permaculture

[Harold Waldock <hwaldock@telus.net>]

The Permaculture saying, "Prepare for Disaster" and the money system collapse 
Part 2  Rice & Grain & Pasta preservation technology

Food Storage for the Longer Term - the Critical Supplies: The grains

Dry Ice Storage is a proven reliable good way to store grains, pasta, beans  
but it has not been state of the art for 20-30 years.

Dry Ice School: (Now old school)
Heavy Plastic Bag in a sealable plastic or metal pail.
Make sure the grains are dry enough - below storage limits for moisture.  
(commercial processors prefer at the limit to prevent breakage in handling- 
not a problem for us so we can go much drier)
freeze grains -20c  0F for 4 weeks and get a very significant insect kill or 
die off not all types
A few ounces of dry ice in the bag, let the gas reduce pressure and seal.  
Another significant insect kill off or die off not all types
Be really careful to protect the dry ice from the atmosphere because it is 
strongly hygroscopic (water attracting) because you don't want it to become a 
source of moisture
Rice, I'm told will yellow in the presence of CO2 and absorb quite a bit of 
it.
Significant insect kill but not a wipe out, eggs remain.
[Modern option is now to 1) include food grade desiccant pack - it also traps 
the moisture brought in by the dry ice handling & condensation caused by the 
cold. 2)Of course using O2 barrier bags would improve performance 
considerably]

Good for 10 to 30+ years depending on conditions, moisture and temperature.  
Rice and grains edible for long periods but lacking in taste quality after 
just 5 or so years.

Scientific Studies that I dug up at University of British Columbia Library 
showed (online these days but you get it through your local university 
library):
        that O2 could not be reduced below 2% using dry ice or N2 flushing 
-This was ample O2 for numerous insect and fungal pests to survive and slowly 
multiply (There is a quantity of O2 in the rice that can't be flushed out in 
a short period of time) 
        that with out specifically rated O2 barrier foils (not metalized poly 
- like the silvery helium balloons) that O2 levels rose to background with in 
a few years - except well sealed metal/glass containers.
        O2 was the main cause of making the rice or grains loose taste 
quality over time and 2% O2 was enough for this process to continue
        Low O2 environment ie 2% and above meant insects and other pests 
reproduced very slowly
        Low temperatures are particularly important for storage success if my 
memory is correct below 15-18C is where the big gains were 
        Low moisture is important (The bulk rice warehouse where I went to 
buy my rice had moisture on the floor, open doors all day I was not impressed 
(were talking wet wet Vancouver BC Canada here)  My rice was probably not 
commercial rice quality dry - 13%

Where to find dry ice:  Party Supplies - Every country with one rock band has 
a supply of dry ice  or Dry Ice Pressure Scrubbing  a higher tech method of 
power washing with out water, every major port or industrial centre has this 
technique for cleaning steel and other hard objects. You only need a few 
ounces per 6 gal pail.

Nitrogen Pack School: (Current State of the Art)        
Japanese invented in the 1970's a new way to store rice to meet exacting 
taste and quality standards: You can find Japanese rice in good Asian 
supermarkets packed in this method: O2 barrier bags and Oxygen scavengers - 
you can see the packet sometimes.  These are more specialty rices at steep 
prices than our purposes or tastes.
        O2 barrier bags inside of plastic pails
        Add food grade Silica Desiccant packets to the bottom - they absorb 
their weight in water - for a 20kg bag of rice for a 6 gal pail to drop the 
moisture by 5% to be sure to get below 13% moisture for good long term 
storage 500gram packet would do it. (this is my memory of the calculations) 
On the bottom the desiccant will be slow to affect the performance of the O2 
scavenger on the other side of the bulk of the grain at the top of the bag.  
The O2 scavenger will do most of its work in a few hours while the desiccant 
will take weeks to months to do its work drying out the grain.
Very dry rice fresh out of storage will be harder to cook (really dry) I 
expect but with time on the shelf in an open bag it should improve.  Food 
grade silica desiccant packets can be reusable multiple times - regenerate 
with low temp <200F bake in oven for 24-48hrs
        Food grade Oxygen scavengers on the top of the grain (away from the 
silica) before you seal the bag with your iron  - not easy to get as there is 
a problem with the confusion  and ignorance of the sellers :  There are 3 
types one type (traditional Ferrous Oxide) that is made ineffectual by 
moisture scavengers because they rely on the grain for the moisture to 
activate the scavenger, other type that has its own supply of moisture 
(organic compound gel with ferrous oxide -not meaning organic certification 
but a technical chemistry term) that can be stripped by the desiccant 
(claimed to be moisture "independent" but is is not really) and other type 
that is moisture independent - I am not sure of the chemistry.  The last 
statement has a degree of uncertainty as to the facts and my research is 
limited here as we are into trade secrets and newer technologies here.  [O2 
scavengers could be made in my opinion to be reusable.  The chemistry is 
likely reversible with simple processes.]  These packets take 20% of the air, 
which is the O2 out leaving in a sealed container a vacuum, with just 
Nitrogen gas remaining.  The bag will contract tightly around the contents 
and when perforated become loose again - indicating the seal is broken.  

