorbers_1.html

I took a photo of new and used oxygen absorber contents of the same manufacturer.

The first photo shows two piles of absorber contents on a plate. The pile on the left is a fresh (black) absorber contents and the pile next to it on the right side (red or rust) is from an absorber taken from the #10 can of Vital Wheat Gluten I recently opened.

This photo shows the two absorber packets I opened and emptied for the first photo.

‘FreshUs’ brand Manufacturers Statement:

FreshUs is oxygen absorber to protect packaged foods and other products against spoilage, mold growth, color change, loss of nutritive values, insect damage and loss of quality. By removing residual oxygen inside packaging to below 0.01% FreshUs effectively preserve packaged foods without use of food additives and preservatives. FreshUs not only extends shelf life but keeps product quality as was.

Compared to other packaging methods FreshUs shows better performance than nitrogen flushing or vacuum packaging. FreshUs can replace or combine with these conventional Gas Flushing or Vacuum and back flushing methods to ensure product quality and extend shelf life.

FreshUs reduces and maintains Oxygen content in packaging to below 0.01%.

Thereby eliminates Aerobic Microbial Growth and Oxidative Chemical Reactions in Packaging.

How Long Does it Take For the Oxygen Absorbers to Work?

Oxygen Absorbers become warm to the touch when they are working. They take about 4 hours to achieve their rated maximum absorption.

Are They Dangerous to Come in Contact with Food?

The packets are made of a breathable material that allows oxygen and moisture to enter but does not allow the iron powder to leak out. The Oxygen Absorbers are safe to place on top of the food. The packet material will not harm the food they are in contact with.

How I use Oxygen Absorbers:

After years of storing dry bulk food for myself, I have simplified the process and size of the absorber (I like simple). I now use and keep in stock the 500cc size only and use multiple packets where needed.

The food amounts I now store in are:

1 quart in quart canning jars.

1 gallon in 12.5 x 18 x 4.3 mills size Mylar Bags.

5 gallons in 20 x 30 x 4.3 mills size Mylar Bags.

The number of absorbers I use:

1-500cc absorber in each quart canning jar.

1-500cc absorbers in each gallon Mylar bag.

5-500cc absorbers in each 5 gallon Mylar bag.

Placing too many absorbers in a container is perfectly fine, because when the oxygen is gone they stop working. This gives an added insurance policy if you are in doubt as to the size of absorber to use for the particular food being stored.

Note: It is recommended that you do not use a desiccant with oxygen absorbers. Absorbers require some moisture to work (rust).

I purchase my absorbers from Honeyville Grain in 75 count packages. http://store.honeyvillegrain.com/oxygenabsorbers500cc.aspx#.UEAvgMGPVGY

Mylar Bags and Long Term Food Storage

Like most everyone I use Mylar Bags for my long term food storage because there is no reasonable alternative. To date they have been safe and very effective. As with all plastic resins when subjected to extreme temperatures like high heat any resin will begin to break down and off gas or leach their chemical makeup. Long term exposure of heat is the enemy to all plastics or enamels used in metal can liners. I am perfectly content with using Mylar bags for my long term storage.

Recently I had a comment posted by Vickie and it was;

“Vickie said...
Do you worry that the food will interact with the mylar bags? I do.
November 11, 2010 10:30 PM”I use and recommend Sorbent Systems for my Mylar needs so I sent them an e-mail asking about the safety of Mylar. Hope this helps with any concerns about Mylar.

I wrote:Dear Tech Support,
I am a customer of Sorbent and have always recommended your company to people for the best place to buy their Mylar food storage needs from.
I have been asked if, “Mylar Bags are safe for long term storage because some say the plastic used breaks down and coverts to formaldehyde”.
Could you please respond to this question?

Sorbent Systems Response:“The outer layer of these bags is made from the PET, not the inner layer which is what comes into contact with the actual product. The inner sealant layer is made from LLDPE which is what the FDA requires for direct contact for food and pharmaceutical products.”

