Home made long storage MRE's

[Greg]

Hello all...

Looking for some real advice on long storage life food prep.

My plan is to transfer tinned ready meals into heat sealable mylar bags (5" x 8") then place them into a vacuum sealed outer bag with a 300cc O2 Absorber...basically home made MRE's / Boil in the bags.

Once I have made a few of them (25 - 50..ish) I will then store them in a larger / thicker vacuum sealed bag with a 1000cc O2 Absorber and place them in an airtight tuff plastic Barrel.

Any thoughts on how I could do things differently or general advice would be appreciated.

I also plan on stroring freeze dried foods aswell.

Please try to keep this thread on subject and don't go off on a tangent talking about other stuff...many thanks.
Greg

 

[cranmere]

I'm puzzled, why would you want to remove food from an extremely good, efficient and safe form of storage in order to put it into a form that is shorter lived and less safe? I'm presuming you have reasons but I don't see them at present.

 

[Greg]

Can you explain your reasons for the question....just to help my understanding.
My main aim is to reduce the bulk storage size and weight...sterile vacuum sealed mylar is known to increase longevity of food...so I have read on a number of different forums.

 

[Johnnyboy1971]

Would the transfer from a sealed tin allow contamination of the food with exposure to the air.

 

[rik_uk3]

The minute you open the tin the food starts to decay. Repacking in mylar pouches even with O2 absorbers won't give it a long life, best left in the tin IMHO. Mylar bags are very good for storing dry goods, rice, pasta, sugar, dried milk, dried veg and freeze dried goods et al.

 

[cranmere]

Would the transfer from a sealed tin allow contamination of the food with exposure to the air.

Yes. You would have to completely re-process it if you re-packaged it. Undamaged tins will last for decades despite what the nannying "use by" dates say, I haven't seen any form of plastic storage that can be guaranteed for that long. Very old tinned food may deteriorate in taste and texture but it remains safe provided the tin is undamaged.

 

[Greg]

I have transfered tinned 'wet' food to Mylar bags in the past and its lasted for 4-5yrs and when I re-opened it it was fine and dandy to eat...I'm still alive and had no ill effects (except the odd twitch here and there ;-) ..)
I'm not looking for the food to last for a life time....

I do agree that undamaged tinned food will last for years but lugging it around in a bergen is a tad heavy...and the price of pre-packed MRE's these days are ridiculous unless you have a friend in the stores..

 

[cranmere]

Lugging it around brings a different set of requirements into play and I can see your point there.

 

[British Red]

Greg,

There is no reason not to use pouches to store "wet" food, but its best to use a commercial vacuum sealer and then process the pouches in a pressure canner to get the temperature high enough to eliminate E-coli.

Its not simple, but it can be done and if you are into home canning and long term storage, then its really only the vacuum sealer to add

Red

 

[cranmere]

I'm wondering whether a tin is actually that much heavier than heavy plastic packaging especially given that many modern tins are actually made of thin aluminium. I shall be opening a tin of tomatoes later so I'll get the scales out.

I definitely wouldn't just repackage without heat processing. You'll probably get away with it most of the time of your utensils and working area are very clean but there is a risk that you'll get wild moulds or bacteria in there, and since one or two of the anaerobes can produce some very nasty toxins with little sign of anything happening I wouldn't take the risk. I've run far too many culture plates when I was studying (a long time ago) not to take it seriously.

 

[Greg]

@ Cranmere...When it comes to weight..an 800g tin of food that can be split into two 400g pouches is a big difference.
And modern tins these days are often coated inside with a plastic film which means you have to dispence the contents into a cooing pot whereas food can be cooked in a mylar bag..
I do take your point on sterilising against micro-organisms

@Red...I am intending on buying a vacuum sealer before I begin....I will look into getting a pressure canner..thank you

 

[British Red]

A basic pressure cooker will do unless you intend on canning as well Greg - just get one with variable weights (that can do 5, 10 and 15lb of pressure). Once you pressure cook the retort pouch the meal is as safe as tinned. Best of all you can do home made chilli, spaghetti etc.

 

[Greg]

A basic pressure cooker will do unless you intend on canning as well Greg - just get one with variable weights (that can do 5, 10 and 15lb of pressure). Once you pressure cook the retort pouch the meal is as safe as tinned. Best of all you can do home made chilli, spaghetti etc.

No plans on canning as yet...maybe in the future with more experience.

So if I transfer the tinned food to the mylar pouches...seal them with a vacuum sealer then place them in a pressure cooker..that will do the trick?

Will this do?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ALUMINIUM..._Kitchen_Cookware_GL&var=&hash=item3a8b79891b

 

[British Red]

If you then pressure cook them using the right weight for the right space of time, yes

For time, weights and process consult the Ball Blue book (I kid you not) or the Balls book of home preserving. In effect what you are doing IS canning - just using a pouch in place of a jar.

 

[Greg]

Well that seems like a good cost effective way of preserving the food then

just out of curiosity..how are military mre's prepped...take the british military rations for example...because they aren't vacuum packed?

 

[British Red]

They have some air removed. The vacuum isn't strictly necessary because the heat treatment sterilises the air.

 

[Greg]

Okay...well thank you for your constructive information Red...always appreciated :You_Rock_