by: Susan Gast / Author, Blogger at Beesville Books, Bored Boomers, and a Food Dehydrating Fanatic!
A visitor to our site asked: "I'm interested in storing rice and flour...and dry beans. Can you store these dry goods? And—if so—how?"
My short answer: "Yes."
Now for the longer answer of "how to"!
In the photo above, I've got flour stored in Mylar bags, and then I put them in the large plastic-lidded bins when I need to store these items for the long term.
Even though the flour, rice, and beans are "dry" to begin with, if you're interested in storing these items safely, then follow the vacuuming-sealing method used when storing your dehydrated foods.
We're all about protecting our foods from the three enemies:
I still strongly advise you to add an oxygen absorber into the individual vacuum-sealer bags before vacuum-sealing the air out, as they keep mold growth at bay.
Adding the oxygen absorber will also protect your flour and rice from insect damage, too.
What's the best way for storing rice and flour?
As shown on this page, you'll read that I simply vacuum-seal packages of flour with an added 100cc oxygen absorber tucked in before drawing out the air.
Where to store flour?
It's important to store flour properly (for long-term) as we don't want those little bugs to appear! The best places to store flour aside from in vacuum-sealed bags are:
Freezer
Pantry
Fridge
Oxygen absorbers
Wherever you store, keep bags folded down and containers sealed tight. Store away from heat, light and humidity which can cause flour to deteriorate faster. Use clean utensils to scoop and don't introduced moisture with dirty hands. First-in, first-out for best results!
To be honest, storing in the freezer and fridge does NOT appeal to me due to the moisture levels inside those appliances. Not to mention all the space big bags of flour take up! I'd rather store big bags of flour (salt, sugar, etc). inside the plastic lidded bins, but for TOTAL air-tightness, use air-tight buckets.
Coming up are the different sizes of oxygen absorbers!
Oxygen absorber sizes range in sizes from 50cc, 100cc, 300cc to a whopping 2000cc!
Why is there such a size range? When using smaller Mason jars, a 50cc oxygen absorber is ideal. For a larger quart-size Mason jar, then a 100cc size will be fine.
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If you live in a humid area and are thinking of storing rice and flour to keep the dry goods dry, use Mason jars for storing rice and flour, or in specialized canisters with an air-tight seal.
Mason jars are ideal for those who use rice on a weekly basis. Mason jars are too small for flour, Of course, you can use flour canisters or bins which are available at specialty kitchen goods stores as mentioned above.
You can add an oxygen absorber in the Mason jar along with the rice - the primary job of an oxygen absorber "is" to absorb oxygen, as the name implies.
I wouldn't bother adding an oxygen absorber into the big flour bins IF you are in and out of the flour bin on a regular basis.
IF you're not in the flour bin more than once or twice a month, then by all means pop in a massive 2000cc oxygen absorber and put the lid on it. Doing so will help keep moisture and bugs at bay.
This is one of the bins I showed at the top of the page, with its
lid. Its purpose is to store vacuum-packed and sealed Mylar bags that
contain our dehydrated foods - not massive bins full of loose dehydrated
foods!
These bins ARE NOT airtight due to their handles, so don't bother adding an oxygen absorber inside it.
You can get these plastic-lidded bins at Walmart, Home Depot, or Lowe's or—yes, you guessed it—from Amazon online. Amazon has everything. You know that.
If you're looking for air-tight storage, use feed buckets with lids.
Use 2000cc oxygen absorbers in buckets; they're perfect for this as they really ARE air-tight.
Check out these buckets at a 'Tractor Supply' website.
We also have a similar post that mentions how to store salt and sugar.
Visit Storing Dehydrated Food and Storing Dry Goods such as salt, and sugar.
Great question! Look, I know it's hard to find space in closets, but they are ideal. Why? They are dark so that keeps direct light off your dry goods. Both the bins and buckets are great for stacking, too.
Check out this "how to create storage out of thin air" post where I go into detail on how to add storage on a blank wall - if you've run out of closets which I suspect happens 99% of the time!
Put the heavier goods at the bottom of the pile so they're not "top heavy." They hurt when they fall on you. Ask me know I know. Ouch.
You can safely stack around 5 plastic-lidded bins and about 4 buckets in a stack. I could only manage 4 buckets because I'm only a tad over five feet tall and it's too hard for me to reach them!
Again, keep the heavier buckets on the bottom.
These bins and buckets really don't take up too much room in the closet. I look at it this way: you can eat dehydrated food and beans, but you can't eat clothes.
Other folks like to store their bins and buckets filled with dehydrated goodies in their garage, but please beware of extreme heat and extreme cool temperatures. And BUGS.
Thanks for stopping by to read about storing rice and flour... and other dry goods!
Don't forget to get your free "Six Simple Steps" eBook where I share how to dehydrate food safely!
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Hi, I'm Susan Gast and I've been making food preservation simple since 2010.
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Hi, I'm Susan Gast and I've been making food preservation simple since 2010. Let me show you how to keep your food pantry full, whatever the reason or season!
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easy FOOD DEHYDRATING: Making food preservation simple since 2010.
I show you how to keep your food pantry full, whatever the reason or season!
AFFILIATE DISCLOSURE: I am an Affiliate for Amazon, and other sellers of quality merchandise.
Should you purchase an item through their links, I may receive compensation. The price you pay does not increase.
THANKS for your support! Read full disclosure here.
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easy FOOD DEHYDRATING: Making food preservation simple since 2010. I show you how to keep your food pantry full, whatever the reason or season!
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