Bad 20 Year Food Storage

[76Highboy]

About 3 years ago my wife and I bought a plastic square jug of 20 year storage food. About a month ago I noticed the plastic seal was coming apart and it was no longer sealed. The first thing I noticed when I opened it the rest of the way is I could smell food. Upon looking closer I found many of the packets had broken seals. We keep this type of food in 60+/- degree year round.

We began trying the different food that was in the container so we could see what they were like and what I found was this. This food would be extremely handy to have during the end times because after about a month of eating it you will be begging to die. You will no longer be worried about weather you were going to survive or die. It's handy stuff.

We are considering sealing our ouw food into 5 gallon plastic buckets that are specially designed for long term storage. With a mylar bag, a vacuum cleaner, an iron, some hand warmer packets to eliminate the oxygen in the bucket, and an assortment of food I can pick my food at much less cost, and I know I will seal it good.

I am open for ideas.

[aa1911]

basmati rice is what I've been packing away, not much but enough for a buffer.

I use the O2 absorbers plus DE (diatomacious earth) which is fantastic stuff and has a million uses besides food storage. kills all kinds of bugs, buy the food grade and mix in about a cup per 5gal/ grain.

whole weat can be had (food grade) at any feed store for about $12/50lb sack, just need a hand mill to turn it into wheat.

as for protein, I've just been buying extra tuna/meat canned goodies.

dry my own veggies, frozen veggies are ready to dehydrate already for you.

Crisco makes excellent "butter/oil" as it has an insane shelf life without getting too rancid as do oils.

so those are my staples. bought some honey locally, about $50 almost for a gallon, that stuff will last longer than anyone alive now will ever live.

Also suppliment that with multivitamins which will be safe long past their expiration date, Emergen-C, etc... are all good. pre-packaged dried soups can be a great addition also.

don't forget spices, lots of 'em. Salt most important of course but others for flavor as well can make all the difference.

[soundguy]

what brand was it?

I've seen at least a couple different.

wyse and mountain.

one I saw ( can't recall name.

was shippe din bulk 5g containers or even tins that were sealed. inside each 5g tin was smaller sealed sub packs.

were yours metal or plastic?

[soundguy]

Originally Posted by aa1911

basmati rice is what I've been packing away, not much but enough for a buffer.

I.

we do something similar. tinned meats like tuna can have quite a decent shelf life. same with the canned ham and spam and chickens. ( not awesome food.. but any is better than none ). couple that with canned vegis. ( i see some with 7 year life ).. and you have a good start.

if you keep seeds, etc. once you have enough food to make it 2ys.. you could / should be good to go.

it's that 1st year which is the hard startup for most people.

mostly we tarted this for storm prep.. but it works for whatever natural disaster.. etc.

just rotate the foods yearly... etc. we don't eat the spam.. but it is a good storeable source of protien and fat calories... which are important for survival when under stress.

we rotate the cans out when they get within a year of expiration.. and the dogs absolutely worship us..

[76Highboy]

Originally Posted by aa1911

basmati rice is what I've been packing away, not much but enough for a buffer.

I use the O2 absorbers plus DE (diatomacious earth) which is fantastic stuff and has a million uses besides food storage. kills all kinds of bugs, buy the food grade and mix in about a cup per 5gal/ grain.

whole weat can be had (food grade) at any feed store for about $12/50lb sack, just need a hand mill to turn it into wheat.

as for protein, I've just been buying extra tuna/meat canned goodies.

dry my own veggies, frozen veggies are ready to dehydrate already for you.

Crisco makes excellent "butter/oil" as it has an insane shelf life without getting too rancid as do oils.

so those are my staples. bought some honey locally, about $50 almost for a gallon, that stuff will last longer than anyone alive now will ever live.

Also suppliment that with multivitamins which will be safe long past their expiration date, Emergen-C, etc... are all good. pre-packaged dried soups can be a great addition also.

don't forget spices, lots of 'em. Salt most important of course but others for flavor as well can make all the difference.

We are on the same page.

[aa1911]

cool.

some folks hear me talk about 'prepping' and think I'm a doomsday prepper but certainly not the case. I don't have that kind of supply. But I could eek out a few weeks on what we have assuming we will be burning double the calories and potentially feeding double the people.

natural disaster, some sort of crop famine, etc. I grew up a good Boy Scout, always be prepared. There's different levels but I see friends with nothing more than a few days worth of food, guess where those friends will come in time of need?

[soundguy]

Originally Posted by aa1911

There's different levels but I see friends with nothing more than a few days worth of food, guess where those friends will come in time of need?

my wife complains about the same. says my friends will be on our doorstep if the 'end of the week as we know it' occurs.

I remind her that her friends will likely be in the line somewhere too

mutual work for defense and resources is a task best shared by a small close group... preferably with a good, diverse skillset.

a single person.. or even a couple will have a hard time surviving alone.

you gotta sleep sometime...

[hunter29180]

Originally Posted by soundguy

mutual work for defense and resources is a task best shared by a small close group... preferably with a good, diverse skillset.

a single person.. or even a couple will have a hard time surviving alone.

you gotta sleep sometime...

!!!

but it is hard to build s small stable group for a long period..and harder still to find replacement "partners" when openings happen!

we had a good group of 20 about 15 yrs ago..now down to 4...we do try to keep in touch but now spread out all over the lower 48...

[soundguy]

i'm blessed with having the same group of 6 friends, all local ( within 30m driving ), for the last 26 ys or so.

