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The term food storage is used very loosely in the emergency preparedness industry. Depending on the person who is sharing the information it could be anything from a bucket of beans to the canned goods you buy at your grocery store. So what are your options? What is going to work best for you? Below are the some popular options available to help best suit your needs for your emergency food supply.
Regular Canned Goods
This is usually where people start with their food storage. The idea is that you buy a few extra cans of the goods you usually eat when they go on sale and try and get to the point where you have a 2-week supply of extra food. The great thing about this option is that it’s easy and you use the food that you’re familiar with. It saves you from rushing to the grocery store if a storm is coming. However, this shouldn’t be a permanent solution to your food storage needs due to the shelf-life limitations.
This is usually where people start with their food storage. The idea is that you buy a few extra cans of the goods you usually eat when they go on sale and try and get to the point where you have a 2-week supply of extra food. The great thing about this option is that it’s easy and you use the food that you’re familiar with. It saves you from rushing to the grocery store if a storm is coming. However, this shouldn’t be a permanent solution to your food storage needs due to the shelf-life limitations.
Shelf Life.
Most cans of goods that you buy at the
grocery store last a few months – maybe a year if you’re lucky. The best
rule of thumb with canned food is that it will last at least 2 years
but you’ll find a lot of canned food will last much longer than that –
possibly up to 5 years. Foods that contain a higher acid content such as
tomatoes and fruits will be closer to the 2-year range. If you deal
with canned goods that are past the expiration date, carefully inspect
the food with the “sniff” test and determine whether it’s spoiled or
not. So as a long-term solution, this has it’s weaknesses for sure.
However, as a way to start your food storage, it’s a great option.
One tool that makes it really convenient to circulate your inventory is the FIFO Can Tracker.
You just input all your cans and when you need your corn for your
Sunday dinner just grab the bottom and & it will move all the
contents down the line. When you restock your shelf just simply insert
the cans in the top rack and it will fall into place and you can walk
away knowing that the can you put in first will come out first.
Preparation.
When your local grocery store has a big
sale on all canned goods, you might start buying up as much as
possible, but not really taking to heart what you’re buying. True, baked
beans at $0.30 per can is a great deal, but do you really want to live
on baked beans during an emergency? Look in your pantry and write down
the canned items that you have and the next time you go grocery shopping
just pick up those items so you can stock up your food storage.
Dry Bulk Food
Dry bulk food might be something you recall your parents or grandparents would have set aside in cold storage. These are items like wheat, rice, beans, sugar, rolled oats and other staples packaged in large bags or large buckets.
Dry bulk food might be something you recall your parents or grandparents would have set aside in cold storage. These are items like wheat, rice, beans, sugar, rolled oats and other staples packaged in large bags or large buckets.
Shelf Life.
One of the reasons that the older
generations loved these staples was because they stored for so long.
Most dry goods will store for a very long time. If stored at an ideal
temperature (75º F. or lower) as well as proper packaging for long-term
storage, if it is stored properly your beans, rice, and wheat could
store for 10-20 years.
Preparation.
When dealing with dry bulk food items
it can be difficult to turn the dry goods into something edible. If you
choose this option you’ll need to have a lot of supplies in order to
cook and prepare these items. You’ll need a wheat grinder in order to
turn your wheat into flour – or to an edible source of food. You will
also need additional ingredients to turn the goods into a meal. One
other thing to take into consideration is that you will need fuel and a
heat source in order to bake or to cook the goods. So just remember that
you’ll also want to have enough supplies to help with preparing your
dry bulk goods.
Taste & Nutrition.
With dry bulk storage you
will typically give you an excellent nutrition. As for the taste, that
depends on your cooking supplies that will help you turn a boiled pot of
beans into a flavorful meal. I would recommend you do some research in
what you can make with your dry bulk foods. You can do a simple search
at your local book store & you might find some cooking books that
could assist you with preparing some good meals.
Dehydrated Food
Dehydrated food storage is a shelf-stable food that is processed using high heat. Basically, they are items that have been dried for preservations. With the high temperature, it removes the moisture from the food which allows for the extended shelf life.
