How to put food by

Discussion in 'Back to Basics' started by melbo, Aug 31, 2005.


  1. melbo

    melbo Hunter Gatherer Administrator Founding Member

    I went to the Grocery tonight and Spent $80 on a very large supply of canned goods, rice/bean packs and those instant rice packets.

    Not a bad idea to look to Put $80 worth of long term food back very month or so.

    That's $20 a week. Not a super hardship and it gives you the peace of mind that you have an extra supply that is growing.
    Don't forget some canned fruit too...


    melbo
     
  2. monkeyman

    monkeyman Monkey+++ Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    ...and dont forget a lot of flour and sugar, flower will stretch other food a lot, like a 1/4 cup of flour in a big pot of soup will make it a LOT more filling and sugar can be a real comfort thing, not to mention there is at least some in most recipees, and iodized salt in large quantities for long term preps...salt has been more precious than gold at times in the past and could be again if things went bad.
     
  3. melbo

    melbo Hunter Gatherer Administrator Founding Member

    I do have 2 tons of Dry goods in #10 cans. This was just some flavor to add to the other boring/bland diet for a long term transition.

    I just checked and I DO have 3 cases of #10s full of non-hybrid seeds too. Tonights shop was more for a 2 week burp
     
  4. monkeyman

    monkeyman Monkey+++ Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    One thing to consider IMO for stocking for any kind of SHTF is that there is likely not to be refridgeration so if you dont have a family that will go through the #10 cans in a day or so it may be good to go with smaller cans. Just a thought.
     
  5. TLynn

    TLynn Monkey+++ Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    That would be my family. Definitely smaller cans.
     
  6. RightHand

    RightHand Been There, Done That RIP 4/15/21 Moderator Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    I learned that lesson when the warehouse stores first started opening. My #10 can of sauerkraut was a good buy....but....do you know how much sauerkraut that is?
     
  7. Minuteman

    Minuteman Chaplain Moderator Founding Member

    If you don't have any of this I recommend stocking up on as much of this kind of food as you can afford.
    It comes in #10 cans,but inside are individual packaged servings.Just add hot water.30 year storage life.It can't be beat.And it tastes great!
    There are several different brands.Here is a link for two of the most poular.Most companies offer individual cans,cases or special 3 month, 6 month and 1 year supplies.

    www.mountainhouse.com

    my favorite is this one
    www.readyreservefoodsinc.com

    also
    www.nitro-pak.com
     
  8. Minuteman

    Minuteman Chaplain Moderator Founding Member

    I thought this might be a good place to put this.I had posted this elsewhere.Food storage doesn't have to be expensive.The freeze dried stuff is great but not everyone can afford it.Here are some low cost alternatives that I have used that will allow you to prepare a large amount of food for long term storage without having to take out a second mortgage.


    I did a lot of research prior to Y2K on food storage and what I found was that it doesn't have to be that complicated. We (myself and several friends) packaged up a massive amount of food and I have tried out some of it just recently and it is as fresh as the day we packaged it. I am not at home so I can't look for the Books that I have on the subject, but one I remember was "Back to Basics”. Here is how we did it.
    For grains, beans, rice, flour etc. we put it in Mylar bags inside of 5 gallon plastic buckets. With a bottle of nitrogen, purchased from a local medical supply, we rigged up a hose and a stainless steel 1/2" pipe about 3' long. Put the pipe into the bucket, place a "tea" candle on top of the material in the bag and light it. With the top of whatever you are packaging about 2" to 3" below the rim of the bucket. Turn on the gas to a slow trickle. Nitrogen is heavier than oxygen and will displace the oxygen out of the bag. As the oxygen is replaced with the heavier nitrogen it will eventually extinguish the candle. Remove the candle stir the pipe around to dislodge any trapped oxygen, and then slowly remove the pipe, with the nitrogen still on. As soon as you remove the "Wand" seals the Mylar bag with a heat sealer. We used a "Euro-sealer”. Also you want to flush the bucket with nitrogen before putting in the Mylar bag. After sealing the bag, put the lid on the bucket and you’re good to go.
    I have just this year opened a bucket of sugar and one of flour that was packed in '98 and it was just fine.
    For perishable items we dehydrated anything with water content, fruits, meats etc.I don't know if I would trust the meat after this long, but the dehydrated banana and apple slices should be fine.
    We took crackers, cookies and toasted bread crumbs (for soup stock), and vacuum sealed them, but we flushed the bag with nitrogen first, then vacuumed out the nitrogen, thus insuring that no oxygen remained. We put these in 5 gallon buckets and flushed the buckets with nitrogen before sealing. Plastic is porous and will over time admit oxygen, so the nitrogen helps to keep the oxygen out. We recently opened a bag of chocolate chip cookies and one of saltine crackers that was packaged in Sept. '99 and they were as fresh as the day we packed them. We also did a lot of traditional canning. All these methods work very well and can be done cheaply and without any special equipment. I think I paid $70 for the nitrogen, and maybe another $20 or $30 at the hardware store. The vacuum sealer was $100.The "Euro Sealer” Like $15.I ordered the Mylar bags from "Cheaper than Dirt" or some such magazine for less than $100.The 5 gal. Buckets were about $7 a piece. I had a dehydrator and we picked up several more at second hand stores for $10 or so a piece. We packaged several hundred pounds of food for less than $1000.By comparison I paid over $500 for two cases of pre-packaged "survival" food,12 cans of dehydrated, nitrogen packed, vacuum sealed, food packed in #10 cans. Hope this helps. MM
    __________________
     
