Don’t remember where we saw this, but it “stuck’ and we did it for ourselves.
We call them “rice tubes.”
If you’ve ever vacuum sealed rice, dehydrated potatoes or pasta’s you’ve learned that they puncture tiny little holes in the bags (even Mylar eventually) and it’s a goner for long-term storage. That’s why using “tubes” made sense to us.
We made a visit to our local Dollar Tree and purchased several packages of ankle high socks and several “hair bands”.
While wifey held the sock and the funnel, hubby poured several cups of instant white rice (or whatever type rice you want to store) until it was about 3 inches from the top of the sock.
Then he shook the sock to settle the rice, gave the sock a “twirl” to tighten the top of it, and wrapped the hair band (like a rubber band) around top several times, bent the top part of the sock over, and again wrapped the hair band.
We then put them tall side up into a 5-gallon food safe bucket with a gasket sealed lid, and with a rubber mallet, hammered the lid in place.
You can get a WHOLE BUNCH of rice tubes in a bucket!
It looks as though you also vacuum sealed them though you don’t mention that in the article. Great idea for getting over the puncturing problem.
Another dopey-sounding, but useful application for these :)
Fill up a sock with rice, not terribly full. Stitch up the open end so it doesn’t leak at an inopportune moment. My ex embroidered a smily face on the other end and told kids it was a warm-worm :)
A low oven might work too, but I microwave if for a minute or so on high. You now have a heating pad that can wrapped around a wrist or shoulder or ankle or neck, etc, and stays in place by its own weight :)
I first saw this idea on Bexarprepper’s youtube site.
Bexarprepper…I love her stuff, so stands to reason I may have first seen something like this there…give credit where credit is due if I can! I don’t think I’ve seen anybody put them into buckets though. Yes, we did vacuum seal the rice tubes. Forgot to mention that :-) But we also use them for “bean tubes” etc. Anything that we think might puncture a sealed or mylar bag.
I have had problems in the past with tiny holes when vacuum sealing. I found that if I first put the item in a ziplock bag, then vacuum, I haven’t had any problems with punctures. I figure I am going to have to have something to keep the item in after opening the vacuum bag, the ziplock is already there, just use what you need and zip it back up.
Great idea Harriet!!! :-D
Whoops! Donna – GREAT IDEA!
Oh, if only hindsight came first! I don’t know how many vacuum-seal bags I wasted before I learned the secret of ziploc bags for rice and pasta. The funny thing is, though, that I’ve had no trouble whatsoever with wooden matches, lollipops, and various other pointy-ish items, even when the kids tossed them like footballs to see how well they’d hold up.
On another note, we’ve made good use of our supplies over the last month since I lost my job. It’s a comfort to me knowing that we don’t have to go to the store for ANYthing for the next few months. My daughter made a really good fried-rice dish the other night using dehydrated vegetables (the “stew mix”), powdered eggs, and a sprinkling of chicken TVP. She was mad at me at the time, because I wouldn’t go shopping for “real” food, but she was so impressed with her success that she’s been going through the rest of our supplies to see what other yummy dishes she can make out of nothing but Mom’s Armageddon Food.
Single Mom, you are truly INSPIRING!
It is being prepared that get us through the hard times we all face at one time or another.
And your daughter has learned an oh so valuable lesson.
:-D
Single Mom…good way to rotate your pantry. Keep track of what you use & eat so you can replace each item. That which gets left behind…perhaps you’ll not stock any more of it :-)
As for the zippy bags, I use them alot when vacuum sealing, just not for long term storage when I put them in a bucket. I especially use them when I’m vacuum sealing powdery substances. I zip the baggie closed, break the little “button” off of it and then take my scissors and clip a tiny slot through the zipper. Fold the zipper down and then put it zipper down into my vacuum bag to be sealed. It’s nice to be retired so I have just about every day to try something new or watch something new! LOL