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Post by Deleted on Oct 31, 2013 8:31:06 GMT 10
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Post by bigredtomatosauce on Nov 1, 2013 0:00:12 GMT 10
Can you recommend any sources for dehydrated food on a budget for us Australians?
Also, how are you storing rice/pastas? I heard the way to go is inside a plastic bag, inside a bucket w/ lid, but I'm wondering if you need to vacuum seal the plastic bag or add anything to it first.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 1, 2013 0:06:13 GMT 10
Can you recommend any sources for dehydrated food on a budget for us Australians? Also, how are you storing rice/pastas? I heard the way to go is inside a plastic bag, inside a bucket w/ lid, but I'm wondering if you need to vacuum seal the plastic bag or add anything to it first. From the videos I've seen, a lot of people get large mylar bags (can get them from eBay), fill up your bags with your food source, put inside some oxygen absorbers, remove all the air from the bags with a vacuum, seal with an iron, and then place inside food grade buckets. That's simply the process I've seen. As for dehydrated food on a budget. The best option is probably to dehydrate your own food. I know you can get like 8-rack dehydrators off eBay for like $50AUD. Then you have the option to buy food on the cheap and dehydrate it yourself  As for buying dehydrated food in bulk though, I'm unsure - Sorry. |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 1, 2013 8:44:12 GMT 10
Can you recommend any sources for dehydrated food on a budget for us Australians? Also, how are you storing rice/pastas? I heard the way to go is inside a plastic bag, inside a bucket w/ lid, but I'm wondering if you need to vacuum seal the plastic bag or add anything to it first. Hi Big Red and Welcome to The APF Family! Now, Ryan is right about storage! using Mylar Bags. I get mine from Amazon in the US, postage is expensive but worth the cost to get the bags! I get 200 x 1gal bags at a time. A one gallon bag holds about 2.5-3.5 kg of most things, like rice, wheat, Pasta, Etc. You can keep anything in Mylar. Add the oxygen absorber and seal with an Iron! I have seen people use 2lt drink bottles to store rice and wheat but there is still oxygen present and bugs can still grow! Now for Dehydrating: We have a electric Dehydrator but although makes great jerky, with the cost of Power and time it is not that cheap and so we are going to use other methods for Dehydrating which will be used now and WTSHTF or there is now power! I will post this in the Food for thought info tread ASAP for you! You can buy bulk Freeze dried and Dehydrated food and put in Mylar bags and keep for years! The main thing to remember when storing food long Term is to keep it cool and dry and Bug and rodent free! Make sure you rotate canned and bottle food weather purchased or canned at home! Many people buy Vacuum Sealers, but these are fine for short time storage, and freezing but for long term the plastic bags leak air and will ruin your food stores! I have one and use it reseal my 02 absorbers! Hope this has helped and I will do a section on Mylar and Dehydrating in the next few days! Gary |
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remnantprep
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Post by remnantprep on Nov 2, 2013 8:42:18 GMT 10
Apparently you don't need to both vacuum seal and use O2 absorbers. Just the O2 absorbers is enough. Also make sure your mylar bags have gone tight before sealing in buckets.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 2, 2013 9:50:42 GMT 10
You are correct Rem, I usually push on the bag before I seal it, so as to get ride of excess air space to allow the 02 absorbers to work more efficiently! |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 2, 2013 14:43:28 GMT 10
Apparently you don't need to both vacuum seal and use O2 absorbers. Just the O2 absorbers is enough. Also make sure your mylar bags have gone tight before sealing in buckets. Yeah I haven't really looked into it too much, but I would dare say you're right. |
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Post by everydayaussie on Nov 4, 2013 8:29:17 GMT 10
Can you recommend any sources for dehydrated food on a budget for us Australians? Also, how are you storing rice/pastas? I heard the way to go is inside a plastic bag, inside a bucket w/ lid, but I'm wondering if you need to vacuum seal the plastic bag or add anything to it first. Hi Big Red and Welcome to The APF Family! Now, Ryan is right about storage! using Mylar Bags. I get mine from Amazon in the US, postage is expensive but worth the cost to get the bags! I get 200 x 1gal bags at a time. A one gallon bag holds about 2.5-3.5 kg of most things, like rice, wheat, Pasta, Etc. You can keep anything in Mylar. Add the oxygen absorber and seal with an Iron! I have seen people use 2lt drink bottles to store rice and wheat but there is still oxygen present and bugs can still grow! Now for Dehydrating: We have a electric Dehydrator but although makes great jerky, with the cost of Power and time it is not that cheap and so we are going to use other methods for Dehydrating which will be used now and WTSHTF or there is now power! I will post this in the Food for thought info tread ASAP for you! You can buy bulk Freeze dried and Dehydrated food and put in Mylar bags and keep for years! The main thing to remember when storing food long Term is to keep it cool and dry and Bug and rodent free! Make sure you rotate canned and bottle food weather purchased or canned at home! Many people buy Vacuum Sealers, but these are fine for short time storage, and freezing but for long term the plastic bags leak air and will ruin your food stores! I have one and use it reseal my 02 absorbers! Hope this has helped and I will do a section on Mylar and Dehydrating in the next few days! Gary |
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Post by everydayaussie on Nov 4, 2013 8:30:02 GMT 10
Gary where have you found bulk freeze dried and dehydrated food to be able to store?
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Post by everydayaussie on Nov 4, 2013 8:33:07 GMT 10
Also with the storage of dry foods like rice, beans, flour etc - you can store them in softdrink bottles of varying sizes but you have to put an oxygen absorber in with it. I have found it easier to store grains etc like this as we only have 2 adults so I don't want to over do our food pantry and I don't want to open a huge bag of food and then have it go to waste cause we aren't getting through it fast enough.
