You might have known about these excellent mylar packaging bags. These bags are pretty popular in the food industry as they are beneficial for long-term food storage. These bags can keep your food items for over a century if you can do it correctly. Yes, you read it right! To keep your food longer, you need to understand how to seal mylar bags properly. Let’s know more!
What is a Mylar bag?
Mylar packaging bags are solid storage bags to keep food items. In addition, these trendy bags come in a variety of sizes and are made of metalized polyester. These bags can contain dry foods or any food items that have a moisture content of 10% or less, with an appropriate amount of oxygen scavenger. The process of using these bags for long-term food storage can be seen as a quite simple one. Yet, it can also be prone to making mistakes that might then compromise your food preservation.
What Kind of Food Items Can You Store in Mylar Packaging Bags?
You can store various food items in mylar packaging bags by filling them first with an oxygen scavenger. As mentioned above, the kinds of food items you can store must be dry foods with a moisture content of 10% or less. Meanwhile, some oily foods cannot be stored in these bags containing oxygen scavengers. The types of dry foods that you can keep in these bags include:
- Whole grain products except barley and brown rice
- White rice
- Oatmeal
- All-purpose flour and bread crumbs (both disinfected with bran and germ)
- All types of beans
Add Oxygen Scavenger/Desiccant before Sealing Mylar Bags
Yes, to seal your mylar bags, you will need to add an oxygen scavenger. What is that? Oxygen scavenger does precisely what it sounds like; it takes in oxygen.
So the idea here is to add an appropriate amount of oxygen scavenger to the Mylar bag before sealing it. As soon as the bag is sealed, the oxygen scavenger will start to draw oxygen from the air. This process is quite essential because oxygen is one of the factors that can significantly shorten the shelf life of food.
Remember, you will need to determine the correct amount of oxygen scavenger. If not added enough, you might mistakenly add harmful oxygen that can damage the food items. Even worse, if you add too much oxygen, you will only waste more money.
How to Seal Mylar Bags Properly
Now that you have your Mylar bag, oxygen scavenger, and food items, you will need one more item. To be noted, proper heat resembles a good seal. In this case, proper heat will be essential for the long-term protection of your food inside the bag. In fact, if you are unable to get the seal correctly, your food will not last long. In this context, you should never make any mistake.
To help you out, try out the steps below to guide you how to seal mylar bags properly.
The mylar bag should be perfectly flat, 100% clean, and at the right temperature
If you seal the bag and it is not flat, you will not get any reliable seal. Sealing works because when heat is applied to the bag, the Mylar’s material will start to melt. If both sides of the bag are melting, they can mix. The next thing you will have to do is removing, the heat. By removing the heat, you will make the soft melted material back to being solid. In fact, this is exactly the purpose of your seal actually.
So in case you are trying to get both sides of your bag and melt them together, you might cause a wrinkle. This wrinkle will then create a pocket of air to enter the equation. The bad thing from this is that this pocket will reduce the effectiveness of the seal on the bag. In the end, even if your seal seems good at first, it will be weak at the wrinkle location. Over time, this vulnerability might collapse.
Get rid of the external matters
The following key to a good seal is to get rid of all the external matters. Some small particles of food or dust in the seal have the chance to compromise its integrity. When there is a presence of food particles in the gasket, it will reduce the mylar-to-mylar contact by introducing external matter amid the gaskets. This would not be good.
Heat control
The third sealing option you can choose for reliable sealing is heat control. If you didn’t apply proper heat, the material of your mylar packaging bags would not dissolve completely. Too much heat will melt the holes in the gasket. Yes, the seal is sticky and may function to hold. On the other hand, it might not be able to be completely locked to its intended strength. So, make sure to go for the proper heat control as it is well worth every penny.
If you are thinking of going with a cheaper device, you can try using a clothes iron or even a good quality hair straightener. These items will work for sealing your mylar packaging bags as well. However, do remember that you will need to do some testing to assure that the seals will hold the food proeprly.
Consider using vacuum sealer to seal your mylar bags
Without you realizing it, a vacuum sealer will work very well in removing the excess air from your bags while sealing them. However, the only problem might be that the mylar bag is smooth. Thus, the indentation is essential for the vacuum sealer to be effective.
Reasons to Choose Mylar Packaging Bags
Many food brands have been choosing mylar packaging bags. The main reason is that the bags help meet the standards and specifications of food agencies in different states. In this way, your brand can ensure that your food items remain safe and secure in the bags.
At Pioneer Custom Boxes, these bags are also available in various designs to meet your business needs. These bags are sturdy and can hold all types of food items such as solids, liquids, gels, powders, and granules.
Know the importance of mylar packaging bags
If you are still wondering whether to use these bags or not, remember the last item you bought. Product packaging can be ubiquitous, whether for food packaging, cosmetic packaging, electrical device packaging, or other types of products.
Product packaging offers a variety of benefits, from product protection, safety, attractive appearance, and optimal design to meeting customer needs. In summary, your product packaging is an important aspect of marketing and is essential to developing brand equity.
Indeed, in a highly competitive market where many competitors are around, marketing efforts will help you stand out. You also need to note that good product packaging can increase the overall cost of your product itself. The perfect option for your food brand is custom mylar bags at Pioneer Custom Boxes. Other benefits of these innovatively designed bags are:
- Mylar bags will not allow gas to pass-through
- The bags come with flexible and easy to use features
- The bags are cheap and durable
- Mylar packaging bags are ready to use
- The bags can always be reusable
Are Mylar Packaging Bags Safe?
Again, you need to note that mylar packaging bags are made of selected and premium quality materials. If you choose these bags, you can protect your food items from
- Undesired rodents
- Unpredictable heat
- Unwanted moisture
- Harmful dust
- And other factors that can influence your food quality
In simple words, these bags are considered to be the safest food packaging you can use for your edibles at any time. The best part is that these bags can accommodate almost all types of food items you want to pack. Most importantly, these bags will display your food items perfectly on the shelves. This way, those customers will be convinced with what they are buying.
How Long Can a Mylar Bag Keep The Food?
Depending on what you need to store in a mylar bag, the bag will significantly extend the normal storage life of your food item. In fact, dried foods stored in mylar packaging bags can remain fresh for more than 10 thousand years. For white rice, you can keep them forever in these bags!
Adding a second layer of protection to the Mylar bag will provide long-term rewards for long-term storage.
Final Words
At Pioneer Custom Boxes, the coloring and printing will be done only on the outside of your mylar bags. This way, no harm will penetrate or touch your food items inside.
As a food brand, there is no doubt that you need to invest in high-quality packaging for your food items. Mylar packaging bags are affordable and eye-catching at the same time. These bags, accordingly, can be an essential part of increasing sales and keeping your items safe. Give us a call to get the most exclusive mylar bags for your food items!
