Mylar Bags for Dehydrated Food Storage:
How to Protect Your Food Long-Term

Want to know what to use for storing food, long term? Use Mylar bags for dehydrated food storage after you have finished vacuum sealing your dried food.

Three Mylar bags, 10" x 14" in size

I use pint- and quart-sized-vacuum bags and make custom-sized bags from rolls.

Putting vacuum-sealed packages inside Mylar bagPutting vacuum-sealed packages inside Mylar bag

When your Mylar bags have been filled and sealed, the final step for long-term food storage is inside plastic-lidded bins, or buckets. Doing all this is for "serious" food preppers.

FAQs About Mylar Bags for Dehydrated Food Storage

Mylar bags for food storage?

Yes! Mylar bags create an airtight barrier that blocks light, moisture, and pests. They dramatically extend shelf life when properly sealed with an oxygen absorber tucked inside.

A disadvantage is you can't see what's in your bags, so remember to write the date and its contents on the bag while it's laying flat before filling and sealing. Avoid writing on the top part above the "seal" area because you'll be cutting off that seal, and you'll have to rewrite the contents and dates all over again. Ask me how I know.

Mylar bags can hold three or four of our vacuum-sealed bags of dried food. Just don't over-pack the Mylar bags as we want to avoid the bags puncturing each other.

How to seal Mylar bags for food storage?

Seal Mylar bags using only the "seal" function of your vacuum sealer—no vacuuming needed. Mylar’s smooth interior makes air removal just about impossible, but sealing alone provides excellent long-term protection of our vacuum-sealed packages that you'll store inside the Mylar bags.

Do you need oxygen absorbers in Mylar bags?

Yes! Adding oxygen absorbers inside sealed Mylar bags removes leftover oxygen, helping prevent spoilage and ensuring your dehydrated food stays fresh longer.

How long do foods last in Mylar bags?

Depending on the food and how dry it is, properly sealed Mylar bags with oxygen absorbers can extend shelf life from 5 years up to 25 years!

How Mylar Bags Shield Your Food from Spoilage

These special bags are made from a polyester film and are very shiny in appearance. I use them to keep out air, light, moisture, and BUGS!

Mylar bags are very tough and tear-resistant and are ideal for food packaging—they provide an extra layer of protection to our individual food packets.

Where to Find the Best Deals on Mylar Bags

Dry-Packs 60-1 Gallon ShieldPro Mylar Bags (10"x14") & 60-300cc Oxygen Absorbers (In packs of 20) For Dried Dehydrated and Long Term Food Storage - Food Survival,Silver,MB10x14-300CC-60PK-OB
Dry-Packs 60-1 Gallon ShieldPro Mylar Bags (10"x14") & 60-300cc Oxygen Absorbers (In packs of 20) For Dried Dehydrated and Long Term Food Storage - Food Survival,Silver,MB10x14-300CC-60PK-OB

Dry-Packs 1-Gallon ShieldPro Mylar Bags

  • 10" x 14" Dry-Packs ShieldPro Mylar Bags
  • Includes 60x 300cc Oxygen Absorbers (in packs of 20)
1 Gallon Genuine Mylar Bags 10” x 14” for Long Term Storage of Food, Organics or Pharma (50)
1 Gallon Genuine Mylar Bags 10” x 14” for Long Term Storage of Food, Organics or Pharma (50)

1-Gallon Mylar Bags

  • 10" x 14" Genuine Mylar Bags for Long-Term Food Storage
  • Pack of 50
  • No oxygen absorbers included

* As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
The price you pay does not increase.

The Fascinating History Behind Mylar Bags

Mylar is a thin, silvery gray polyester film that was first invented in the 1950s by the DuPont chemical company. Now commonly called Mylar, it paved the way for a versatile new form of durable and flexible plastic sheeting.

Today, Mylar polyester film is manufactured by a number of corporations around the world. It continues to be valued for its unique combination of strength, flexibility, and thinness.

Unlike many plastics, Mylar polyester films can be stretched and flexed without tearing or cracking. Mylar also resists punctures which is good to know. Why? Many dried foods are brittle and have sharp points!

