Dry-pack Canning

[NOLA556]

I know that the preferred method of food storage for most preppers is 5-gallon buckets and mylar bags, but here's an alternative that I thought of and googled to see if people actually do it, and bingo, apparently they do. no copyright opportunities for me. 

http://www.simplyprepared.com/dry-pack_canning_in_jars.htm

there is at least one major advantage to this that comes to mind. when you open up a bucket of stored food, that's a whole hell of alot of food that cannot be resealed. doing it in canning jars allows you to store just as much, just in smaller quantities so that you don't have to open up 60lb of flour all at once, possibly putting it at risk of spoiling before you can use it all.

also, canning jars are much easier to find at the retail level, as opposed to mylar which (in my experience) can only be found online.

just a thought.

[thatGuy]

I wonder if it would be best to use oxy-absorbers or if it would be better to hot can it so you know that whats in the jars is sterile and all that jazz too.

I'm not trying to shit all over your post NOLA, I think canning is a great idea but the as far as long term bulk food storage goes the combo of five gallon buckets, mylar bags and oxy-absorbers is tops. The bucket provides a moderate amount of 'hard protection' while the mylar protects against UV and provides a wonderful oxygen barrier.

Oxidization ruins nutritional value of food. One of the primary intents of canning is to heat the air and then seal the jar. Hot air contains less oxygen and when returned to room temp in a sealed container has a greatly reduced volume.

But none of that addresses the issue of having a five gallon bucket of beans that is open to the enviroment....

Most of you basic bulk foods (beans, corn, rice and wheat) will do just fine being exposed to the environment for a year provided that they are kept dry. While five gallons seems like a lot but it really isn't when you think about dipping a couple of cups out everyday.

Right off the top of my head I can't think of any bulk goods that this wouldn't work for but if you don't like the idea of five gallon bags they also make 1 gallon bags.  [URL=http://www.smileyvault.co

[Treaded]

We've been doing something similar with rice and other staples for the last year or so.  We use a handheld vacuum pump (the one designed to bleed brakes) and a foodsaver wide mouth jar adapter with a couple of absorbers in each jar.  Everything I've read shows that white rice in a vacuum can last up to ten years which given our rotation plan is longer than we need.

[NOLA556]

to be completely honest, I'm just too broke to buy in bulk right now, and I don't have a pressure cooker yet, so I was just brainstorming on how to lengthen the shelf life of the dry food that I already have on hand. so I though of this dry canning idea. only thing is I still need oxy absorbers, lol. 

at the very least, for you guys going the 5-gallon route, you could just have plenty of mason jars on hand, and when you crack open a new 5-gallon bucket, just transfer the contents into a bunch of jars to ensure freshness? idunno.