# What is the best way to store dry minute rice?



## sisterpine (May 9, 2004)

seems like it just comes in a cardboard box and that is not good. tia, sis


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## Wolf mom (Mar 8, 2005)

All food packaged in a box or plastic bag (beans, rice) that comes into the house gets transferred to a glass jar. I cut out the directions and tape it on the outside.


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## terri9630 (Mar 12, 2012)

Wolf mom said:


> All food packaged in a box or plastic bag (beans, rice) that comes into the house gets transferred to a glass jar. I cut out the directions and tape it on the outside.


I cut out the directions and stick it in the jar. "Our" mice love cardboard containers. Even though we've got rid of them (hopefully) I'm not going to feed any stragglers.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

what they said but why minute rice and not real rice , lower cost keeps very well

minute rice is pre-cooked and dehydrated ,increasing the cost 

a pressure cooker makes very very good regular rice in just a few minutes


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## Ozarks Tom (May 27, 2011)

Ditto glass containers, but if you're storing rice for long term that's probably not the best way. Also, if you're storing anything wheat based, put it in the freezer for a couple days before re-packaging it to kill any little hitch hikers.


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## Ohio dreamer (Apr 6, 2006)

I buy regular rice and store it in buckets (no mice issues here). From that I make minute rice when the mood stikes. I make a triple batch of regualr rice, then dehydrate what I don't need. That I keep in a 1/2 gallon jar in the kitchen cupboard.


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## sisterpine (May 9, 2004)

OK, so it looks like I could keep minute rice in a glass jar in the pantry and I can keep un- minute rice in a plastic bucket also in the pantry which is mouse free. THANKS!


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## Cygnet (Sep 13, 2004)

We keep both our flour and our rice in the freezer. There's room, it adds to the thermal mass, and it solves the weevil and mouse problem. 

I keep rice in five gallon buckets for long term storage (after freezing the rice for a week or so to kill bugs) but a short term five or ten pound bag of expensive fancy sticky rice? It's going in the freezer.

There's nothing like realizing that you've got little brown bugs swimming around in the pot of of rice and water to make you change your meal plans ... LOL.


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## kasilofhome (Feb 10, 2005)

Ok...so I along with everyone firmly agrees in freezing to kill bugs that hitch a ride.
Now, many of us live were it can or does get below freezing for a week at a time.
How come the bugs out side learned to live thru the winters cold and bug me in the summer..

Just a weird thought of .... ..I had bugs all over from one tiny bag of parrot food I failed to freeze..so I only questioning the mass survival out doors..


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## Bret (Oct 3, 2003)

Put it in a zip-lock bag with a cell phone. Another weird thought.


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## terri9630 (Mar 12, 2012)

kasilofhome said:


> Ok...so I along with everyone firmly agrees in freezing to kill bugs that hitch a ride.
> Now, many of us live were it can or does get below freezing for a week at a time.
> How come the bugs out side learned to live thru the winters cold and bug me in the summer..
> 
> Just a weird thought of .... ..I had bugs all over from one tiny bag of parrot food I failed to freeze..so I only questioning the mass survival out doors..


I used to have parakeets and they loved those "bonus" bugs. Not much thermal mass in a bag of rice to keep bugs warm after a week in the freezer. Outside they can burrow deep in to the ground/tree/whatever to hide from the cold. Or like here, Flies will crawl down into the horses winter coat and try to hide next to the skin where it's warmer to survive as long as possible. We go out at night sometimes when it's freezing to run a stiff brush over our horses and goats to shake them out. My daughters gelding gets a thick coat early in the fall and the flies love to sleep with him.


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## kasilofhome (Feb 10, 2005)

terri9630 said:


> I used to have parakeets and they loved those "bonus" bugs. Not much thermal mass in a bag of rice to keep bugs warm after a week in the freezer. Outside they can burrow deep in to the ground/tree/whatever to hide from the cold. Or like here, Flies will crawl down into the horses winter coat and try to hide next to the skin where it's warmer to survive as long as possible. We go out at night sometimes when it's freezing to run a stiff brush over our horses and goats to shake them out. My daughters gelding gets a thick coat early in the fall and the flies love to sleep with him.



