Metalized bags, or Mylar bags, offer a great solution to sealing your own food. Mylar bags help keep moisture, sunlight and oxygen out of your food – extending your food’s shelf-life!

Here is a step-by-step tutorial on how to seal your own Mylar bags.

What you’ll need

First, be sure to round up all of your supplies. It’s recommended that you seal more than one Mylar bag in a sitting because the oxygen absorbers that you place in the bags can only stay out in the open for a few hours. So, you can’t really open the O2 absorber bag and then use the absorbers later.
Be sure to gather:

• Your food
• A bucket (doesn’t need to be food-grade)
• A lid
• Mylar bags for each bucket
• An oxygen absorber for each bucket
• A heat source like a clothes iron or a hair straightener

Step 1 – Put the Mylar bags in the buckets

Be sure to spread the bag out along the bottom of the bucket as much as possible. This will help you food settle to the bottom as much as possible.

Step 2 – Pour the food into the Mylar bag

Step 3 – Lift the Mylar bag to settle

Take the Mylar bag and lift it up inside the bucket. Don’t take it out. Shake the bag to make sure that all the contents are settled to the bottom. This will help the food fill into the pockets of air in the bag so you can get more food into the bag.

Step 4 – Throw in an oxygen absorber

You don’t have to bury it or anything. You can just throw it on the top.
You’ll want to press the sides of the bag so the part you’ll be sealing stands straight. This is a good time to push out the remaining air.

Step 5 – Seal the bag

Use a clothes iron or hair straightener to seal the top of the bag. If you use a clothes iron, make sure that it’s not on a steam setting. The heat source should be at a high setting to seal the bag correctly.

When using a clothes iron, it is sometimes helpful to use a piece of wood to iron against. You can wrap the top of the bag around the wood and push against it to iron.

Start heating from the middle of the bag and move your way to the outside. This will help the seal lay more evenly.

We’ve seen a lot of videos where people leave a slot at the top of the seal, quickly vacuum out the remaining air and then seal the rest of the bag. This isn’t necessary. If you have a good oxygen absorber, it will take out the remaining oxygen from the bag. You might notice there is still some space in the bag due to nitrogen in the air, which doesn’t harm the food.

A 2000cc oxygen absorber is potent enough that if you were to inflate the entire Mylar bag with air and seal it with the absorber, it would take all the oxygen out, leaving only nitrogen and traces of other gases (less than 1 percent) that are not going to harm your food.

Step 6 – Place a lid on top

Fold over the Mylar bag and then place a lid on top. You’re done!

What other tips do you have? What have you found to be effective? Comment below and let us know.

We often get questions about the manufacture dates printed on our #10 cans.

Cans of food.
Previously, The Ready Store placed a Julian calendar date on our #10 cans, however, we have recently simplified the everything by printing new, easy-to-read manufacturer dates!

MREs.
Meals-Ready-to-Eat are primarily used by the United States military, which uses a Julian calendar. Click on this link to see how MRE manufacture dates are figured.

Expiration Dates
Many times, people will ask us “Why don’t you just put an expiration date on the can?” The reason is because the expiration date depends on your storage environment. Ideally, you would store the food in an environment with temperatures between 60-75 °F.

Manufacture Dates
The Ready Store is in the process of changing the way we label our cans. While we previously listed a Julian Calendar date, we will now be labeling our #10 cans with easy-to-read dates!

MREs, which are manufactured by the same companies who provides MREs to the military, will continue to use the Julian Calendar system and we have no ability to influence a change. You can learn more about decoding the MRE manufacture dates here.

Julian Calendar
We realize that many people will have food they purchased in their food storage pantry with the julian date stamps. So, we thought it would be important to highlight how you can figure out the numbers date based on the Julian Calendar.

The Julian Calendar has been around for centuries. In our day, it is widely used on a wide variety of manufactured products as a standard means of dating. It is also used by parts of the military and as an astrological measurement. The Julian Calendar is basically a continuous count of days starting January 1, 4713 BC.

The Ready Store used a modified version of the Julian Calendar. Let me show you some examples:

So in the first example, you can see that the Julian date is 10229. This means that the product was manufactured in 2010 on the 229th day of the year.

