2 Liter bottles

When storing food I found that if you leave it in the original container bad stuff can happen to it.
The original containers or bags are weak, tear easily, non resealable and let stuff in and out. Some times the bags something comes in doesn't even survive the cart ride from the shelf to the checkout or from the checkout to home.
To prevent this I started putting stores that will easily fit in a 2L bottle.
Things like sugar, salt, rice, beans, hot cholate powder, drink mix, flower, whey protein isolate powder, dry potato flakes, instant corn bread or muffin/pancake mix. Maybe a few more.
Because the 2L bottles are air tight, pretty tough, water proof, pests like mice tend to ignore whats in the 2L bottle and bugs can not penetrate it, the containers are free, food grade and can be reused to hold water when empty of food.

Scenarios I can think of where it might come in handy are if it was pouring rain and you have to get out of town fast. Or if you only have time to just grab everything and throw it in the back of a pickup and at least you wont have to worry about the food getting wet or delicate bags getting torn.

 

There are a few threads here at SM recommending food storage in PET bottles for LTS, for fairly much the same reasons that you have given. I have found that 2L and 3L wide mouthed PET fruit juice bottles make for more convenient storage than soda pop bottles (Easier to fill and pour)


Note, some of the 3 and more litre PET bottles have carry handles which can be convenient.

A narrow mouth soda bottle can be cut down into a funnel useful for filling larger capacity wide mouth PET bottles.


Other benefits are:

• Makes stocktaking quantities easier than bulk stored products,
• Makes caching and concealments easier than bulk stored products,
• Only small amounts of food need be brought, as required into ready use storage,
• Makes rationing easier to calculate,
• Makes it easier to rotate stocks...providing that storage date is recorded on the container,

Food that is adversely affected by UV light should be appropriately shielded from UV.

 

In secure mouse proof cabinets sure this is a good storage idea. I prefer glass and metal. Keep in mind anything with a good nose and teeth can breech these storage containers. jmho

 

It is true that plastic bottles are not completely gas-proof. The shriveling of bottled water from out-gassing after a few months of storage is a demonstration of that.

Odors can escape from plastic bottles. inviting rodents to chew through the plastic to reach the food inside.

Oxygen and water vapor (in small quantities) can migrate into plastic bottles as easily as other gasses migrate out.

So here is a suggestion I haven't gotten around to trying, but which could improve the use of plastic bottles for food storage significantly.

Dip the capped bottles into a low solution (say, about 5%) of liquid sodium silicate--aka waterglass--and water.

Hang the bottles and allow them to dry.

The water glass should seal every pore in the plastic the same way it does eggshells.

No more food odors out, no more oxygen in, no more rodent attraction. Better food storage, at very little cost.

I favor glass and metal for food storage, but plastic bottles are hard to pass up because they cost little or nothing.

Salt stored in a recycled milk jug will clump after five years or so of sucking up ambient water vapor. It's no big problem--the stuff just doesn't pour freely. A little waterglass would fix that, and open the door to safely storing things like sugar, dehydrated peas, corn, and dry soup mixes, etc.

A vodka bottle is a terrible thing to waste. Especially by the case.

 

I use 1/2 gallon mason jars and vacuum seal everything with a bay leaf so that any thing micro wont live

 

I keep 2l bottles of water in my freezers...they help to keep things frozen during short power outages and can also be thawed for drinking water if needed.

 

I use gallon size Arizona Tea bottles, much because I have them and rarely drink soda. Very tough, opaque and good for water and food! If it is compatible with the taste of the food I use Rosemary as a bug deterrent! I also keep Eucalyptus branches in food storage bins and areas. Its powerful stuff and long lasting!

 

Frozen bottles don't absorb or give off much heat below freezing. Each pound of Ice only takes like a half BTU until it reaches 0C.
To keep frozen stuff frozen try dry ice. I grabbed about 15 pounds of dry ice from work left over from a party, I had about 10 pounds left over after the party and figured I would do a little experiment and not let it go to waste. I put the 10 pounds of dry ice in its bag in the freezer on the metal shelf in the middle of the freezer (don't put dry ice on the plastic shelf it could crack). The fridge barely turned on any over the next day and a half until all the solid CO2 was gone.

 

I was thinking finding dry ice would only be of useful in scheduled disasters like hurricane or CME.

 

Funny you mention dry ice. When I had the ranch in New Mexico, grocery stores routinely asked if you wanted dry ice during checkout, knowing that some of us had long drives back home. I asked for some dry ice here in Ohio once...they looked at me like I was nuts...or didn't know what it was.

 

That is interesting. What do you store with a bay leaf? Does the food absorb the taste of the leaf?

I see that @Sgt Nambu uses rosemary as a bug deterrent also. I wonder what other herbs I could use. I actually like this idea because rice is so bland.

 

Not all that much, tiny bit! I have no experience with bay leaves!

I like them, though!

PS; Oops, didn't answer fully! I just use the Rosemary for rice and pasta.

 

Excellent post. Waterglass is new to me

 

Waterglass is a very old method of sealing up stuff you must be careful however not to consume any of it . When dad was a kid 1920s, eggs were put in water glass for preservation. Fruit was waxed for transportation and preservation .
I have water stored in all kinds of containers regardless of what they might leach it's not a problem not having water to process is the bigger problem .
Water need not all be potable, and it would certainly be a waste to use good drinking water for bathing or washing dishes .
Including out side containers I have approximately 2000+ gallons of water ,some obviously will need filtering and re processing ,never the less so long as I own it, it's a bird in the hand .
I save almost all my plastic containers , and rinse them well after using and store them inside.
My aquaponics system uses the fish tank water to take care of the garden and the dirt in the garden filters the water back into the fish tank . I can add water from any of my many out side resources for the garden as well . My chickens currently get water from a 250 gallon tote tank getting city water which has it's own float valve maintaining full and gravity fed to the chickens using drip system line to their watering bowl ,set at a drip so very little is wasted but enough to keep the flow going. If the city water was shut off to the tote it would last several weeks even months, if not longer on its own If I really choke it down .

 

I put frozen 2 liter bottles in a cooler when going after grub

Then I just put them back in the freezer, when I return home...