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Question about transitioning dehydrated food from freezer storage, to mylar bags & 5-gallon buckets.

I've done some dehydrating of veggies, fruit, eggs and fish jerky.
Up to this point, I've been storing them in freezer ziplocs, in my freezer. Now that I've finally gotten around to getting mylar bags, oxygen absorbers, buckets and a space to store them, I was wondering if the freezer-stored items can safely be moved to the (non-frozen) mylar/bucket setup, and if so, is there anything else I should do?
My plan is to let the ziplocs come to room temperature, see whether there is condensation or moisture inside the bags, and re-dehydrate the items if necessary, then pack them into the mylar bags.
Has anyone tried this? Is it safe? I don't want to risk spoilage. Does it impact the overall shelf life?

Also, I have heard that jerky doesn't have a really long shelf life (2-3 months max), no matter what you do, so is it worth it to put that into the mylar, or should I just stick with freezer or jars for the jerky? I like it enough to rotate it more often 😀 , however it would be nice to have a compact protein source for my emergency food supply.
Thanks in advance for any advice 🙂

Mostly bringing you back to the top, HIR.

It sounds like a solid plan. You might want to open the bags to allow condensation to escape. It will save time if you do end up re-dehydrating. Anything you notice with freezer burn should get used.
I do several freeze cycles with feed wheat, seed grains and nuts, and bulk oatmeal before I Mylar it, so there's precedence for things to go from the freezer to room temp to a moisture check to Mylar (or canning jars in some of my cases).
I stick a satchel of rice in once I pop the zip bag, just a clean sock whose mate never returned from the dryer and a palmful of rice, tie a knot, and let it soak up anything that forms during the defrost cycle.

My fruits and veggies get vac sealed before they hit the freezer if I don't have enough to do gallons at a time for Mylar. They just come out, come up to temp, I watch for seals and any moisture drops, and straight into Mylar they go if all is well.

I don't bother trying to keep jerky or nuts in Mylar. They just live in my freezer. Mine last about 4 months for sure and I've heard 6, so sealing that way just doesn't work for me. It's a lot of plastic and time waste. Big ziploc bags are reusable, so I just go that way most of the time. Some jerky gets done in canning jars with some O2 absorbers for 3-4 months and replaced usually (there's still time on my absorbers usually), but meats I mostly just can now or buy tinned now. They last longer.

True pemmican with mostly just separated meats and fats, not all the extra fruit we try to toss in, lasts 6-12 months wrapped tight on a shelf in my humid 65-75 F home.
If you're near any natives who still practice old skills, it might be worth looking into if you want a dried option.
It takes a LOT of time and a LOT of attention to make.

Thank you, MrsPrepwPets for all the amazing info - good to know others have done this. I will try the rice tip. For the jerky I will just cycle it out. I will look into the pemmican as a foodie project for the future... 🙂

I have heard that dry goods should be frozen for at least a day before sealing, to ensure any insect eggs are dead (ewww) so makes sense you do that.

Since it sounds like you have pets, here is a question: do you stockpile pet food? If so, in the original bags or do you transfer to buckets?

I have heard that dry goods should be frozen for at least a day before sealing, to ensure any insect eggs are dead (ewww) so makes sense you do that.

I actually just store some of the problematic stuff I don't move through in the freezer if it's not going straight from a supermarket to a can/jar/Mylar (grits, cornmeal).
I also only do the three-freeze hokey-pokey with feed wheat, seed beans, bulk oatmeal, stuff in the bags (especially with the mesh) that have been sitting out I don't know where.
Stuff I buy from the regular supermarket I don't bother with.

Since it sounds like you have pets...

...here is a question: do you stockpile pet food? If so, in the original bags or do you transfer to buckets?

I can't keep dry dog food longer than about 6 months (Blue, grain free large breed, the shiny package not the flat/matte one(s)). So I don't try to go out too much farther than that with it.
There is a FD dog food out there, but we move through 2-3 50# sacks a month of Blue - they'd all have to get off my couch and get jobs to afford the freeze-dried stuff.

I do have a couple of 10-15 year buckets of cat food from one of the suppliers (I think the Costo Chef's Banquet). It has more protein and lower % wheat and corn and gluten and strange products than the dog equivalent.
The dogs and kitty also have canned wet food, because it lasts longer than the bags.
I can cut the cat food with oats, rice, veggies, or anything else to get it into the ideal protein and calorie range for their various ages and health requirements.

