My Mylar/Silica Tutorial & Why I Recommend Freezing Dry Goods Before Packaging

- Do gather food grade buckets and lids. - Do freeze your dry goods at least 3 days. (see below) - Do pour from their original bag and sift/look through them removing any unsavories. - Do let come to room temperature and make sure completely free of condensation. - Do decide whether to store one or mixed items in each bucket. - If one item decide if you want five 1 gallon bags or one 5 gallon bag per. - If mixed items decide if you want twenty one quart bags or five 1 gallon bags. Quart bags need 100cc o2 absorbers. Gallon bags need 300cc o2 absorbers. Five G bags need 2000cc o2 absorbers. - Do decide the thickness of bags you'll be using. 3.5mil is thinnest but its also the most economical. 4-5mil are thicker and less prone to pokes. 7.0mil is thickest & strongest, but also most expensive. - Do purchase in as much bulk as possible as you can / need if price is an issue. - Recommended buy a mason jar (its airtight), so u can store the excess o2 absorbers in it. Other perfectly fine ways to store the extras are by foodsavering them or by cutting one mylar bag and sealing its edges on 3 sides, putting absorbers in, and then sealing last edge. - Once you have your bags and absorbers write the date and type of item on bag plus it's weight (ex on 1 gallon bag: white rice 8/12 119 oz) - Do fill 5 gallon bags in bucket to avoid issues getting it back in. - Do fill all the bags and THEN open o2 absorbers & put 1 in at a time, then rest go in jar (or whatever) & close tight. - Do seal each bag w hair straighter or iron with a good sized seal. - Do place into buckets, thinner bags need you to be gentle so you don't poke! - Do store in cool room. No garages and sheds in 80 degree summers, etc. 60 degrees gets 30 years out of rice. 75 degrees is probably going to give you 15 max before off tasting. - Do check bags annually unless you're underground caching them. - Use the internet to make sure you can mylar the item. For instance dry dog food is oily and needs to stay in its own bag, and some dried foods require a moisture absorber (i put silica packets in everything but you really only need to if you live in a humid area or if you packing dehydrated/freeze dried items you did yourself , just bc i'm OCD doesnt mean you need to go overboard unless finances permit or you have OCD too). NOTE ON MOISTURE ABSORBERS: If absorbers are sealed in a package with desiccants some thought should be given to just how low the relative humidity will be dropped. Silica gel will reduce humidity to approximately 40% which should not interfere with the absorbers oxidation reaction. Other desiccants, however, are capable of reducing relative humidity to very low levels. This might adversely affect your absorber's ability to carry out its mission by removing moisture from the absorber package that is necessary to sustain the oxidation reaction. If you do use desiccants and oxygen absorbers in the same package, place the desiccant on the bottom, fill the package and then place the oxygen absorber on top of the food just before sealing.

1.  What size Silica Gel Packet should I use in my 5 gallon bucket?
   A 5 gallon bucket is about 1158 CU IN in volume which means a 10 gram Silica Gel Packet would be ideal under normal air tight conditions. If dealing with extreme moist conditions (shipping overseas, storing in uncontrolled environment, or if valuables are especially sensitive to moisture) you can look at using a 28 Gram Silica Gel Packet.
2.  What size Silica Gel Packet should I use in my 55 gallon drum?
   A 55 gallon bucket is about 7.36 CU FT in volume which means a 112 gram Silica Gel Packet would be ideal under normal air tight conditions. If dealing with extreme moist conditions (shipping overseas, storing in uncontrolled environment, or if valuables are especially sensitive to moiustre) you can look at using a 224 Gram Silica Gel Packet.

1.  What size Silica Gel Packet should I use in my 1 gallon mylar bag?
   A 1 gallon bag is about 240 CU IN in volume which means a 2 gram Silica Gel Packet would be ideal under normal air tight conditions. If dealing with extreme moist conditions (shipping overseas, storing in uncontrolled environment, or if valuables are especially sensitive to moisture) you can look at using a 5 Gram Silica Gel Packet.

Here are some photos from the web to better illustrate this, since I have nothing to mylar currently.

FREEZING INFO BELOW PHOTOS!

Before putting your  dry foods into your storage room or in buckets/bins or on shelving it is a good idea to freeze it for 3 days.

• This is true for everything from hamburger helper to macaroni to oatmeal.
• It kills bugs that can infest your foods.
• These bugs crawl from box/bag to box/bag.
• They are not “added protein” and fine - they need to die. Kill them.
• Mylar with oxygen absorbers take 8-14 days to kill the eggs and bugs. Freezing takes 2-3 max.
• Instant potatoes, rice, pasta, flour, etc that aren’t even packaged in sealed plastics are the most common havens. Freeze and then no worries unless you bring new contaminants to infest near them.
• Resealing packages like rice, beans, etc in mylar or #10 can with 02 absorber is the very best way to ensure a long and safe shelf life. Nothing else will provide near the same results.
• #10 cans from companies do not need to be opened or frozen. The stuff inside is almost assuredly lifeless by the time it reaches you.
• Pouches sold by companies should be inspected and felt for absorber. If you’re worried you should repackage. I do not like “pouches” much bc the companies somethings cut corners and they’ll “say” 25 years but you may not get 5 out of them. If you’re going to go for pouches mountain house by oregon freeze dry is my personal recommendation as it has been military tested for its shelf life claims in both pouch and #10 can. Though, as long as a #10 can has an oxygen absorber and NOT NITRO FLUSH i have no worries about degradation regardless of the company you choose. Please call the companies if unsure, or watch youtube videos of products and you’ll usually see if an o2 absorber was inside or not.