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Freezing rice |
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 Topic: Freezing ricePosted: April 29 2006 at 9:48am |
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Is it necessary to freeze rice if you want it to last longer than a year? I noticed a couple of others have asked this question but I never saw an answer.
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NawtyBits
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Joined: February 28 2006 Status: Offline Points: 430 |
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Posted: April 29 2006 at 6:40pm |
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I am eating from a 5gal pail of rice I packed in 1998, and opened in
2000. It was packed with an O2 absorber and a dessicant.
There was no freezing. I have not had any bug problems at
all. In any of my preps.
I've never intentionally frozen any of my storage, but last winter I had 2 25# bags of flour in the back of my SUV for several days during 20 degree below weather...  nawty |
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slcmom
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Joined: February 21 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 169 |
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Posted: April 29 2006 at 6:50pm |
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My parents have been storing food for the past 30 years. They have never frozen anything either, simply packed their stuff with oxy absorbers. They've lost some powdered milk to spoilage, but everything else has held up nicely. Rice won't last 30 years of course (wheat and sugar will, BTW) but I've had some for about 5 years that I just opened and am using, packed in a #10 can with an oxy absorber. I've seen lots of stuff on freezing on this site, but I've never done it. I asked my hub (a microbiologist) and he said most of the food in the U.S. is already treated to kill the bugs before it hits the shelves. Hope that helps! |
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Posted: May 01 2006 at 12:57pm |
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slcmom, organic food too? (treated I mean). I have some organic grains stored. Regarding the oxy absorbers, do you need to put new ones in every time you open the can? (I know they have a color indicator, but don't they use up quickly when you open the cans everytime e.g. the #10 cans). I would appreciate your input, because you seem to be very experienced and knowledgeable in this. Thanks.
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slcmom
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Joined: February 21 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 169 |
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Posted: May 01 2006 at 6:05pm |
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I would guess they treat organic foods too. I'm guessing this because I know most/all of the raw materials used in the natural foods industry (herbs, supplements, etc) are treated. (Methyl Bromide, I think, but some companies are experimenting with steam--don't quote me though.) It's impossible to get the microbial count down enough to meet industry standards otherwise. And yes, oxy absorbers will be useless after about 20 minutes in the open air. After I open a #10 can, I don't reseal or replace the oxy absorber, I just use it up, throw away the can, and then open another one.
I also pack a lot of stuff in 5 and 6 gal sealable plastic containers (food grade). In that case, I use several oxy absorbers (5-6). That is just my method, although I'm sure there is a "storage container size to oxy absorber" algorithm somewhere, I just guess. It has seemed to work okay so far.
I don't know how knowledgable, just grew up with this stuff, only we called it "emergency preparedness" instead of "prepping."
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Rocky
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Joined: January 07 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 219 |
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Posted: May 02 2006 at 2:00am |
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Why can't you get oxy absorbers in smaller numbers, use up all those opened in the bag those at the same time, and then have more left in unopened bags so when you open this large can for the first time, take some food out for use over a period of time, dispose of the original oxy absorbers, put newly opened oxy absorbers back into the large can and reseal until next needed?
It is late and I am a little blurry. Hope this makes sense. Rocky |
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 Rocky |
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slcmom
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Posted: May 02 2006 at 9:09am |
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If you just keep the oxy absorbers in ziploc bags, and get only a few out at a time as needed, you can keep them good for a long time. You just can't let them sit out in the air. I don't reseal the can with a new oxy absorber because there is no need to. Do you normally have food get infested or lose freshness in your pantry? If you do, then you could reseal.
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Karianne
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Posted: May 05 2006 at 3:07pm |
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Oh no, I've never heard of oxy absorber's. Can't we just freeze it? I don't use a lot of rice or flour as I don't like to cook but I always freeze a bag of flour overnight and I freeze the Success Rice in a box cause years ago I used to get bugs so just got in the habit. I didn't know I still didn't have to. If we want to freeze a larger bag, how long should we freeze it? I want to just to be on the safe side cause I know it doesn't get bugs that way and those bugs used to be so gross. Kari |
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sweetpea
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Posted: May 05 2006 at 8:49pm |
The #10 cans are the size of a gallon can ... so, depending what is in there, you can easily use up the food within a week or less. That's why it's not really necessary to add a new oxy packet. Otherwise, if you're just using just a pinch, it's better to reseal it in an airtight jar or vacuum sealed with an oxy packet.
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Rocky wrote: