bag o' rice

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do you really have to put the 50-lb bags of rice, like from Costco, into another container? what's the cheapest way to keep it?

-- sarah (qubr@aol.com), May 14, 1999

Answers

Well, rice, like any other grain has a tendency to grow mold. I believe the mold is called Aflotoxin (sp?) It is very bad stuff, in fact, it has been used in biological warfare but we won't go there for now...

Anyway, your best bet is to get one of those huge water containers in the camping gear department of stores, the ones with the sealable lids. And use those for now. And keep it somewhere COLD. Mold trives in warm environments. Actually now that I think of it, get several smaller water containers with sealable lids and fill them as full as you can with rice. 'Cause when you open and close the container everytime you get rice out, you'll let in moist air. And the less rice you contaminate with moist air at a time, the better off you are... Hope this helps.

Laura

-- Laura (dont@ask.com), May 14, 1999.


Let's point out that brown rice is more likely to have trouble than white. Although white has less nutrition.

My white rice is in a used five gallon drink syrup pail with a o-ring seal. It's stored in the cool and dry cement basement.

The biggest concern may not be mold. It may be varmints. Everything is in containers that mice, roaches, ants etc. can't get into. I'm convinced that it's easier to make sure they don't even get a whiff of it versus trying to eradicate them once they've found food.

-- Kay (jkbrooks@bellsouth.net), May 14, 1999.


In the area where you store your food, on the floor, put dried basil (for the ants), dried marigolds, marjoram, and any other herb you can find. SPrinkle it around your food storage area, you'll keep a lot of bugs away that way. And look for other information regarding pest control using plants. I believe there was something for mice and rats too but I can't remember off hand right now...

Laura

-- laura (dont@ask.com), May 14, 1999.


Sarah ; I dont know if what I'm doing is the best way, but here goes. I bought gamma lids for 5 gal. buckets and mylar bags from Major Surplus. I get about 35-40 lbs of rice in each bucket. So far no problems. I store my bucketed dry goods in a cool area of my basement.... Good Luck.....

-- Capt. Dennis (souza@ptialaska.net), May 15, 1999.

What are those without basements or root cellars doing for a cool dry place? The best I can think of in under beds, lower cabinets, floor of closets. This would tend to be somewhat cooler than higher shelves as heat rises. I'm at a loss as to what to do in the summer if there is no power for AC. The heat and humidity can be really bad. I've noticed it stays quite cool in the crawlspace under the house. May have to move some stuff there if the power is out that long. I could cut a trapdoor in the floor of the back bedroom...

mb in NC

-- mb (mdbutler@coastalnet.com), May 15, 1999.



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