Eating what you are storing...

[68Camaro]

Ideally, you should be storing/buying what you will actually eat. Even better if its stuff that you would be willing to eat now.

I've been working on this, but best that I can say is that it's a never ending work in progress - constant experiment and refinement. I've got a lot of long-term items for basic energy/protein, survival, trade goods: rice, dried beans, wheat berries, etc. That's stuff that I can/will eat, and will last for decades. I'm not hard-pressed to dip into those stores, and what rice, beans etc that I use regularly come from the shelf rather than the long-term storage containers. But that stuff is boring, day after day.

So for variety I've got a lot of intermediate storage length stuff, canned goods etc, but these need to be rotated. It's surprising how quickly the expiration dates come rolling by.

So, wanting to also store foods that would be tasty, but also good for long-term storage, I just got my 6 box "big trial" comfort food shipment from AF today. In addition to another 5 gal of wheat and 5 gal of rolled oats... A case of 6 #10 cans of different fruits (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, apples, pineapple, bananas). A case of 6 different #10 cans of veg (corn, potatoes, onions, celery, red/green peppers, carrots). A case of misc dairy items (butter powder, cheese powder, honey powder, milk powder, whole egg powder). Plus some gluten free baking products (wife is off of wheat). Choc chip cookie mix and buttermilk pancake mix.

I have a tray of cookie bars in the oven now (smelling good!), and we'll be trying some of the pancake mix for breakfast.

This stuff all comes pre-packaged with oxygen absorber, so shelf life of the baking mixes is 10 years! (or 1 year after opening.) I'm hoping they are good. If they are, I'll be not only buying more, but tending to use it for daily purposes!

My LDS shipment of more wheat berries (these canned) and oxygen absorber packs is also on the way.

I need to finish up my storage area over the 4th holiday week, and then refine my inventory/storage methods.

[Rob72830]

I wholeheartly agree. Stock up what you eat. Eat what you store. In my house we eat a lot of beans and pasta, so that is the #1 item I have stocked. I have found canned beans on sale and bought them by the case. I have bought dry beans in 10# bags and repacked with O2 absorbers Also, I make a lot of chili, so a lot of my canned beans are chili beans. Helps flavor the chili. Now, I am fairly new to long term food storage and I have a few questions that I hope someone can answer for me:

Can I buy dry goods like flour, cornmeal, pancake mixes, powdered milk, and cereal at the store and repack using my foodsaver and O2 absorbers and extend the shelf life? Or will my repacked food still only be good for only 1 or 2 years?

Anyone have good luck with TVP? I am intrigued to find out if it is a good substitute for ground beef and perhaps healthier than a lot of red meat in my chili and soups and maybe cheaper than beef. Does anyone know how much a #10 can equals in pounds for ground beef?

Anyone know how long ramen noodles last? They are cheap but will fill your belly when you are hungry. I though about buying about 20 or 30 cases just to have if everything else runs out or to hand out to others. Anyone else stock up on these? I know some asian countries militaries use a type of ramen as a MRE for their troops.

There aren't any stores around here that sell cans or buckets of dehydrated foods but i did find an ebay seller who sells dehydrated foods who is about 25 miles from my town. His listing had a phone number so I called him. He told me that his warehouse isn't open to the public but I could give him an order on the phone and go meet him the next day at his office and pick it up. I think this will work since he won't pay any ebay fees and I won't be paying for shipping. A win win situation. And his prices are similar to other online retailers I have looked at. He even emailed me a list of what he sells with prices.

Got to wrap this up for now. Got an order to go and pick up. Thanks for everyones imput. have a great day!

[68Camaro]

re: the LDS church order.

Got the two cases of canned hard red wheat berries yesterday. A week after order, delivered by FedEx. $28 bucks a case including shipping. No tax for me (required as needed). The O2 absorbers were backordered but now in and ready to ship separately.

The wheat is in 6 #10 cans per case. 5.5 lbs per can, so 33 lbs of wheat per case. 66 lbs for $56, sealed, delivered, ready for 30 years. Really can't be beat. I bought a 50 lb bag delivered for about $50 last year and I thought that was a great deal, but even with that it still had to be packed for storage, and this is cheaper and the work is done. Best deal on wheat berries that I've seen, for anyone that isn't close to the farms and can't pick up at a distributor (and even then you need to can it or vac pack it or store in food grade buckets with the appropriate anti-bug stuff of your choice), and who wants to store some.

