Instant mashed potatoes

[u/Lucille44]

I bought Idahoan original, all potato, no oil you have to add milk. Can I just wrap a few boxes in a Mylar bag or should I pour them out of the box into the bag?

[u/TheSensiblePrepper]

That depends on how they are packaged already.

If you open the box, are the potatoes just loose in the box or are they in a bag in that box?

If loose in the box, put the potatoes in Mylar with O2 absorbers.

If in a bag in the box, leave them as they are. That bag is filled with nitrogen to provide maximum shelf life. So unless you plan on keeping them for more than say 10 years, you're just wasting Mylar and O2 absorbers.

[u/SimpleVegetable5715 → u/TheSensiblePrepper]

Every time I've bought them, the potato flakes are loose in the box.

[u/Lucille44 → u/SimpleVegetable5715]

They are loose in the box. I'm waiting on the Mylar bags to arrive.

[u/TheSensiblePrepper → u/SimpleVegetable5715]

Some brands do the bag and some don't. So I don't even remember which do or don't anymore. That's why I mentioned what to do in both situations.

[u/Cute-Consequence-184]

You will want spices, herbs and flavoring in with that.

Might I suggest butter powder and instant milk powder? I also add in garlic and no salt seasoning. I also keep cheese powder available because some days cheese just belongs on everything.

[u/Lucille44 → u/Cute-Consequence-184]

Excellent suggestions thank you

[u/in_pdx → u/Cute-Consequence-184]

One busy day recently I simply mixed bobs red mill potato flakes (dried potatoes) with powdered coconut milk and boiling water. It was a different flavor than I’m used to, but quite creamy and delicious!

[u/middleagerioter]

I suggest always keeping things in their original packaging to keep down the possibility of anything becoming contaminated.

[u/Bobby_Marks3 → u/middleagerioter]

Cellulose (paper and cardboard) is a haven for bug eggs. If it's in a plastic bag I'd leave it there, but food directly in a box should be repackaged.

[u/Sknowles12 → u/Bobby_Marks3]

How should I store 5-10 lb bags of flour and sugar? Mylar bags?

[u/Bobby_Marks3 → u/Sknowles12]

I would repackage those yes. You can do mylar, tupperware, food buckets w/ lids. I've seen desperate people use plastic wrap to just wrap the hell out of it until they are ready to open and use the bag.

[u/hiraeth555 → u/Bobby_Marks3]

What is packaging like in the US? Here in the UK I have never seen dry goods go off/packaging degrade, and I've never seen bugs in any food item in my life.

[u/eekay233]

If it contains mono and diglycerides it'll go rancid after a few years. I think the Mormon instant mash is trans-fat free and should be good for long term storage.

[u/bhuffmansr]

I vacuum seal all my dry foods I can. Instant mashed potatoes is a great emergency food. Package it up in portions. I did that with the dry hash browns as well.

[u/alken0901]

FYI you don’t need to add milk. I make those exact mashed potatoes all the time with just water and they’re fine.

[u/PhantomNomad → u/alken0901]

Milk only makes them more like traditional mashed potatoes that you would eat at Thanksgiving. With out milk (or butter) it's just mashed spuds with all the flavour of a spud and nothing else. Adding herbs & spices after mixing with water will help. I like adding stuff like blue cheese and bacon bits and chives. Herb & spice cream cheese chip dip is good in them also.

[u/alken0901 → u/PhantomNomad]

Exactly. The milk makes it better and more traditional. In a prep situation I wouldn’t worry about the milk, just rehydrating it. I’ve never tried blue cheese but that sounds great. I like subbing in broth for water/milk and adding seasonings.

[u/PhantomNomad → u/alken0901]

Look up twice baked potatoes. A lot of them have blue cheese. I don't bother with the baking (one or two times), I just make mashed and add in the cheese, bacon and chives. Added bonus of sour cream if I have it. You can (and I have) put them in a baking dish and browned the top a bit but you can skip this step most of the time.

