Preparedness for when

mrs_lds

Paul_Varjak wrote: »

Has anyone used Mylar bags for long term storage of food? I see that several use food-grade vacuum seal bags but these have a number of disadvantages...

Vacuum food bags are generally transparent and you really do need to keep out light when storing food long-term. To vacuum store you probably use a vacuum sealing machine which requires the use of channel bags (unless you get a 'snorkel' type vacuum sealer) Also, crushable foods are not suitable for vacuum packing.

Enter, Mylar bags and oxygen absorbers!

Mylar bags are made of polythene (just as are vacuum bags) but they contain a layer of aluminium which makes them tougher, less permeable and also block out all light - similar to modern day crisp bags!

You could use Mylar bags with a 'snorkel' type vacuum sealer but that would still not allow you to store crushable foods. So, instead of getting a vacuum sealing machine, you can use packets of oxygen absorbers instead. Just pop a packet (of appropriate size) in your Mylar bag, squeeze out excess air (if the food is not crushable) seal the bag (use a household iron) and let the oxygen absorber do the rest.

The oxygen remover removes practically all of the oxygen from the bag, creating a partial vacuum in the process. The only free gas left inside the bag will be nitrogen, argon and a tiny amount of CO2, which will not degrade the food inside.

Mylar bags come in a number of sizes and grades. The cheap bags (eBay from Hong Kong) are only 3 mil thick and somewhat transparent. Thicker bags (up to 7 mil) bags are the ones do go for but can be extremely expensive.

I have finally found a cheap source of 7 mil Mylar bags sold by the Mormon Church! They have outlets in the UK and provide free shipping. The one downside is that they only sell one size of bag (11"x13" internal dimensions) and only in packs of 250 bags which cost £58.30p. This is way way cheaper than any other supplier and about the same price as 'channel' vacuum bags.

You won't need to use a vacuum machine when using Mylar bags but you do have to factor in the cost of the oxygen absorber packets and the Mormons sell those too at a pretty decent price of £7.45p/100.

You can buy the Mylar bags and oxygen absorbers on-line at...

http://store.lds.org/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Category3_10704_10551_21158_-1_N_image_0

ThChurch of Jesus Christ of latter day saints are great advocate of self reliance. Check out the other items they have



http://store.lds.org/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Category3_715839595_10557_21158_-1_N_image_0

Also starter ideas for food storage scroll down
http://store.lds.org/images/estore/products/eng/3_04008000_o06.pdf

ginnyknit

OOh GQ sounds like a fun day, playing with KK and going to booters!

Im relishing a day of peace as ratty OH has gone to see his friends at the cricket club and talk endlessly about balls ...and stumps etc

Been out patrolling the grounds in my now almost empty garden, no hedges :j still makes me happy. Now I can think more about growing than simply opening the back door and thinking 'I need to get someone to cut the hedges' So far have admired the new position of the greenhouse, cleaned out the pots I was given which fit very neatly in the GH as they are all the same size. Also set tyres up for courgettes where the grew successfully before I decided they were in the wrong place and half filled them with half a bin of Hm compost all from the sweepings of the rabbit hutch - lush! and am now topping them with compost from a wicker planting tub that died a death in the weather. Working my way round moving stuff to the right place bit by bit but slowed down by my arthritis - so its work for 15 mins, play on pc and repeat. I am determined to have a neat and productive garden as the LL has given me a great start by putting up the fences thus extending my growing area. Seeing lots of growth on my fruit bushes and canes, mostly gifted by a fellow MSE'er bless her cotton socks.

Oh and I had a bar of chocolote - just to keep me going in the spirit of easterlyness x

pollys

Hello

I've been lurking for quite awhile now. I find this thread so informative. Is it ok to join in?

Could I ask where you got your kellykettle from please, I would love one along with the extra kit.

Many thanks

Pollys

sb44

Re not having room to store food.

What about this idea.

Buy a plastic dustbin and one of those self assemby mdf tables (diameter of table top must be a few inches bigger than diameter of dustbin), place round bit of table on top of bin, throw a round table cloth etc on top, stick a lamp and a photo frame on there and that will give you a hell of a lot of storeage space (think bins are about 90ltrs).

Not sure what the diameter of the tables are though but you get the idea.

GreyQueen

Hi pollys, of course you can join in, it's a friendly open thread, not a closed shop. You can ask and tell and share little triumphs and commiserate over hiccups.

I got the KK from the company themselves www.kellykettle.com and have been very impressed. I ordered it on Thurs and it arrived on Monday. I've got one of those slightly-discounted for minor cosmetic damage. Cannot see what they mean at all and figured that it's a working item so will acquire wings and dings anyway.

sb44 wrote: »

Re not having room to store food.

What about this idea.

Buy a plastic dustbin and one of those self assemby mdf tables (diameter of table top must be a few inches bigger than diameter of dustbin), place round bit of table on top of bin, throw a round table cloth etc on top, stick a lamp and a photo frame on there and that will give you a hell of a lot of storeage space (think bins are about 90ltrs).

Not sure what the diameter of the tables are though but you get the idea.

That's a good idea. There was a rush of those little chipboard round tables, with stands that slotted together, a few years ago, as memory serves? Sold with a pink cloth? They were titchy but a bigger disc would work very well.

At home I have a 3 foot diameter discus of MDF which was cut from a 4 foot x 8 foot sheet and has those old-fashioned screw on plates underneath, which take short screw on legs. You could buy an oldfashioned oblong coffee table from a booter to get these. In my tiny home, the discus completely fills the space in the centre of the room when I have it out for games nights or meals with friends, and otherwise lives behind the sofa with the screw off legs in a drawer.