[Nickelless]

68Camaro, do you have a link and/or phone number for the cannery you ordered from?

I've not tried to reach the cannery nearest to me for a while as I've been buying and vacuum-sealing everything in bulk quantities myself for some time, but it never hurts to have other options.

[68Camaro]

Can't fill in links on my phone very well, but go look in the "LDS Cannery" thread. Shinnosuke supplied the link to the central storehouse ordering page in one of the posts and that's what I used.

[reddirtcoins]

I don't store any white rice. I only store brown or par-boiled rice. mostly par-boiled and I do eat out of my stock. It's hard to keep dried fruit/freezed dried fruit around the house. Seems like every time I get cases in they are gone. My wife is going the veggie route so I am starting to can.

[beauanderos]

Forget about expiration dates. That's a marketing scam to get consumers to buy products after tossing out "expired" dated cans. I've looked into this and also done taste tests on canned items up to six years past the expiration date. The nutrient value of the contents doesn't change, but the flavor might now be as strong as you would expect. Milk containing products, yes, pay attention to the dates. Nuts will turn rancid, so watch that. But fish? Most soups (with the exception of rice... which deteriorates), canned beans, canned fruits, etc... no problem. They've found cans a hundred years old that the contents were still eatable. Personally, I think you're going to alot of unnecessary problems and expense rotating cans. And, btw, if your cans are "expired" the food agencies are unable to accept them.

Don't eat the contents of cans with bulging lids. They might have botulism.

[68Camaro]

Forget about expiration dates. That's a marketing scam to get consumers to buy products after tossing out "expired" dated cans. I've looked into this and also done taste tests on canned items up to six years past the expiration date. The nutrient value of the contents doesn't change, but the flavor might now be as strong as you would expect. Milk containing products, yes, pay attention to the dates. Nuts will turn rancid, so watch that. But fish? Most soups (with the exception of rice... which deteriorates), canned beans, canned fruits, etc... no problem. They've found cans a hundred years old that the contents were still eatable. Personally, I think you're going to alot of unnecessary problems and expense rotating cans. And, btw, if your cans are "expired" the food agencies are unable to accept them.

Don't eat the contents of cans with bulging lids. They might have botulism.

Good point, and info for others. But for me, I've got a wife with OCD regarding food dates. So, if she's going to eat it, it's going to be in date. Thus, the rotation. A little trouble, but not that difficult. I've got far more difficult issues.

[68Camaro]

I don't store any white rice. I only store brown or par-boiled rice. mostly par-boiled and I do eat out of my stock. It's hard to keep dried fruit/freezed dried fruit around the house. Seems like every time I get cases in they are gone. My wife is going the veggie route so I am starting to can.

Whole grain rice is better for you, but turns rancid due to the oils after a year or so, so has to be rotated.

White rice is good indefinitely when stored right.

[68Camaro]

Can I buy dry goods like flour, cornmeal, pancake mixes, powdered milk, and cereal at the store and repack using my foodsaver and O2 absorbers and extend the shelf life? Or will my repacked food still only be good for only 1 or 2 years?

Issue with foodsaver is that the bags have a lifetime - they don't come with the MIL-SPEC metallized gas-impermeable coating needed for truly long-term storage. Also products with unstable oils will be questionable. However, I'm not an expert in this. There are several sites that go into details on what can and can't be stored.

Some info on use of o2 absorbers and their limitations

http://www.lds.org/family/family-well-b ... lang=eng#1

Anyone have good luck with TVP? I am intrigued to find out if it is a good substitute for ground beef and perhaps healthier than a lot of red meat in my chili and soups and maybe cheaper than beef. Does anyone know how much a #10 can equals in pounds for ground beef?

TVP? What's that?

Anyone know how long ramen noodles last? They are cheap but will fill your belly when you are hungry. I though about buying about 20 or 30 cases just to have if everything else runs out or to hand out to others. Anyone else stock up on these? I know some asian countries militaries use a type of ramen as a MRE for their troops.

No idea. I would expect at least a year, but maybe longer. Would have to research it.

[68Camaro]

68Camaro, do you have a link and/or phone number for the cannery you ordered from?

I've not tried to reach the cannery nearest to me for a while as I've been buying and vacuum-sealing everything in bulk quantities myself for some time, but it never hurts to have other options.