In the second example, the Julian date is 11067. This option includes a bath reference number and a product code. The Julian code will show that 11067 was manufactured on March 8, 2011.

The third example highlights the Julian date a little more. It puts a dash between the batch reference number and the Julian code. 11143 would translate to May 23, 2011.

The last example is what shows on the label of some Saratoga Farms cans. It shows the Julian date in red. That day would translate to the 289th day of 2012 – or October 15, 2012.

Print Out
We’ve also prepared a printable sheet that you can keep with your food storage documents in order to reference the dates in case of an emergency or power outage.

Click here to view the PDF.

A gamma lid is a great way to ensure that air, water, chemicals and other toxins don’t get inside your food storage. These lids allow you to create a screw-on top for easy, secure access to your foods. They can be fastened to an array of different sized buckets 3.5 – 7 gallons.

Besides keeping out elements, gamma lids are also great because they’re easy to open and close. Instead of having to dig your nails and fingertips into the lid each time, you can easily open this with a turn of the wrist!

You’ll need:

• A gamma lid
• A heavy duty storage bucket
• A rubber mallet

Step 1: Remove old lid
You’ll want to take the old lid off the storage bucket. Since you’ll be putting the new one on, feel free to throw that one away.

Step 2: Install the ring
The gamma lid comes in two parts, the lid itself and the ring. This step can sometimes take a while but here are a few tips:

Install the ring by placing it on the rim of the bucket. Firmly press the lid down as far as you can. Hold the ring in place as you firmly hit the ring with a rubber mallet. Don’t hit hard enough to create dents. Make sure that the ring is secured evenly on the bucket.

If you’ve having difficulty keeping the ring level, you can use a wide board to help you. Lay the board so that it covers the whole circumference of the lid. Then push down firmly on all sides and hammer. This should distribute your force evenly.

Step 3: Screw on the lid
Gamma lids are simple to use – just screw the lid in to the ring! By screwing and unscrewing the lid, you prevent moisture, air and other elements from getting in or out of your bucket!

Rubber rings
The Ready Store’s gamma lids come with an airtight rubber ring around their lids. This will help further prevent leakage.

Colors
Gamma lids come in a few different colors. For example, The Ready Store’s gamma lids come in blue and white. This could be a great way to organize and track your food storage quickly.

Removing a gamma lid
Step 1: Best of luck!

So, hopefully you enjoyed part 1 of “What to do with a leftover #10 can.” Previously, we showed you how to use your can to create a lantern, candle and pin cushion. This time we’ll be showing you how to use your leftover can for gardening, cooking and camping.

You can use your leftover food storage cans for a variety of purposes. Here are a few:

Plant Pot
The #10 can is a great option for indoor gardening and growing. Be sure to puncture a few small holes in the bottom of the can before you plant anything inside of them. This will ensure that the water drains correctly.

Bread-In-A-Can Recipes
Believe it or not, there are a few recipes specifically for baking inside of a can.

Banana Bread
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup butter
¾ cup brown sugar or turbinado sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/3 cup mashed bananas

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°.  Lightly grease 4 soup or vegetable tin cans with cooking spray.  In a large bowl combine flour, baking soda, and salt; stir.  In a separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar.  Stir in eggs, vanilla, and mashed bananas until well blended.  Stir banana mixture into flour mixture, until just moistened.  Pour batter evenly into 4 greased soup or vegetable tin cans.  Bake for 30-35 minutes or until skewer inserted in middle comes out clean.  Allow bread to cool in cans.  After cooling, pour bread out of the can, slice, smear with butter (optional), eat, and enjoy.  Or wrap and give away.  (If not giving away the same day as having baked, you will need to store in a sealed container or bag in the refrigerator to maintain freshness.  Can store up to 3 days in refrigerator or 2 weeks in the freezer.  If placing in freezer, take bread out of can to freeze and return to cleaned can when presenting.)