  9. Bear

    Bear Monkey+++ Founding Member Iron Monkey

    Does anyone here store Honey?????....
    Great stuff.... lasts forever.... tons of uses.... [beer]
    I buy the #10 can.... costs about 8 or 9 bucks on sale.... have put away a few of these babies..... :D
     
  10. RightHand

    RightHand Been There, Done That RIP 4/15/21 Moderator Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    I use a lot of honey but only locally harvested - helps with my allergies
     
  11. monkeyman

    monkeyman Monkey+++ Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    I would love to be able to put up honey but around here you are doing real good to get a gallon for $20 usualy closer to $25+.
     
  12. Bear

    Bear Monkey+++ Founding Member Iron Monkey

    Yup.... I only get the Raw honey.... don't like the healthy things getting "cooked" out when they process.... :D lot's of good stuff in honey.... b::
     
  13. TLynn

    TLynn Monkey+++ Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    I have nothing against honey but I'm still not sure I ever want to see any again.

    Might have something to do with the fact that while we lived in Hawaii and just after dad got out of the military he had this bright idea of having bees. So while you all think it's dandy - there's an awful lot of work involved if you actually have to harvest it. I had to do it in and off for 2 years in between school, summer, etc. (from building the bee boxes themselves, painting them, the partioning inside them, harvesting the honey, extracting the honey and the wax, all the way to making candles).

    Still if you really want the best of the best honey wise - only in Hawaii.
     
  14. melbo

    melbo Hunter Gatherer Administrator Founding Member

    I have 5 gallon buckes of Honey, Sugar, Salt, and a few other things, have to go check.

    The #10 cans I have are all Desicant packed dry goods. Not freeze dried, just dry.
    This stock is from a pre Y2K buildup I did. As far as opening one to use for a small family, keep the desicant pack in the can and close it with a Coffee can lid. Should last you the week you need it that way. Big Folgers cans are a #10 can. Keep them lids.

    I just placed my new purchases in Low Plastic storage bins for stacking under the house. I am going to Label the purchase date with a sharpie on the top of each canned good so I can rotate when needed. I have seperate bins for Dry beans/rice, Canned Vegetables, and canned Fruit. I also went pretty heavy on those mexican Diced tomatoes and Jalepino cans. Very good for beating 'rice boredom'

    I think that food is almost more important to the mental state and overall morale than the physical nourishment, (Short term). I stock Koolaid and Gatoraid mix to break up the water boredom too.
     
  15. TLynn

    TLynn Monkey+++ Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    melbo, I grind my coffee from coffee beans - guess I'll have to find someone that actually buys coffee like that for the lids.
     
  16. melbo

    melbo Hunter Gatherer Administrator Founding Member

    I'm a starbuck kid myself. There are preparedness supply companies out there that sell Lids in 10 packs for $6 or so. I figure that you'd only need a few.

    whew, what a time to start SM and bring a few 'new to preparedness' over.
     
  17. TLynn

    TLynn Monkey+++ Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    Yeah what a time indeed melbo.

    That's okay though I needed a jump start. It's one thing to stock pile ammo and guns...did I say that???

    But I need to get back into the other stuff. You'd think I'd forgotten what it was like to starve...8 years ago isn't that long.
     
  18. dukenukum

    dukenukum Monkey+++

    my parents and grand parents were the original survivialists they canned everything fruits, vegatables,beef, deer ,possum, woodchuck , racoon ,fish you name it and they passed this art down to us kids so putting by to me is a life style and a heritage that i am gratefull for . [viking]
     
  19. Pru

    Pru Monkey+++


    I have a few other frugal suggestions. First of all here is my favorite basic article on long term food storage: About Us

    The buckets can be gotten for free or maybe $1 from bakeries. They feel a little greasy and smell like frosting, but soap and water will take care of that. I wash mine in the bathtub. I've found that the bakeries inside chain grocery stores give them away, but independent bakeries like to make a dollar or two.

    I use mylar bags like you, but rather than nitrogen, I use oxygen absorbant packets. Here's some information on them Oxygen Absorbers - SorbentSystems.com Check the Quick Links in the orange box for more.

    I don't use the EuroSealer. I use my own regular household iron, with a rag between the iron and the bag.

    I second your recommendation for home canning and dehydrating. I've gotten all three of my dehydrators cheap at yard sales. Canning does need to be done with a certain amount of care. Here is a thorough resource National Center for Home Food Preservation | How Do I? Can Just remember that fruits, fruit preserves and tomatoes can be waterbath canned. EVERYTHING else requires a pressure canner. Now that I pressure can regularly, it's grown easy. I love opening a jar of homemade beef stew or beans or whatever for lunch.
     
  20. duanet

    duanet Monkey+++

    Don't know about anywhere else, but in New England, the honey is rapidly disapearing from the stores. Something new is killing the hives this winter and they haven't figured out what yet. Everyone has panicked and is buying honey to store. Just another example of how limited the real supply of food and such is. The old story of survival, if you are a day late in preparing, there probably won't be anything there to prepare with.
     
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