Thanks makes sense very logical....it's just been one of those issues where you know something keeps them alive but what and how besides burrowing...but frost can go 12 feet here so I wondered


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## JeepHammer (May 12, 2015)

The big question here is,
Do you own a vacuum bagger/packer?

You can bang the corners of the boxes (so they aren't sharp) and vacuum bag the entire box.

You can also transfer to a glass jar, vacuum the lid down into place.

This works equally well for stuff like cornbread mix, cake mixes, about anything that comes in a box.


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## BlackFeather (Jun 17, 2014)

You can experiment with dry canning, (oven canning) that works well for oatmeal, dry milk, pancake mix and cereals as well.


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## partndn (Jun 18, 2009)

this reminds me I have been low for some time on vac sealer bag material. gotta replenish.


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## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

partndn said:


> this reminds me I have been low for some time on vac sealer bag material. gotta replenish.


I thrive for those vac bags... I buy in a lot of bulk so use it often.. I also use it to freeze things like bone stock.... liquids do real well in them if you freeze them.. love that they lay flat and stack well..

I don't buy the name brand.. I buy in bulk rolls from Amazon, and it's much cheaper.. 

I use it for rice and everything too... Vac and seal a bag of loose rice.. then when you need some, you cut a corner off, pour out what you need, then stick that corner in the sealer and vac and re-seal the bag..


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## JeepHammer (May 12, 2015)

I use my vac sealer all the time.
I have the can attachment, which I find REALLY handy to keep things fresh when I open something and don't use it all,
Or just need to keep something dry, stick it in a can, vac the lid down and you are done.

Jar vacuum is a good way to store ammo or anything you want to keep out of moisture.
I vac emergency supplies, fire starting, bandages, ect. Once the vac is done, it's VERY hard to have that stuff go bad from atmospheric moisture.

The guys all laugh at me when they see my traveling gear,
A change of cloths, meds, a small soap, ect. all vac bagged.
One days' supplies in each bag...
Clean, pressed, moisture tight, ready to use without 'Fumbling' for things!
It all packs really good in a small space.

Semi is correct about using a small amount, then sealing up the bag again.
I do that myself. 
Another way to do it is to seal pockets in a large bag, but not cut them apart.
Then fill the pockets, vac/seal the bag...
Then cut the amount of pockets you need for that day, leaving the rest sealed.
This work good for me since you don't have to put the same thing in every pocket,
Beans & Seasoning in separate pockets, Rice & Seasoning in separate pockets, you just cut through the two pockets that go together and put something like dried peppers or onions in a common pouch between the two or three meals, you will use that common pouch in both...
You can bring up 2 or 3 meals at a time in ONE bag with sections...

If you don't beat these bags around, and I STRONGLY suggest you use buffering between bags when you store them,
The bag will last for YEARS with no issues.

I don't leave 'Paper' exposed.
Cardboard, paper, ect, needs to be bagged.
Moist paper is a perfect home for roaches, and a ton of other critters.
If I keep 'Whatever' in cardboard or paper wrapping, it ALL goes in the bag to be sealed.

Bugs are the same reason I don't have cardboard boxes storing anything...
Plastic or metal tubs, milk crates, those plastic trays for 2 Liter bottles during shipping, ect.
Never paper/cardboard...
And as LITTLE wood as I can get away with.
I try not to use 'Cloth' curtains for light protection for my supplies,
Something 'Rubberized', something critters CAN NOT eat.

Take the food supply away, and you have some major pest control started!
Vac bags/Jars REALLY help keep the food supply away from the pests.

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Another use for Vac Bags is emergency instructions, 
Instructions for appliances, ect.

The instructions for my water filter system is in a vac bag hanging zip tied to the filter.
This lets me know what the filter sizes are, the parts lists, ect. without having them exposed to moisture around the water system.

Warranty information, parts lists when I have to order parts, ect. are all in vac bags zip tied to the back of the fridge, freezer, washer, dryer, ect.

The same thing for my solar power information.
Nothing like having a parts list and trouble shooting instructions you can READ in a few years when something fails...

Wiring diagrams for EVERY electrical system are different, and having that diagram, notes of what was done and when, are INVALUABLE when something needs service!
(Do you know EXACTLY were every connection and wire is in your house/garage, 20 years from now?
You would if you wrote it down and sealed it up!)

Binders with slip sleeves are good,
Binders with vac bags are better!


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