Food Storage

[Whitlock]

The wife and I are working on getting our long term food storage up to were we have a years supply.
As of now we are working on the basic five.

Wheat - we are buying this in #10 cans trying to get 600 pounds each that way we will have half to be eaten and half to trade or plant.
We have learned that you want a hard winter wheat with less than 10% moisture content with 12 to 14% protein
If you buy wheat make sure it is not some kind of hybrid that will not sprout.

powdered milk-We are also buying this in a # 10 can we are shooting for 100 pounds each.

salt- picked up 4 salt blocks from the feed store

honey- We are thinking of 5 gallons. Sassy is helping us out on that one

vitamin-mineral supplements- 4 bottles of 500

If anyone has any suggestions I would love to hear them,W

[NM_Shooter]

Beans!  Good for protein.

Some decent spices.  (Tony's Cajun comes to mind)

Sugar.

[MountainDon]

pasta, assorted

canned butter

vegetable oil

rice

canned sardines, (keep almost forever)

and more beans... I'm in the SW, can't go w/o beans here

[MountainDon]

peanut butter

nuts (almonds)

[MountainDon]

coffee beans

chocolate

[Whitlock]

Thanks Guys,
 
Canned butter- were can I get that that sounds like a good thing to have.

Just got done cleaning and putting up about 50 pounds of sweet potatoes. I rap mine in news paper.
But I have put them in sacks of feed or straw. The main thing is to keep them dry.
They only last of a year or two.
Here in California they only pick a certain size and shape. The rest are plowed under.
So if you know a farmer that grows sweets you can usually go out in the fields and find some good ones that they left.
This year they picked, and then had guys picking up all the rest for making fuel out of them He told me like they do with sugar beets.

[Squirl]

Complex carbohydrates- Wheat is a great start.  Some flour on hand is good to have.  It saves you from having to do work later.  Pasta is good too.

Simple carbohydrates- Sugar or honey.  Sugar is much cheaper.

Fats- any oil is good.  Keeps well. Some canned butter for diversity.

Protein - Mostly beans, some canned meat.  

I always like having extras of sugar and oil.  It has more flexibility and energy density.  You can use the sugar with yeast to make alcohol.  This can power an engine or be traded with a neighbor.  Oil can also be used as a substitute in diesel engines.  

These are long term use items.  I like the idea of chocolate or candy bars for emergencies.  Great energy and brings up an association with good memories in the time of an emergency.  Something that give you a psychological boost in addition to sustenance is always a plus.

[Squirl]

You can make canned butter easy enough.  Just type it into google and you will find instructions.

[StinkerBell]

I dunno squirl seems like a lot of work to can butter. First you have to buy a cow, then you have to....

[apaknad]

all good ideas. i found canned ham at the dollar store and bought one. it was better tasting then spam in a can about twice the size of spam for only a dollar. now we are talking survivor food here but it would last forever(think sardines) and make a good addition to your store house.

[apaknad]

powderesd butter in sealed containers is available. here is one place. "emergency essentials"

[apaknad]

i think i better start spell checking before i post

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

I second Don on the dried beans...  one thing I would add is to store them in the freezer if you have space, or at least freeze them for a little while because they often have wax moth eggs in them that can hatch out and get into everything.  Freezing is the only sure-fire way to kill them.  Or, I guess you could just cook the beans, wax moths and all!  Think of it as extra protein!   Canned tomatoes last forever and help do something with all the pasta you stockpile, and add some diversity to the menu.  Drying vegetables and then vacuum sealing them will provide you with a little more well-rounded diet in an emergency.  Dried squash is really good made into chips (my kids love it with salt, vinegar and dill.)  Canned meat is another one I'd have on hand.  I'd also keep dried onion and garlic on hand because I just don't think I'd like to eat very much without at least those two flavors. 

[gandalfthegrey]

Here is a food storage site.  Has articles on canned butter and cheese.

http://www.survivalcenter.com/foodstor.html

[hw123]

I second the rice and beans suggestions.  Both are extremely versatile.

If you ever need any more food storage tips, or great recipes that use food storage food (non-perishables only!), feel free to check out our blog!

http://safelygatheredin.blogspot.com/

Good luck on your food storage.

Hannah

[MountainDon]

Thanks Guys,
 
Canned butter- were can I get that that sounds like a good thing to have.

Whitlock, the only brand of canned butter I've had my hands on is Red Feather. Expensive, but nice to have as an "extra". Do a Google, I'm sure several hits will occur. I have some I bought someplace but don't recall where.

It is also possible to find Australian or new Zealand canned cheddar cheese. Again, I don't recall where I got it from.

We keep a stock of canned ham, DAK brand at present. It's not bad at all as someone mentioned.

We also have a supply of store bought canned goods such as tomatoes, tomatoes sauces, peaches, pears, pineapple, chicken breast, tuna, salmon, evaporated milk, dry milk, dinty moore beef stew and hormel corned beef (keep forever, but not really heart healthy, but something for a change), bean and pea soups, and a few quarts of shelf stable milk.

