Using Dry Ice to Store Your Emergency Foods

!±8± Using Dry Ice to Store Your Emergency Foods

When storing up food we have to have some sort of way that we can preserve the food. Many times you will hear survivalists saying how they have placed five oxygen packets in their 5 gallon bucket in order to preserve their wheat or flour. Well, this is all well and good but using the oxygen packets is not the only way to preserve your food. In this article I am going to briefly explain to you how you can use dry ice to accomplish the same thing.

In many cases the use of dry ice works much better then placing oxygen packets into your storage containers. An example would be if you are storing food in one of the 5 gallon buckets and you do not make use of a Mylar bag to put the food in. You could in this case merely place dry ice in the bucket and it would seal the unit for you.

Often people are totally confused when it comes to using dry ice. For one they may not know where to obtain the product at. Secondly, many people are simply afraid of using it. They feel that the necessary procedures may be a bit complicated and thus they try to avoid using the method all together. They are honestly petrified of making any sort of mistake when using the ice.

Well, lets get to the meat of this article and you will quickly realize that there is absolutely nothing to be afraid of when working with dry ice. It takes only a tablespoon of dry ice for each gallon size container so you would require a small chunk of dry ice approximately the size of a one-third cup measuring spoon for each 5 gallon bucket you are sealing.

When sealing grain in one of your buckets the procedure to follow is to pour about three inches of the grain into the bucket. Next add the dry ice. The three inches or so of grain is to prevent the dry ice from freezing and cracking the bottom of the bucket. After placing the dry ice in the bucket you can then fill the bucket up with additional grain. Set the lid loosely on the top of the bucket and wait patiently for approximately one half hour. Now push the lid onto the bucket firmly. You can check it in another half hour for any possible bulging, In the event that there are any types of bulges you merely have to "burp" the lid. This is accomplished the same way as you would burp a Tupperware lid when you put one in one of their containers. You simply lift up on one small area to allow the excess air or CO2 to escape and then you push the lid back on.

The procedure is not complicated in the least and you can not make a mistake if you leave your buckets where you can watch them for the first few hours. Check them regularly to ensure that you are aware of any changes that may be occurring. After a few hours has past you can use a rubber mallet or perhaps a regular hammer along with a piece of wood held across the lid to tap the lid completely in place. Presto you are now finished.

Keep in mind that dry ice tends to evaporates rather quickly. If you were to purchase a pound of dry ice one evening there is a very good chance that it will evaporate by the next morning. It makes no difference if the ice is stored in a freezer or not as it evaporates rather quickly. The best procedure to follow in this case is to get all your buckets ready at one time and then go get your dry ice. When you return with it you can put it in the buckets and then finish filling them up.

Now you can readily see that there is no magic involved with using dry ice. It is simple, easy and does not take a rocket scientist to use it properly. Good luck in your storage goals.