Perhaps somebody could post results of tests placing O2 scavenger brands with 
desiccants in small bags for comparisons of results.

        Results: O2 levels were extremely low for 10+ years. Some insects 
die, most Insects to dormant state.  Most or many eggs remain.  Eating 
quality indistinguishable with new product for many years.   Lower 
temperatures were much better. O2 levels rise after a while as the bag is not 
perfect seal and the scavenger becomes saturated.  20 to 30 years should be 
considered the limit. Anaerobic organism growth a hazard for moist contents - 
must be dry.
 I loved the story of the early Japanese researcher who put rice in O2 
scavenger sealed bags & pails then dumped them in a deep cold lake 4C. X 
Years later the product was tested and found to be indistinguishable from new 
crop, a real achievement as Japanese taste is very demanding.
        Nitrogen gas packed grains did well.  However, scientific studies 
found that CO2 packed grains in  O2 free environments killed much more 
insects, and fungal/yeast inhibited too and showed better results (except the 
yellowing of the rice - probably reversible over a period of months - but I 
don't have that documented.)
        Some have success with glass canning jars - more permanent barrier 
than the poly bags.  The seals of large metal cans 5gal is a source of 
problems, but metal cans are expensive.

Problems with Nitrogen Pack School
        - Barrier bags are hard to get foil type not metalized poly, often 
available in bulk only ie 100-200 bags at a time but  Uline.com sent me 5 
bags for free as samples!
        - Retail access is hard often in bulk only or industrial settings or 
pricy
        - No siginficant insect kill like what the CO2 does.  As soon as the 
O2 is up ie to 2% they are back at it.
        - Tech specs are for scientists sometimes 
        - Books and articles who know more about it than me for the purposes 
useful to Permaculture are hard to find  I can't know it all until I can live 
comfortably for a year or two studying it.
        - Language Barriers: Asians are major inventors and suppliers of the 
products and I don't know Korean, Japanese or Mandarin
        - O2 scavengers not sized to home bulk storage usually.
        - Re usable silica desiccant won't be labelled as such not all 
desiccants are the silica powder type - only silica types are food grade.
        - Marketers don't know the science or chemistry can't substantiate 
claims, fair bit of rebranding etc
        - Hard to find good books or articles on this that shows they really 
know this inside out for the purposes we have, with the latest research or 
market information.
        - Costs, logistics, materials sourcing
        - Did not kill insects/pests just put them in dormancy.
        - Hard to test claims - won't know for 10-30 years!,
        - Reported that O2 scavengers have problems with both CO2 and as 
mentioned the desiccants so combo does not work or may not work depending on 
the chemistries of the O2 scavenger.
        
I would say the Nitrogen Pack is much better quality, is still doable 
yourself if you can get the supplies especially if you are in NA and Europe 
or Japan.  

Neither system can store brown rice for long periods with out spoiling - the 
oils go rancid.  The methods above are really for whole wheat, white rice and 
pasta because of the very long shelf life.  I don't know enough about potato 
powder, millet, rye, and barley, the other grains that could be stored for a 
long time.

I did this research because I wanted to have my stored rice and grains be 
with out taste problems and not to have to cycle through my expensive storage 
stuff every 5 or so years, because one does not know when a sudden disaster 
can strike. It is nice to put stuff a way for 10 years or more at a time and 
not notice the flavour changes if I get around to cycling through storage.  

I wish I had could have found better more recent documentation quicker.  If 
you have good references post them!

Rice can be stored in its bag with out much preparation in a freezer or on 
the shelf for 2-3 years with out much loss of taste.  Better this than 
nothing, because technical storage was too hard, costly or time consuming for 
you.  BTW the insects add vitamins.  We don't have so long a time horizon now.

The crisis window is now very close, in the 1930's after the European banks 
went bankrupt it only took 1 year before the US banks were bankrupt.  This 
time though they will also destroy the currency system including the USD, 
ruining every market including food and food transport.  Derivatives have not 
yet blown up but they can ruin the world monetary system including the US 
Dollar in days.  Don't think in terms of doomsday, think in terms certainty 
that human systems fail easily and regularly, the Greenback is gone (Civil 
War), Continental is gone (War of Independence), Solidus (of the Byzantine 
Empire) is gone.  What was erroneously thought to be certainties will pass 
away. 

Life can go on as God is merciful.  Mercy is a very great virtue among men in 
difficult times, and with your preparation it is much easier to do what is 
mercyful.


Harold Waldock

Also promised
What happens in a crisis to the price and availability of seeds for home 
planting- No availability for 18 mo.
Potatoes - essential crop for cool wet temperate zone
How to feed Vancouver and the world after the crisis - Real Bills maturing in 
Gold as honest usury-free financing