Most powdered milk is packaged to last a couple of years. The gallon cans will last 30 years, but they are costly, and will do about 3 gallons.
I decided to to find some way to fill the gap, for lower costs.
This is what I found:
These bags will make a gallon, and the packaging is good for about one year. These are 2 for $5; so they are about 25% of the cost of the gallon cans, but their storage is unacceptable!
Here's how I fixed the milk, so it would store for several decades.
First, I dumped the milk into a canning jar:
Notice the instructions are added on top of the milk, to ensure it is mixed right later!
Then I cut up the bag to make a label:
This is better than just writing on the jar!
Taped on it makes a good label:
Easy to find the Jar of powdered milk, even in low light.
Next we prepare to seal this up:
At this point, it's important to clean the jar sealing edge, and the rubber inside the lid of All milk dust! Miss this step, and the seal will leak, it is critical!
Then we add the sealing cap:
This is a standard sealing unit from Amazon, except I have cut the tube in half; so I could add some surgical tubing. This makes it more flexible, and easier to handle. It is also a good indicator of a hard vacuum, which I'll explain below.
Here's the hookup hose for the vacuum pump:
There's a taper on the end of the hose, that presses into the center of the vacuum cap. This shows the hose without vacuum applied. The surgical tubing is better than a vacuum guage, and it's less expensive.
Once the pump is activated, watch this hose:
When the vacuum pump has done it's work, the rubber tube will collapse like this. I run it for about 30 seconds after this hose collapses. The hose it disconnected, and as the cap refills with air, it presses the metal top seal down on the jar.
After removing the vacuum cap, we can check the seal:
Always label and date the lid, and press down the center to verify a good seal! Then ring the jar for storage. Unlike pressure canned food, I like to have a band on my vacuum sealed jars.
A word on the vaccine pump...do Not buy a pump made for a kitchen! They are expensive and they only put up a low level vacuum in the 12 to 14 inches of Mercury range. A refrigeration vacuum pump will pull down into the 28 inches of Mercury. 29.25 is a perfect vacuum, so this is a hard vacuum! And it costs less than the kitchen style unit, but it's just not as 'pretty'.
Food with this level of vacuum needs no added oxygen absorber, to store for decades. Since No oxygen is present to oxidize the food being stored, and it will also pull out residual moisture.
I will end up with 16 gallons on powdered milk for the cost of the gallon can! It will store almost as long too.
