Storing Oatmeal Packets
- Thread starter O:gweh
- Start date
Nothing. That's actually one of the reasons I am considering doing this, since they come as "apples n cinnamon", "maple and brown sugar, etc. Easy to use, easy to portion out, etc.
To clarify - premade meaning store bought premade, not @Mel's Cookin' extraordinary homemade/premade. lol
I would like to leave them in the "factory" paper pouches inside the mylar.
To clarify - premade meaning store bought premade, not @Mel's Cookin' extraordinary homemade/premade. lol
I would like to leave them in the "factory" paper pouches inside the mylar.
O2 absorbers do their job and they're done. Life is over. So they will reduce the oxygen in the bucket, but won't do anything about the inside of the packets. Those packets are lined with a plasticized coating, slowing but not completely preventing oxygen from leaching in or leaching out once the oxygen level in the bucket is lower than the oxygen level in the packets.
But the leaching out of oxygen will not occur within the time frame the O2 absorber is active. That will be a slow leaching, it will eventually somewhat lower the oxygen level inside the packets, and outside the packets, the oxygen level won't affect food quality so that oxygen will be somewhat harmless to the food. You'll never get an O2 level as low as you would without the packaging being involved but you will likely get a better result than you would without the mylar and O2 absorbers.
NoFly finding the packets 'rock hard' is telling, but I'm not sure which thing it's telling. Either there is some residual moisture due to the seasonings in the packets or since the packets don't give a very good barrier and humidity leached into the packets. I actually think it is more likely residual moisture in the packets than humidity leaching in because humidity inside the house is more controlled when using air conditioning and heating a house.
The oatmeal companies are not concerned about how much longer their product lasts past the expiration date, they have to test to get those expiration dates and once it goes a year, they aren't going to invest any more money or time into testing or packaging improvement. Long term storage is not in their best interest. I would love to know the percentage of food products in this country that are thrown out and replaced because of that magic date.
My guess is with proper packaging you could get about 5 - 7 years out of the packets stored like you are thinking, more on the five year end of the scale. BUT (and that's a big but) that is a Wild Ass Guess on my part, I won't even pretend it is scientific.
The part of the oats lasting that long is really not a question, it's the seasonings. The only part of the oat subject to going rancid is the germ, where the oil is. The instant oatmeal packets are made with the tiny pieces of oat that flake off in processing the other oats, therefore, won't have any of the germ in them.
And that's all my brain spit out about oatmeal packets... woke up this morning with that info sitting there and thought I'd share it for it's limited value.
But the leaching out of oxygen will not occur within the time frame the O2 absorber is active. That will be a slow leaching, it will eventually somewhat lower the oxygen level inside the packets, and outside the packets, the oxygen level won't affect food quality so that oxygen will be somewhat harmless to the food. You'll never get an O2 level as low as you would without the packaging being involved but you will likely get a better result than you would without the mylar and O2 absorbers.
NoFly finding the packets 'rock hard' is telling, but I'm not sure which thing it's telling. Either there is some residual moisture due to the seasonings in the packets or since the packets don't give a very good barrier and humidity leached into the packets. I actually think it is more likely residual moisture in the packets than humidity leaching in because humidity inside the house is more controlled when using air conditioning and heating a house.
The oatmeal companies are not concerned about how much longer their product lasts past the expiration date, they have to test to get those expiration dates and once it goes a year, they aren't going to invest any more money or time into testing or packaging improvement. Long term storage is not in their best interest. I would love to know the percentage of food products in this country that are thrown out and replaced because of that magic date.
My guess is with proper packaging you could get about 5 - 7 years out of the packets stored like you are thinking, more on the five year end of the scale. BUT (and that's a big but) that is a Wild Ass Guess on my part, I won't even pretend it is scientific.
The part of the oats lasting that long is really not a question, it's the seasonings. The only part of the oat subject to going rancid is the germ, where the oil is. The instant oatmeal packets are made with the tiny pieces of oat that flake off in processing the other oats, therefore, won't have any of the germ in them.
And that's all my brain spit out about oatmeal packets... woke up this morning with that info sitting there and thought I'd share it for it's limited value.
Same here. My thought is that these packets would be something consistent and "normal" for young uns'. ( and me to lol)
Plus its super easy to know exactly how many "breakfasts" are in a bucket.
I think I'm gonna give it a try.
The way I see it, I waste way more money on life insurance, auto insurance, health insurance, home owners insurance. This is peanuts for a little bit of "food insurance", even if I have to throw it away in 5 yrs. I have never put in a home owners claim in 30 yrs at my home...............knock on wood.
I'm not sure its possible but putting 365 packets into 1 pail would be great.
Plus its super easy to know exactly how many "breakfasts" are in a bucket.
I think I'm gonna give it a try.
The way I see it, I waste way more money on life insurance, auto insurance, health insurance, home owners insurance. This is peanuts for a little bit of "food insurance", even if I have to throw it away in 5 yrs. I have never put in a home owners claim in 30 yrs at my home...............knock on wood.
I'm not sure its possible but putting 365 packets into 1 pail would be great.
I think Mels will have the best answer but I vote for basement. My hope is Mylar and 5gal plastic pails keep the basement moisture out. ( if not I'm fooked. Lots of stuff stored that way lol )
In the summer when moisture is at its worst, I keep a fan turning all the time in the basement. Just moving the air does a lot for the moisture.
In the summer when moisture is at its worst, I keep a fan turning all the time in the basement. Just moving the air does a lot for the moisture.
Moisture is a question. Moisture like it's humid in the basement or moisture like twice a month a river runs through it? If it's just humidity, then it will work fine as long as you have the food appropriately packaged for long term storage BEFORE you put it in the basement. Also items that will be at floor level in the basement can't sit directly on the basement floor. You'll need to build at least a 2 - 3 inch off the floor platform. Think pallet only sized to fit your needs. That will allow air flow under the containers and not build up moisture under the containers which could, over time, erode the containers, and over a much shorter period of time, allow for molds to build up and make the basement smell dank and will spread over time to the rest of the house, depending on the value of your moisture barrier between the basement and the rest of the house. Have you thought about a dehumidifier? I don't know much at all about basements but there are a lot of vacation homes here saved by dehumidifiers.
You can control the access of moisture, oxygen, light and vermin to your food. Temperature is controllable only by the environment you store your food in. That's why I wouldn't recommend the upstairs with the temperature issues.
You can control the access of moisture, oxygen, light and vermin to your food. Temperature is controllable only by the environment you store your food in. That's why I wouldn't recommend the upstairs with the temperature issues.
Is it the packets of instant oatmeal? They are all going to store about the same, although I wonder if the ones with dried fruit (if any actually have dried fruit) would degrade faster.
There are two ways to create a dried maple flavoring. One is to make maple sugar from maple syrup, by cooking maple syrup down until crystalizes. Once all the water is gone, the result will be maple sugar. The other, and most likely used in a mass production food product, is cane sugar and a mix of chemical food additives and manipulated amino acids from the cane sugar to create a maple "flavor."
There are two ways to create a dried maple flavoring. One is to make maple sugar from maple syrup, by cooking maple syrup down until crystalizes. Once all the water is gone, the result will be maple sugar. The other, and most likely used in a mass production food product, is cane sugar and a mix of chemical food additives and manipulated amino acids from the cane sugar to create a maple "flavor."