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LindyLu
04-05-2009, 07:40 AM
I am going to get some dry ice to place in my stored wheat, corn & oats buckets to preserve them long term. The buckets hold aprox. 35 pounds and I have gamma seal lids. I just need to know how much dry ice to put in each and do I just put it on top of the grain or does it need to be put in the bottom of the bucket? I am presuming that after the lid is sealed, the buckets can be stored pretty much anyplace. Is that correct? The dry ice sucks the oxygen out & therefore kills any critters. Again...correct? Thanks.
Blessings...LindyLu
P.S. I have tried oxygen absorbers and spent quite a bit reordering them and they always come in already activated. I figure dry ice is the next best. Wrong? Right?

Rick
04-05-2009, 08:56 AM
I've never done it but here are a couple of sites with instructions:

http://www.infowest.com/business/g/gentle//wheat.html

http://www.ambilacuk.com/longtermsurvival/wheat.html

http://beprepared.com/article.asp?ai=59&c2a=rn&name=Storing%20Method&bhcd2=1238935871

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=001d9t

Hopefully, someone has experience with this and can provide a response. If not, these links should provide you with the information you need.

RunsWithDeer
04-05-2009, 10:58 AM
I have done it once. I put the ice on the bottom so that I could feel when the ice had finished melting. Once melted, I then fully sealed the container. If you seal completely at the beginning, you run the risk of blowing up the container.

LindyLu
04-05-2009, 03:23 PM
Thanks to all. I have gotten my dry ice & will do all my buckets tomorrow. I also have food grade diatmous earth and one of the articles said to use it also but said to mix the d.e. in with the grain which...mmm...doesn't sound right. Can I maybe put the d.e. in a cloth bag or something like that. I know d.e. is safe for humnans and critters but still...just seems wrong. Any thoughts?
Blessings, LindyLu
P.S. I am planning on storing the buckets in a drained hot tub with cover on so it should be cool but not cold in summer. Would crawl space be better? There's EWWWWW mice down there sometimes.

tennecedar
04-05-2009, 03:54 PM
Mice can chew thru a plastic bucket. I would try to deal with the mice problem. Even if you don't store anything down there, they can wreak havoc on wiring. Rodents front teeth never stop growing. They have to gnaw on something to keep them wore down.

LindyLu
04-05-2009, 05:39 PM
I hate meeces to pieces and I do mostly keep them POISONED. No I do not have nor do I want a cat. I have an insane dog who would eat the cat and that's messy. I figured the crawl space was a nono. The dry hot tub should do just fine and nothing can get inside as it has a locking cover. A shame that our electricity has increased 40% since I built...I miss my hot tub. Thanks Tennecedar for confirming.
LindyLu

tsitenha
04-05-2009, 05:52 PM
Wrap the Dry Ice in layers of news paper to reduce the "burn" effect

Nativedude
04-05-2009, 08:13 PM
LindyLu,

Dry ice will work, but it should be placed on top, as cold sinks. Placed on top the dry ice will permeate all through the grain. I would also suggest placing "bay leaves" throughout the grain (about 5 leaves per 5 gallon bucket). Bay is poisonous to the insects that grow and hatch in grains. And doing so will insure the absence of any such pests that the D.I. may fail to get.

And, as previously posted, place the D.I. between layers of newspaper and DO NOT seal the lids tightly until all the D.I. has evaporated. You do run the risk of the buckets exploding.

Smok
04-05-2009, 08:20 PM
Or put a pie tin over the dry ice and then fill . Put the dry ice on the bottom and then check to see if the CO2 is all the way to the top use a candle of it goes out when in the bucket or right at the top then you know that you have co2 there.. CO2 is haver then Oxygen it will push out all the Oxygen kill all bugs as will. I would still use the Oxygen pads