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Food storage plans
Topic Started: Sep 14 2011, 09:02 AM (555 Views)
Mommacat
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Just got back from my Aldi run in St. Cloud! OUCH!! However, I now am pretty sure I've got my year's supply of rice, dried beans, salt, powdered milk, assorted spices and olive oil and vegetable oil. So, now I'll start plugging away at the extras - things like sugar, vinegar, peanut butter, etc. I still need to find a place to buy wheat that I can grind. I've got quite a stash of dried corn; probably not a whole year's worth, but a pretty good start. I'll be able to get more of that this fall when my uncle harvests the stuff he grows to feed the deer. Then, when I have the dried good squared away, I can concentrate on canned goods. I am also having to start thinking about alternate storage. My garage is about as full as I can get it without having total chaos in there. I am thinking of one of those plastic yard sheds. Anybody know how critter tight they are?
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Grizzly
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Wow, that sounds like quite a pile of supplies. I don't know about those yard sheds, never really looked at them that close, but maybe if you used some kind of good quality container you wouldn't need total critter proof. We've had good luck with just plastic 5gal buckets and plastic storage totes. We have dried food, clothes, and blankets in those totes and have not had any rodents or any thing else getting in to them. Kind of surprises me too but we do try to get at least a medium grade and not the super cheapos. Plastic barrels with removable tops would also work for stationary storage. Take out what you need and close back up. Just some ideas and wouldn't be too noticeable to snoopy people. We may have someone that will sell wheat near us later this year.
Our ancestors left Europe to get away from this crap...as seen on a bumpersticker fns
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Mommacat
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I bought some of those 5 gal buckets & sealing lids from you guys last spring when Raven got such a deal on them. I have some filed with food and I know they're critter-proof. But, I've been trying to keep things organized so I know what I have and where I put it. It would be ideal to have the non-food stuff outside in a little shed, then I could move some of the stuff out of my garage and it might be easier to keep organized. The other thing I kind of worry about is rotating stores so that I use stuff and replace it. To be honest, if its too much of a hassle to do that, I probably won't rotate it as I should and could end up with a bunch of outdated, useless provisions. I think one of those steel storage boxes a person can rent would be perfect, but I'm pretty sure my neighbors would object to having to drive around something like that! :) I really like the plastic barrel idea! In a pinch, you could empty it and use it for water. I think I mentioned that the City would have several days of water if the lights went out. So, if I had those on hand, it would be easy enough to empty them and fill with water. I did find out, though, that if the lights did go out, I should immediatly fill my containers and don't shut it off until I'm all done. I guess, since it's gravity fed, if the lines loose their "prime" then you won't get any more - sorta like siphoning gas, I imagine. Not that I've ever done THAT!!! LOL

But, I was reading an article the other day about an interview with a prominent economist and he said he really wished his predictions for an economic crash in 2013 were wrong, but he said he keeps watching the situation and the world economic trends and he's pretty postive its gonna happen then. So, I've stepped up my plan of a gradual increase in stores. I've also started changing the way we eat. I was raised with traditional meals that had meat, veggie, starch. That's probably healthy, but its expensive, so I've been trying to do more "one-pot" stuff and getting protein in other forms than meat. A person really can get full and have the necessary nutrients from a bowl of beans and rice. If we're already semi-accustomed to eating that way, if we had to start relying on our stores, it wouldn't be such an earth shattering change.
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HandFarming
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Thought I'd find a discussion on storage here.

A friend of mine asked me if I wanted to go to the food shelf with her (she goes every Thursday for the "specials"). I said I didn't need anything and had plenty of stores, some stuff years worth. So, that was last summer and she thought about it, so now she handed me a Food n Drug sheet that details the shelf life of food with the longest food only being good for 9 months according to them!

So I started looking through some of my shelf dates and I found one bag of pancake mix I bought 3 years ago and it's good to 1--15-13.

Now I am very particular about how I store long-term buys. My 5 and 15 gal storage containers seal air tight and I toss in a hand hot pack in every time I open/close them. And I only take out enough to need to open containers once a year or less.

I have made a point to buy foods with seriously long shelf life, and I understand to use foods that I jar up myself first, but 9 months? How did people ever survive before the FDA before shelf life dates?

