diff --git a/src/main/java/gregtech/api/persistence/PersistentData.java b/src/main/java/gregtech/api/persistence/PersistentData.java
index d1fa1ed9b9b..dc88872d9a3 100644
--- a/src/main/java/gregtech/api/persistence/PersistentData.java
+++ b/src/main/java/gregtech/api/persistence/PersistentData.java
@@ -1,25 +1,28 @@
 package gregtech.api.persistence;
 
 import gregtech.api.GTValues;
+import gregtech.api.util.GTLog;
 
-import net.minecraftforge.common.config.Configuration;
+import net.minecraft.nbt.CompressedStreamTools;
+import net.minecraft.nbt.NBTTagCompound;
 import net.minecraftforge.fml.common.Loader;
 
 import org.jetbrains.annotations.ApiStatus;
 import org.jetbrains.annotations.NotNull;
 import org.jetbrains.annotations.Nullable;
 
-import java.io.File;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.InputStream;
+import java.io.OutputStream;
+import java.nio.file.Files;
 import java.nio.file.Path;
 
 public final class PersistentData {
 
-    public static final String CATEGORY_NAME = "persistent data";
-
     private static final PersistentData INSTANCE = new PersistentData();
-    private static final String FILE_NAME = "persistent_data.cfg";
 
-    private @Nullable Configuration config;
+    private @Nullable Path path;
+    private @Nullable NBTTagCompound tag;
 
     public static @NotNull PersistentData instance() {
         return INSTANCE;
@@ -27,30 +30,79 @@ public final class PersistentData {
 
     private PersistentData() {}
 
+    @ApiStatus.Internal
+    public void init() {
+        this.path = Loader.instance().getConfigDir().toPath()
+                .resolve(GTValues.MODID)
+                .resolve("persistent_data.dat");
+    }
+
     /**
-     * @return the persistent data storage
+     * @return the stored persistent data
      */
-    public @NotNull Configuration getConfig() {
-        if (config == null) {
-            Path configFolderPath = Loader.instance().getConfigDir().toPath().resolve(GTValues.MODID);
-            File file = configFolderPath.resolve(FILE_NAME).toFile();
-            config = new Configuration(file);
+    public synchronized @NotNull NBTTagCompound getTag() {
+        if (this.tag == null) {
+            this.tag = read();
         }
-        return config;
+        return this.tag;
     }
 
-    @ApiStatus.Internal
-    public void init() {
-        Configuration configuration = getConfig();
-        configuration.load();
-        String comment = """
-                GregTech Persistent Data. Items in this file will persist across game loads.
-                Modifications to this file may be overwritten by GT.
-                If you are a modpack author, you should ship this file in releases.""";
-        configuration.addCustomCategoryComment(CATEGORY_NAME, comment);
-
-        if (configuration.hasChanged()) {
-            configuration.save();
+    /**
+     * @return the read NBTTagCompound from disk
+     */
+    private @NotNull NBTTagCompound read() {
+        GTLog.logger.debug("Reading persistent data from path {}", path);
+        if (this.path == null) {
+            throw new IllegalStateException("Persistent data path cannot be null");
+        }
+
+        if (!Files.exists(path)) {
+            return new NBTTagCompound();
+        }
+
+        try (InputStream inputStream = Files.newInputStream(this.path)) {
+            return CompressedStreamTools.readCompressed(inputStream);
+        } catch (IOException e) {
+            GTLog.logger.error("Failed to read persistent data", e);
+            return new NBTTagCompound();
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Save the GT Persistent data to disk
+     */
+    public synchronized void save() {
+        if (this.tag != null) {
+            write(this.tag);
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @param tagCompound the tag compound to save to disk
+     */
+    private void write(@NotNull NBTTagCompound tagCompound) {
+        GTLog.logger.debug("Writing persistent data to path {}", path);
+        if (tagCompound.isEmpty()) {
+            return;
+        }
+
+        if (this.path == null) {
+            throw new IllegalStateException("Persistent data path cannot be null");
+        }
+
+        if (!Files.exists(path)) {
+            try {
+                Files.createDirectories(path.getParent());
+            } catch (IOException e) {
+                GTLog.logger.error("Could not create persistent data dir", e);
+                return;
+            }
+        }
+
+        try (OutputStream outputStream = Files.newOutputStream(path)) {
+            CompressedStreamTools.writeCompressed(tagCompound, outputStream);
+        } catch (IOException e) {
+            GTLog.logger.error("Failed to write persistent data", e);
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/gregtech/api/recipes/GTRecipeInputCache.java b/src/main/java/gregtech/api/recipes/GTRecipeInputCache.java
index 5e63b6fd4da..4e9a68fdf03 100644
--- a/src/main/java/gregtech/api/recipes/GTRecipeInputCache.java
+++ b/src/main/java/gregtech/api/recipes/GTRecipeInputCache.java
@@ -6,8 +6,8 @@
 import gregtech.api.util.GTLog;
 import gregtech.common.ConfigHolder;
 
