Long-term food storage

[UnknownWarrior]

I don't know about canning but i know that FOOD GRADE Diotomaceos Earth can be used in your dry storage and around the house to kill or repell bugs. Can even be used as a dewormer in animals. Also good for people too. You can put it in with your beans or rice etc, and it is all safe and natural.

Here in India, we use Neem (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neem) and Tulsi (Holy Basil - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocimum_tenuiflorum) leaves for the above. We have both the Tulsi plant as well as the Neem tree in our orchard. Tulsi is also an air purifier.

[UnknownWarrior]

For me, foods safe to store for a year includes:
- canned: tuna, salmon, sardines, soup, vegetables
- repackaged: salt, sugar, spices, rice, grains, popcorn
- sealed jars: peanut buter, cooking oils, crisco, unsalted nuts
- beef jerky, dry pastas, hard candy, coffe/tea

I don't know about peanut butter but I bought some unsalted groundnuts (I guess peanuts are the same?) so will roast them and try the peanut butter. Does peanut butter store more than an year if put in air tight containers?

[TucsonMax]

Does peanut butter store more than an year if put in air tight containers?

I'm talking about the factory vacuum sealed jars sold in the US, unopened they should last 5 years.

[TomChemEngineer]

If you go by the LDS recommendations, please remember to get recipes (and get your family eating the foods) that they recommend. It is a good list, just need to know how to use the 600 pounds of wheat that the calculator recommends for a family of 4! Wheat bread, wheat noodles, baked wheat, all the things that can be made with whole wheat (and don't forget the grinder unless you want to eat a lot of soaked wheat berries!). I tend to go heavier on pastas and beans and rice, and less heavy on "wheat", but that is just me. Don't forget seasoning spices, because you'll really need them to give variety. The calculator also assumes that some source of water can be found and purified for use after about the fourteenth day... if not, you need to figure out storage for 1 gallon per person per day. No meats are shown, so add in the canned soups, canned tuna/salmon/sardines, canned roast beef, canned chicken, etc for the carnivores (and learn how to cook with these, too). Rotate the stocks by fixing and eating what you prep for. Just some thoughts. Your mileage may vary.

[erunkiswldrnssurvival]

the way i preserve most foods is to dehydrate until crunchy then vacume seal the food in plastic bags. salting foods (like cabbage) is another method. vacume canning is something that i dont often use because of the expence, and the time consuming process, then the clean up..... i have found that dehydrating is best the food stays viable for 3 or more years.

[UnknownWarrior]

the way i preserve most foods is to dehydrate until crunchy then vacume seal the food in plastic bags. salting foods (like cabbage) is another method. vacume canning is something that i dont often use because of the expence, and the time consuming process, then the clean up..... i have found that dehydrating is best the food stays viable for 3 or more years.

I'm new even to canning. Now what's this dehydrated food stuff? I'll need to study this thru google.

The advantage I see for dehydrated stuff is that they would take lesser space, no glass jars and can be put in the bug-out bag unlike the canned items.

Is the nutritive value like the canned items? What things / devices are needed to dehydrate? Something like the canner?

[Rick]

Dehydrating food is nothing more than removing the water from it. For food to spoil, it must have moisture in it. Remove the moisture and you prevent or at least slow down spoilage. There are a lot of ways of dehydrating food. One very common method is with heat and air. Commercial dehydrators are one way, setting an oven on low and leaving the door open is another. You can use the sun to dry foods or they can be dehydrated by freeze drying. That's where the food is frozen then placed under pressure and heated so the moisture turns to a gas and can be removed.

As to size and weight, you are correct. Dehydrated foods are much lighter and take up less space. The nutrient value is retained once you re-hydrate the food. And yes, you can store dehydrated food in your BOB.

All that is required is low heat (around 107 C) and some movement of air. It takes about 8-10 hours depending on the food and moisture content to dry food. Jerky is a form of dehydrated food. Dried fruits are another.

[UnknownWarrior]

As to size and weight, you are correct. Dehydrated foods are much lighter and take up less space. The nutrient value is retained once you re-hydrate the food. And yes, you can store dehydrated food in your BOB.

Thank you Rick, for the explaination. I think now I have the options I wanted - one for home food storage and another for the BOB.

I still need to learn this tho, already reading a lot on canning.

You can use the sun to dry foods or they can be dehydrated by freeze drying.

No wonder, the ancient people in India worshipped Sun as a god / deity. There's even the Sun Temple in India. I'm sure that this solar energy was also used in ancient civiliZation in many forms, tho it's not documented or have much evidence.

