Storing pinto beans, long term.

Originally posted by The Gray Man at www.FreeAmericanNational.blogspot.com

You can’t eat bullets, and using bullets to take someone else’s food isn’t a good way to go. It’s a good way to come across the wrong person just one time and get yourself killed.

So store your own. I’m doing pinto beans today. They are capable of being stored for long periods of time and are very versatile with cooking. They do not have oils to worry about going rancid.

Go to Sam’s Club and get you some pinto beans:

Then go online and get you some one gallon Mylar bags:

Get some 300cc oxygen absorbers:

Get your wife’s flat iron. Or your own:

And the rest is easy:

To seal the bags, it only takes a few seconds of the flat iron. Make sure there are no wrinkles, or if there are, it’s sealed well. One 300cc oxygen absorber per gallon bag. I have about six pounds of beans in each bag. Leave some space in the bags, and only seal the top inch or so. If you have to cut it open, it can be resealed.

Finished product:

Use a sharpie to label contents and date. My research tells me these beans should be useable for 15+ years of packaged correctly, like above. I’ve been told that with proper cooking, these could be useable for up to 25 years.

Storing white rice is exactly the same steps. Salt and sugar are the same, EXCEPT YOU WILL USE DESSICANT MOISTURE ABSORBERS AND NOT OXYGEN ABSORBERS. Why is that in all caps? Because oxygen absorbers will turn your granulated salt and sugar into a rock. White rice is preferable for longest term storage over brown rice, because brown rice can go rancid in two years, even with this preparation method.

One 300cc oxygen absorber (you can see one sticking out of the pinto beans a couple pictures above) is good for a one gallon Mylar bag. You’ll need 5gm of dessicant moisture absorbers for the same size Mylar bag of salt or sugar. Either a single 5gm dessicant packet, or five of the little 1gm packets. I’ve done both.

I put the sealed Mylar bags into HDPE2 five gallon buckets with sealing lids. That will protect the bags from damage and make it easier to move them around or load into vehicles quickly.

Note: After some years, around 12, pintos can become hard to cook. Literally, they’ll be a bit hard and crunchy. Pressure cooking with some baking soda should solve most of that issue. Also, making refried beans is a way around that hardness.

I’ve also been informed by IamZeke at Survivalist Boards that lentils can be put through the exact same packaging process described above, with “softer” long term results.

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11 Comments

  1. Matt in Oklahoma August 18, 2019 at 13:14

    Bullets, BEANS and bandaids
    We’ve done all kinds of food in this manner. Sharpie mark everything with food type and date. I even leave the nutrition and cooking data in the bucket.
    I’ve also done game luring salt blocks in this manner.

  2. johnyMac August 18, 2019 at 14:01

    Great article TGM!

    Thanks for posting it.

    The only thing I might add is..Close the Mylar bag about 80% with your heat iron. Then take an ordinary vacuum cleaner and try to draw out as much of the air in the bag as you can. Then close the bag the rest of the way.

    Our last step, is to throw in some treats like hard candy or lolly pops on top of the Mylar bag just before we seal the 5-gallon Home Depot bucket up.

    Thanks for taking the time to post this Brother!

  3. Jennifer August 19, 2019 at 10:43

    There are a whole lot of ways to use beans, even beans that will not soften no matter how long they are cooked. Beans can be ground into flour to use in thickening soups instead of flour or cornstarch. Unfortunately, the toughness of the bean suggests a corresponding decrease in nutrition.

  4. James August 19, 2019 at 18:42

    How does one deal with possible insect eggs,guess the sealing would cut off oxy supply but have opened bags of sealed rice to find living worms in them ect(nutritious I guess)/worth tossing in say freezer for a period of time to be sure?

  5. Gray Man August 22, 2019 at 15:51

    Replying to James, I suppose you should inspect the product as you buy it and transfer it from it’s packing into your Mylar. Dropping in the oxygen absorbers in the right amount for your bag size should suck it down to where it’s nearly vacuum packed. Several of my bags look like they’re vacuum sealed, but they’re not. I expect that should deprive any organism that requires oxygen to survive. I also recommend storing enough of them to ensure that finding one bag to be unusable won’t sink you totally.

  6. johnnyreb August 23, 2019 at 16:08

    What about vacuum sealing? I generally freeze first then vacuum seal.

  7. Homer August 23, 2019 at 22:36

    Johnyreb, I’d like to hear your technique for vacuum sealing mylar. Thanks

  8. Where to Buy Bulk Foods | American Partisan September 9, 2019 at 06:00

    […] read The Gray Man’s excellent article here on American Partisan titled STORING PINTO BEANS, LONG TERM and wanted to take a minute to address where is the safest and best place to acquire the […]

  9. Anonymous September 13, 2019 at 02:21

    5

  10. PR October 29, 2019 at 21:09

    I add o2 absorbers and then seal bag around n2 tube and flush until flame near opening is extinguished. The tube is then removed and bag sealed. Note that the beans are nonviable after being stored without oxygen. Panhandle Rancher

  11. Gray Man November 26, 2019 at 03:30

    Poster “Altoidian” at Survivalist Boards gave some real world advice on how he softened nine year old pintos:

    “The oldest pinto beans I could find were 9 years old. I kept them exactly as they came from the grocer shelf in a 5 lb plastic bag. They were not in an air tight container and the storage was my unairconditioned garage. We have hot summers but mild winters and our climate is desert – dry most of the year. So, reading some about the “Hard to cook old bean” stories I tested them. I know the probable reason the beans go hard is an internal reaction – rather a kind of “oxidation” within the bean itself. I suspect it has to do with acidification between the proteins and some loss of moisture.”

    “So, I decided the proper approach was as follows:”

    “I took 12 ounces of the 9 year old beans, and scanned and rinsed them. I boiled 6 cups of water with two table spoons of baking soda and two table spoons of salt. I “heat shocked” the beans dumping them into the scalding water, brought them to a steady simmer in the brine for one hour (covered), took them off the fire and left them to soak over night (about 9 hours). This morning the water was dark red. I drained it and rinsed the beans which had become chewable but certainly needed more cooking – but no “crunch” at all. Instead they had a rather “hard chocolate” texture… Like the inside of an M&M. I then covered the beans in fresh water, brought them to a boil, and then back down to a steady simmer- tossed in two chicken bullion cubes, and three TBSp of dehydrated onion flakes. Covered and simmered for one hour. Result – Absolutely perfect, delicious pinto beans. Texture is, in fact, a bit over soft. I like my beans with a little resistance to the bite. But, these will do very nice with a few ounces of fried salt pork. There is no after-taste, nor bitterness to them and no taste of too much salt or even a hint of baking soda taste. Absolutely NO crunch at all. Cooked really as well as any other beans I’ve made – and I love beans with cornbread. Also notice, no pressure cooking at all.”

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