Storing Bulk Grains

[PoetryLover]

I know it's cheaper to buy grains in bulk, especially if you use a lot of certain grains. Question: what do you use to store them in so that the grains are protected from ants, etc.?

[JTA Mom]

There are two major things to worry about when storing grains/legumes/any natural food.

1) The natural bug eggs in the food. Unless it's been irradiated, they are still live. Bug eggs are natural and actually a good sign. I mean, if a bug will choose to have its young grow in something, it indicates that there's actually some nutrition in there.

2) Bugs from outside infecting the food.

For problem #1, you need to freeze the food. Not permanently, mind you, but for a few days.

For problem #2, you need airtight food safe containers. You can either buy them or ask your local bakeries, supermarket bakeries, costco, etc. They usually will give you the old, dirty (everything from frosting to icing to pie fillings) containers with lids. Just clean them out really well (dish soap and a scrubby is all you need) and let them dry.

To Freeze:

I only have a freezer attached to my fridge, so not a lot of room. What I do is break up a bulk bag of food into gallon sized ziploc bags, then pop as many of those into the freezer as possible for 3 days. At the end of three days, I take them out, let them sit on the table for a couple of hours to thaw, then put them into an airtight container. Meanwhile, I pop in the 'leftover' bags and repeat the cycle.

Example: I have 25lbs of black beans. Each gallon bag holds about 5lbs of flour/beans, etc, I have found. So 5 gallon bags later, I have them all split up. There's only space in my freezer for 2 bags, so I stick 2 bags of beans in there, write a big note on the fridge about which day to take them out, and forget about it until then.
The day of, I take out the 2 bags, put them on the table, put in 2 of the unfrozen bags of beans, and write another note.

Storage:

For storage containers I've used everything from some rubbermaid screwtop food containers I've bought to big pails I've gotten for free from the bakery section of my supermarket or Costco. All the pails have snap on lids, so airtight.

I use the rubbermaid screwtop containers mostly as my 'available' store. Meaning that if we need beans, I scoop some from there. As it empties out, I will open a pail and refill the screwtop containers. In this way, the majority of my bulk items stay sealed and are less exposed to fresh oxygen. I keep those containers on the counter/cupboard.

The big pails, I keep on a rack at the end of the dining room. Currently making curtains for them, so they look 'better' but we have no garage or other place to store them. I've heard of people using closets, under their beds, etc to store the big bulk containers.

Ami

[PoetryLover]

Wow, thanks so much! Your post is extremely helpful!

After freezing and then thawing and placing in airtight containers, how long can you keep grains and beans? I guess I'm wondering how much I should purchase at one time without any going to waste.

[JTA Mom]

Beans, white rice, white flour--1yr +. As beans get older, they take longer to cook, but a year stored isn't that bad.

Brown rice, whole wheat flour, anywhere from 3-6 months. With those and any oily foods (nuts and seeds included in here) the problem is that the oils in them will go rancid. Keeping those in the freezer prolongs the life, but since I have barely any freezer space as it is, I just buy less of those and don't store as much at room temp.

Ami

[CliffRose]

Hi,
I buy in bulk when certain items go on sale at our local health food store. So far, I've bought 25# each of sunflower seeds, brown rice, garbanzos, and spelt flour. the best way to store any grains, nuts, or seeds, imo at least, is to freeze them in gallon size ziptop bags. The second best way is to store them in gallon-size glass jars. Many restaurants will keep them for you if you ask nicely.

[LemonPie]

You can store things in food-grade 5 gallon buckets and use dry-ice to kill any larvae. LINK
HTH

[PoetryLover]

Thanks so much for your help with my questions!