Author Topic: How to store rice and beans... (Read 5456 times)

Lloyd Smale · « **Reply #30 on:** August 28, 2011, 02:43:39 AM »

would vaccum packing kill them? Or is there still enough oxegen in there to support them. One more question. I see lots of answer to killing things in your beans but whats the best way to store them to insure they dont dry out. Ive vaccum packing and then freezing for a week but i dont want to use up all my freezer space leaving them in there for the long haul.

bilmac · « **Reply #31 on:** August 28, 2011, 05:53:45 AM »

I think you would want your dry beans as dry as possible. Most things keep better the drier they are. I think your program is about as good as you need to do, when you put them away for the long term, put them in the coolest place you can find.

I wonder if these warnings about shelf life are as bad as they seem. When they say that beans will only keep for 4 or 5 years do they mean that the beans will be inedible after 5 years, or have some goody goody Home Ec types discovered that the beans don't have as much vitamines as they used to.

I think if the beans have just lost some of their nutritional value they are still going to have the protein and starch to keep a person going through a winter till he can grow something more healthy. When the pilgrims were down to having nothing more than 5 kernals of corn a day to eat, they certainly would have thanked God for a few 10 year old beans to eat too.

BIG Dog454 · « **Reply #32 on:** August 28, 2011, 06:31:49 AM »

When you heat beans rice etc. in the jars, in the oven; as soon as you take the jars out you seal them. This creates a vacume in the jar as they cool. the vacume along with the heating keep bugs out.
BD

powderman · « **Reply #33 on:** August 28, 2011, 12:02:37 PM »

LLOYD. I think you are talking about fresh green beans. We dry those too, and don't use up freezer space for veggies. We lost a bunch last year to bugs after they were dried and stored. It's crazy because we have at times kept dried green beans for several years without any problems. This year after drying we are freezing them for several days before putting them up. They are called leather britches. POWDERMAN.

Lloyd Smale · « **Reply #34 on:** August 29, 2011, 01:52:47 AM »

no powderman I was refering to dry beans. Ive got probably 50lbs of them that ive had packed in vaccum bags. just looking for a way to keep them that wont let the dry so much that there not cookable. I dont routinely eat them so rotating the stock isnt an option.

reliquary · « **Reply #35 on:** August 29, 2011, 03:46:42 AM »

I've only been into storing food in bulk for about 18 months, so there are lots of folks out there who have more experience and good ideas. Thanks to those of you who've shared them here.

The trend among those I "pen-pal" with over the Net and talk to in person is to freeze the rice/flour/meal for a week or so, then let it defrost and dry out for a few days, then go into an airtight container with some kind of dessicant. Others use some kind of oxygen-absorbers as well. A cupfull of CLEAN catlitter in a lidless container will work as a dessicant for a 5-gallon bucket. That's what has worked for me, so far. I open the containers every now & then for a short time to remove a 5-lb bag or replace one I've used, and the adult bugs haven't had time to find the opening yet.

Personally, I'm going to try the 2-liter bottle with "squeeze-created" partial vacuum, next. I have a bunch of those on hand that I scavenged for a science project. They'll also store easily in the nooks and crannies.

Homefolks in my area have used the leather-britches approach for pinto beans as well as green beans.

longwinters · « **Reply #36 on:** August 29, 2011, 03:15:53 PM »

I would vacume seal and then freeze. Later take the items out and you should be good to go for a long time.....

powderman · « **Reply #37 on:** August 29, 2011, 04:46:19 PM »

WE have several empty 2 liters, I might just try that. POWDERMAN.

illini warrior · « **Reply #38 on:** September 04, 2011, 02:36:40 PM »

WOW ..... I know this site isn't a prepper site, but you guys need to read Long Term Food Storage 101 .....
very sad to read about losing valuable food and seeing alot of wasted energy/materials for limited storage time ....
25 years of storage is expected on much of the food, if properly stored ..... copy the way the professional food packers are doing it these days ..... a food grade poly bucket with 02 absorbers heated sealed in a mylar bag

powderman · « **Reply #39 on:** September 05, 2011, 03:42:16 PM »

illini. Nope, we aren't professionals. Just a bunch of like minded folks sharing ideas on what we each have done and tried and hoping to learn from each others experiences, successes and failures. POWDERMAN.

charles p · « **Reply #40 on:** September 05, 2011, 04:55:07 PM »

If a bag of beans is vacuumed packed and properly sealed, where does the moisture go? Seems to me that the moisture content would not change unless the vacuum was lost.

bilmac · « **Reply #41 on:** October 08, 2011, 03:15:17 AM »

I was just looking at a professional site, by the home ec types, and they said that white rice can be stored indefinately. Yes rice doesn't have a lot of nutrients, it's just carbohydrates, but carbohydrates translate into calories, and it is calories first that we need to keep our bodies moving. All the other stuff we need can be postponed and or picked up from other sources.

