Checking On 10 Year Old Rice, by Patriotman
A guest post by Jessie Blaine did a similar test in 2022.
When I first got into preparedness a decade ago, I used James Wesley Rawles’ How the Survive the End of the World as we Know It as my blueprint. I decided to start, aside from ill-thought out tactical gear that was all black and not camo (clearly I was quite new to the game), with food storage. I settled on white rice to be the first bulk storage food item. I went with white rice for three main reasons:
- It would keep longer than brown rice and the oils in brown rice would make it go rancid faster
- It was a large source of calories, something that would be in great demand given the higher labor inputs a collapse would necessitate
- It was cheap and easy to store.
I grabbed 5 gallon food grade white buckets and lids from Home Depot to store the rice in, along with a few screw top gamma seal lids for when the bags were eventually opened. I later learned that the orange buckets with their logo are also food grade and are cheaper, so I have subsequently started to use them (look for the recycling triangle with the “2” inside it on the bottom to ensure it is High Density Polyethylene, or HDPE). I ordered oxygen absorbers and mylar bags from USA Emergency Supply and use their information center to determine approximately how much rice would fit in the bags in the buckets and how many absorbers to use.
What steps did I use to store the rice?
- Put mylar bag inside buckets
- Fill buckets with rice
- Get an iron hot and ready along with a small piece of wood
- Add required O2 absorbers
- Begin to heat seal the mylar bags, leaving a tiny gap at one corner. I did this by “ironing” the mylar on the piece of wood.
- Push excess air out of tiny hole
- Seal tiny hole
- Put regular lid on
- Label and add to your records
I ended up storing approximately 350lbs of rice that first go around, which is almost ten years to the day that this article is going up, in ten buckets.
These buckets have been through three house moves and have also spent 12 months in a “climate controlled” storage unit. They were kept initially in a basement, then a garage, a storage unit, and now a bedroom. After ten years, we decided it was time to start tapping the rice to both check on them as well as begin to replace them.
I was nervous and excited to check it out because, after all, this was the first attempt at long term food storage I had ever done. I was praying that they were still stored correctly and that I didn’t have to worry about 300+ pounds of rice being bad.
Just as good as the day it was sealed!
We cooked the decade old rice alongside some rice we just got from the store and did a plain taste test to determine if there were any differences.
There were none. Thus, we made some banging rice and beans with mango salsa.
Now, I only paid approximately $20 for those 50lb bags of rice in 2013. Obviously, prices have gone up. However, you need to be sure you secure your long term food storage so that you don’t have to go crawling to government food lines when society breaks down.
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always a good idea to periodically test the food you have stored. Just in case! :)
Milo Mindbender
yes, you are 100% correct, freezing for at least 2 weeks, bay leaves and the mylar, oxy absorber thing stored in a good bucket in a cool dry place is the ticket to long term storage. dry beans, rice, flower, cornmeal among many. cornmeal is a major staple for us. a lot of what is good for you is in it plus fried into corn dodgers it has a long shelf life–weeks after being cooked if kept dry and away from critters.
my border collie is in my lap now trying to help me type this message. time to give him some attention.
ya’ll take care
I freeze my rice for two weeks, then l let it come up to room temp. I use my coffee containers(unwashed so a pinch of coffee remains) I add a couple of bay leaves, pop the lid on, and run a jar of duct tape around the seam. I am using rice I put up in 2000, and have not had any issues with infestation, or spoilage yet. Your mileage may vary, but I keep these stored in a relatively climate controlled basement man cave.
thank you
Anybody ever store the rice or beans in salt ? 25 % salt 75% rice or beans in a bucket ?
Montana Grasshopper,
i have never heard of it being done. but i’m sure that the salt would help to preserve the rice. but separating the two when its time to use it may be problematic i’m thinking. it could be done.
maybe leave the rice in bags and pack salt around it may be one option?
let us know what you come up with.
Same rice experience for me. CO2: Dry Ice, works well. A little chunk in the bottom of the bucket. Although, you have to let it evaporated before sealing the bucket. Burp it. Canned goods stay consumable easily for 10 or more years. However, acidic content will eat through a can and corrupt a box, so that needs to be cycled out. Baked goods, they go stale after the Best By Date.
Picked up some seeds from Walton Feeds that were sealed in a #10 can back in 1999. They germinated, most of them anyway. I’ve got some 2015 Walmart Rack garden seeds that are presently growing in my fall garden.