Some of these are aimed at short term emergency use. Some we routinly use and replace. Others are not a staple and we cycle them into the local food bank every year before thanksgiving.

[glenn kangiser]

to the forum, Hannah.  Thanks for the link.

Sassy noted earlier that the blogs are near all down tonight -- maybe we'll know why tomorrow.

[rwanders]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardtack

Sailor Boy Pilot Bread----the quintessential survival food of the "great white north" (Alaska). No remote cabin, bush plane or fishing boat is complete without a box of this virtually indestructible food.  Sailor Boy and peanut butter has saved and comforted many sourdoughs in hard situations over the years!

[muldoon]

just echoing HG's comments on freezing grains and the like before sealing them up to kill the eggs that are present.  Spending the money for beans and rice only to find them infected with weavils or who knows what when you really need it is a letdown.  If it's an option, just keep them in the freezer until you need it or need the space.  Keeping the freezer full also helps lower electric usage as any frozen content will keep the area colder longer than dead air that rushes out when you open the door. 

We got a vaccuum sealer thing as a wedding present and it still works.  I have have good luck with sealing them, freezing them for a few weeks and onto a shelf.  I do this with bags of flour, sugar, corn meal, and such as well.  I see no reason it wouldnt last for decades in that condition. 

Another option I have been toying with is to use the 5 gallon "corny" kegs.  I use them for serving homeade beer and buy them used fairly cheaply.  These are the 5 gallon stainless kegs normally used for pepsi and such.  They have two posts on the top for injecting co2 and have heavy duty seals.  Load them up on a dry nont-too-humid-day, drop in a dessicant to be sure, fill them with rice/beans or the like, top off with 30 pouns of co2 pressure.  release the pressure relief valve to relaese all oxygen and fill it up again.  Watch it for a day or so to be sure it doesnt slow leak down.  Let it sit for a few years until you need it.  Waterproof, indeed airproof in my experience, and built like a little tank.  Iv been considering loading one up with an actual survival kit of sorts and hiding it very well in the country.  Not too sure how ammuntion would fare if placed under pressure but I am curious.  Peter - would you know?  How bad would it be to add a few magazines of live ammo under co2 pressurization? 

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

Cornmeal is another staple I would stock.  If you can find them, the dried eggs are also good to cook with (though I don't think they make very good scrambled eggs, but they're fine to cook in other things like pancakes or baked goods.)  My only experience with them has been because  a friend who got tribal commodities unloaded a bunch of stuff on me when I was in college and those packaged dehydrated eggs lasted forever.  Even when DH and I first got married we were still baking with them and the powdered milk.  The cornmeal I like because cornmeal, peanut butter, and a little sweetener (maple syrup, sugar, honey, or molasses) is a pretty decent cornmeal mush for breakfast, in addition to making bread or pancakes with it. 

Dried fruits like apples, berries, peaches and apricots are nice too, and don't take up much room, especially if they're vacuum sealed after they're dehydrated.  (My grandma used to dry watermelon and cantaloupe, too, believe it or not... back then I remember thinking, "Doesn't that sort of defeat the purpose of a nice juicy melon?" But, in retrospect, there was something kind of fun about eating dried watermelon in the dead of winter...even though the drying made it taste over-ripe.  And, it used up some of the melons that we couldn't possibly eat or sell during the months of the melon glut.  The dried cantaloupe wasn't bad, and I'm sure honeydew would taste alright too.) 

[Whitlock]

Great Ideas. I will have to come back and post more later. I off to the high county to gather up some more food for our storage.

Have a good weekend,W

[Sassy]

I bought one of those "seal a meal" or whatever you call them, at Costco a few months ago - finally used it the other day when I'd bought a lot of meat & wanted to store it in the freezer.

You're right about freezing the beans, flour etc...  I do that with rice, noodles etc too - really makes a difference.  Guess I should try the shrink wrapping on them - I bought a couple 10# organic bags of flour from Costco & put the flour in the freezer - don't have enough room to keep them there so I could wrap them also... 

The way things are packed/canned by the Mormans (Whitlock's wife orders from them) is really great - good for 30 yrs, easy to store, good variety & reasonable in price.  Didn't see cornmeal, but they do have canned dried re-fried beans - they're flakes & you just add water & heat - they said they were great! 

[glenn kangiser]

Freezing eggs - canning cheese - Sassy freezes cheese also.

http://jordansfarm.blogspot.com/2008/07/freezing-eggsmilk-and-canning-cheese.html

[peternap]

I buy dried beans from local farmers. Pick your storage method. All have pro's and Cons.

Buy Rice from the big box store. Rice is a near perfect food.
Peanut butter is another near perfect and stores very well.
Honey rounds it out and has a near unlimited shelf life. If it crystallizes, heat it.

Don't try to keep stuff forever. Use it and replace it.

Grow a garden and can it.

[Bishopknight]

I havent seen anyone talk about Gamma Lids for 5 gallon buckets. They are great for daily use, they're cheap and extremely well made.

http://beprepared.com/category.asp_Q_c_E_444_A_name_E_Gamma%2520Seals