The Sun gives us so much and many things can be done using solar energy ... many more to be discovered by science yet. Should't we be thankful to it?

[oldsoldier]

I have used/eaten dehyd foods that have been stored for over 10 years and it still seemed good and tasted just fine.

[oldsoldier]

I'm talking about the factory vacuum sealed jars sold in the US, unopened they should last 5 years.

Some of the USDA "commodity" peanut butter I have seen was packaged in 2000 with an expiration date of 2012 if properly stored.

[edr730]

The winter squashes store fine for over a year in northern climates. I have a butternut on my refrigerator, now, from last years season. It's very solid. It was stored in the basement. It was never treated with anything, but you could I guess.

[finallyME]

UW - There is a religious organization here in the States called the Latter Day Saints. They are also referred to as Mormans. Part of their teaching is the storage of a years worth of food supplies. You can use their calculator to determine how much and what type of food you need for a year. Just plug in how many folks aged 7 and older you have and how many children younger than 7 years old are in your household then click on calculate.

http://lds.about.com/library/bl/faq/blcalculator.htm

Well, I am a Latter Day Saint, and this has been taught to me since I was a kid. Wheat is the biggest item on the list. It stores for a LONG time, as long as you keep it dry and away from mice, etc. My grandfather died a few months ago, and I took his year supply of wheat. I also took his grinder He put dates on some of the buckets (I got about 20+ 5 gallon buckets). I have started to use it to make bread. I picked the oldest bucket (1973) and the wheat is very fresh and the bread amazing. The key to food storage is getting food that you would eat, or eating food that you would store.

[crashdive123]

Well, I am a Latter Day Saint, and this has been taught to me since I was a kid. Wheat is the biggest item on the list. It stores for a LONG time, as long as you keep it dry and away from mice, etc. My grandfather died a few months ago, and I took his year supply of wheat. I also took his grinder He put dates on some of the buckets (I got about 20+ 5 gallon buckets). I have started to use it to make bread. I picked the oldest bucket (1973) and the wheat is very fresh and the bread amazing. The key to food storage is getting food that you would eat, or eating food that you would store.

For that 26 year old wheat - was it just sealed in the bucket? Anything special done in the sealing process?

[Winnie]

I was just about to ask the same question Crash! Any other info on long term food storage you can share with us would be greatly appreciated FinallyME.

[finallyME]

It was just sealed in a bucket. As long as you keep wheat free of moisture and rodents, it lasts a long time. I have heard 50+ years, at least that is what my dad tells me. Maybe I should ask for a source of his info. But, from experience, I know it lasts longer than 30. Also, the good thing about wheat is the nutritional value. Anecdotally, I have heard it is the most healthy grain for people to eat. And, a large bucket runs for $15 at the local grocery store.

[erunkiswldrnssurvival]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-55SsJVyhs

watch this video to see how i preserve food for 3 or more years. it is an exelent method.

[UnknownWarrior]

It was just sealed in a bucket. As long as you keep wheat free of moisture and rodents, it lasts a long time. I have heard 50+ years, at least that is what my dad tells me. Maybe I should ask for a source of his info. But, from experience, I know it lasts longer than 30. Also, the good thing about wheat is the nutritional value. Anecdotally, I have heard it is the most healthy grain for people to eat. And, a large bucket runs for $15 at the local grocery store.

Here in India, people put neem leaves (kinda insect repellent) in the grains when storing. It's common here to compare wheat to gold in terms of nutritive value. Although I myself eat rice a lot, in my family, wheat is preferred. There are some places in India where wheat is in abundance and that's what's eaten. The people in those states are healthier, mostly, than other states.

[Lorna]

The reccommended way to store wheat is to put a little bit in a 5 gal. bucket, on top of that put dry ice and then fill the bucket up the rest of the way. Lay the lid on top but DO NOT and I repeat DO NOT seal the lid. In an hour or two come back and seal the lid (if the dry ice hasn't completely evaporated by this time don't seal the bucket till it has). Your wheat will keep 50+ years easily. I use to give classes on how to store foods for long term, so this is one area I'm fairly knowledgeable.

[Winnie]

Lorna, I'm a newbie when it comes to long-term storing (apart from canning, jams and chutney), so if you could supply any info at all I'd be very grateful.

[UnknownWarrior]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-55SsJVyhs

watch this video to see how i preserve food for 3 or more years. it is an exelent method.

Sorry but I do not like to see a vid of a non-veg item since I don't eat and like non-veg. But could you detail the process to preserve for 3 years as you say?