[carver]

I am another that relies heavily on canned foods. Some store bought, some home made. Beans, rice, flower, corn meal, baking soda, crisco, and a lot of other stuff. I am good for the two of use for about a year, and have a garden. Water collected, form rain, the pond on my property, and neighbors ponds. Plus gallon jugs of water in the house. Looking into items for personal use, as well as trade. Tobacco, disposible razors, tooth brushes, bath soap, etc., and of course tolit paper!

[aa1911]

TP is most important!

[carver]

What is TP?

[MSGT-R]

Move to the beach, have fishing gear.
That's what is so good about the coastal areas; hunting and unlimited fishing.
Buy a desalinator and you have unlimited water too.

[flboots]

Don't forget Fruit Cake it will last forever. It has sugar, fruit. good stuff for ya. All most forgot it also has Rum. LOL

[soundguy]

Originally Posted by carver

What is TP?

fer cleanin' yer backside

[soundguy]

Originally Posted by flboots

Don't forget Fruit Cake it will last forever. It has sugar, fruit. good stuff for ya. All most forgot it also has Rum. LOL

i love fruitcake!

it keeps a long time and is calorie dense.. imho.. good survival food.. especially if it has nuts. protien, fats, simple and complex carbs.. more or less shelf stable with correct amount of sugar and preservatives if commercial.. or / and alcohol if home made.


wish i could eat more of it.. but health hit a snag a couple years ago and it's all but verboten for me..

[soundguy]

Originally Posted by MSGT-R

Move to the beach, have fishing gear.
That's what is so good about the coastal areas; hunting and unlimited fishing.
Buy a desalinator and you have unlimited water too.

i agree.. coast or a lake with fish.

water.. food.. etc.. if a lake / fresh water.. it will be a place wild game may come to drink.. so that affords trapping and hunting opportunities as well.

[dbcooper]

OP, I don't know what brand it was, but I can tell you that some of the Wise food entres taste like crap right out of the box


In my opinon, Mountain House is much better tasting than Wise




Before you go using hand warmers, just look at the O2 absorbers you can buy with the Mylar bags. I think for the price, and the sizes offered they are more handy than using hand warmers.



A tip for packing up foods like bulk pasta, you need to double bag some of the pasta because I had some of the bags draw down so tight that the pasta poked a hole in them and I had to start over


You can buy things like oatmeal, wheat based cereals, beans, nuts and rice and seal them in Mylar. Once they are in Mylar there is no need for a further hermetic seal in your secondary container, like a plastic 5 gallon bucket.

A secondary container, like a bucket protects against vermon like mice and makes the food inside easier to stack and inventory.

I just bought standard 5 gal pails with lids that you hammer on, but I didn't buy any of the fancy lids that they sell and I wouldn't unless I was putting bulk, unpackaged food like rice or corn directly in the pail for long term storage


just my 2 cents

[dbcooper]

Originally Posted by aa1911

TP is most important!

yes it is

we have started stocking up on these because they will do more than TP, you can wash up with them and they take up about 1/10 the space of TP

[MSGT-R]

Originally Posted by soundguy

fer cleanin' yer backside

[ampaterry]

Originally Posted by 76Highboy

About 3 years ago my wife and I bought a plastic square jug of 20 year storage food. About a month ago I noticed the plastic seal was coming apart and it was no longer sealed. The first thing I noticed when I opened it the rest of the way is I could smell food. Upon looking closer I found many of the packets had broken seals. We keep this type of food in 60+/- degree year round.

We began trying the different food that was in the container so we could see what they were like and what I found was this. This food would be extremely handy to have during the end times because after about a month of eating it you will be begging to die. You will no longer be worried about weather you were going to survive or die. It's handy stuff.

We are considering sealing our ouw food into 5 gallon plastic buckets that are specially designed for long term storage. With a mylar bag, a vacuum cleaner, an iron, some hand warmer packets to eliminate the oxygen in the bucket, and an assortment of food I can pick my food at much less cost, and I know I will seal it good.

I am open for ideas.

You really should ID the brand of this; reviews here are both positive and negative, and are EXTREMELY helpful to the rest of the group -

[25yretcoastie]

Good stuff for all

[cycloneman]

I store mountain house in the #10 cans. That better not spoil or I am gona be real mad when I need it.

I have eaten some of the MH stuff and I cant complain. Need salt.

Raise yourself some chickens, geese, quail. Geese eat grass and don't need supplement feed. Chickens eat anything and you should supplement their feed. Quail need to be fed and boy they are good. Just something everyone should do. I guess one day I need to get into raising rabbits. But for that I will want a moveable cage so they can eat grass. I don't want to have to feed them.

[Crpdeth]

Originally Posted by dbcooper

A tip for packing up foods like bulk pasta, you need to double bag some of the pasta because I had some of the bags draw down so tight that the pasta poked a hole in them and I had to start over

Good tip... Also, rice can be problematic for the exact same reason, I've taken to buying a little heaver grade mylar and also leaving the rice in the store bought package, just poke holes in the store bought package so the o2 absorber can work, while retaining an extra layer of protection. I'll generally open the top first to add some food grade DE, then roll the top down and tape it shut.

[Alpo]

I'll throw you something that a lot of people don't know.

Baking powder has a shelf life. Baking SODA is dug out of the ground, like salt. It lasts forever. And, as everyone that has ever made a baking soda volcano knows, it is a base, and reacts in contact with an acid.

Baking POWDER is a mixture of cream of Tartar, which is an acid found on the inside of wine casks, and Baking SODA. The acid (Tartar) reacts with the base (Soda) and produces bubbles. That's why baking POWDER makes things rise. But even in the can, the base and acid are reacting. Getting weaker with age. And after a year or so, it don't work no more.

But, as I said, SODA lasts forever, and so does Cream of TARTAR. Store them both separately, and mix as needed.