How to Store Grains Long-Term

If you’re planning for long-term food storage, you should find comfort that grains can last up to 30 years when properly stored. The shelf life depends on the type of grain, but generally speaking, dried grains are some of the longest-lasting food products.

When storing grains, your goal is to reduce their exposure to oxygen, heat, moisture, and pests. So the most effective tools for storing grains are grains in 5-gallon buckets with mylar bags and oxygen absorbers.

We have previously written about the best grains for long-term food storage and the items you will need for DIY food storage, but in this article, we will cover how to store grains long-term.

Before we talk about proper grain storage, let’s quickly cover the shelf life of different types of grains.

Shelf life of Grains

Below is the maximum shelf life of grains when stored properly with oxygen absorbers.

A Step-by-Step Guide to Storing Grains in 5-Gallon Buckets

Food-grade buckets are one of the best tools for long-term food storage. They not only protect your grains from moisture, light, and air exposure, but they are also effective for keeping out pests.

Here’s how you can store grains long-term in seven simple steps:

1. Get the Right Food-Grade Bucket

While it would be convenient to just grab any container and get started, not every 5-gallon bucket will work for food storage.

You will need dedicated food-grade buckets that are made from food-safe plastic material. In most cases, something with HDPE will be good enough with a suitable liner.

Using a non-food grade plastic bucket could contaminate your grains with harmful chemicals. Spoiling your food and making it inedible. So to make sure your efforts are not wasted, make sure to use a food-grade bucket for long-term storage.

As you begin to package your food, it might be better to move the bucket to the storage room and fill it up there since it could be too heavy to lift later on. You should expect the grain-filled bucket to be about 25-30 pounds.

Related Article: How to store food in 5-gallon buckets

2. Use Mylar Bags for Lining

Mylar bags are made from metallic sheets that limit exposure to environmental aggressors like heat, air, and moisture.

You can either use a large mylar bag to line your bucket or small bags. Small bags make it easier to take out the grains you need without exposing all the grains to environmental aggressors.

If you are using a large mylar bag, you’ll want the bag to be a tad bit larger than the bucket. This way, you’ll have more length at the top to seal and cut the extra trimmings.

While the food bucket will protect the grains from pests, the mylar bags are the most effective tool for preventing light, moisture, or air from getting into contact with the grains.

Related Article: How to Store Food in Mylar Bags: A Guide for Beginners

3. Pour the Grains

With your mylar bags inside the bucket, lift the original sack and pour in the grains gradually. It could help to have a funnel or get someone to give you a hand and make sure that the mylar bag is wide open.

After pouring, you might want to wait a bit for the “dust” to settle so you’ll have better visibility. Then you can gauge if you need to pour in some more grains.

Remember that you want to leave some room (at least an inch below the rim) to add the oxygen absorber packets and seal the bag.

4. Throw in Some Oxygen Absorbers

Oxygen absorbers are a helpful tool that removes the air from the inside of a mylar bag. O2 absorbers help extend the shelf life of grains significantly by preventing them from going rancid and killing any insect eggs that were in the original packaging. To prevent rancidity, make sure you have oxygen absorbers at hand.

Here is a helpful chart to help you decide how many o2 absorbers you will need for your bags

Related Article: Oxygen Absorbers vs. Silica Gel Packets

5. Seal the Mylar with Heat

Once the O2 absorbers are in the bag, fold the top a couple of times after pushing out as much air as possible. Then lay it on a flat surface to run over it a few times with a regular clothing iron on the highest setting. If you don’t have an iron, a hair straighter could work too.

Make sure you don’t seal too close to the actual stock. Instead, you want to have a few inches between the seal and the surface of the grains so you can cut the bag open later without risking spillage.

6. Wait Before Closing the Lid

Since oxygen absorbers might take a while to kick in, try to leave the bucket open for a while until you see significant shrinkage in the mylar bag.

We suggest using a gamma seal lid to close the bucket because they are easy to unseal. However, you can use a regular lid and a rubber mallet after pushing it into place. A lid would keep the airflow to a minimum.

7. Label the Bucket

Once you’re all done, don’t forget to label your bucket with the grain type and packing date. Make sure the sticker doesn’t peel off easily and the marker won’t bleed or fade with time.

The last thing you want is to have to open up all the containers when you’re looking for a specific stock!

Some people just opt to stick a piece of the original packing on the bucket with tape. This is convenient, but you’ll still need to add the date yourself.