Sugar Storage

Hey all,
So when you buy Standard white sugar in the normal 5 or 10 pound paper packages off the store shelf, and you want to put them in long term storage, what method do you use?

 

Personally, I buy the 25# bags as the sugar costs less but that doesn't really matter. I take a 5 gallon bucket with a Gamma Lid, any lid with a gasket works, line it with a mylar bag, I get the mylar bags with a realisable seal, empty the sugar bag(s) into the mylar, bounce it a few times to settle the sugar, add more sugar allowing space to close and fold my mylar bag, push excess air out and seal the bag, close the lid.

You can also just place you bags of sugar in a 5 gallon bucket with a gasket lid. This would work but you can't get as much sugar in the bucket if they are in the original bags.

The bucket is there to protect the bag and for ease of transport. Stay away from O2 absorbers or moisture absorbers as they will cause the sugar to turn into a block. If that does happen just beat it back into granules but why put yourself through the effort.

Glad to meet you Jay.

 

What's a "Gamma Lid" and "mylar bags"?

 

My sugar came in small 8 gram aluminum packaging. And Sugar its good for (I don't know) over 1000 years maybe. Suffice to say long term storage of spices, sugar, and salt is the last of my concern due to their nature. And I live in tropical climate here (over 90% humidity all year long)

 

Thanks for the response Caribou.
I was thinking along those lines. Great tip on th 02 absorber, I put them in everything so glad you have insight on that.
I'd like to use 3 gallon food grade buckets, but don't even know if they make them. I'll go online.


Sorry about posting here, as I looked further into the forums I found a more appropriate place for this post. I'll be more careful next time.
Thanks again..

 

I am off sugar. it is a poison.
Sugar as a poison
Added sugar is also a poison. It has no nutritional value and lacks any essential proteins, minerals and vitamins. ... A recent study shows evidence linking sugar consumption and breast cancer. Sugar consumption is also a major risk factor for the development of other health conditions such as obesity and heart disease

 

A gamma seal lid is a lid that you can put on a 5-gallon plastic bucket that is in two pieces. You can press it onto the lid where it seals tightly with an airtight gasket and then the middle can be unscrewed for access. The screw-in part also has an airtight gasket.

https://www.amazon.com/Gamma-Vittle...eywords=gamma+seal+lids&qid=1586198428&sr=8-3

A mylar bag is a sort of metallic zip lock bag that also allows for a good airtight and bug proof storage.

https://www.amazon.com/10-Absorbers...&qid=1586198792&sprefix=mylar+,aps,261&sr=8-4

You take a mylar bag and fill it with stuff you also usually add and oxygen absorber. You seal the bag and put it in a five-gallon bucket with a gamma seal lid. this will greatly extend the life of things stored and protect it from moisture, oxygen, light, and bugs.

 

But it tastes REALLY good and has calories. I think that it is like most things and if done in moderation is not a problem. Sugar is a totally natural substance that is in fruits, many vegetables, and to some extent honey. It is much like alcohol if used in moderation it has some benefits but if overused can turn deadly. It isn't the substance that is bad, it is the use that some people put it to that is bad. This is just like the evil gun thing that the liberals spout. The gun isn't the killer, it is the person pulling the trigger that causes the harm.

 

I almost never use sugar in my daily life, so I don't have much of it.
What few kilos I have I just store as is in their paper bags. Just make sure you store it dry & out of reach of pests.

I regard sugar pretty much as a drug. Therefore I admit it can be both used and misused.

Sugar and water is good to give someone that may be going into shock.

An ability to produce the occasional treat can probably be a lifesaver during bleak and miserable times, especially for children.

 

Thanks Tex, the links are very useful.

I love sugar ... and like everything else in life, moderation is key (not that I exercise it that much). I'm about to have a coffee with sugar as we speak.

When I was a kid dad took us for a holiday up north in Queensland where we visited sugar cane plantations. I still remember it as if it was yesterday. The farmer gave us a piece of sugar cane which we happily munched on. Delicious!

I didn't realise when I lived in the UK some years later that sugar there is derived from sugar beet. The things you learn!

I also love maple syrup. I could live off the stuff it is so good. I actually wondered about raising a maple tree so I could extricate my own maple syrup. Absolutely divine.

 

I get 3.5 gallon buckets from grocery store bakeries for free, also 1, 2, and 4 gallon buckets depending on what products they have been using.

 

I doubt that we use a pound of sugar a year. I was a diabetic and also had a gastric bypass done so sugar is any great quantities that makes me sick as a dog. My A!-c is now about 5.2 and I am no longer a diabetic. The one thing that I reaaaaaaly miss is homemade ice cream. Splenda and stevia do a pretty good job though.

 

Sugar isn't bad ... if one also takes in the B-vitamins to properly metabolize it. What we Westerners get is a lot of sugar and not enough B-vitamins -- which is bad bad bad.

When getting sugars from a proper diet, the B vits are in the food also. Canned items often have sugar added, they just do -- food processors want you to like their foods. In the process of processing, B vits lose their vitality -- especially during heating processes.

Farmers get a bunch of sugar, but they are eating fresh vegetables and have access to lean meat. People who live off the land can live to be very old ... if the weather and life's misfortunes don't take them out. My country folk lived to be old, but then everything they ate was fresh and the meat wasn't soaked in preservatives. Too much salt? Yep they got too much salt, but they drank mountain water out the rock faces and they sweated out the salt with all their perpetual labors. Move and you'll keep on moving -- if you know-what-I-mean.

 

Thanks for info.

Man, I didn't know that O2 absorbers would do that! But then again, I've never put O2 absorbers in with sugar. Sugar gets rotated off the shelves and replaced; in that amount of cycle time, sugar sure isn't going to go bad. Salt doesn't need anything to store it either. Just keep these sealed and dry.

I like saccharine with a bit of real sugar thrown in for flavor. Some find saccharine bitter -- doesn't bother me nor my eldest son. But then I rather like Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout, Spaten Optimator, and Guinness Extra Stout. A physician told me that if I wanted to get bladder tumors from saccharine, I'd have to consume over 50 packets a day for a good long while. Saccharine has years of shelf life and is far sweeter than sugar. Kids prefer real sugar, so for their Kool-Aid use real sugar.

If I'm drinking a beer, I want a beer. People just know Spaten and Guinness, but I'll include links for the Old Rasputin:

https://northcoastbrewing.com/beers/year-round-beers/old-rasputin-russian-imperial-stout/

https://www.greatbeernow.com/north-...sian-imperial-stout-full-bodied-and-delicious

Wheated:
https://www.weihenstephaner.de/en/our-beers/wheat-beer/#DasBier

In an ale, I like Newcastle Brown Ale.

 

I get my food grade buckets from the grocery store too. They come in 3 gallon and 5 gallon buckets. Check with both bakery and deli departments. You can also get them from local restaraunts. They will have them too. I store all kinds of stuff in my buckets. Flour, sugar, dried beans and pastas. They come in handy and stack well on shelves.