The blessing of Mylar

I have mentioned a few times this thing called Mylar. Some might not know what it is so I will explain.

It is a plastic/foil hybrid pretty much.

It comes in rolls, or bags, of various sizes, in food grade or not food grade.

Why is this stuff important?

It is the best way to preserve dry goods for 30+ years.

Because it has some plasticity, it can be cauterized shut, in an airtight seal. Because it is similar to foil, it rejects intruding incoming light, which is one variable that makes food go bad.

So how do I use it? Keep reading...

The big silver looking things sticking out of that 5 gallon bucket are the Mylar bags I speak of.

Step 1: Get your Mylar bags, I prefer 5mm thick, any thicker and you have trouble sealing it. I also save myself trouble and get bags sized for 5 gallon buckets. Fill the bags with what ever you are storing, in my case, wheat.

Step 2: Get some other needed items handy. Oxygen absorbers, and a hard surface to iron on like a cutting board, piece of lumber, table or desk top, etc.

Step 3: Here is that part you have to do fast and can't waste time on. Once you expose your oxygen absorbers to air, they will start to work. Each absorber can only suck up so much oxygen, so you want to make sure you get it in the Mylar bag ASAP. Throw in the right amount of oxygen absorbers (see link below).
Step 4: Take your lumber, cutting board, desk top, what ever, and lay the excess Mylar bag flat against this hard surface. Take a normal house hold iron and turn it up to high heat. Iron the top of the Mylar bag, to melt the 2 panels shut, creating an air tight seal. This is much like zipping a zip lock bag, but instead of pinching it shut, you iron it shut.
You can see the bag has been sealed shut.

Step 6: Label the bag and the bucket, you should have at least the date and the items inside. I personally have also included good recipes on the buckets for my beans, as well as the cost at which I bought them, this makes it fun to look at 5 years from now to see what food prices used to be.

Need to know what CC absorber to use? Check this out- http://www.sorbentsystems.com/o2absorbers_1.html