Storing Brown Rice

**UPDATED**

Brown rice has a higher oil/moisture content, increasing the risk of botulism, which is why you shouldn't dry pack it (using the oxygen absorber packets). This also makes it very susceptible to oxidation and soon goes rancid, only giving you about a 6 month shelf life.

Freezing &/or refrigerating your brown rice will greatly extend it's shelf life.

You can also buy brown rice that has been packaged in air tight containers with an "inert nitrogen atmosphere" which gives you a longer shelf life.

From the research I've done, it's not an easy or feasible solution to try and use the nitrogen method to store brown rice long term on your own. If you want a shelf life longer than 1 year, your best bet would be to buy it prepackaged in an air tight container. Doing my research and asking all of the food storage gurus that I know, this has been the general consensus;

Do not buy more brown rice than you can use in 1 year.

If you choose to dry pack it, use small containers (1/2 gallon P.E.T.E. work great).

Once you open a container, keep it in the freezer.

Do not eat brown rice that has been dry packed for longer than 1 year.

What Not To Dry Pack

I've been doing some research on what you can and cannot dry pack (with an oxygen absorber packet).

For long term storage, products must have a low oil content and have 10% or less moisture content. Otherwise you risk rancidity and botulism poisoning.

So, DO NOT dry pack the following items:

Pearled Barley
Dried Eggs
Whole Wheat Flour (*Wheat berries are okay*)
Milled Grains (*Rolled oats are okay*)
Granola
Nuts
Brown Rice
Brown Sugar

White Bread

This is a recipe my mom has been using for years. She got it out of her Betty Crocker cookbook, and the same recipe in my new Betty Crocker is basically the same except for it uses a little butter in addition to these other ingredients. There are lots of bread recipes out there that I want to try but some call for dough enhancer, which I've been unable to find yet. So I needed a recipe that called for things that I already have on hand. I've always been a little scared to try using yeast and making bread but I'm getting braver in my attempts to save money. And when you make the bread you will feel so accomplished! Try it!

2 1/4 cups milk (or water)
3 Tbsp. Sugar
1 Tbsp. Salt
2 Tbsp. Shortening or 1/4 cup oil (the shortening is better)
2 cakes (which equals 2 Tbsp.) yeast
1/2 cup warm water
6-7 1/4 cups flour

In pot on the stove dissolve the sugar, salt and shortening in the milk. Warm it slowly so that you don't scorch the milk. While that's warming, mix together the 1/2 cup warm water and the yeast. I like to use a fork because it kind of breaks up the yeast a bit. Set that aside and let it double in size. When it has doubled, pour the yeast and the milk mixture (make sure the shortening is melted) into your mixer. Turn your mixer on slow-med speed and start adding the flour to the liquid one cup at a time. You may need to slow down the blades as you add the flour so you don't flour the kitchen. :) When you've added about 6 cups of flour, turn the mixer on high and let it knead the dough for a few minutes. This is the tricky part, but you may need a little more flour or that might be just about enough. The dough should not be sticky to the touch and should pull away from the sides of the bowl without sticking. When I made it today I only needed 6 cups. If it needs more flour add it in 1/2 cup increments so that you don't add too much. It will probably need about 10 minutes or so of kneading.

Cover with a towel and set in a warm place until it is double in size. When it has, punch it down into the bowl, then knead in the mixer for about 5 or 10 minutes or by hand. Form into 2 loaves and place in greased bread pans. Let it rise again until double in size which should be about 1 inch above the top of the pan. Bake at 400 for about 20-25 minutes. My mom always said that you know when it's done because it should sound hollow when you tap on it. Enjoy!

Whole Wheat Banana Oat Muffins

So I woke up this morning with the intention of eating oatmeal and bananas... but my banana's were too ripe for me to enjoy and lets face it, oatmeal sounded boring. I had a little bit of whole wheat left over from the last time I made bread, so I thought what the heck, I'll try to make muffins. After combining bits & pieces of about 5 different recipes, and adding some oats, this is what I came up with.

