I have my emergency food supply pretty much in order except for my bread groups. I have plenty of canned veggies, fruits, pasta, meats, evaporated milk, beans, etc......but the one thing I am having trouble with storing for more long term are things like flour, meal, cereals, powdered milk...and basically all powdered food types.

Will this stuff store longer in ziploc storage bags that in the original containers? As long as it will last two or three years I will be happy, as I plan to rotate new food for what I have stored over time. Is there any other economical way to store this stuff? Time frames if known would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

I'm not an expert at the storage of ground wheat flour but at one time Major Surplus, Gardena, Calif had some blurb about longterm storage of various foods.
[url]www.majorsurplussurvival.com[/url]

check out this:

[url]www.survival-center.com/guide/[/url]


[8D]

The way to store flour, rice or other grains is to either by canning, like they do at the LDS place, or with mylar bags with oxygen absorbers. After heat sealing the bags, the all of the O2 gets sucked into the absorber and essentially vaccuum seals the package.

I have some stuff that was sealed in late 1999 and is still good.

Go down to your local donut shop & plunk down a buck or two for one of their plastic 4-5 gallon food grade pails with sealing lid.  Clean and dry the pail/lid, insert foods, add dessicant, seal, burn residual 02 out with a tiny candle.  Cache as desired.

e8ght,

Man, that was a cool sounding (and economical) way of storing food. Just a few questions though....do you just pack in the loose grains and toss the dessicant in on top of it? Or does it need to be packed in something else first? Then just place a candle inside, light and seal while it is burning? And will something like a birthday candle be sufficient? I imagine foods like flour, meal, powdered milk, oats, etc should last two years using this method.....do you think so too? Again, thanks very much for your advice....since most stuff sold for long term storage is just too expensive to be practical, I think I will use your method.

I'll give the same advice:
http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?id=115948