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I could use jars, but glass breaks and I have to pay for them.
Seriously, it doesn't matter what you use as long as it fits your purpose. I used to use large square tupperware containers and duck tape the tops on. That works too, but to my way of thinking as I do a lot of wilderness survival is to make use of what you have.
I also fill to the top, and you can put a lot of rice or macaroni in a gallon milk jug, and it is convenient to handle plus they stack well in cupboards that aren't tall enough for the jug to stand upright.
Spagetti noodles go into a plastic jug well too and you can get a lot in there. I think that is better than just leaving the product in the original plastic if you plan on keeping it longer than a couple of weeks.
I personally don't worry about the dioxin as that is usually associated with freezing the plastic where you fill the jug with water and freeze for use in coolers or I know a lot of working men that do that during the summer and drink the melting water when it is really hot outside.
I live in an area with very low, almost non existent humidity, so I don't have to fight that problem. Freezing of dried products isn't a problem usually, fluids are a mess.
Using the smaller 20 oz bottles for dehydrated heritage vegitable seeds and storing them in the freezer works really well and the seeds seem to germinate quicker once thawed and planted. I used to use a zip-lock freezer bag for this, but again, the bottles are already there for no extra cost.
As an easily transportable, easily storable and convenient and available container, used plastic bottles work.
If you use something else, that is fine. Everybody has different situations they work with, and should use what works for them.
As a temporary storage unit for usually less than a year, the bottles work really well for me and that is all I am attesting to.
I am interested in trying out different types of storage. Right now, I store two-person amounts of rice, beans, cornmeal, sugar, coffee and flour in 1/2 pint jars. I heat the jars first, add the contents, then seal just as tho I was going to can them. I have stored these jars tucked inside PVC pipe (capped at both ends, naturally). I have buried PVC pipe in a variety of environments successfully.
I feel more secure if I have small caches of supplies scattered around my home. Barns are wonderful places to cache supplies.
Where I was raised we had a saying about storing all your eggs in one basket. I keep enough supplies to feed us for about 6 months. Once a month, I removed the oldest cache, add it to the supplies to be used, and put new supplies in the cache.
By the way, I wrapped a rifle in oil cloth, buried it in a PVC pipe and dug it up successfully a year later. No damage, shot perfectly.
Before you folk's talk yourself into a really bad case of food poisoning please, please, please read this article and others like it that detail how dehydrate food for long term storage.
I personally wouldn't trust the plastic beverage bottles for burying or long term storage. Short-term storage in a cellar or pantry where you're rotating stock regularly and can replace any cracks or splits would be fine; but the plastic drink bottles are really thin and designed to breakdown in soil and sunlight. The size and availability is handy though, so perhaps filling them with dry ingredients AND a desiccant pack, sealing them and then putting them in a length of 4" black ABS plastic "waste"/DWV pipe with capped threaded ends and then burying that whole bundle would work. The ABS is more light and soil stable, and the drink bottle is food safe... best of both worlds.
A good friend of mine owns the local restaurant/bar. She received seven cases of ball jars full of salsa from a company that went out of business several years ago. Last night she called me - they were cleaning out the bar basement and were going to throw the jars out. I hot-footed it over there and now have seven cases of quart ball jars, which I'll have to clean out and get lids and caps for - still nice and usable though.
I would think that a burrowing animal with teeth made for gnawing--gophers, etc.--might decide there is something it wants in my bottles and chew through the plastic.
Good point Cunucu... there are some items that we have to store in metal because they aren't safe in plastic. Some critters are even attracted to plastic, or at least some plastics. Our squirrels will gnaw through a heavy duty 5 gallon bucket in a day if they have any reason to believe there is something yummy in there, and plastic bucket won't stand up to a bear (and they are actually attracted to the smell of one type of food-safe plastic). Once an animal finds a container that smells good, either the material it's made of or what's stored in it, and then gets rewarded with a tasty treat after violating it any container of similar shape or material will be infiltrated. A thin plastic pop bottle wouldn't stand a chance against mice much less gophers, moles or voles.
You might be able to store something in thin plastic in a reasonably protected moderately used indoor space (like a sturdy shed) and be safe from pests because you're in and out checking on it and driving away most critters away just by being there. That's not usually the case with open outdoor or buried long-term storage. Even something in heavy plastic would also have to be sealed air and smell tight and put up in a way that nothing would be tempted to mess with it, even out of simple curiosity.
Before you folk's talk yourself into a really bad case of food poisoning please, please, please read this article and others like it that detail how dehydrate food for long term storage.
Your local farm bureau also has tons of free info on food preservation.
County extension offices often offer classes for free or at a nominal cost as well.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SCGranny
A good friend of mine owns the local restaurant/bar. She received seven cases of ball jars full of salsa from a company that went out of business several years ago. Last night she called me - they were cleaning out the bar basement and were going to throw the jars out. I hot-footed it over there and now have seven cases of quart ball jars, which I'll have to clean out and get lids and caps for - still nice and usable though.
Good for both dry storage and canning...
Sweet!
I have my eye on Craigslist and local garage/estate sales for deals on canning jars and garden tools.
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two-person storage
