Letter Re: Gluten Free Food Storage
Hi JWR,
I just got done packing away a bunch of pasta this afternoon, and looked at the latest SurvivalBlog posts and read the Gluten Free Food Storage article by Cassandra. Funny thing is, I was long-term packing gluten free rice pasta in Mylar bags with O2 absorbers. I couldn’t find what I wanted anywhere else, so I did it myself. Maybe what I just learned this past hour will help someone else wanting to pack away some pasta. Here’s what I used: Trader Joe’s Organic Brown Rice Pasta (Fusilli, Penne, and Spaghetti) We used to eat Tinkyada brand, but we found that the Trader Joe’ s (TJ’s) brand is tasty and cooks in less time, thus it uses less fuel or electricity. It generally retails in-store for $1.99/lb package, and I bought 12 cases (of 12) of it.
I use:
- 5 gallon food grade storage pails and snap on lids
- 2,000 CC oxygen absorbers
- 5-6 gallon Mylar zip-bags (no heat seal required)
Using a Mylar zip bag to line the bucket, I found that I could squeeze the following into every 5-gallon bucket (with an O2 absorber thrown in half way through):
- TJ’s Fusilli – 12 lbs/bucket (loose packed)
- TJ’s Penne – 16 lbs/bucket (loose packed)
- TJ’s Spaghetti – 22 lbs/bucket (left in the 1-lb original bags to reduce breakage)
Of course, the more you fit in the bucket, the lower the overall cost per pound. Using buckets at $4.59, lids at $2, bags at $3.20, and O2 absorbers at $1, I packed away 140 lbs of gluten-free organic brown rice pasta for a total of $278.60 (pasta) and $97.11(storage) for a total of $375.71. That’s $2.68/lb. That’s pretty reasonable for long-term storage of an “alternative” organic food!
I know brown rice and its flours can go rancid quickly, but I’ve had five year old TJs pasta that was just “on the shelf” and it’s perfectly fine. I guess processing and drying it into pasta gets rid of or otherwise breaks down the oils that go rancid. I’m not sure, but maybe someone else can shed light on that. Blessings, – Darrin F.