Why Serious Food Preppers Trust Mylar Bags

When it comes to storing dried foods, Mylar bags are ideal. They are airtight and moisture-resistant as mentioned above. Keeping your dried foods inside Mylar bags helps keep it fresh and free from mold and other contaminants (bugs!).

I put my filled and sealed Mylar bags inside food storage containers (like lidded bins and buckets), or on a shelf, loose. If you need storage room (and who doesn't?!) check out how to make storage space out of thin air here!

IMPORTANT: Mylar bags offer an extra layer of protection
against the three enemies:

👉 MOISTURE

👉 AIR

👉 LIGHT

If you're looking for a simple and effective way to store your dried foods,
use Mylar bags.

IMPORTANT: Mylar bags offer
an extra layer of protection
against the three enemies:

👉 MOISTURE

👉 AIR

👉 LIGHT

If you're looking for a simple and
effective way to store your
dried foods, use Mylar bags.

Why You Can’t Vacuum Air Out of a Mylar Bag (And Why That’s OK)

Mylar bags are smooth, both inside and out, unlike food vacuum-sealer bags.

As stated earlier, the reason you can't vacuum these bags, (or at the very least is hard to do), is that both sides of the Mylar bag are smooth and when clamped closed in the food vacuum-sealer, the air cannot be drawn out. But really there's no need to draw the air out.

We simply use the Mylar bags to store our filled vacuum-sealed bags as extra protection.

Here's the reason for the "textured side" in vacuum-sealer bags:

Food vacuum-sealer bags need to have one inner side textured. You need to have a way for the air to be drawn out when vacuum-sealing your packages that are filled with dehydrated food!

PRO TIP:
Understanding Vacuum-Sealer Bags

Look closely at the plastic vacuum bags that the dehydrated food goes into first; you'll notice that one side is smooth and the other side is 'bumpy', for want of a better word.

Vacuum-sealer bags have a bumpy side to enable air removal effectively. Without this texture, air cannot be properly vacuumed out!

Click the images below to view them bigger!

Inside a vacuum sealer bag - showing you the smooth sideShowing ONE side of bag as SMOOTH.
Inside a vacuum sealer bag - showing you the textured sideShowing OTHER side with textured BUMPS.

Pro Tip: Label Your Mylar Bags the Smart Way

Black Felt Tipped Marker

When you've filled your 10-inch x 14-inch Mylar bags, use a black felt-tipped pen to describe the contents of the bags.

Write the date on it too!

Keep reading to see the reasonable number of vacuum-sealed packages that can fit inside one of the bags.

Remember to write on the center of the bag, or at the bottom(!) so that the date and its contents won't get cut off at the top when opening, and resealing. Trust me, rewriting bag labels gets old fast—ask me how I know! 😂

The Right Way to Pack and Seal Your Mylar Bags

I can get at least three plastic-wrapped vacuum-packed packages into one bag, sometimes four. Do not over-stuff, though. 

Overpacking risks punctures—and losing your food stash when you need it most. That's the reason why I plastic-wrap the packages after vacuum sealing.

For a 10-inch by 14-inch Mylar bag, don't forget to add a 300cc oxygen absorber for long-term storage, before sealing. Adding an oxygen absorber before sealing is for when you know you won't be going in the bag for a long time.

NOTE: To make sure you understand—we do not vacuum the air out of the Mylar bags for dehydrated food storage, we only use the sealing function on the vacuum-sealer machine; not the air removal function.

The vacuum AND sealing takes place only on the food vacuum-sealer bags, or the food vacuum-sealer rolls. We only draw AIR out of our food vacuum sealer bags that have the oxygen absorber tucked in before vacuuming it! I know I keep going on about it, but I want to make sure it sinks in.

Sealed and Safe: Storing Dehydrated Food the Smart Way

Mylar bags packed and sealed

Don't forget to check out Amazon for the best prices for Mylar bags—and as you can see in the Amazon ads shown farther up the page, some Mylar bags come complete with a matching number of appropriately sized oxygen absorbers!

Thanks for reading about Mylar bags for dehydrated food storage.

I hope you found the information useful, especially regarding why we do not vacuum the air out of Mylar bags!

Questions? Write to me here.

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