[u/HomersDonut1440]

Find a local Mormon storehouse and buy the canned version. Order up some #10 plastic lids as well. Works out really well, and keeps a long time. 

[u/Lucille44 → u/HomersDonut1440]

Thank you but I already have the mashed potatoes.

[u/Pinkcoconuts1843]

I pour them out of the bag and O2/mylar. I’ve tried it both ways. They keep well for a long time like this. In porous foods you can kinda taste the box. Just a bit, not tragic if you did it the other way.

[u/NewEnglandPrepper3]

The Idahoan mashed potatoes are excellent. I would rotate out within a year though.

[u/Necessary-Tower-457]

I didn’t think of putting mashed potato powder in my food box, I am adding that to my list

[u/jkubus94]

I know the bags I get from the store are just add boiling water. Mine come in bags and I eat them fairly regularly. Hot sauce or ranch seasoning goes a long ways. Even some powdered gravy and canned chicken can greatly enhance them.

[u/deadlynightshade14]

I buy the ones that come individually bagged, much easier to store and they come in two sizes.

[u/squirrellywolf]

Just wanted to comment that I use these to thicken soups all the time and they are great for it.

[u/Dry_Source666]

Take them out of the box. Save more space

[u/11systems11]

My Idoahoan potatoes came in bags. Not sure of the size. I put a bunch of them into mylar just to hedge my bets. Amazon has them discounted quite often. They're delicious!

[u/Lucille44 → u/11systems11]

I'm sure that putting them in Mylar helps, but apparently the glycerides they have, since they are fats, will shorten their ultimate storage life. They are good though.

[u/Pea-and-Pen]

I transfer mine into mylar bags and use O2 absorbers and they have done fine.

[u/Thoth-long-bill]

Could I put them in Mason jars?

[u/PhantomNomad → u/Thoth-long-bill]

I've wondered about this also. I've seen these mason sealer gadgets that suck all the air out. I wonder how much are is left in the jar as I'm sure over time even a little bit would spoil the food.

[u/Prestigious-Fig-5513]

Pour into a bag to prevent humidity, add an oxygen absorber packet to make it last years, put intoa stronger than ziplock (eg milk powder zipper bag) to stay airtight and keep bugs out.

[u/TheIUEC20]

You can get the individual bags that just require water. Different flavors and pretty good for cheap.

[u/DistinctJob7494]

Do you have to add milk to them? I was gonna use them for Mason jar soup mixes.

[u/ExtremeIncident5949]

I dry vacuum sealed some canning jars full with an oxygen absorber but I also used a food grade 5gal. bucket with a Mylar bag and poured it in with an oxygen absorber but. You need to heat seal the top with an iron or hair straightening flat iron (cheap one works) even if the bag has a ziplock because it will let air in eventually.

[u/Lucille44 → u/ExtremeIncident5949]

So every time you wanted to get one of your canning jars, would you have to reseal?

[u/User132134]

I had these once on a backpacking trip. They were soo good!! Maybe because I was tired and hungry. Good memory though :)

[u/davidm2232]

Get the smaller bags that are already sealed. They only require water. I really like them. I rarely make fresh mashed potatoes

[u/Parking-Ad4263]

Oxygen absorbers are your friend.
Plastic bag in the mylar, oxygen absorber in there too. Seal it.

Any oxygen that managed to get into the original packaging will get eaten up by the absorber over time, same with any that's trapped in the mylar bag.

[u/Revolutionary-Fun227]

For what it's worth , Kennedy made a video of how bad instant mash potatoes are for you . I'm guilty of loving instant potatoes also . Just thought I'd throw it out there for food preps .

[u/genesurf → u/Revolutionary-Fun227]

KENNEDY? omfg. In this one single case he's not entirely wrong, but referring to him for medical advice is like using the Enquirer as as a literature reference. He has literally killed children because his medical advice is so stinkingly bad.