Learn about storing salt and sugar, and storing rice and flour and (and other dry goods) for long-term food storage the right way!
Storing Salt and Sugar... and Other Dry Goods
In the photo above, you can see packed Mylar bags
filled with vacuum-sealed pouches of bread flour. The bags have their
ingredients listed on them, along with the date I dehydrated them.
I've even vacuum-packed yeast that I bought in a larger quantity and re-packed into smaller pouches. This way, I can bake my own bread whenever I want! Now it's time to go over storing salt and sugar.
If you've been a fan of my site for any length of time, I hope you know that I want to make sure that families all across the USA—and the world—have enough food put away, in case the poop hits the fan.
So, before I get going with the salt and sugar storage, I want to let you know that we have a new ONE HOUR course out on Udemy that goes into all aspects of storing food for the long-term. You can read much more about that course HERE.
Although Easy Food Dehydrating goes into detail regarding putting away fresh fruits and vegetables, along with cooked meats, I also have canned goods stored away.
Many people have written in asking if they can dehydrate canned goods and my usual response is "why go to all that trouble?" because canned goods already last for years "as is."
But yes, you can dehydrate canned goods, if you wish.
The canned goods I have are canned ham, corned beef, tuna. Also, canned soups. I take advantage of the buy-one get-one free deals at the local grocery store.
But back to dry goods ...
I have been busy storing salt and sugar - and flour. All you need to do is open up the individual bags, divvy up the contents into vacuum-sealer bags, add a 100cc oxygen absorber, seal the bag, write the date on it and the contents.
It's very important to add the oxygen absorber when storing salt and sugar, as they soak up moisture!
Wrap the packets with cling wrap and store in Mylar bags. (See below for additional info. on Mylar bags).
*As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases. The price you pay doesn't increase.
You can also store your filled Mylar bags in buckets (or plastic lidded bins). I have heard positive reviews for Gamma2 lids (see this Amazon link) and the black (Gamma2) lid above is specifically for #2 Food-Grade buckets.
One reviewer gave a rave review—but I don't think she was storing flour "loose." The same reviewer said to wash the buckets and the Gamma2 lids prior to use; I've no argument with that—but seeing as we're using them to store our Mylar bags, there's no need to go to great lengths in pre-cleaning either the buckets or lids (or plastic lidded bins).
The reviewer also stated that these lids were indeed air- and water-tight and that they kept her goodies "bug free." Great for storing flour, salt and sugar!
1. To store flour, or any dried goods such as sugar, and salt is a food vacuum-sealer, and the one I recommend is the FoodSaver™ vacuum sealer machine.
2. Obviously, you'll also need storage vacuum-bags and I highly recommend purchasing them from Amazon. Check our page of food vacuum sealer bags here.
3. The third item you'll need are 100cc oxygen absorbers. These I purchase from Amazon; sometimes you can buy the Mylar bags with oxygen absorbers as a set—it saves on shipping. Read the reviews to make sure you're buying from a reputable seller on Amazon.
4. Mylar bags are my choice for storing pouches of food—at least 3 or 4 of the plastic wrapped packages can fit in a Mylar bag. But don't over-stuff these Mylar bags, as you need to have enough room at the top to seal the bag.
As a REMINDER: don't try to vacuum the air out of the Mylar bags—you can't, because both sides of the bag are smooth. The air can't be removed when the bag is clamped. (The vacuum-sealer bags have the little bumps on one side so that the air CAN be removed!)
All we do is SEAL the Mylar bag. If you know you're NOT going to be opening the Mylar bags for at least three- to six-months, then add a 300cc oxygen absorber in the Mylar bag prior to sealing it with the vacuum-sealer "seal" function only.
Optionally: my choice for storing all the Mylar bags are plastic lidded bins and buckets. See photo at top of this page with the bread flour in the plastic lidded bin. In the other photo, directly above, you'll see bread yeast stored above the bin on the closet shelving in the air tight buckets.
Don't over-pack your vacuum bags as this will only lead to punctures. To aid in the puncturing department, I wrap my vacuum-packed bags with plastic wrap. This takes away the sharp edges of the bags so I can fit 3 or 4 of these bundles into my Mylar bags.
Susan Gast began Easy Food Dehydrating in December 2010. Read Susan's story of what sparked her interest in all things related to "food dehydrating."
Susan is featured on Mother Earth News blog, and on Solo Build It (SBI) who host this site along with her sister site, Finally-Keto. Read her first SBI interview, and her second SBI interview. Susan also runs an additional SBI website: SusanGast.com - Non-Fiction Author - and showcases many of the books she's created and marketed over the years.
Since 1980, Susan's involvement in publishing - in one form or another - led her to create a "review site" of products related to the publishing industry. Visit ePubTechReviews today.
Do you want to send Susan a quick message? Visit her contact page here. She'd love to hear from you!
Sponsored Ad
Yes, you CAN eat bread on Keto
ThinSlim Foods® has
ZERO NET CARB breads... and a whole lot more!
Perfect for diabetics and for those on a KETO Diet!