Your thoughts on storing boxed & packaged food.

[Misty Acres]

I guess I need some reminders on the proper way to store the boxed and packaged foods like pancake mix, (lose in the box) Rice a Roni,pastas, stuffing mix, Romen noodle soups, Hamburger Helper, etc. I think I remember reading that you should put just about everything in the freezer for several days to kill any bugs and eggs and then the items can be stored in air tight containers with the oxygen absorbers. Is that right?

 

 

These boxes store nice and neat on the shelves but I want to start focusing on buying larger quanities, and preserving them better, while I am seeing them on sale.

 

One thing that I have done quite often, is to buy the individual packets (4 1/2 or 5 oz.) of noodles/pasta with the sauce mix...like chicken, alfredo, cheese, etc. and then add any meat,...like cut up bologna, tuna, hamburger or??. The store brand runs about a dollar each, making pretty cheap servings even if you use a couple at a time. It tastes good and in the end, is similar to the idea of the boxed Hamburger Helper type meals. Anyway, my thought was that it might be more compact and less bulky to store the packets in 2 1/2 gal. buckets with the gamma lids or use a Food Saver. I'm not quite sure how I should store the boxed food. The 5 gal buckets are a real challenge for me, space wise, so I'm trying to come up with other options whenever I can. Thanks.... Anna

[Virginia]

So far, I just have mine on the shelf. Don't have great amounts, but this storage thing is about overwhelming to me. I never thought of freezing things like Hamburger Helper, Rice a Roni, etc. Might be a good idea.

[cootie]

I use glass canning jars for a lot of my dry storage items. Never had a problem doing this. If you want, add a bay leaf on top of the food you fill the jar with to keep pests away (they don't like bay leaf). I pack my jars really full and tight, and surprisingly, eventually, the jars seal themselves airtight and the buttons pop! I don't know the science behind how the food will let whatever leftover air in the jar to release itself, but it does for a lot of my jars, especially the ones that I pack wheat berries in. Weird, I know, but when I go to check on my wheat every now and then and try to open a jar, it is really vacuum sealed tight, and I have to really pry the lid open, and hear the popping sound when the lid is released.

 

Anyway, just an idea and my 2-cents worth.

 

 

[ATHagan]

 

If your kitchen is warm and/or humid at times I suggest repackaging these convenience foods, especially those with baking powders (leaveners) added. You can put a label on the outside of the jars to show what each is and if you need to cut the instructions off of the bag or box and tuck it inside.

 

If you have a vac-sealer I’d vac-seal them, but even just simply sealing the jars up will help. The contents are now bug proof and protected from moisture and oxygen other than what you sealed in with them when you put the lids on. Store in the ubiquitous cool, dark place or as near to that as you can get.

 

If the packaging was thin and flimsy when you bought it then freeze treating at zero degrees or less for a day or two would be a good preventative for weevils, but be sure the jars are well-sealed and stay that way until they have come back up to room temperature.

 

…..Alan.