Dehydrated food storage is a shelf-stable food that is processed using high heat. Basically, they are items that have been dried for preservations. With the high temperature, it removes the moisture from the food which allows for the extended shelf life.
Shelf Life.
Recently, a study conducted by Brigham
Young University has discovered that the shelf life of dehydrated food
will have anywhere from 10-20 years. It’s also ideal to store your
dehydrated food in a location that is in a cool dry location (75º F. or
lower) to get the most maximized shelf life.
Preparation.
Most dehydrated food does require that
you cook it. This will require fuel, a stove, and the time to cook the
food. Sometimes, dehydrated soups require a cooking time of 15-30
minutes.
Taste & Nutrition.
Again, because of how the
food is processed by using heat, it will affect the foods flavor &
also remove 25% of the nutritional value of the food. You will also find
that with dehydrated food it just wont taste quite the same or due to
the heating processes it will discolor the food. If you have picky
eaters they might turn the food away.
Freeze-dried Food
Freeze-dried food has been used since the space age to provide the astronauts with food that is lightweight and compact. Where dehydration uses evaporation to get the food out, freeze-dried food uses high-end technology that zaps the moisture out of the food quickly – keeping 100 percent of the natural nutrients, enzymes and taste. For a long-term food storage, I would recommend freeze-dried food as your best choice.
Freeze-dried food has been used since the space age to provide the astronauts with food that is lightweight and compact. Where dehydration uses evaporation to get the food out, freeze-dried food uses high-end technology that zaps the moisture out of the food quickly – keeping 100 percent of the natural nutrients, enzymes and taste. For a long-term food storage, I would recommend freeze-dried food as your best choice.
Shelf Life. Freeze-dried food will give you the
longest shelf life hands down. You will get at least 25 years or more
depending on what cool temperature (75º F. or lower) it can be stored
at. I have herd of 40 year old freeze-dried food being tested and it has
lost very little taste or nutritional value.
Preparation.
The food is designed for you to just
add water, stir and wait about 5-7 minutes and you will have a hydrated
and ready-to-eat meal. It will make your fuel costs are very low and you
wont spend your valuable time in preparation.
Taste & Nutrition.
Now, this is what makes
freeze-dried food such a find for food storage. Due to the process that
makes the food freeze-dried actually “freezes” the food’s flavor and
locks it in and allows the food to taste like fresh food. The flavor
isn’t muted or dull and the texture, color will all look fresh. The
nutrition of freeze-dried retains 99% of the vitamins, nutrients and
enzyme’s of the fresh food.
-thereadystore
-thereadystore
I considered getting can rotators initially, but then I started paying attention to best-by dates on items that I repetitively purchased on different months. As it turns out, can rotators do not truly rotate your food by best by date, but only purchase date which is completely valueless when true and accurate food rotation is the goal. Your food supply is too important to be playing around with semantics. Instead of calling them "can rotators", for the value they provide and the function they perform, they should more correctly be called "can holders". Some people that promote can rotator use are knowingly selling you a product that sounds really neat in theory, but in reality, all they do is hold cans in a disorganized and functionless fashion. The purchase date doesn't mean a thing when doing true rotation to achieve the longest shelf life of your food supply. That's very important. I have found time and time again, at different stores, that you can buy a can of beans one month and it will have the best by date shown. However, you can go back to that store and buy the same can of beans a month or two later, but the best by date will expire many months BEFORE the date on the first can you purchased, thereby negating the value of using can rotators. Check it out. You'll see. Many products are like that. I do my food storage rotation based on best by date spreadsheets. That's how I discovered that can rotators are only eye-appealing "stuff" that cost a lot of money and don't truly rotate your canned foods. In addition, I believe that stores that sell you products with best by date scenarios such as this situation, are getting product from stores that can't sell it and are putting it on their shelves to try to sell to us. I can tell you that I for one, won't buy those products. I'll wait for fresh product to come in. No one can tell how long it sat in a truck in the summer heat waiting to be transferred to another store.
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