1 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 beaten egg
1/2 cup milk (I was also running low on milk, so I used reconstituted dry milk; 1/2 cup water + 1 1/2 Tbsp dry milk)
1/4 cup canola oil
3/4 mashed bananas

STREUSEL TOPPING:
3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
3 Tbsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp butter

Combine flour, brown sugar & cinnamon. With a fork, cut in butter until crumbly.


In a bowl, combine flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, & salt. Stir together, and create a well in the center of flour mixture; set aside.

In another bowl, combine egg, milk, oil, & banana. Add egg mixture to flour mixture all at once, and stir just until the batter is moistened (it will be lumpy).

Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, about 2/3 full. Sprinkle streusel topping over muffin batter. Bake at 400 for 18-20 minutes.

Marcey's Bread

This recipe is from Marcey, and she got it from Chef Brad.

6 cups hot water (110)
2 Tbsp salt
2/3 cup canola oil
2/3 cup honey
3 Tbsp dough enhancer
3 Tbsp Saf or other instant yeast
16-18 hard white wheat flour (or other)

Combine ingredients in Bosch bowl with dough hook, using only half of the flour, placing flour in last with yeast on top.

Begin mixing, adding enough remaining flour until dough cleans sides of bowl (it may not require all of the flour). Knead 6 minutes or until gluten had developed. Remove from bowl and divide into loaves.

Form loaves for pans or free-standing loaves. Let rise to double.

Bake in preheated oven ( preheat oven to 400), dropping temperature to 325. Bake 20-25 minutes or until internal bread temperature reaches 180.

*For those of you who don't own a Bosch mixer, I have made this bread several times by hand... it's quite the work out, but the end result is totally worth it! I generally split the dough in half so that it's more manageable to knead by hand.*

Honey Oat Bread

Makes 2 Loaves

2 Tbsp dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1/4 cup shortening or oil
1/3 cup honey
1 Tbsp salt
2 cups boiling water
6-6 1/2 cups flour
2 cups rolled oats
1/4 cup instant nonfat dry milk powder

Dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup warm water. In 2 cups boiling water, melt shortening; add honey & salt. Cool to lukewarm. Combine 2 cups flour, the oats, and dry milk. Stir into cooled shortening and honey liquid. Add yeast, and beat with an electric mixer at high speed for 3-4 minutes. Add remaining flour and knead to make a smooth, elastic dough. Cover and let rise until double in bulk. Divide dough and shape into laves. Place in greased bread pans and bake at 350 for 50 minutes.

Tortillas

2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup shortening
1/2 cup warm water

Sift together flour and salt. With a fork, cut in shortening. add water and mix with fork to make a stiff dough. Form a ball and knead on lightly floured surface. Divide dough into 8-10 pieces and shape into balls. Roll out to paper thin. Bake on very hot un-greased griddle until freckled, about 20 seconds on each side.

Whole Wheat Bread

This makes 4 loaves of whole wheat bread. It is easiest to make in a Bosch or Kitchen Aid, but can also be made entirely by hand, you'll just want to knead it a little longer and then let it rest for about 15 minutes before shaping into loaves.

5-6 cups hot tap water
2/3 cup canola oil
2/3 cup honey
2 Tbsp dough enhancer
2 Tbsp SAF yeast
2 Tbsp salt
2 Tbsp vital wheat gluten
12-16 cups whole wheat flour (I like hard-white the best)

Pour warm water into a mixing bowl. Add 6 cups flour, then add dough enhancer, oil, honey, yeast, & wheat gluten. Mix well.

Add 5 cups flour and salt and mix well. Add 1/4 cup of flour at a time until dough pulls away from the sides of mixing bowl.

Knead for about 5 minutes.

Shape dough and place in well greased loaf pans. Let rise until double, 45-60 minutes. Bake in at 350 for 25-30 minutes.