Regards,
Phil Virga
2460 East 57th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90058
323.277.4700 x 254 - Phone
Skype: impakphil

Mylar Bags and Sealing for Long Term Storage*

My personal evolution with long term food storage methods was long and at times frustrating because I tried the common methods that others were using. During the previous attempts and getting to the point where I am today those methods never seemed really right. I’m sure you all have been there or are now not pleased or convinced the method you’re using is safe and just as important, frugal and convenient.

I’m not a patient person, when I do a project it needs to be cheap and fast with the end result being the best method and results. One of the cornerstones of cheap and fast is having minimal options or ways to accomplish your goal including the right equipment.

Here’s the food storage system that works best for me.
For a food storage system to work for you it needs to save money everyday while at the same time is also your survival long term food stash. Buying in bulk does save money so I designed a system that let’s me make use of the stored foods everyday and take advantage of the bulk savings in a manageable way. This method also let’s me experiment with recipes and create dishes that are based on survival meals so should the day arrive when this is all the food I have to eat we won’t be eating strange meals or have them be a shock to our digestive system.

Through much experimenting and trial and error I now use exclusively one gallon Mylar bags for my bulk food storage with the only exceptions being wheat grain and all purpose flour because I use all 5 gallons of those in 3-6 months.

The reason for storing in 1 gallon Mylar bags? 
It’s because I use 5 quart plastic jugs with molded in handle to store the food in the pantry. In the 5 quart jugs I have a complete variety of all the foods that I long term store on hand for everyday use. The replacement food remains in storage in one gallon Mylar packs, inside 5 gallon buckets, that are the perfect size to refill the jugs when they get close to being empty. Now using the 1 gallon packs size I have just enough long term stored food in them to refill the jugs with the freshest food coming out of storage as compared to opening a full single bagged 5 gallon bucket to take some of the food out and then may not use remainder of it for a year or two risking spoilage.

In a nut shell here are all the components used for my long term storage:
• 5 gallon buckets, new, FDA Food Compliant with gasketed lids
• Mylar FDA Compliant Food Storage bags, 20 x 30 x 4.3 mils thick, for 5 or 6 gallon buckets
• Mylar FDA Compliant Food Storage bags, 12.5 x 18 x 4.3 mils thick for 1 gallon quantity food packs
• Mylar bag Heat Sealer machine
• Oxygen Absorbers, 500cc (I use 2, 500cc absorbers per 1 gallon of food stored)
• Quart canning jars

The Mylar bags and Sealing Machine:I buy and use just two bag sizes:
• 20 x 30 x 4.3 mils thick ($1.50 each for 5 or 6 gallon buckets)
• 12.5 x 18 x 4.3 mils thick ($0.50 each for 1 gallon bags)
• I also use the ‘Impak’ 16 inch Heat Sealer machine
• I buy all my bags and the heat sealer from www.sorbentsystems.com
• Sorbent makes the bags and the heat sealing machines in the US.

The ‘Impak’ Heat Sealing Machine
This machine may be a hard pill to swallow due to cost $130.00 but I feel it is absolutely necessary to ensure you have that perfect long term heat seal of the Mylar bags. In the past I like many others used a clothes iron, yes it works but I was never sure I had a good seal. Since buying the heat sealer machine I have resealed all my bags that I had used the clothes iron for the seal. After all we are talking about long term food storage of 10, 20 or maybe 30 years and worst case life or death. This machine is designed to produce the perfect seal time after time without any guess work.

Why is this sealing machine the better way to seal Mylar Bags?
1. It is specifically made for the job.
2. It has the recommended 5mm wide heat strip.
3. The top clamping arm has a positive stop to prevent excessive clamping pressure and upon touching the stop a micro switch is tripped to start the heat strip and at that moment a timer also starts and automatically turns off the heat strip via a programmable timer for the perfect heat duration every time.
4. Incorporated in the top clamp bar is a spring loaded silicone rubber pressure bar that applier the exact amount of pressure so you don’t over or under squeeze the seal area.
5. Bottom line is it duplicates the precise heat, duration and pressure needed to produce a perfect seal every time.
6. It will last forever; even if you let your friends use it for their sealing needs.