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remnantprep
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Post by remnantprep on Nov 4, 2013 8:50:44 GMT 10
Hey Everydayaussie! Try this link, I haven't ordered from them yet but ill be trying it out next year, once xmas time is over! You can order pouches to start ith before investing in cans, see if you like them first. foodstoragedepot.com.au/freeze_dried_products.htm |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 4, 2013 10:18:17 GMT 10
Gary where have you found bulk freeze dried and dehydrated food to be able to store? Hi EDA and welcome! We have only been using the small pkts of Vegies from Coles, Wollies and Aldi! At the moment I am talking to John from Alexander & Co Pty Ltd T/as Agri Food Ingredients , The problem is that we will have to buy a whole palette, about a ton of mixed variety of dehydrated Veg! Now I am willing to buy that much if others are willing to buy a share as well! I will post more when John gets back to me with price Etc! I have contacted the site Rem put up and they seem reasonable as already in A10 tins! So I will compare both as per final cost! You also mentioned that you use Soft drink bottles to keep rice, wheat Etc, with 02 absorbers! We use Mylar bags as they DO NOT leak, where Drink bottles with not seal properly with 02 absorbers, and will allow oxygen in eventually! If you have used the 02 Absorbers then the bottles will crumple in and eventually crack, if they are not shrinking then the 02 abs are not working! Even though Mylar is not cheap, for long term storage and your ability to have food when you need it, then Mylar is the way to go! I have thought about cost of food and length of storage and tried other methods and non compare to Mylar storage! You said that there is only two of you! You can open the Mylar bag and remove the amount you need and then reseal the bag! Mylar comes in different sizes and I pack different food into different size bags! Cheers Gary |
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remnantprep
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Post by remnantprep on Nov 4, 2013 17:24:26 GMT 10
Gary where have you found bulk freeze dried and dehydrated food to be able to store? Hi EDA and welcome! We have only been using the small pkts of Vegies from Coles, Wollies and Aldi! At the moment I am talking to John from Alexander & Co Pty Ltd T/as Agri Food Ingredients , The problem is that we will have to buy a whole palette, about a ton of mixed variety of dehydrated Veg! Now I am willing to buy that much if others are willing to buy a share as well! I will post more when John gets back to me with price Etc! I have contacted the site Rem put up and they seem reasonable as already in A10 tins! So I will compare both as per final cost! You also mentioned that you use Soft drink bottles to keep rice, wheat Etc, with 02 absorbers! We use Mylar bags as they DO NOT leak, where Drink bottles with not seal properly with 02 absorbers, and will allow oxygen in eventually! If you have used the 02 Absorbers then the bottles will crumple in and eventually crack, if they are not shrinking then the 02 abs are not working! Even though Mylar is not cheap, for long term storage and your ability to have food when you need it, then Mylar is the way to go! I have thought about cost of food and length of storage and tried other methods and non compare to Mylar storage! You said that there is only two of you! You can open the Mylar bag and remove the amount you need and then reseal the bag! Mylar comes in different sizes and I pack different food into different size bags! Cheers Gary I like storing in smaller bags and buckets that way you are not having to seal it up again. |
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Post by everydayaussie on Nov 8, 2013 17:59:25 GMT 10
Hey Everydayaussie! Try this link, I haven't ordered from them yet but ill be trying it out next year, once xmas time is over! You can order pouches to start ith before investing in cans, see if you like them first. foodstoragedepot.com.au/freeze_dried_products.htmWow ... thanks so much |
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Jackosaur
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Post by Jackosaur on Nov 30, 2013 13:18:18 GMT 10
I've seen it recommended to freeze flour and rice for a while before putting into mylar to kill any weevils etc.
What about other things like sugar or powdered milk? Do they need to be frozen too? I think powdered milk would probably be ok as it would be packaged right away at the factory after it is created but I was not sure about sugar.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 1, 2013 11:52:54 GMT 10
Hi Jack! If you are sealing food into Mylar bags with O2 absorbers, you do not need to freeze them! The O2 absorbers remove the Oxygen and the bugs can't live! Milk powder and I use Skim, as it has lower fat and will last longer! Open the packet and empty into the Mylar bag, put in the O2 Ab on top and wipe the edge with a moist cloth/paper towel so as to get a clean seal! Gently press to remove excess air! Sugar and salt dose not need O2 Abs! I use them anyway but not necessary! |
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Jackosaur
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Post by Jackosaur on Dec 1, 2013 21:10:10 GMT 10
From what I hear using O2 absorber with sugar will turn it into a solid brick
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Post by Deleted on Dec 2, 2013 16:02:50 GMT 10
From what I hear using O2 absorber with sugar will turn it into a solid brick White sugar may go hard but it dose not affect it other than that, even after being wet sugar will go hard but breaks up easily! But non of mine have gone hard and I packed them in feb 13! |
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anttam8
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Post by anttam8 on Dec 30, 2013 8:35:47 GMT 10
We are a household of just 2 as well. I buy my flour in bulk and I vacuum seal into quart size clear bags and then store them in an esky. I would buy a pallet load of dehydrated vegies as well. At the moment I have my dehydrators going everyday to try and get enough to put away. My husband works away from home so I make up meals for him to take with him, so a lot of my preps get used very quickly.
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anttam8
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Post by anttam8 on Dec 30, 2013 16:36:24 GMT 10
Hey Everydayaussie! Try this link, I haven't ordered from them yet but ill be trying it out next year, once xmas time is over! You can order pouches to start ith before investing in cans, see if you like them first. foodstoragedepot.com.au/freeze_dried_products.htmI just wanted to let you know that I received an email from this lady today, to say that she will be placing 1 more order in March 2014 if the shipping rates are reasonable and that will be the last time she orders. So if you are interested, you might want to let her know now. |
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