There is also a recipe for tin can sandwich bread:

Tin Can Sandwich Bread

Ingredients

Dough/Bread machine
1 cup warm water
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 egg, slightly beaten
salt to taste
1/4 cup finely minced sun-dried tomato
1/3 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 cups all purpose flour
1 package (or 1 tablespoon) yeast

Directions
Mix all ingredients to create dough
Spray insides of two tall tomato-juice-size cans
Divide dough and place in cans
Cover cans and let rise for an hour
Place cans in cold oven
Turn oven on to 400 degrees and allow bread to heat inside oven for 15 minutes
After 15 minutes, turn oven down to 350
Let bake for 15 more minutes at 350
Let cool and enjoy!

Create a Cooking Stove
We found a video demo on how to create your own cooking stove out of a can:

After you’ve eaten through your food storage, you’re left with a number of empty cans. Now what? We collect a few ideas on what to do with that #10 can.

Lantern
With a simple can opener and candles, you can create an effective lantern. Be sure to wash out the can first. You can use the pointed edge of the can opener to puncture holes in the sides of the can. Place the candle inside the can and it becomes a lantern with direction-light. You can also add handles or sidebars to take the light on the go.

Some people have even used a small nail to create designs on the sides of their lanterns

Candles
This advice comes from CountryLiving.com.

Supplies:
Four 6-inch-length wire-core wicks, primed
4 wick holders
4 tin cans, approximately 4 inches deep and 2 inches wide
2.5 ounces stearin
1 disk wax dye, if desired
1.5 pounds paraffin wax

Directions:
1. Insert a length of primed wick into each wick holder and place a wick in the center of each tin.
2. In the top of a double boiler over medium heat, melt the stearin and wax dye, if using.
3. Add the wax. Melt and mix thoroughly. Heat to 190 degrees Fahrenheit.
4. Anchor the wicks in the tins by pouring enough wax into each tin to cover about 1/2 inch of each wick. Allow the wax to cool for about 30 minutes.
5. Wrap the end of the wicks around tie rods and rest the rods on the tops of the containers. Take up any slack in the wicks and center them within the tins. Be careful not to dislodge the anchors.
6. Reheat the wax to 190 degrees Fahrenheit and fill the tins to within 1/2 inch of the top. Allow to cool for one hour.
7. If the wax settles, reheat the remaining wax to 190 degrees Fahrenheit and top off the candles as necessary.
8. Cool for several hours or overnight. Remove the tie rods, trim the wicks to 1/4 inch, and the candles are ready to light.

Pin Cushion
DesignSponge.com has a great tutorial on how to create a pincushion out of a smaller can – like a tuna or cat food can.

Supplies:
1 Small tin can
1 Piece of fabric, approx. 8” x 8”
Handful of poly-fil
Small piece of gift wrap or other decorative paper
Double-stick tape
Hot glue
Blade and straight edge for cutting paper

Directions:
1. Carefully remove label from outside of can.
2. Trace label onto your piece of decorative paper, adding 1/2″ to the length for overlap.
3. Attach to can with one small strip of double-stick tape, and overlap ends with a second piece of tape.
4. Place a handful of poly-fil in the center of your fabric square, gathering the ends to create a loose ball shape.
5. Line the inside rim of the can with hot glue and insert the fabric/poly-fil ball, with raw edges going into the bottom of the can.
6. Tuck in fabric until it is taut. insert pins.

Be sure to read our part 2 of “What to do with a leftover #10 can.”

By The Ready Store

Once you’ve started storing food, one of the most important tools in your arsenal will be a can opener. Without a can opener, you won’t be able to get in to your food.

Why is finding a good can opener so difficult?

When it comes to can openers there are no universal standards. Like everything else in the kitchen (except maybe the wooden spoon), it’s been improved upon and different variations have been made …

With so many different models to choose from it’s hard enough to decide which type you want, let alone which brand within the idea. Can opener shopping is not unlike shoe shopping. Although some enjoy it, most folks define it as hell. All the good ones are too expensive and within the board definition of shoes there are dress shoes, athletic shoes, snow boots… well you get the idea. The only difference is when shoe shopping you at least get to try things on before you buy them!

With can openers your purchase is always a shot in the dark (outside of reading online reviews). How do you go about finding the right one? Do you always end up disappointed? (Read the TheKitchn.com article.)

