Food Storage Container Types – Mountain House Freeze Dried Food
There are several types of food storage containers. In this article, we will look at each type and learn the pros and cons of each.
Food should be stored in food grade containers. This is very important as you don’t want the chemicals in the food to react with the material in the storage container. #10 metal cans, give gallon plastic buckets, and glass jars are the most common types of food storage containers.
Five gallon buckets made of food grade plastic have been used for years for food storage and work very well. Just remember that you must have a bucket made of food grade plastic. If you are tempted to use non-food grade buckets, you will find that they will impart an off taste to the food or even chemicals as they react with the food.
Food grade buckets can be purchased from a supply house. I have used the Ropak brand for years, and they work very well. However, Ropak is a manufacturer, and to buy directly from them, you will have to buy a palette worth of buckets. So, you may want to do this with a few friends so you can split the cost.
These buckets have nice gaskets in the lids that provide a great seal while your food is in storage. If you use nitrogen to pack your food in the buckets, the gasket will keep the nitrogen in, and the air out for many years, or as long as the gasket is good. I have had some food stored in these buckets for fifteen years and have never had a problem.
A very important point to remember is that you don’ want to stack too many of these buckets on top of each other. You will notice that the well in the lid on the bottom bucket will just fit the bottom of the top bucket. So, there is no way that the top bucket(s) will slip off the one underneath. This is very nice, but all the weight on the center of the bottom bucket lid may cause it to break, causing loss of atmosphere, contamination, and insect infestation.
I learned about the problems with stacking buckets early on in my food storage career, so I have never stacked buckets in this manner. So, I cannot tell you how many buckets you can stack on top of each other and get away with. I decided to build shelves specifically for this purpose. The distance between the shelves is just more than the size of a bucket. I have never had any problems with this storage method, but I built the shelves to be very strong in the beginning.
Glass jars are a very popular method of storing food. Most grocery stores sell canning jars, so they are not hard to come by. You may consider the cost of home canning equipment to be initially expensive, but the advantage is that the jars can be used over and over, as long as the mouth is still in good shape (no chips or cracks). However, the lids cannot be used over. Some people may say that you can use them over, but dont believe them. Trying to use lids over will just cause you a lot of wasted time and headaches. Yes, in the beginning I tried it, and it just caused me a lot of grief.
Canning jar lids actually come in two parts, a ring and a lid. The ring holds the lid down on the jar. It is wise to store some extra lids and rings along with your food storage, so you have a supply on hand when you need it. You will also need some kind of pressure cooker in order to seal the jars. There are many types used in canning, along with information on how to do home canning.
Another popular method of food storage is to use metal cans. The metal cans that the canning industry uses for wet-pack canning are designed to be economical and only last for a few years. Because of this, canned goods must be rotated frequently in order to keep your supply healthy.
If you would like to do metal canning yourself, you will need empty metal cans, lids, and a can sealer. The equipment is harder to find and is also more expensive than glass jar canning. The members of the Mormon church have been doing this type of canning for years and are very experienced at it. They have canning facilities that have all the necessary equipment to do this type of canning. You may not have access to one of these facilities, so you would have to acquire the equipment yourself. Although I have never done it, I have heard that the can sealers are expensive. You would have to determine if it was worth it to you or not.
The #10 metal can is very popular in the food storage industry. The size is great for storage and the inside of the cans are lined with a material that will not react with food. Another advantage here is that #10 cans that are packaged by a food storage manufacturer will me made of the proper materials, and will be sealed with the proper atmosphere that won’t react with the food, and will provide the longest possible shelf life. One drawback to #10 cans is that they can not be resealed. However, once opened, you can put a plastic lid on them which will be better than nothing. I have used #10 metal cans for years and have never had any spoilage when using the contents. However, that is because I have purchased freeze-dried food packed in metal cans. Resealing this type of food with a plastic lid while you the contents are used has never posed a problem for me.
Diversification is good to have in a food storage program. It is good to have food stored in #10 cans, 5 gallon buckets, and home-canned jars. My personal food storage contains all three types of storage and I enjoy the flexibility it provides.
If I was starting over and creating a family food storage program for the first time, I would start with a commercially-packaged food unit comprised of freeze-dried food in #10 cans. It will cost you some money, but when compared to the cost of supermarket food for one person for one year, it may or may not be more expensive, depending on your spending habits. This is the quickest way to start a food storage program. Some manufacturers like Mountain House offer freeze-dried food that has a 25 year shelf life. After obtaining a food unit comprised of #10 cans, you can expand and include 5 gallon buckets and home-canned jars. This way you would have all three types of food storage.
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