Mustachian pantries for the bugaphobic?

[whybe]

Looking for a way to balance my desire for a well-stocked dry food pantry (chickpeas, beans, flours, etc.) And my DW's uncontrollable fear of bugs and food critters. I'm tired of buying in small quantities and paying lots more than we should. Her condition - needs to be airtight. Or a second freezer , which I am not interested in because space and electric bill.

Any ideas? Storm proof containers? Something?

[The_path_less_taken]

Somebody in an earlier thread said if you freeze it all for 3 weeks or so you're good to go. I Ziploc and freeze what I can. Can you run them all thru your freezer for a bit?

I don't know that beans are a problem though, and easy to wash and you have to wash/soak them anyway. And I would doubt lentils are...I hate lentils so I don't know though.

They make these pantry pest  sticky traps, and I've used those. Although a tightly latching cabinet seems to work fine for me.

[GuitarStv]

http://fivegallonideas.com/airtight-storage-container/

[plainjane]

Big square (much more space efficient) plastic containers.

OR

Smaller square plastic containers and buy from a bulk food place.  (This is what I do for rice after a traumatic rice & critters experience)

[Cgbg]

I use quart and half gallon glass jars. I also own a food saver which has a wide mouth mason jar attachment. It sucks all the air out of the jar and seals the lid. One can pry off the canning lid with a spoon against the edge and reseal it as many times as needed.

I usually have half gallon jars of items in my basement cold cellar - things like couscous, quinoa, while wheat flour, lentils, dried black beans etc and then keep a quart jar in the pantry. I rotate up from the half gallon jar, resealing it until I've emptied it and filled the quart pantry jar. Then I buy another half gallon jar worth of the item.

My food saver isn't shiny and new- I've had it for over a decade. It's small enough to throw in a kitchen cabinet and pull out as needed. I think some of the newer models are meant to stay on the counter. The mason jar attachment is under $10 I think - bought at Amazon. Simple to use once you get the hang of it.

Edited to add: two half gallon jars will hold a five pound bag of flour. I keep bigger quantities of normal flour and sugar in those large round plastic food service containers (which hold 25 lbs each).

[mskyle]

Yeah, big mason jars are the way to go! I also use jars with a vacuum sealer. I got my vacuum sealer through some kind of groupon deal several years ago (I think it was ~$40), and the jar attachment was a few dollars more. Then just get mason jars (available at most hardware stores, wal-marts, etc. this time of year) in sizes that make sense for you. The mason jars are probably pretty much airtight even without the vacuum seal, but if your wife is concerned about the seal, the vacuum seal is absolutely airtight.

[bogart]

Hmmm.  Just shrugging your shoulders and saying "extra protein ration!" doesn't work?  Darn.

I've heard that putting bay leaves in stuff one is storing is effective bug protection.  No idea if this is true.

[Thegoblinchief]

Recommendations really depend on a) how much you're storing and b) how long. For decent amounts and short/medium term (<12 months) Mason jars are the most cost effective if you need to buy brand-new things. The square plastic containers will be the most space-efficient but typically more expensive.

For large quantities, can't beat 5 gallon food safe plastic buckets (or non-food safe buckets and the Mylar liners) with standard lids or Gamma seal lids. If storing things well over a year, though, you'll want to look at using oxygen absorbers, which you can ONLY use with the standard hammer-on lids.

The standard recommendation for bugs is freezing for 2-3 weeks. Another option is mixing food grade dimotaceous earth, but there's some debate about just how safe it actually is. Still another option is accepting the small risk of critters and dealing with it if/when it should actually occur.

[MayDay]

I have a few 1 gallon jars. I bought them empty, but if you like to eat stuff like pickles that come in huge jars at Costco, that's an option.

They sell large food containers, but since I typically have a little space in my deep freeze I rotate stuff in and out of it.

^^^ that's for 25 lb bags. For 5 lbs to 10 lbs, I use quart canning jars, or whatever other random jars we have. That means when we have fresh bags I end up with 6 jars of oat flour, but I don't mind.

Eta: I'm not totally clear why you'd need a vacuum sealer on canning jars. They form a dang good seal as-is, just screwing them on.