-import net.minecraftforge.common.config.Configuration;
-import net.minecraftforge.common.config.Property;
+import net.minecraft.nbt.NBTTagCompound;
+import net.minecraft.util.math.MathHelper;
 
 import it.unimi.dsi.fastutil.Hash;
 import it.unimi.dsi.fastutil.objects.ObjectOpenHashSet;
@@ -35,9 +35,6 @@ public final class GTRecipeInputCache {
     private static ObjectOpenHashSet<GTRecipeInput> instances;
 
     private static final String DATA_NAME = "expectedIngredientInstances";
-    private static final String DATA_COMMENT = """
-            The expected amount of unique GT recipe ingredients.
-            This setting improves memory allocation and garbage collection during game-load.""";
 
     private GTRecipeInputCache() {}
 
@@ -67,22 +64,17 @@ public static void disableCache() {
             instances = null;
 
             if (size >= MINIMUM_CACHE_SIZE && size < MAXIMUM_CACHE_SIZE) {
-                Configuration config = PersistentData.instance().getConfig();
-                Property expected = getExpectedInstanceAmount(config);
-
-                if (expected.getInt() != size) {
-                    expected.set(size);
-                    if (expected.hasChanged()) {
-                        config.save();
-                    }
+                NBTTagCompound tagCompound = PersistentData.instance().getTag();
+                if (getExpectedInstanceAmount(tagCompound) != size) {
+                    tagCompound.setInteger(DATA_NAME, size);
+                    PersistentData.instance().save();
                 }
             }
         }
     }
 
-    private static @NotNull Property getExpectedInstanceAmount(@NotNull Configuration configuration) {
-        return configuration.get(PersistentData.CATEGORY_NAME, DATA_NAME, MINIMUM_CACHE_SIZE,
-                DATA_COMMENT, MINIMUM_CACHE_SIZE, MAXIMUM_CACHE_SIZE);
+    private static int getExpectedInstanceAmount(@NotNull NBTTagCompound tagCompound) {
+        return MathHelper.clamp(tagCompound.getInteger(DATA_NAME), MINIMUM_CACHE_SIZE, MAXIMUM_CACHE_SIZE);
     }
 
     /**
@@ -146,8 +138,7 @@ public static List<GTRecipeInput> deduplicateInputs(List<GTRecipeInput> inputs)
      * @return the optimal expected input cache size
      */
     private static int calculateOptimalExpectedSize() {
-        int min = getExpectedInstanceAmount(PersistentData.instance().getConfig())
-                .getInt(MINIMUM_CACHE_SIZE);
+        int min = Math.max(getExpectedInstanceAmount(PersistentData.instance().getTag()), MINIMUM_CACHE_SIZE);
         for (int i = 13; i < 31; i++) {
             int sizeToTest = 1 << i;
             int arraySize = nextHighestPowerOf2((int) (sizeToTest / Hash.DEFAULT_LOAD_FACTOR));