Using Mylar Bags for Food Storage

Mylar bags are used for long term food storage. We tell you how and why we use mylar bags in our prepper pantry. We also cover the different types of mylar bags, what to store and what not to store in mylar bags, and what supplies you will need to get started.

If you have some tips or a video on mylar bag food storage, please be sure to leave a comment or link below. We encourage community and want to provide access to a variety of information so viewers can make their own informed decisions about the topics we cover.

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Established in 2015 and now nestled in the foothills of North Carolina, Guildbrook Farm is a modern mountain homestead in pursuit of developing a more self sustainable way of life. From planting, growing, canning and preserving our own food to managing our forests and land resources, our life long journey demonstrates preparedness, DIY projects, strategies and ideas that you can practice to help increase your own self sufficiency and balance with the land. Follow along as we continue to develop a little homestead in the mountains of Appalachia.

[maryd]

Pro tip : seal your bags 3/4 of the way first. Then open th oxygen absorbers and put them into the bags. It will leave you only one crimping motion to do on each bag so it goes a lot quicker!

[Molach]

Here in Scotland people used to store their oatmeal i.e. dry coarse ground oats, not cooked porridge, in special grain chests called girnals. Just like you've shown in this video, people understood the meal had to be packed as tightly as possible to stop it from going bad. Parents would traditionally wash their children's feet and have them stand in the girnal barefoot, stamping the grain down as hard as they could so there was no air inside, almost like your mylar bags with oxygen absorbers. I should probably add that although they didn't store cooked porridge that way, people did pour it into a drawer lined with greaseproof paper and cut slices off to eat cold or fried like polenta. My great grandfather was a machinist working in shipbuilding and he took a slice of cold porridge wrapped in brown paper to eat at work every day.

[elgalloblanco]

I always seal the bag all but just enough to get my 02 absorbers in so when you start you don’t have that much left to seal up

[TheOneeyedclay]

I packed White Rice, Pinto Beans, Pasta and long grain Rice in 5 mil bags between 2013 and 2015 using this exact method. I opened 1 each a few weeks ago and prepared them over the last week and they were all like fresh.

[pyrogold]

I've found that when you have left over Oxy Absorbers that need to be stored for later use, after you've opened the original bag, as mentioned in this video, put them in a mason jar but if you have a "Food Saver" brand or any other vacuum sealer that can vacuum seal a mason jar, use that to suck the air out of the jar. This keeps the Absorbers from needing to work on the remaining air in the jar. I've found that it really prolongs the Oxy Absorbers that much longer. Just my 2 1/2 cents worth.

[zombienectar]

My little trick is after sealing the bags, I cut a small slit just below the seal at a corner. Then I force all the air out then seal the small hole with the iron. Love your vids.

[robaldridge]

TIP . if you are doing 'bulk' say 1 gallon of sugar, in a mylar ziplock, when you open it IF you are going to put it in a different container and not use the zip feature, open the BOTTOM of the bag, pour out the contents and you can reuse the bag and still have the zip intact

[billboyd]

Prefill your left over mason jar part way with loose rice. This will limit the O2 in the jar and make the left over O2 sachets better when you do come to use them . If there is not quite enough space for all the sachets, pour some rice out.

[tinkertailorgardenermagpie]

when reusing ziploc bags, just reseal from the bottom!
then, you can still use the zip as you use the contents on your pantry shelves.

[laurieasmus]

Watched this again, after watching it years ago! The only thing I would add is to PARTIALLY seal the bags, leaving a few inches at the end to drop in the O2 absorbers, then seal up the last few inches quickly.

[xXMrIgniteXx]

To reduce the oxygen absorbers time you can partially seal the mylar bags in advance. Like seal half of it while leaving enough room to throw the oxygen absorbers and then seal the other half.

[shuvanidev]

I love your pantry video's because it looks so neat and clean and organized. The delivery of the information was so complete and very well done. This is just a good idea even if you aren't worried about a coming crisis. I learned a lot about prepping and preserving from my mom who is just a frugal person and the only reason she keeps a stocked pantry, but wow, sure came in handy during this cv19 shut down.

[paigerosner]

Love you videos and at the risk of being basic I just have to say YOU HAVE THE BEST HAIRCUT!!! Respect! Also, fantastic, articulate and interesting content!

[katkogo]

You mentioned coffee being ok to store in mylar bags. Just know that ground coffee is fine but whole beans tend to off-gas and can compromise the seal. That is the reason for those little gassing vents on plastic coffee bean bags in the store and also vented coffee canisters for beans.

[efzapp]

I used mylar bags. A hint I got from another prepper is to partially seal the mylar bag, leaving enough room for the oxygen absorber. Put the OA in, push down on the bag to get more air out and then seal the smaller opening. So when using mylar bags, I first write the contents on bag before filling, fill, and partially seal. When all my bags are done then I grab my OA, put them in, squish as much air out and seal. I find this works better is my husband puts in the OA and I squish and seal after that.

[ternalvigilance]

Your videos are indispensable. I've watched every tutorial video youve made, and when I have questions or need a refresher..I come watch them again. Thanks for sharing your knowledge, and helping us out here in YouTube land refine our techniques.

[northeastoutrider]

Try sealing the bags most of the way and using a shopvac to remove the majority of the remaining air. This will help the content stay fresher over time.

[verdiblue]

when im using mylar I first hook up a hose to the vacuum sealer and at the other end use a stainless tube which is approx. 2mm in dia, which is inserted into the bag. I first seal most of the bag using my wife's ceramic hair curler (she doesn't know) then when the air is sucked out seal the bag fully

[colleenchamberlain]

oh my gosh, I just did this with 25 lbs of hard red wheat, hard white wheat and durum and I just keep walking by my bags watching the bags lined up on my dining room table getting tighter and tighter with the oxygen absorbers working. I am totally amazed at this process. Thank you for posting this video, what an awesome help.

[curiousgeorge]

Love your videos. My wife and I started prepping about 6 months ago. I always feel peaceful when I watch your videos and learn a lot in the process. Thank you for doing such great work!