I've been looking at furniture with the Covert Food Storage Spectacles on and have come to a few conclusions.

1. 4 drawer file cabinets are excellent. They are also apparently maus-proof. Seem to be available 2nd hand at around £10-£20.

2. Those things made in the 50s-60s as "TV trolleys" have potential. You have almost certainly seen them; dark veneer trollies, about 2.5 feet square, height of a table, with lower shelf. I'm chanelling them covered with artful drapes and with boxes of grub underneath.

3. CD/DVD storage cabinets, of the kind made of blockboard, with a cupboard front and two pull out shelved sections and drawer underneath. Pretty small footprint yet lots of easily-accessible storage. I have one of these. It currently holds the sewing equipment, plus the baked bean and toothpaste stash.

I have a very small home and am quite accustomed to storing things in strange places.

[Deleted User]

Hello POLLYS come on in the water's fine!!!!!! Nice to have new pals to chat with and share with too, welcome!!! Cheers Lyn x.

Morganarla

Hello everyone!

Long time lurker... terrible at posting and keeping up with posting in threads but avid reader nonetheless!

I'm becoming very scared about what is happening in the world atm... My parents are in ill health and struggling with money, I too am struggling with money and in not a great position to prep (long time prepper but using up stores atm due to lack of money... )

Trying to keep cheerful though! (and warm!)

Thanks for such a lovely thread xx

GreyQueen

Morganarla wrote: »

Hello everyone!

Long time lurker... terrible at posting and keeping up with posting in threads but avid reader nonetheless!

I'm becoming very scared about what is happening in the world atm... My parents are in ill health and struggling with money, I too am struggling with money and in not a great position to prep (long time prepper but using up stores atm due to lack of money... )

Trying to keep cheerful though! (and warm!)

Thanks for such a lovely thread xx

I'm sorry that things are so tough for you atm and for your parents, too.

There's some scary stuff out there and the feeling of worse to come. It gives me the feeling that I'm trying to keep my footing on sheet ice which has broken up into paving-slab sized bits. Y'know, one foot on one, which tips and slides, one foot on another, some are sinking, some are bobbing up, constant threat of sudden and fatal immersion into freezing water?

I think the important think is not to allow hard times to engender a sense of utter powerlessness. There is usually something you can do, however tiny. The 15p can of basics rice pud added to the stash. The wood dragged home for the fire. Something pretty made from your fabric stash. The warm satisfaction of taking a bunch of random bits and bobs and cobbling together a meal from not a lot.

The days are stretching out. It will be warmer. I have seen trees with the first sign of blossom opening today, which is heartening, as the rest of the countryside looks like mid-Feb not the last day of March.

Hang here with us and we'll all support each other.

Morganarla

GreyQueen wrote: »

I'm sorry that things are so tough for you atm and for your parents, too.

There's some scary stuff out there and the feeling of worse to come. It gives me the feeling that I'm trying to keep my footing on sheet ice which has broken up into paving-slab sized bits. Y'know, one foot on one, which tips and slides, one foot on another, some are sinking, some are bobbing up, constant threat of sudden and fatal immersion into freezing water? Couldn't have put it better myself!

I think the important think is not to allow hard times to engender a sense of utter powerlessness. There is usually something you can do, however tiny. The 15p can of basics rice pud added to the stash. The wood dragged home for the fire. Something pretty made from your fabric stash. The warm satisfaction of taking a bunch of random bits and bobs and cobbling together a meal from not a lot. We're hoping to move house soon, out from the city into the country so am going to start prepping again once that happens. Love the basics rice pud! Sadly current stash is depleted of it Can't help but worry about SHTF just as my stocks run down to zero though.. GAH!

The days are stretching out. It will be warmer. I have seen trees with the first sign of blossom opening today, which is heartening, as the rest of the countryside looks like mid-Feb not the last day of March. I can't wait, I really struggle in the darker months. OH is down right miserable as well, he's a proper outdoors type.

Hang here with us and we'll all support each other.

Thank you for the lovely welcome made me cry a bit

maryb

pineapple wrote: »

I have built up a big collection of kilner and other glass jars over the years. It started with using them for my plum brandy - but these days glass is my preferred storage option. I read that it's not just BPA we should be concerned about in plastics.:(
http://www.breastcancerfund.org/clear-science/chemicals-linked-to-breast-cancer/plastics/
It appears we are surrounded by toxic products including the 'off gassing' from things like new carpets.
http://www.everydayhealth.com/health-report/allergy/off-gas.aspx
Heck even our paper towels and loo paper are suspect!
http://www.neutralcleaning.com/Toxic%20Hazardous.htm
And google toxic wet wipes.
Where does it end?
Back to kilner jars, I've never replaced a seal yet. Are we supposed to?
I find that if anything goes - it's the wire round the lid which sometimes gets out of shape.

I really worry about toxic plastics as well. I did buy some of the 2litre Kilner jars for storing flour in but they are a bit awkward - too fat to hold with one hand while you spoon the flour out.

But I went to Ikea on Friday and they have a range of Le Parfait type jars, but MUCH cheaper

http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/90213549/

This hold 2 litres but it's taller and narrower than the Kilner. It fits well in my kitchen cupboard without leaving wasted space on top and I can get more of them on the shelf. I can also hold it with one hand when spooning stuff out. And it's tall enough to store spaghetti in.

Although I bought it to store dry goods, it come with a seal and looks as if it would be fine for bottling/jarring/canning.