Anyone else not respecting shelf life dates of have concerns about it?
You can lead an ass to knowledge, but you can not make it think.
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Grizzly
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Been meaning to ask, what does the hand warmer do for storage? I asked foghorn about it and even he, one who lives on computer knowlege, had no idea. I know we have soon to expire or already past items. I don't get too worried about it cause most of it is just a legality they must place on everything. When opening a past expired container look at it closely, smell it, taste it. We have found very few that have gone bad and some weren't even expired. For canned goods the best ones to pick up would be the old fashioned sealed cans, not the modern pull top kind cause they don't seal as good. We are trying to use up dated items but keep in mind to restock asap. You'd hate to have a disaster and remember that you hadn't got around to restock yet. I know it's easier said than done but try to imagine that next week "everything" shuts down and you have to live on what you have now. Two months till the end of the world or who knows what else the politicians come up with to help with their election.
Our ancestors left Europe to get away from this crap...as seen on a bumpersticker fns
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HandFarming
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The hand warmer packettes suck the oxygen out and keep the food fresher providing you don't break the seal. descant packs do the same thing and are usually silicone so nuking them before tossing in food bags is recommended....the only time one might want to use a microwave.
I also dust dry goods with bay leaves to repel insects. A neighbor has a problem with those mealy bugs but we haven't so I guess that works.
I guess others think I'm nutsy for stocking up but I usually say its because we live so far out and I don't get to town more than once every 3-6 weeks....in winter I rarely go to town.

In retrospect, I guess because we have saved so much on food from inflation when we buy in advance that a little off taste isn't a bad thing.
You can lead an ass to knowledge, but you can not make it think.
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Mommacat
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Do you "activate" the handwarmers before tossing them in? I think you have to shake or squeeze them, to get them going...

As for items stored past the expiration date; the only thing that you would really have to worry about is that the leavening agents will not be potent enough to make the product rise like it should. So, for instance, with your pancake mix, if you'd add fresh baking powder to the dry mix, it would work just fine, same for cake mixes, etc.

Yeah, after food began to be dated, it seems like the "safe" range keeps getting shorter and shorter. I think its an insideous way to keep people from stocking up....I can't imagine why our gov't would discourage people from being self-sufficient....
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Grizzly
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I all most have to laugh at the news on the big eastern storm. They actually have to tell people to stock up on food and water for a few days. Some interviews with residents are telling how they are buying small generators and flashlights with batteries just in case. Do these idiots really not have any of these supplies already on hand?

On storage items I always heard that you can't store various flavored peanuts cause they'll get soggy. I opened some that were in plastic jars from 3 years ago and they weren't crunchy fresh but still not bad so I'm trying to use them up and plan on restocking but plastic containers seem to be a little harder to find already. I guess one could repackage them and vacuum seal and maybe have a longer shelf life. On another note I have some old wine that seems to be holding up just fine.
Our ancestors left Europe to get away from this crap...as seen on a bumpersticker fns
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HandFarming
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I'm sure the good wine will just get better with age!

Apparently, if I read this right, fats go rancid, but that depends on temps.
https://www.usaemergencysupply.com/information_center/storage_life_of_foods.htm#link11

I have brown rice that we have been eating from for a few years and not noticed a difference but to think white rice in an oxygen free cool environment could last 10-15 years is amazing.

I've been doing more on tje side of dry goods stocking as I see the events on the east coast unravel. Who in their right mind would be without backups of food and water for more than a few days? Cripes-a snow storm can make you dig deeper than a week into stored foods, water and misc. powered communications.

To top off their predicament, a North Eastern snow storm is in the forecast. My guess is that only the preppers will not resort to panick.

You can lead an ass to knowledge, but you can not make it think.
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Raven
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I made some blueberry muffins from one mix that was in storage and past the "use by" date...NASTY! It smelled bad and tasted worse. I don't think that I could eat them if it was the only thing there was. The date on these was April 2010. I wonder if it wouldn't be better to store the ingredients and mix them from scratch as needed instead of storing the mixes

The truth is not for all men, but only for those that seek it. Ayn Rand
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