Sealing Food in 5-Gallon Buckets & Mylar Bags

If you’ve ever handled a mylar balloon, you’ve probably noticed how the front and back of the balloon are sealed together, creating an air-tight space for helium. When it comes time to seal food in mylar bags, you create something very similar using a mylar bag, an iron, and a couple of simple techniques.

How to seal food in mylar bags

The other day I had to seal some popcorn and millet in mylar bags and five-gallon buckets. This is a very easy process.

Step 1

Open the mylar bag and put it in the bucket. Fill the mylar bag with your product to about two inches from the top of the bucket. You will notice that the bag is a lot taller than the bucket, rather than cut off the excess I seal it right on the edge. If I open the bucket to use some or all of the food, this leaves me plenty of material to reseal the bag.

Step 2

I use an old two-foot metal hand level and an electric iron to seal the bags. The level is just the right length and thickness to make a good seal. I do not use my wife’s good iron, some mylar bags leave residue on the iron. I got the cheapest one they had at Walmart.  This keeps me out of trouble.

After putting in the oxygen absorbers, I set the level across the top of the bucket and lay the mylar bag against it. I then iron it to make the seal. Leave a small opening in one corner.  This permits you to squeeze out the excess air.

Step 3

You then make a diagonal seal across the corner.  I usually buy my oxygen absorbers in size 300cc, so when I seal food in mylar bags and buckets, I always put in 5 absorbers. Fold the mylar bag into the bucket. Put the lid on the bucket, label it, and you are done.

I prefer to only use food-grade plastic buckets for all of my food storage, including the times that I use mylar bags. I talk more about why food-grade plastic buckets are important in this article.

Hopefully, these photos will help illustrate the tried-and-true process used to seal food in mylar bags using food-grade plastic buckets.

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