Important can opener features

Since there are so many options with can openers here are some of the important ones:

• Stainless-steel blades and carbon content. Stronger blades and gears will make a can opener to last longer.
• Comfortable handles. Make sure that the can opener has non-slip, rubbery handles. Make sure you hold it before you purchase it.
• Long handles. Longer handles will provide you with more leverage and you’ll need less strength to grip the can.
• Side-cutting. When you purchase a side-cut can opener, it leaves smoother edges. Since the can opener cuts just below the rim of the lid, around the side of the can, it usually leaves no sharp edges.
• Manual can openers. Manual can openers can typically open any size of can. If you’re going to purchase an electric can opener, make sure that all of your cans work with the electric can opener.

Other features & options to consider

 
• Built in features. Some can openers have knife sharpeners, bottle openers, knives, etc. There are a ton of other features available that are possible in can openers.
• P-38s. These army-invented can openers are also known as “John Waynes” or “Dead Dukes.” They might be a little hard to come by but they are pretty small and simple. They also fold flat and are very easy to store. Here’s a video of how they work:

In our previous installment on Why Some Food Storage Products Won’t Last we covered the importance of a good can seam and how a poor seam will lead to increased levels of oxygen over time which results in food spoiling early. Today we are going to look at another element of the can, the necessity of a double sided enamel coating.

There are two main reasons to use a double enameled can, first the flavor of your food is preserved by creating a layer between the steel and the food. Without the layer the food will take on the taste of the steel can over time.

The other benefit is preventing rust both internally and externally. Moisture coming in contact with metal will lead to rust which over time jeopardizes the can’s ability to create the ideal atmosphere for the food contained inside.

While double enamel cans cost more (and some companies skimp by going with a one sided enamel) you shouldn’t settle for anything less. You need to make sure that your food storage #10 cans comes with external and internal enamel coated walls so you can maximize the shelf-life of your food storage.

In our previous installment on Why Some Food Storage Products Won’t Last we looked into the role that 02 absorbers play in keeping your stored food not only safe but nutritious and tasty for the long haul. Today we are going to talk can seams. While it isn’t the most exciting sounding topic in food storage land it is a VERY important component to getting your food reserves to live up to their name.

First off, there are several forces working to spoil your food storage namely Humidity, Air, Light, and Temperature (HALT). A metal #10 can will clearly block light and an 02 absorber can reduce oxygen levels to neccessary levels but if the can does not have a great seal then air and moisture will enter the can over time and speed up spoilage and kill nutrition and palatability. Without a rock solid seam your average food item will go downhill fast.

In a Brigham Young University study, they examined the quality of rice after it has been canned and stored for a long period of time. They found that 1/3 of the cans they sampled had a poor seam which led to increased air and humidity levels. See the image below for examples of good and poor can seams from their study.

While the rice in this particular study did relatively well (even with bad can seams) the important point for this article is to show what a good seam looks like and the ramifications for most foods (outside of rice and a couple others that don’t need great environments) that would not fair so well when placed in a can with an inferior seam.

At The Ready Store we understand the importance of a good seam, we test our cans regularly and at the slightest seam degradation we stop production and tune the can seaming equipment to make sure it turns out the perfect seam as seen in the image below. We know our food is only as good as the seam on the can and want our product to be there for our customers when they need it most.

TIP for the DIYer: Purchase a dial/digital caliper and measure seam width and height of the top and bottom seams for consistency (cans from the manufacturer are sent to food storage companies with 1 seam already made. The food storage company fills the can with food then performs the last seal on the open end). If both are very similar it would tell you that the food storage company is doing a good job of matching the manufacturer’s seam.  If the height was significantly shorter (we are dealing with 1/1000 of an inch here) than the manufacturer’s then I would worry about overlap of the body and cover hooks, if the thickness was a lot larger than manufacturer’s (should be .058 of an inch) than I’d be worried about overall tightness. In the image at the top of this page you will see in the poor seams that they are fatter and not overlapping internally as much as they should. Another option (which destroys the can) is to cut a can in half and check the cross-section of the seams as we have in the photo of a Saratoga Farms can above this paragraph.