Mine ate homemade "casserole" of chicken, rabbit or fish and oats, barley, and-or white rice plus sweet potatoes, yams, apples, berries, green beans and-or carrots for a long time. Once all or most were no longer under 50 pounds, that stopped, although one just came off it before the new year. It is insanely tiring to smell enough stewing chicken and pick enough stewed chicken to keep young, active 75+ pound dogs fed.

I still make them homemade food to be added to a few dinners a night and they get human scraps and meals entirely made up of their casserole or a similar human meal.
I can dribble in or replace mine's with homemade feed and scraps without worries (tested carefully, on days I'll be home for the next 48 hours), but an animal accustomed to one diet is likely to require having it slowly changed to accommodate the new food, just like always.
Mine can also handle dairy and eggs thrown in with no problem, although one can only have large portions of 1 meal a day replaced unless it's raw goat milk.
Everything but the newt gets dabs and dollops of yogurt pretty much daily.

For true long term planning, I mostly have fish and meat in jars and freeze-dried options for Combat Kitty, and mostly powdered eggs, oats, rice, apples, green beans, yams and carrots for the other carnivores in various FD or dehydrated options, cans and jars and Mylar.
I find for the long term, the oats and powdered eggs is about my least expensive and most compact option for nutrients, animal-based fats and proteins they need, and calories.

I do also stock canned pumpkin, chamomile and applemint and lavender, dehydrated dandelion and wormwood, and other things for upset tummies, and lots of tennis balls, dollar-store chewies, and various meds for them.

I also play the Mylar-O2 game with Milky Bones (they'll go out to at least 5 years; I just prick the package near where I'd cut it and drop the whole thing in the Mylar bag and then the bucket).
-P 🙂

Thanks for the info. I am doing the thawing today, with little cloth pouches of rice. So far, so good.

One thought that comes to mind is that if flour is good for long term storage, and noodles such as macaroni are mostly flour, why not stock up on large quantities of macaroni and therefore less flour? It's already prepared for long term storage and should keep even longer now, yes? I already have lots of macaroni and I am one who tries for every shortcut I can find. I like eating a lot more than cooking or cleaning, so any answer has against this line of thought has got to penetrate some heavy barriers to have me change now... 😕

And while were at it, WD40 appears to be good for arthritis pain. Seniors soak their joints in it for almost instant pain relief. I too can confirm this trick works so stocking up on this useful item is a must for me. They mention that the major ingredient is over 90% fish oil....

well, if that's true, maybe we can cook with it too....yes? 😆 😆

(it's comments like these that make others want to cook instead of me having to) 😎

They mention that the major ingredient is over 90% fish oil....

well, if that's true, maybe we can cook with it too....yes?(it's comments like these that make others want to cook instead of me having to) 😎

Yes. Yes it would.

I would worry about all the other gunk in there, for anybody not catching the laughter.

One thought that comes to mind is that if flour is good for long term storage, and noodles such as macaroni are mostly flour, why not stock up on large quantities of macaroni and therefore less flour? It's already prepared for long term storage and should keep even longer now, yes? I already have lots of macaroni and I am one who tries for every shortcut I can find. I like eating a lot more than cooking or cleaning, so any answer has against this line of thought has got to penetrate some heavy barriers to have me change now... 😕

Noodles of almost any kind will actually keep longer than flour. I know flour is in it, I don't know why it makes a difference, it does, just like whole wheat berries store longer than flour does.
Flour typically has a 10-15 year shelf life when in Mylar or sealed cans, and .
Noodles will go out 20-25 years according to some, 30+ according to others.

I have 3-8 year old egg noodles and spaghetti in heavy-duty cellophane (love the dollar store) that were only sealed in a bucket, no Mylar, no O2 absorbers, and they're taking about 5 minutes longer than "new" to cook, but are cooking up fine.

The LDS order sheet (not a member) has some of their tested and anticipated shelf life info. http://providentliving.org/bc/content/providentliving/content/content/english/self-reliance/food-storage/home-storage-center-order-form/pdf/home-storage-center-order-form-full-united-states%28English%29.pdf?lang=eng
Augason Farms (not affiliated) also has nice fact sheets with their stuff that I use as a confirmation and ROT when I can't find a date on something.
http://www.augasonfarms.com/ You have to go in search, find it, scroll down, and open the pdf.
Don't use it for calories or other nutrition for companies, because ingredients vary by company.
Also, double check before clicking buy, because there are places like MRE Depot that sell canned and bucket foods, but theirs only last 5-15 years in some/many cases, and some of the just-add-water pouches out there are still 7-15 years instead of 15-25.