The large Mylar bag is 12.5 x 18 x 4.3 mils thick.
I no longer trim the corners as shown in the photo. In the beginning, I stacked the four bags in the bucket one on top the other. Today I stand the four bags on end in the bucket and that is easier to do.


If you need smaller Mylar bags to custom fit a smaller volume I do not have to buy and stock a number of different sizes. I simply cut and heat seal the large Mylar 12.5 x 18 x 4.3 mils thick bag into 4 smaller bags for 2 cup capacity you can use for up to two meals in each bag for back packing, camping etc. Cutting up the larger bag into the smaller bags ends up costing about $0.12 each. Example of how much food fits in the smaller bag: 2 cups of rice or beans dry equals 6 cups of cooked food.

I use a 1 gallon pitcher so I can easily and consistently measure out 1 gallon quantities of food for each bag. I have a chart that breaks down how many meals we can get from a single gallon of stored food. This helps greatly for knowing exactly how many meals you have in total in long term bulk food storage stock.

The bag with 1 gallon of food in it (about half full) just before sealing.

I use some books to elevate the bag so it is more in line with the sealer surface and this avoids fighting with bag wrinkles at the seal point.

The first seal is continuous all along the top edge of the bag. There is no oxygen absorber inside at this time. I seal close to the top because when I open the bag I just trim enough to cut off the seal and enough bag is left for 2 or 3 more reuses. Saves money on buying new bags! I found doing it this way it was a lot easier to get the bag to lay flat and eliminate any wrinkles in the large main seal. Wrinkles will cause an oxygen leak down the road.

In this photo you’ll see a small angled seal. This is where I use scissors to remove part of the original first seal so I can slip in 2, 500cc oxygen absorbers, squeeze out some of the air and then reseal that opening. The bag is now sealed and finished.

I lay one bag on top of another in the 5 gallon bucket. Four 1 gallon food packs fit inside one bucket. I leave the lid off for 2-3 days and let the absorber eat the oxygen and collapse the bags making them settle below the rim. Using a mallet I snap the lid on and I’m good for years to come.

That’s it! I like this system and will stay with it because it does everything I want with cost, convenience and ease of doing.

Gamma Seal Lids

I wanted easier access to my bulk flour stored in a five gallon buckets. Every week I make all my own bread and some for a few neighbors, pizza dough and other baked goodies so I buy my All Purpose Flour in 25 lb. bags to save money; it’s about half the cost this way. Because I go through the 25 lbs. about every 6-7 weeks I personally feel there is no need for me to Mylar Bag it in a bucket, just need an FDA bucket to keep the bugs and moisture out. Flour stored long term, two+ years is Mylar Bagged with Oxygen Absorbers.

Last week I ordered four more 5 gallon buckets, two with regular gasketed lids and for the first time two Gamma Seal Lids to try out.

The reason I bought the Gamma Lids is to verify their product quality, ease of use and if they actually seal when closed before I buy anymore. If they are a good product I can see using them on my Oat Meal, All Purpose Flour and Wheat Grain buckets because I use these the most.

Review:
This is an outstanding product, well designed and strong. The quality is excellent and the seal is great. If you are like I was, not sure if these Gamma Seal Lids are worth it, go ahead and buy them they are a great product.

The Gamma Seal Lid comes in two parts;
1. The gasketed bucket mating ring that snaps onto the bucket rim just like a standard lid and yes you will need a mallet to install the ring onto the bucket.
2. The other part is the gasketed, threaded lid the “easily” screws on and off…. It has its own well designed gasket (o-ring) that seals perfectly with little pressure making the closing and opening of the lid very easy.