[2ndTimer]

My pantry is a used glass display case in which I put all the glass and plastic jars that I have saved over the years.  Works well and all my neighbors know that I love to receive their old half gallon and gallon jars.  Also because it is right out there in the kitchen, I know at a glance when I need more chickpeas or oatmeal.

[Sibley]

Also, make sure that you do your due diligence to prevent bugs/critters from getting into the house. Seal cracks, etc.

[cschx]

I buy bulk grains and legumes in 25 or 50 pound sacks and store them in five- and two-gallon (food grade) plastic buckets fitted with Gamma Seal lids. I've stored food like this for up to a couple of years without problems. You need to be careful with the 2-gallon buckets; they aren't standardized like 5-gallons and the lid might not fit. ULINE #S-9941W is a 2-gallon bucket that fits the Gamma Seal lid and costs about half what you'll pay when buying from places that cater to preppers. A full set of several buckets with lids will cost you less than $100 and can store enough food to last a year or two.

About bugs: Even the best quality bulk goods can harbor insect eggs, which manifest as bugs later on. Freezing is an easy treatment for small quantities but it's difficult to apply to a 50 lb. sack of wheat. A good alternative is to use dry ice, which I do whenever I buy a new sack of something. Here is the procedure:

• Transfer bulk items from sacks to buckets, leaving a little space at the top.
• Get 3-4 pounds of dry ice broken into smallish chunks (BE CAREFUL if you need to break it up! Use protective gloves and wear some eye protection in case a chip flies into your eyeball.)
• Place a chunk of dry ice in each bucket. Place lids loosely on top of buckets.
• Wait until the dry ice is completely gone, then screw lids on and wait a week before opening.

The dry ice will sublimate into carbon dioxide, which is heavier than air and displaces the air in the bucket. After a week with no oxygen, any insect eggs present will suffocate and will never hatch. Then it's just a matter of keeping the food from getting re-infested, which is easy as long as you keep the lids tightened when not in use.

I like to transfer small amounts of bulk foods into smaller containers which I keep handy on the kitchen counter. This is convenient and limits any re-infestation that might occur, since you aren't constantly opening up your bulk storage containers.

[Frankies Girl]

I grew up with weevil outbreaks being common (father was a hoarder of food among other items) so once I got out on my own, I swore it would never happen to me again.

Well, it did in the early days because I also like stocking up on rice, flour and beans. Sigh.

And you may not know this, but all grain based food probably has bugs in it. Just in egg form and they can hatch when conditions are right. So you are always eating bugs in some form if you eat any crackers or pasta or the like. I just try to not think about it too often! ;)

So what I do now:

Anything that is beans, rice or grain-based (cake mix, crackers, pasta, etc) gets put into the freezer for a minimum of one full week. This is sufficient to kill anything that might be in egg stage in the food itself. So the only thing to worry about then is to not attract outside pests. This is mitigated by storing in glass or plastic airtight containers. I have mostly large jars, but some plastic bins that have good seals. We have a small chest freezer in our garage that we use for bulk meats and also where we put most of the beans/grains for their freezer time.

Baking supplies are always stored in the fridge. I devote one full drawer in my fridge to sugar, cornmeal, powdered sugar and the flour is on my back bottom shelf.

Rice and beans can live in the freezer forever if necessary, but I usually do end up putting them in jars in the pantry due to space.

Pantry is inspected once a month. I update a spreadsheet anyway so I know what I have and what I'm running low on and use that to menu plan and create shopping lists. So this is also my opportunity to inspect every thing. I take everything out and give it a once over before listing and putting it back. (okay, not can goods, but I do look at that shelf just to make an inventory). I wipe down the shelves with a solution of water/vinegar during this time as well.

So basically, just freeze stuff temporarily, move to airtight glass/heavy plastic after, and then inspect things before using and inspect the pantry on a regular basis. Should be simple and prevent any problems.

[robartsd]

Since your wife is bugaphobic, I'd recommend the food saver & jar approach for her peace of mind - this works well for providing extra protection for the pantry storage you use day to day, but it isn't really needed.

[whybe]

 Thank you all for great advice. Will attempt to follow up on this soon. We are before a move expected soon but will be sure to get this going after. Some really great resources here. :-) good weekend all!