I just know'd you'd be the one to put me straight Mrs Prep 😀

Thanks for the backing of my lazy ways as I wasn't quite ready to change just yet! 😆 (and I knew the WD40 thought would tweek a response 😳 )

Having a variety to me is buying spaghetti, macaroni and lasagne noodles. I know that if I ever get around to growing a garden here, I'll likely still get more protein from it then you as I'b be shooting all the critters eating it. Seems easier to just invest in salt licks and just put my couch near the door so I don't have to get up as often...

reminder:(add salt licks to shopping list)

I'm doing some water bath canning because I don't yet have a pressure canner. Instructions say to fill the jars to 1/4 inch below top. My question is: in the event of freezing, that doesn't leave enough expansion room, so the jar will definitely crack. Although, even if I left more room for expansion, maybe the expansion would also go sideways and the jar would still crack if it froze. Any thoughts on that?

I'm doing some water bath canning because I don't yet have a pressure canner. Instructions say to fill the jars to 1/4 inch below top. My question is: in the event of freezing, that doesn't leave enough expansion room, so the jar will definitely crack. Although, even if I left more room for expansion, maybe the expansion would also go sideways and the jar would still crack if it froze. Any thoughts on that?

Fill your jars up according to the instructions. If your jars freeze, you have experienced a SHTF event of some sort. As you have surmised, frozen jars are bad news and the only way around it is not to let them freeze. Even if the jars survive, the food is going to really drop in quality depending upon whats in those jars. Thats why many root cellars were dug under the house in days gone by. Wood fires went out, but the jars were below the frost line and the house above gave additional protection. I personally have insulated the basement ceiling as well as the walls for just that reason.

A belated thankyou, OddDuck, for your reply. I think this possibility of freezing is one of the reasons I favor freeze dried food as my most secure emerg plan. Also the aspect that it is lightweight and way more portable. That doesn't mean I'm going to stop canning though.

... I favor freeze dried food as my most secure emerg plan. Also the aspect that it is lightweight and way more portable.

Do you have a dehydrating option, even a "low" setting on the oven or a dry enough, dust-free enough climate that you can layer on/between discarded window screen or between HVAC filters (a la Alton Brown jerky style), with or without a fan running over those last two?

I dehydrate to a "plastic" level for long term storage mostly, but I also do some to the "chewy"/"leather" level for snacks for fruits and keep them in the freezer. If we needed to, we could move through them in the weeks they'd last without power.

It's even more compact that FD, although it takes a little more liquid to rehydrate and never comes back quite as much.
🙂
-P

I can't say we rely on the freezers for much food basic storage as even a calf moose takes up alot of room and the wife's fish(which she freezes in water) hogs some too. I dehydrate anything that can be just so the wife doesn't want to buy a 3rd freezer. 🙄 I find the freezer's purpose is often a sort of holding cell until I've made the frozen goods a warm bed on the dehydrater. 😀

I just purchased a bottle of coconut oil to try.......DH was adamant that he wouldn't like it, but in actual fact, after using it twice, he couldn't tell the difference between coconut oil and lard or bacon fat. My question is, should coconut oil be kept in the fridge, or is it ok on the counter. There are no storage instructions on the bottle, other than a best before date. Would be nice if it were that shelf stable that it can be left out. Thanks

My question is, should coconut oil be kept in the fridge, or is it ok on the counter. There are no storage instructions on the bottle, other than a best before date. Would be nice if it were that shelf stable that it can be left out. Thanks

It not only doesn't need to go in the fridge, if it goes in the fridge, it will turn into a block somewhere between clay and frozen butter and a brick, depending on how cold it's kept.
It doesn't do any harm if it does harden (if it separates from changing states too fast, it can just all be allowed to melt and shaken/stirred to redistribute, all fine) but it can be harder to work with when you want specific amounts.

Coconut oil is a fantastic choice, and has a ton of uses outside the kitchen:
http://thecoconutmama.com/2014/03/9-reasons-to-keep-coconut-oil-in-your-bathroom/
http://www.swansonvitamins.com/blog/natural-health-tips/using-coconut-oil

Plus: insect bite relief and once it finally goes rancid, it can be used for homemade lamps just like olive oil.
🙂
-P

Thanks for the great advice; my small bottle is on the counter right now, and will stay there, partly because it is so handy right there by the stove. I think things brown nicer in coconut oil than bacon fat, although the aroma of things cooked in bacon fat is just sooooo inviting.