The Gamma Lid makes it easy to access the bulk flour as I need it (I won’t have to pry open the standard snap on bucket lids). In the kitchen I use Rubbermaid 1 gallon clear plastic jars for the everyday kitchen storage of my flour. I also use 1 gallon Rubbermaid jars for Oat Meal, Pancake Mix, Dry Milk and Grits and ½ gallon sizes for items like Brown Sugar, White Sugar, etc.

This is the bucket filled with 25 lbs. of flour, fits perfectly.

US Plastics is where I buy all my buckets and lids for food storage. Great company and never had an issue with them. I don’t like using ‘used buckets’ for my food because you just don’t really know what’s been in them unless you work at that bakery etc and empty them yourself.

Just a note for those who buy new buckets;
Buckets come in two wall thicknesses, .075 and .090 of an inch thick. I purchase the .090 thick buckets for the extra strength, the extra cost (about $2.00) is worth it to me because this is my life saving food storage container and I want all the advantages I can get for its long term security.

For those of you who wish you had a slightly larger bucket they also have 6 and 7 gallon buckets and they sell the Gamma Seal Lids so you can order both and save the shipping as compared to buying Gamma Seal Lids elsewhere.


Gamma Company web site
http://www.gamma2.net/


6 and 7 gallon buckets
http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=23470&catid=752


Gamma Seal Lids
http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=24282&catid=686


5 gallon bucket I use
http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=23220&catid=752

Mylar Bag Sealing Using a Clothes Iron

Mylar bags and 5 gallon plastic buckets are meant for each other and is the simple, cost effective and proper way to safely store your bulk foods for the long term. In a nut shell simply place a Mylar bag into the 5 gallon bucket, add your food and the appropriate number of oxygen absorbers, then heat seal the Mylar bag closed and snap on the bucket lid. It’s really that simple!
The only potential problem we face when doing this procedure at home without purchasing sophisticated commercial heat sealing equipment is, how do we create the perfect seal needed for this method to be effective?

Typically a 2x4 type piece of wood would be used as an anvil for the heat sealing surface, place the open end of the bag over the 2x4 and use a household clothes iron to apply the heat needed to bond the open end of the Mylar bag together. This 2x4 method can be a hit or miss approach due to the large surface area we are trying to create a seal with due to the number of square inches of area to heat and seal with this size of an anvil board. It’s nearly impossible to keep the Mylar bag sealing area wrinkle free and at the same time applying even heat and pressure over that broad of a surface to get a proper bag seal.

The solution is similar in that I still use the household iron but use a different anvil board configuration for the heat sealing surface.

I used a 1x6x22 inch long board (although the width can be 3-4 inches) and attached by gluing a piece of molding trim that has a half round contour on it and secured at the lengthwise edge of the main board. It is very important that there are no nail heads, holes or other imperfections on the top of the ½ round molding trim. The half round molding now acts as the anvil and concentrates the heat and pressure of the iron on that crown of the molding which will produce about a 1/8 inch wide seal ensuring a proper bonding seal.

The photo immediately following the first photo of “all the items you need” is a close up end view of the anvil board with the trim molding attached to show you what I’ve done. The molding can be any style molding as long as it has a radius feature or a crown to concentrate the irons sealing heat and pressure.

The items you need to long term seal bulk food in 5 gallon buckets are a; bucket, lid with gasket, 4-500cc oxygen absorbers, 20"x30"x5mil Mylar bag, clothes iron, anvil sealing board and a bag of rice, beans, wheat, pasta or what ever you want to store.
























Step #1Sealing Procedure:
Open the Mylar bag and place it into the bucket. Using your hands spread the bag open to form fit the bag the best you can to the bottom and walls of the bucket. This will reduce dead air space, bag strain and a possible rupture to the Mylar bag when filling the bucket with the food.
























