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Discover how to store food using a vacuum

Human’s always have the age-old problem of how to store food, ready for any prepping or survival situation.

Food making companies don’t usually design their food to last so long; most don’t last more than a year. Canned foods are an exception; in fact, most of them can last for several years and still remain safe for consumption, as far as their seals remain unbroken. Try to always check the expiration date of canned foods before you purchase them.

Most food manufacturers don’t stress themselves preparing their food to last long because food is something consumers don’t usually leave lying around; they usually eat what they buy in no time. Yes, consumers don’t usually leave their food for long before consumption, but this is not true for all. Survivalists for instance may store their food for several years before consumption.

This has left preppers with no choice than to repackage most of the food they purchase. Do you know that in the right condition, your food could remain safe for consumption for up to 18 years; yes, it’s true, all it needs is the right packaging. The type of packaging I am talking about, is the type that keeps out microorganisms, moisture, oxygen, and pests.

Below are steps to follow if you wish to store your food long-term using a vacuum.

Get the materials you need for the process.

After purchasing the food, you want to preserve, you have to get the materials you need to store them. These materials include:

  • Oxygen absorbers
  • Six-gallon aluminized Mylar bags
  • Five-gallon food grade buckets

These materials are not very difficult to find; you may get the buckets you need from a store near you and you can easily order the other materials online.

Gather Equipment.

The materials you need for this process are; a hair straightener or the regular iron you use to stretch your clothes, a vacuum cleaner which has a hose and a rubber mallet. The cloth iron or hair straightener will be used to seal the Mylar bags, the rubber mallet will be used to force the buckets closed and the vacuum cleaner will be used as a vacuum pump.

food storage 5 gallon bucket

Put your food items into your five-gallon bucket.

This is the first of the preservation steps. Here you are required to put as many food items as you can into each bucket. You may decide to put one type of food per bucket or you could mix different types of dry food together. Before you put in the food; first put in the Mylar bag. It is in this Mylar bag you will put the food. Fill the Mylar bag until there is only about an inch of space left in the bag.

Seal the bag.

This is the point where the hair straightener or cloth iron become useful to you. Remember that oxygen is one of the causes of food spoilage so, in this step, we are trying to make inside the bag airtight. This is done by first; putting the edges of the bag together and secondly using the heat from either the hair straightener or cloth iron to burn the tips together. Since the Mylar bag is rubber-like, its tips will melt and gum together. While sealing the bag, leave out about two inches.

Get rid of oxygen.

This step must be carried out, otherwise, all the other steps are useless. For this step, we are going to be using the oxygen absorber you got earlier. Through the unsealed end of the Mylar bag, put in the oxygen absorber. It will absorb the oxygen in the bag and so, make it impossible for microorganisms to stay there. There are different types of oxygen absorbers. There is the 750 cc oxygen absorber, which is used when the contents of the bag are dry milk, sugar, flour and other baking materials and there is the 1000 cc oxygen absorber; this one is used when the contents of the bag are grains. After placing the oxygen absorber in the bag; use the vacuum cleaner to suck out air from the bag.

Seal up the initially left out tip.  

This should be done in the same way you sealed the other parts of the bag. This process should be conducted immediately you remove the vacuum cleaner so, that air does not have time to re-enter the bag. Make sure you hold the tips of the bag shut after removing the vacuum cleaner so that air doesn’t get back right in.

store food using a vacuum

Close the lid of the Bucket.

This is done to keep out pests and reduce the chances of the Mylar bag getting perforated. You may use the rubber mallet to pound shut the lid of the Bucket or you could simply use your hand to do it.

Label the buckets.

This process is important to avoid mixing things up. Whatever you’ve sealed in the bucket should be written clearly on the bucket so, you know exactly what’s in there.

Store the food items.

Make sure to store the items in a cool dry place. This is done so that moisture doesn’t settle on the bucket and the contents of the Bucket don’t get denatured by heat.

So now you know how to store food

The above process is very effective. If you follow it, your food items should not get spoilt for at least 20 years. If you’ve noticed, in the above process, your food has double protection.

The Mylar bag prevents oxygen and microorganisms from entering your food stuffs and the bucket keeps out pests. The combination of both, makes for a very effective preservation process.

The most important material used in the above process is the oxygen absorber. Without oxygen, both micro and macro organisms can’t survive. Since oxygen absorbers are used for this process, any organism which might have gotten sealed up in the bag will die.

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