Unfortunately most people in the US don’t get to handle their #10 cans before purchase and those that do don’t have the training to evaluate a seam correctly. In the end, buy from someone you trust. Food storage packaging needs to create the ideal environment for the food and for that to happen the can must be sealed well.

Let’s face it, any person can throw some food in a can and claim it’s going to hold up multiple decades, but the pros at The Ready Store know there’s much more to it than that. For that reason we wanted to create an in-depth series on how to make a food storage product not only be edible after several decades but still maintain its nutrition and great taste.

The first aspect we wanted to cover is the little ol’ oxygen absorber or as some call it an 02 scavenger. These packets are dropped into #10 cans (ValueBuckets too) along with the food during the canning process. The packet then goes to work absorbing the free oxygen found in the surrounding air. It works by chemically binding the oxygen by oxidizing finely divided iron into iron oxide. The reaction’s net result is the removal of oxygen creating an atmosphere free from rancidity, fungi or aerobic bacteria. What it all means to you is great shelf life and quality of the food, but some ask…

Why does The Ready Store use 02 absorbers and not use a nitrogen flush process instead?

Simply, we have found that nitrogen flushing does not do as well of a job as an 02 absorber. The peak performance and consistency lacked when comparing the two methods. For the Saratoga Farms line we are not ok with a good or acceptable process when there is a superior alternative. Check out the results from a comparison study of a leading 02 absorber brand versus gas flushing.

So now you have the best means of getting rid of oxygen, you are done right?

Nope, not so fast. Next, you must choose the right size absorber for the amount of food being stored. Using too small of a packet will not get the oxygen level down to a sufficient level. Including more than needed is perfectly a-ok, as a matter of fact we err on the side of caution and do this with all food storage products.

There are certain use and care instructions that need to be employed to assure that the absorbers work as intended. We have heard from canning pros who have worked as consultants at competing food storage companies where they witnessed employees leaving 02 absorbers out in the open for long periods of time. Here is one of the scenarios, it’s the end of the shift and the bell rings. Employees scatter leaving absorbers sitting in the bottom of empty cans that are waiting to be filled with food in the production line. The absorber slowly dies like a fish out of water.

At The Ready Store we keep the absorbers sealed until they are to be dropped in with the food. From the time they are deposited to the time the can seaming process has been run fewer than 5 minutes have elapsed. Will an 02 absorber work just fine if left out for a couple hours? Yes. Overnight? No, but when shelf life is at play, being safe and not sorry is the best way to go. Doing our best and striving to be the best is a part of who we are and strive for everyday and I think you will see it shows in everything we do.

Over the course of the next few weeks we will be going into detail on important topics related to shelf-life. Next week we will be cutting cross sections of our can seams then taking macro level photos of the seal. From there we will compare those shots alongside photos from a major university’s can seam study where they inspected various seam quality differences (and their implications) so you can see for yourself how good of a seam ours is in comparison to others out there. At a future date we will talk about the cans themselves and go into what makes a good can, there we will explain what a double enameled can is and why you should settle for nothing less. From there we will move onto other important factors related to making food storage products last so in the end you can feel 100% confident in what you get from The Ready Store to help prepare for your families future.

Canned food is only as good as it’s seal. When seams are not made appropriately air and moisture can enter into the container and shorten the life of the food. Having a good seal ensures that your freeze dried food lasts 30 years or more, with a faulty seal one can expect to see a 30-60% decrease in shelf life depending on storage environment. Food storage manufacturers, like The Ready Store purchase #10 cans that are sealed by the factory on one end and open on the other. The food storage manufacturers then fills the can with food (Mountain House is the only manufacturer that freeze-dries their own food). After the can is filled, a metal lid is sealed to the open end of the can in a two stage process that ensures the can is air-tight and will yield the maximum shelf-life for your food storage.

At The Ready Store we only sell Saratoga Farms and Mountain House because they have both consistently performed this sealing operation to industry standards and provide the highest quality can seam and food quality available.

Recently we ordered a handful of food storage cans from a couple of our competitors to see how their can seam compared…