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View Full Version : Basic questions from a solo newbie prepper



johnzilla
04-16-2008, 08:26 PM
Hi -

For various reasons, I'm a solo prepper. I've been working the last 12-18 months to put up a year's worth of food and at least 250 gallons of water in addition to other supplies (first aid, tools, clothing, etc).

Basic questions: what is the best way for a single person to deal with large amounts of bulk food? Nearly all of the food I have stored is food that is easy to cook in single or double servings because I am worried about spoilage.

But easy to store and cook single serving food is really expensive compared to bulk food. It would be much cheaper for me to buy bulk rice, grains, beans, etc and store them to complement what I get out of my garden. But how do I deal with a huge bucket of rice? I may only need a few pounds a week, if that. I bought a 25-lb bag of rice at Costco once and it took me forever to eat it all, though I wasn't eating it every day.

So say I've got a mylar bag filled with rice or beans, and stored in 5 gallon bucket. Do I just pull out what I need for a few days, and keep sealing and resealing things as I go in and out? Do I store many smaller bags in a bigger container? Like 5 1-gallon mylar bags in a 5 gallon pail? Or am I over-thinking it?

The answers are probably basic, but I'd rather not experiment and waste a lot of food.

Many thanks in advance for tips/suggestions.

crashdive123
04-16-2008, 08:35 PM
Johnzilla - I rotate all of my food stores. My brown rice probably has the shortest shelf life. When I pull out a 10 lb bag, I pour it into cleaned out 2 liter soda bottles (each holds about 2 lbs) Yes it will last quite a while for me too. You may want to look at when you buy in bulk just transfering to smaller containers at that time. Date the containers and rotate that way. Simply use the oldest first and you don't have to worry about the large containers.

crashdive123
04-16-2008, 08:40 PM
An important thing to remember if you transfer food from the original packing into smaller containers is to use food grade containers. Don't ever use old milk containers.

bulrush
04-30-2008, 03:49 PM
Best thing to do is store it in airtight containers with a packet that absorbs oxygen to preserve freshness. And by airtight I do not mean the Glad or Rubbermaid containers. Get the real Tupperware. For container size I would store it in sizes that I would use in 1-2 weeks.