The most common sized mylar bags are 1-gallon and 5-gallon. When I repackage my milk, I use the 1-gallon mylar bags. That way, if I want to use some of my milk, but don’t want to use five gallon’s worth, the rest of my milk will stay fresh. I purchased twenty 1-gallon bags from amazon with oxygen absorbers for about $13. I only used 10 bags to repackage my 55-gallon bag of milk. If you don’t want to have 10 bags left over, consider splitting the purchase with a friend. These mylar bags came with the appropriate sized oxygen absorbers, so you don’t have to worry about getting those if you buy these bags. Are you wondering why you need oxygen absorbers? Check out this post by Back Door Survival: What the Heck are Oxygen Absorbers?

Start by labeling the contents of your bag on the outside and add the date with a sharpie so you know when you purchased it. Then, open the bags and place them on your counter or table. Open your giant powdered milk bag(or whatever you’re repackaging your milk from) and begin scooping the contents into each mylar bag. Don’t overfill the bags or you’ll run the risk of not being able to seal them properly.

 Once your bags are full, place an oxygen absorber into each bag. Wipe any dust or residue off the bags so they’ll seal properly. Fold the edge of the bag over and seal with a clothing iron or flat iron(hair straightening tool).

To seal with a clothing iron, use a straight edge, table edge or 2×4 on the under side of the bag and run the clothing iron on a medium heat setting, over the top of the bag to seal. For a video tutorial, click here.

To seal with a flat iron/hair straightening tool, simply put the top edge of the bag between the flat iron and run it across the top edge of the bag until you get a complete seal. For a video tutorial, click here.

For more information on storing food in mylar bags, check out Back Door Survival’s post: Storing Food with Mylar Bags.

For longer-term storage, it’s a good idea to store mylar bags in food grade plastic buckets or bins. This protects the bags from being punctured and prevents rodents or insects from chewing through the mylar. Also, be sure to always store your food at room temperature or below.

It’s super important to protect your precious investment. By repackaging larger food into smaller portions, you can be sure that your food will always be fresh and ready to eat!