Step #2Add the food to the bucket.
Add the food you are storing into the bag/bucket. Do not fill the bucket to the rim. Try to keep the food about 2 inches below the rim of the bucket. You need this space to fold the excess Mylar bag into and still be able to close the lid.





















Add the Oxygen Absorbers, four 500cc absorbers are more than enough for rice, wheat and beans and other small grained foods, and try and equally space them equally as you fill the bucket. As you add the absorbers use your hands and press down on the food to help press the Mylar bag against the bucket walls and bottom to make use of all the bucket volume possible.

1st one on the bottom
2nd one at 1/3 full
3rd one at 2/3 full
4th one on top

Step #3Close the Mylar Bag.
Take the open end of the Mylar bag and grasp the bag edge seams and spread them apart to close the bag. Take your time doing this. You don’t want any wrinkles in this area, just a very smooth bag surface to surface for the sealing operation.



Step #4Place the anvil board on top of the bucket.



Close up end view of the anvil board showing
the trim molding attached















Step #5Grasping the two edge seams of the Mylar bag stretch it apart and fold the open end of the Mylar bag over the half round anvil and try to keep it wrinkle free.

















Step #6Now place the pre-heated iron (use the cotton setting) on top of the Mylar directly above the half round molding and apply about the same amount of pressure on the iron as if you were ironing a pair of pants. Slowly slide the heated iron with medium speed, about a 3-4 second count beginning to end across the top of the half round using constant pressure on the iron. I go over the same seal bead three times with the heated iron.



















Step #7I repeat the seal 4 times on the Mylar bag, spacing each seal bead about a half inch apart. It almost guarantees that one of those 4 seals is the perfect seal you are trying to achieve for safe long term food storage.

The four seal beads should look like this.


















Step #8Fold the excess Mylar into the bucket and install the lid.
This is why you must not fill the bucket to the rim with food. By leaving about 2 inches you will have 1½inches of space for the excess Mylar bag to fit in and the ½ inch the bucket lid needs to be seated.





















Step #9Loosely set the lid on the bucket and wait 2-3 days to give the oxygen absorbers time to consume all the oxygen from inside the sealed bag. As the oxygen is consumed the bag will shrink down to a snug fit around the food packed. If you seal the bucket lid before the shrinking occurs the bucket side walls can be sucked in and distort the round shape.

After the 2-3 days has passed use a 4 lb. mallet (shown in the photo below) or a hammer with a block of wood placed on top of the rim to prevent hammer damage to the lid and strike firmly to dive the lid down until it snaps closed and sealed.

I use a “Dead-Blow” 4 lb. mallet to drive the lid on.
It works great!


















Step #10Labeling the bucket.
Labeling the bucket with the contents is very important. After all it may be 5-10 years or longer before you need the food inside and with 10-30 or more buckets accumulated over the years you will never remember what’s in them.

Where to place the label?
The best place I find for the labeling is just above the handle as shown in the photo. By placing the information there the handle will never block the label from view so when the buckets are in storage on the shelving and you take regular inventories of your stock it will make that task easier.


















The labeling should be able to tell you the following;The type of bulk food.
The foods manufacturer.
The processing lot number or date. (if a recall you will know if you’re affected)
The actual description of the food.
The month and year you packed it for storage.
The amount by weight of the food inside. (from this you can calculate how many servings of prepared food are in each bucket)

Note; there is a down side to using self adhesive labels. Should you have water damage they may come off or become blurred or unreadable. As a back-up or alternative is to use a Sharpie marking pen and write directly on the bucket, just be sure to print legibly.

My bucket label


















Note about the Iron’s Surface Temperatures:
The Mylar material can be melted or sealed by using the “Maximum” heat setting on the iron. This setting will produce a temperature between 300 and 310 degrees.

The typical household iron does not produce an even temperature from the point to the heel of the iron’s heated surface so you need to remember that it is the tip or top 1/3 area that has the highest temperature for sealing and it is that area you need to keep in contact with the Mylar and the anvil board when sealing the bag.