This applies to white rice only, other rices have things in them that will spoil over time.

no guns here · « **Reply #42 on:** October 11, 2011, 04:17:03 AM »

Last week I got inspired by this thread to find some "prepper" sites. I must say that some are full of crazed conspiracy theorists who border on lunacy. However, some are actually really good with people who are concentrating on "prepping" for the future whether it's a tornado, hurricane, job loss, fire or TSHTF. That's what I'm working on selling to my wife. General preparedness "just in case". So much to do. The first is finding a place with a well... water is the most important.

NGH

Cornbelt · « **Reply #43 on:** October 13, 2011, 05:34:35 PM »

For studying the life cycles of grain weevils and flour bugs, here is an interesting sight for identification and weevil war: http://www.the-piedpiper.co.uk/th7.htm

powderman · « **Reply #44 on:** October 13, 2011, 05:51:50 PM »

Quote from: Cornbelt on October 13, 2011, 05:34:35 PM

For studying the life cycles of grain weevils and flour bugs, here is an interesting sight for identification and weevil war: http://www.the-piedpiper.co.uk/th7.htm

Thanks for the link. POWDERMAN.

sahoo · « **Reply #45 on:** November 02, 2011, 12:07:26 AM »

Rice and Beans can be stored very easily if you use vaccum bags or various storage containers.Before you store them you need to dry these products then by using vaccum bags you can store them for a long period of time. If you want to know more about these products the please see following sites:http://orved.it/ which is an online outlet for supplying vacuum packing machines, storage bags, cooking bags, vacuum bags, and channeled bags etc. This offers good food storage option.

blind ear · « **Reply #46 on:** November 02, 2011, 08:52:41 AM »

I have heard of this but this link won't work. Couldn't find it with many searches. ear

How to store grain - Department of Agriculture, Forestry and ... How to store grain Insects in stored grain. Insects in stored grain can cause ... Grind dry maize leaves and mix them with the grain ; Mix the grain with wood ashwww.nda.agric.za/docs/grain/grain.htm - Cached

Cornbelt · « **Reply #47 on:** November 03, 2011, 02:38:08 AM »

I can't comment on the ground corn leaves, which sounds interesting, but mixing the grain with wood ash will not only spoil the fun of all the creepy crawlers, it would also be a dessicant. (Imagine crawling through lye if you're a bug or larva).
Of course, you'd have to blow the ashes out before use, but any ash left might help neutralize excess stomach acid.

Some chicken raisers I know keep wood ashes for dust baths in order to minimise parasites.

sahoo · « **Reply #48 on:** November 24, 2011, 10:34:14 PM »

Hi
vacumm bags are too hygenic and safety i think rice and beans could be more fresh and hygenic in this.

For more information visit:orved(dot)it

spitpatch · « **Reply #49 on:** February 11, 2012, 04:36:31 AM »

Big Dog's method is about the best you can get for long term, been doing that for years. Just opened some rice stored since 1999 and it tasted as good as the day it was packed. Together with some 12 year old vegetable stew it was very good. Told the kids if we were dead in the morning to sell the farm and split the money.

Another method one might consider is filling your containers with nitrogen. I have a bottle of nitrogen that I adapted clear plastic flexable tubing to my regulator. I lay the tubing in the bottom of my bucket (or whatever), fill container with product and turn on nitrogen.

The nitrogen displaces the oxygen in the container, thus making an oxygen free envrioment within the container. pull the tubing when full, snap or screw on lid. Metal won't rust, bugs can't live.

jrnsuz · « **Reply #50 on:** February 12, 2012, 12:14:47 PM »

Quote

[ The nitrogen displaces the oxygen in the container, thus making an oxygen free envrioment within the container. pull the tubing when full, snap or screw on lid. Metal won't rust, bugs can't live. /quote]

So how do you know when the container is full?

bilmac · « **Reply #51 on:** February 12, 2012, 04:47:18 PM »

I think the procedure is to just use enough so that you are sure it is overflowing. There are some cool looking things you can do with different weight gasses though, like you can take a balloon filled with normal air and float it on the nitrogen in a container.

Lloyd Smale · « **Reply #52 on:** February 13, 2012, 12:42:17 AM »

Biggest downside to this way would be the expense of buying enough jars.

Quote from: BIG Dog454 on August 28, 2011, 06:31:49 AM

When you heat beans rice etc. in the jars, in the oven; as soon as you take the jars out you seal them. This creates a vacume in the jar as they cool. the vacume along with the heating keep bugs out.
BD