How and When to Use Gamma Seal Lids

  It may seem obvious that buying basic pantry staples in bulk can save you big money on your groceries. Bulk foods like beans, rice, wheat, rapadura, popcorn, rolled oats - can all be bought for a fraction of the price of the same foods in smaller packages. But if you don't have a good way to store your oats and popcorn, or your wheat, and if it's not easy to get to your foods, what good is the investment? We are going to show you why the Gamma Seal Lid is just the thing to "up" your food storage to a higher level of convenience and safety. We think you're going to love the simplicity of keeping your dry goods in this kind of practical storage!
The Seal
When you open and close a regular pail with a snap-on lid, how do you do it? You pry it, right? Now what do you think happens to the little gasket inside that lid when you force it off and on your pail? Over time, the lid becomes warped from the repeated prying, and the gasket no longer fits snugly inside, so the lid is no longer air tight. As long as you close it without over-tightening, this would never happen with a Gamma Seal Lid. The Gamma Seal’s gasket is affixed to the outer rim of the lid, and it naturally fits snugly up next to the side of the pail. Because you never need to pry the Gamma Seal Lid, it always keeps its shape and does not become warped, so it will keep its secure air tight seal for many, many years of continual use. That secure air tight seal will keep your food safe, both in long-term storage and in the day-to-day.    
Convenience For Daily Use
The most apparent time to use the Gamma Seal Lid is when you need a convenient cover for food storage pails you open and close regularly. Keep pails of flour, grains, and beans within easy access of your kitchen, and fit each one with a Gamma Seal Lid so your necessities are easy to get to. The colored lids can help keep you organized too. Keep a yellow lid on your Prairie Gold wheat, a red one on your hard red wheat, a black one on your black beans, and so on.
Gamma Lids For Long Term Food Storage
Gamma Seal Lids are especially good to use on your long term food storage pails because of their high quality seal. If you plan to keep your pails of grain or beans for several months or years, your pail needs to be completely air tight, and the Gamma Seal Lid provides this excellent seal. The Gamma lid will keep bugs and moisture out of your food and lock in the freshness of the product you’re storing.
Can I Use A Gamma Seal Lid On A Pail With Oxygen Absorbers Inside?
Yes! That’s one of the things Gamma Lids were created for. As long as you do not open the lid, your oxygen absorbers will protect the contents of your pail for many years. Forgive me if this is obvious to you, but a lot of people assume they can open and close, open and close their pail, and that the oxygen absorbers inside will continue to keep their grain in a zero oxygen environment. This is not the case. Oxygen absorbers remove the oxygen from an enclosed environment, such as the inside of a pail, and there is a limit to the amount of oxygen they can absorb. Open the lid, and your oxygen absorber will attempt to absorb ALL of the oxygen from your whole house or yard. Then when you close the lid again, there will be oxygen inside the pail that the absorber cannot absorb because it is spent already. If you want the oxygen absorbers to do their job, they must remain in a sealed environment. Once you open the pail, you’ll need to begin using the food inside, or else you’ll need to add new oxygen absorbers and re-seal the pail.
Consider these things when you use Gamma Lids on your food storage pails:
1. Insects: Most grains inherently contain insect eggs that can hatch when given enough time and the right environment. So although bugs will not be able to enter your stored grains through the lid, they may actually hatch from inside. To prevent bugs from hatching in your precious foods, we recommend treating the grain with diatomaceous earth, or incorporating oxygen absorbers inside the pail.
2. Oxygen Absorbers:  Oxygen absorbers work inside a sealed environment to remove the oxygen inside. The zero oxygen environment keeps insect eggs from hatching and dramatically lengthens the amount of time the dry food can be stored. Oxygen absorbers work through a chemical reaction. They contain iron powder which reacts with the oxygen in the air causing the iron powder to rust. (Don't worry. The rust stays contained inside the packet and doesn't get in your food.) When all the iron powder has oxidized, the oxygen absorbers are “loaded” and the absorbing action stops. Remove the oxygen from an active absorber and the chemical reaction stops. Put them back in the air and the reaction starts again until the iron is gone. When using oxygen absorbers in a pail that has a Gamma Seal Lid, you must keep the lid shut as long as you want to store the grain inside. Once you open the pail, oxygen will enter the pail, so your grain will no longer be in the zero oxygen environment that you created in the first place.
3. Don’t overtighten the Gamma Seal Lid:  The Gamma Seal Lid does not need to be cranked down to form an air tight seal. In fact, overtightening will weaken the seal and do more harm than good. Just spin the lid until it stops and turn it about 1/4 inch beyond its natural stopping point. That is all it needs.
How To Attach A Gamma Seal Lid
Gamma lids come in two pieces that are attached together when you receive them, the adapter and the actual lid. When you get your lid, unscrew the lid from the adapter ring. Then snap the ring onto the top of your pail. You may need to pound it on with a mallet, but it will usually just snap on. Then screw on the top. That’s it! Now you have a nice, neat pail with a lid that spins on and off easily enough for even your little helpers to open without frustration.
More About Gamma Seal Lids
How To Close Your Gamma Seal Lid The Right Way