Long Term Food Storage

Hi guys :-) My name's Mike and I'm new to the forum, I've joined this and another forum hoping someone can give me some more info on the things I need to know. I want to store food long-term, I have canned food but want to store grain, rice etc preferably lasting as long as possible! Does anyone have any experience in long-term food storage, I know there's bags you can buy, but what the difference is between mylar and aluminium foil coated bags I have no idea! Anyone with any experience or links I' be grateful. Thanks for your time guys and thanks for the forum!

Mike

Welcome aboard!

welcome... I would suggest you take time to watch this video... it's about 1 1/2 hr, but well worth it IMHO



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOLuIApyNPc

Welcome aboard.

To begin with, you should eat what you store, and store what you eat. This means that planning for long term storage should focus on items you will be used to eating regularly. Unless your purpose for long term food storage is solely for barter after things go bad, you should stock foods that you are familiar with. This could mean adjusting your diet now to include items that store well, and reducing those items that are perishable or not otherwise suitable for storage.

Most inherently long term storage items, such as legumes and some grains, do not let themselves to regular consumption on their own. Either they need to be combined with other items, or processed into more suitable media, like flour or meal.

A strong recommendation is to develop skills and acquire processing equipment so that you can use to put up a variety of foods for long term.

Of course, long term is a relative thing. Are you looking for 1 or 2 year storage, 5 year, 10 year, 25 year? There are food items that fit all these timelines. For the longest term, freeze dried foods stored in #10 cans seem to have the longest shelf life. Wheat can be held almost indefinitely if it is kept dry and whole (unground). In the bible Joseph advised Pharoah to put up wheat for the coming 10 year famine. There are reports of wheat grain being found in clay pots in archeological sites dating back hundreds to thousands of years, and still germinated. Likewise with some legumes. Freeze dried foods in mylar pouches and MREs will last 5-10 years if handled sensibly. Dehydrated foods can be stored up to 5 years, though they will be better consumed within 2 years or less. Canned goods will generally hold up for a couple years. I am still eating on meat that I canned almost three years now, though the consistency is not the best. It is still safe and provides nourishment.

Canning and dehydrating food items are processes we can manage economically and with some basic proficiency. But for the long term planner, Cans of freeze dried foods like vegetables and fruits, along with powdered milk, powdered eggs, sugar, spices, and various freeze dried meats will supplement large plastic pails full of wheat, beans, pasta, and mashed potato mixes.

Mylar is aluminized plastic film. It is better than plastic vacuum bag systems or ziplocs, but not as good as retort bags, which are laminates of aluminum and plastic; more robust and durable. Cans are better than bags, and jars are better than cans. Plastic pails with gamma lids will contain 5 gallons of food, and can be combined with mylar bags and oxygen/moisture absorbers to prolong the storage life of the contents.

This is just a brief of all the information available to you to make better decisions. Doing the research yourself will be more valuable in the long run.

I suggest you get copies of the Mormons recommendations on food storage. Whether you agree with their beliefs or not, they are experts at storing food, and have been doing it for a long time. No point in reinventing the wheel.

Greg

While I have no problem with store what you eat, I really don't eat what I store. Maybe once every year or 2 I get the urge to clean things out, but otherwise, storage is in garage, consumables in pantry. Most canned foods will keep past their expiration date (actually, so will MRE's, but at least 15 years ... ask how I know)

Apparently, the expiration date, best by date, etc. is merely the producers estimate of when the item will no longer be at its peak, mostly in terms of its flavor and taste, not necessarily food value or so called "spoilage." Obviously, there are several incentives for the producer to paste a reasonably short expiration date on the food. I have eaten things that were five to ten years beyond their date, with no ill effects whatsoever. I doubt I could have distinguished the old from a newer item in a double blind test.

But we are fortunate to live in a civilized society that has such rigorous standards. Otherwise, we would be barbarians....

Properly stored and canned food will last many decades. There have been 100 year old cans of food that researchers have deemed edible (although the quality had degraded quite a bit).

Hi again, thanks so much for the information. I'm pretty excited to get everything ready although maybe I should have started earlier. Never too late though I suppose! :-) I found a loadof info at http://www.mylarshop.com/mylar-shop-articles and http://www.sorbentsystems.com/mylar.html I decided I want to go with Mylar rather than other foil bags as, for the price extra, I think it's worth it. I ended up going with these bags: http://www.mylarshop.com/mylar-bags/heavy-duty-mylar-bag-25cm-x-35cm as I'm in the UK so the Sorbent Systems shipping is too much. They should arrive any day so I'll put up a review if / when they arrive! I haven't got a heat sealing thing but apparently an iron will do and this is a good video on how to do it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fk9b0dAtJ80&hd=1&autoplay=1 If anyone knows of any shops in the UK other than the one I picked I'd be grateful. Anyway I'll be back with a review and maybe a video on how to store grain if I can find a video camera. Thanks everyone and thanks for your time. Mike