# How to store larger amounts of wheat?



## happydog (May 7, 2008)

Now that I have a grain grinder and am making all our breads, biscuits, cookies, and muffins from stored wheat, I'm blowing through those 5 gallon buckets much faster than I expected. 

I need to store much more wheat than I originally thought. And I need to store it in larger sized containers for long term storage. Surely there's a happy medium, somewhere between 5 gallon pails and a silo. 

I like the idea of galvanized trash cans because they keep out rodents. But they're tapered and waste a lot of space. And they don't stack. Steel barrels are prohibitively expensive. 

Anybody else figured out a good way to store larger amounts of grain?


----------



## Ohio Rusty (Jan 18, 2008)

I broke down my 5 pound bags of wheat berries into freezer quart sized bags. They are thick and won't let things in (or out). I store them in buckets. I find when they are in smaller bags, I can pack them in tighter places filling up extra space.

The main reason I re-bag them into smaller bags is if there is if there is a bug/beetle infestation in one small bag, no big deal, pitch the little bag. The rest of the wheat berries would be safe in their separate bags.The smaller bags stop the spreading of an infestation and loss of the whole 5 pound bag of wheat. If you watch You-tube, there is a guy on there that lost multiple 50 pound bags of flour due to insects. That was an expensive loss !!! If the collapse had happened, and you went to your wheat/flour stores and discovered you had lost it all due to bugs, what would you now do for the next year without any flour for making bread ???? 

Breaking down my preps into smaller bags and jars and sealing everything is my survival strategy for having good food preps when needed. It is worth the extra effort. 

Ohio Rusty ><>

There is no sound more lonely than a cold and quiet anvil ..........


----------



## happydog (May 7, 2008)

But Rusty, bugs can easily chew through plastic bags. If there's an infestation in one bag, it'll spread like wildfire through all the plastic bags in the container... 

That's why you need mylar and oxygen absorbers.


----------



## bourbonred (Feb 27, 2008)

Ohio Rusty said:


> I broke down my 5 pound bags of wheat berries into freezer quart sized bags. They are thick and won't let things in (or out). I store them in buckets. I find when they are in smaller bags, I can pack them in tighter places filling up extra space.
> 
> The main reason I re-bag them into smaller bags is if there is if there is a bug/beetle infestation in one small bag, no big deal, pitch the little bag. The rest of the wheat berries would be safe in their separate bags.The smaller bags stop the spreading of an infestation and loss of the whole 5 pound bag of wheat. If you watch You-tube, there is a guy on there that lost multiple 50 pound bags of flour due to insects. That was an expensive loss !!! If the collapse had happened, and you went to your wheat/flour stores and discovered you had lost it all due to bugs, *what would you now do for the next year without any flour for making bread ???? *
> 
> ...


----------



## lynnabyrd (Oct 15, 2007)

What about those 55 gallon barrels? :shrug: They're used for water, so they would be food-grade plastic. I haven't tried it but it seems like those would be a "happy medium between the 5 gallon buckets and a silo". :happy2:


----------



## akaRach (Sep 29, 2009)

I was thinking of the 55 gal barrels as well. 

I have bought 55 gal blue olive barrels to reuse for sap collection in the spring, and then as rain water collectors the rest of the year. They are VERY thick plastic and obviously food grade with a twist off lid, love them!

I get them from a recycle place for about $20. 

I don't think they stack tho.


----------



## Honduras Trish (Nov 30, 2007)

Ohio Rusty said:


> There's an old missionary joke I always used to hear from my grandmother: you can always tell how long a missionary has been out in the field by watching them make bread. The newbie will open up flour finding bugs and throw it away. After being on the field for awhile, the more experienced missionaries sift out the bugs and then continue on baking. But the most experienced missionaries just make bread, bugs and all.


LOL - we tell this joke! Here's the longer version:

First term missionaries (in the "old days" a missionary's term would be 4-5 years, then a year of furlough in the states), when they find bugs in the flour, throw out the flour.

Second term missionaries, when they find bugs in the flour, sift out the bugs and go ahead and use the flour.

Third term missionaries, when they find bugs in the flour, just use the flour, bugs and all.

Fourth term missionaries, when they find bugs in the flour, sift out the bugs, eat the bugs, and give the bug-free flour to the starving first term missionaries! 


Wanna know what "term" we are, using this scale? Hmmm, about 2.5, I'd say. LOL


----------



## rancher1913 (Dec 5, 2008)

look for an old gravity box at auction, like they used to haul ear corn from the fields. there are lots still around and not much demand for them, they hold antwhere from 200 bushels to 500 bushels and can be had for less than 500 bucks. either tarp it or just park it in a shed.


----------



## Ozarks Tom (May 27, 2011)

We've got about 400 pounds of wheat stored in mylar 2 gal bags, in 5 gal buckets. But, we bake with flour from the store, since it's still available. To my knowledge wheat (if stored properly) doesn't go bad, so the stored wheat is our backup plan.