From shinnosuke's post in the LDS Cannery thread:

http://store.lds.org/webapp/wcs/stores/ ... _N_image_0

The US customer service number is 1-800-537-5971

[Rob72830]

68 Camaro, TVP is Texured Vegetable Protein. Made out of soybeans. Found in a lot of cheap foods like burritos. A couple of nights ago I reconstituted some and added to some cheese dip I made and I couldn't tell it from ground beef. I figure TVP won't make any hamburgers but it will work for soups and chili and in a situation where groceries are scarce, it will fill the belly.

Thanks for the info on the food saver bags. I believe I will not be using them for long term storage. Since I have a small household, the 5 gallon buckets are too much, I guess I can use my mason jars with O2 absorbers and vacuum sealing. I have those jar sealers from foodsaver and the few I have already sealed it worked pretty good. Mainly though, I will just buy #10 cans of everything and open as I need it.

[reddirtcoins]

Forget about expiration dates. That's a marketing scam to get consumers to buy products after tossing out "expired" dated cans. I've looked into this and also done taste tests on canned items up to six years past the expiration date. The nutrient value of the contents doesn't change, but the flavor might now be as strong as you would expect. Milk containing products, yes, pay attention to the dates. Nuts will turn rancid, so watch that. But fish? Most soups (with the exception of rice... which deteriorates), canned beans, canned fruits, etc... no problem. They've found cans a hundred years old that the contents were still eatable. Personally, I think you're going to alot of unnecessary problems and expense rotating cans. And, btw, if your cans are "expired" the food agencies are unable to accept them.

Don't eat the contents of cans with bulging lids. They might have botulism.

totally agree on most products. I worked retail for 11 years and my grandparents owned a grocery in the 30's-50's.

BUT.. don't try that with soda... blah!
Funny story was one night at my wife's grandparents I pull a coke from the wet-bar and BLAH!... It was 4 years old...

[Nickelless]

The only issue I can potentially see with ramen is the fat content in the noodles going rancid if they aren't vacuum-sealed. I only have a few five-gallon buckets with ramen in non-vacuum-sealed mylar bags, but I haven't tried them yet. I've had them in storage for a little over a year.

[texcollex]

I've tried some ramen noodles at around a year old and they tasted pretty stale. The packaging is inferior. If you vacuum them in mylar with oxygen absorbers I suppose they would last at least a year. Nickelless comment about the fat content was also what I was thinking was the issue.

[Engineer]

Forget about expiration dates. That's a marketing scam to get consumers to buy products after tossing out "expired" dated cans. I've looked into this and also done taste tests on canned items up to six years past the expiration date. The nutrient value of the contents doesn't change, but the flavor might now be as strong as you would expect. Milk containing products, yes, pay attention to the dates. Nuts will turn rancid, so watch that. But fish? Most soups (with the exception of rice... which deteriorates), canned beans, canned fruits, etc... no problem. They've found cans a hundred years old that the contents were still eatable. Personally, I think you're going to alot of unnecessary problems and expense rotating cans. And, btw, if your cans are "expired" the food agencies are unable to accept them.

Don't eat the contents of cans with bulging lids. They might have botulism.

I left a truck parked in the desert for five years, and when I went to use it again I found a can of kipper snacks under the seat. They were a little drier than normal, but not bad.

The look on my wife's face when I cracked open the can and started eating was priceless.

[Thogey]

I keep trying to store scotch.

What a waste of effort. It doesn't store well here. It depreciates wat to fast.

[68Camaro]

I keep trying to store scotch.

What a waste of effort. It doesn't store well here. It depreciates wat to fast.

I think you need a liquor "chastity belt" for it; with the key stored in a "break glass in case of emergency" case...

[Mossy]

I vac bagged 5# of oatmeal a bit over a year ago. The plastic is still sucked down so I doubt much air has been sucked in through the vac bag. Has anyone else stored something long term?

[slickeast]

I ate a can of soup last night that was dated 2010. It tasted fine and I didn't get sick.


Earlier this week I was in D.C. eating at Red Lobster, Chili's, and Cracker Barrel. Now I am eating out of date soup.

[Nickelless]

I vac bagged 5# of oatmeal a bit over a year ago. The plastic is still sucked down so I doubt much air has been sucked in through the vac bag. Has anyone else stored something long term?

No air can get into vacuum-sealed bags unless something compromises the seal, so in the case of your oatmeal, no air has entered the bag at all. As long as the vacuum seal isn't compromises, whatever you've vacuum-sealed will stay good indefinitely.