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Food storage plans
Topic Started: Sep 14 2011, 09:02 AM (553 Views)
HandFarming
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What happened to your Geunia pig/taste tester?

From what I read-the temperature, moisture and oxygen all affect storage with an emphasis on fats, which go rancid. Just thinking out loud, but wouldn't a root cellar be the thing to have for a deep storage pantry?
You can lead an ass to knowledge, but you can not make it think.
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Raven
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My guinea pig is alive and well...he didn't like them either :-)
A root cellar is also very moisture retentive so unless you are seriously guarding against it they don't work as well for dry goods. It is also not as handy for the day to day storage items and my basement is plenty cool...this stuff was just nasty. I also make sure that I don't store those "just add water mixes" as they are much higher in the fats than the others. Desicant can also be baked in the oven at a very low temperature instead of the microwave. You can buy desicant on-line relatively cheaply...there is no reason to own a microwave as far as I am concerned :-)
This is what I found on using handwarmers as O2 absorbers on another prepper's website (the guy that wrote it is claiming to be a scientist and his reasoning makes sense from the classes in chemistry that I had.
"Hand warmers won't reduce the O2 down to the levels that a proper O2 absorber will. They're designed to work in a higher O2 atmosphere. They even had to design special boot warmers because of having to operate at lower O2 levels enclosed in boots. There were tests done back in the 90s comparing their effectiveness to O2 absorbers and they came up short. I would never trust them for food storage." I will look for the origonal study and if I find it, I will post it later.
Edited by Raven, Nov 6 2012, 09:36 PM.
The truth is not for all men, but only for those that seek it. Ayn Rand
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Mommacat
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It sounds as if an ingredient in the mix went rancid. I don't ever try to store mixes that have any type of oils or milk/cheese "solids" or nuts, or "just add water" types. But, I think if you read the ingredient label and make sure there is nothing that would go bad on its own, it would be okay for what I'd term "mid-range storage". Raven, I agree with your idea that it makes better sense to store ingredients to make food rather than mixes. That increases your flexibility to make use of what's available as far as fresh and canned food on hand and I think single food items store better, too.

Interesting about the handwarmer packets. I did know handwarmers are NOT interchangeable with "boot warmers"! Learned that the hard way one opening deer season when I tried to be thrifty and use up what I had! Won't do that again - cold toes make for an awfully long day!! But very interesting to know the "science" behind it! O2, huh?? :)
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HandFarming
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So what was the difference between the boot and hand warmers? On the coldest days I put the hand packettes in my back pants pockets and I would think they get much air there.

I can only speak from experience and the pocket packets seem to work enough to keep things...for as long as I had them in storage. I can't speak for long term....more than a few years, but I would think the circumstances need to be perfect if using for long - long term storage. I used them with rice, flour (wheat), noodles and didnt notice a difference. I should note-if you are using 5 gal sealing containers vs the 15 gal sealed containers, it also makes a difference with dead space. Also -after vac sealed, everything is kept in a cool space that doesn't fluctuate widely in temperature....verses an attic.

One thing to note, when I open the sealed containers containing the packets, I toss in a few more when I close it back up because there is then more space to suck the O out of.

In either event, if we ever went through a north-east'er after a hurricane, anything edible would be appreciated. Just wishing I had enough spaghetti sauce to go with those noodles...

Edited by HandFarming, Nov 8 2012, 12:49 PM.
You can lead an ass to knowledge, but you can not make it think.
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