----------



## ET1 SS (Oct 22, 2005)

Each fall I buy grains from local farms. Corn, Barley and oats.

I store them in 55-gallon drums, each with a cup of desiccant in them, and I seal them.

For us it takes eight drums of each grain to last until the next harvest.

For us most of it is used as livestock feed.

If I do not use the desiccant it will mold.


----------



## Ann-NWIowa (Sep 28, 2002)

I repackage into gallon plastic bags with bay leaf and put the bags into a large garbage can. Dh made heavy duty dollies for under the cans so even filled I can move them. I vac seal if I can afford the bags/time to do it. I check regularly to make sure everything is bug free.


----------



## Leister Square (Feb 7, 2010)

This is a great question. I've thought about it too. I want to be able to be generous when the time comes, and right now wheat is relatively cheap and easily obtainable. My plan is to get those huge mylar bags that fit the steel drums. I checked the price of the 55 gallon steel drums and they are very expensive. The warehouse had some other things, though. A 55 gallon "drum" made of very hard cardboard with metal tops that clamp down nicely. She told me churches and other aid organizations use them to ship goods to needy people/missionaries. I got 3 of them, but figure they'll hold least 200 lbs a piece, so there will be no stacking going on! They'll be inside so no real worries about bugs/mice chewing through the cardboard "drums." Hope it helps. (I LIKE the trashcan idea, too. With mylar and o2 of course!)


----------



## Texasdirtdigger (Jan 17, 2010)

I use Food Grade 55 gal barrels with screw on tops. 
I vac pak, use OA's, Mylar, pack in the 55's.....Then for an extra measure of security - throw a bunch of Bay Leaves in between the layers of bags.

So far......So Good!


----------



## lonelyfarmgirl (Feb 6, 2005)

rancher1913 said:


> look for an old gravity box at auction, like they used to haul ear corn from the fields. there are lots still around and not much demand for them, they hold antwhere from 200 bushels to 500 bushels and can be had for less than 500 bucks. either tarp it or just park it in a shed.


Depends on where you are. Here, you don't find a gravity box that cheap. Also, they are no good for sealed storage of any kind. They work great for dry livestock feed though if you have a covered place to keep it and arent concerned about stuff getting in there. We buy 'leftovers'' from Kaytee, the local birdseed factory, for our pigs by the gravity box. Our larger one hold about 4 tons. 
It is a God-send, since we feed a 55 gallon drum of feed a day.


----------



## ET1 SS (Oct 22, 2005)

Leister Square said:


> ... I checked the price of the 55 gallon steel drums and they are very expensive.


A neighboring township here has a pastry factory, where we get 55-gallon drums for free.

They were used for pineapple puree, banana puree, vanilla, shortening, etc, and they are all food-grade.

O2 absorbers work on things that break down with O2 contact; like oils.

Grains have been stored for centuries in low humidity and they can still retain viability.


----------



## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

Are you concerned about the amount of space the buckets take up? I can't say that a larger container will end up taking up less space or be more easily used. I have almost 3000 lbs of wheat in buckets and gallon cans. It's a considerable pile but a comforting one. I had some in the 55 gallon drums and found the buckets to be much easier for me to use from.


----------



## Guest (Jun 8, 2012)

happydog said:


> Now that I have a grain grinder and am making all our breads, biscuits, cookies, and muffins from stored wheat, I'm blowing through those 5 gallon buckets much faster than I expected.
> 
> I need to store much more wheat than I originally thought. And I need to store it in larger sized containers for long term storage. Surely there's a happy medium, somewhere between 5 gallon pails and a silo.
> 
> ...


 Steel or plastic drums. Holds about 300-350 lbs of grain per drum. Either food grade to begin with or lined with a food grade liner inside of a clean drum that did not hold anything particularly toxic (no pesticides, petroleum products, or other noxious chemicals).

Seeing as how you are in North Carolina and thus have long hot, humid summers how you prep the grain is important.

If it were me I'd pack it in the fall or winter when the temperature is cooler and most importantly when the humidity is lower.

Find you a local source of dry ice. You'll need about a pound per drum. Pour six inches or so of grain in the bottom, wrap the dry ice in a brown paper bag, then set it on top of the grain. Pour in the rest of the grain. On top put your desiccant. The "Damp Rid" from the grocery store works well if you take care not to tip the barrel so much it spills when moving it. Now put the top on but do not seal it. Just lay it on top. The next day you can then seal it air tight. You have to give the dry ice time to sublimate.

If you'll be storing the drums outside (as in not an a climate controlled environment) then try to use the grain up within two years. Less if the grain has been in any way cracked or milled.

I give fuller instructions for all of this in the Prudent Food Storage FAQ which you may reach via the URL in my signature below.


----------

