Storable Foods

reply to post by marriah3330


Thank you
You cant live off of berry, fish and meat alone...well you can but its going to #er you down the road with your digestion and get you overall.
You got to add what veggies you can, one thing I had to thick about was if I could grow wheat in my area which lead me into what grows in my area very well to some deep looking to ground breaking growing done up here in AK and what effects it has on the veggies.
Caning meat is just a bit diffrent process in prepping, your safe up to three to five yrs with canned and jarred goods.
Heres a link to the seeds I found, I didnt pay $1500.00 and got a Chit load more food then the pre prep stuff.

www.survivalistseeds.com...
Im with you for running to the hills (retreat) if order cant be restored on the home front in town.

reply to post by bozzchem

I think you got some hard knocks on here for nothing, I was thinking of ordering the same thing. What is your major prob with the whole deal? The price? I have a dehydrater but doing that and then sealing it is risky. So?

Originally posted by marriah3330
reply to post by bozzchem

 

Sounds like you are prepared if disaster was to strike, just take my advice whatever you do DO NOT FORGET THE CAN OPENER!!!! I hate it when I go camping and realize i forgot the damn can opener, now what.

edit on 12-12-2010 by marriah3330 because: (no reason given)

A straight hunting knife works good for opening cans, not a folding type though. But you're right, a can opener is a handy item.

To the OP: Thanks, I have seen the prices many ask for storable foods and it is outrageous. Many of the foods are real last-ditch selections and requires a powerful hunger to make them palatable. I knew some LDS friends many years ago and have sampled some of the storage-food products, good stuff by and large. It has long been their counsel to store a year's supply of food and they make every effort to make wholesome foods available at reasonable costs. But it is true, there are many options, and many out there solely out to make a few bucks.

I have found that there is a big differance between things so it isn't always easy to quantify.
freeze dried tastes better then dehydrated
so comparing prices isn't the only thing...
freeze dried can last for up to 50 years

i would say learn to do the food storage thing NOW
which ever way you learn so you have it down BEFORE trouble starts.

oyu may not be able to defend, carry, hide, or for some reason, hang on to your stash.
it is ILLEGAL to hoard in the US.

The basic process of freeze-drying food was known to the ancient Peruvian Incas of the Andes. Freeze-drying, or lyophilization, is the sublimation/removal of water content from frozen food. The dehydration occurs under a vacuum, with the plant/animal product solidly frozen during the process. Shrinkage is eliminated or minimized, and a near-perfect preservation results. Freeze-dried food lasts longer than other preserved food and is very light, which makes it perfect for space travel. The Incas stored their potatoes and other food crops on the mountain heights above Machu Picchu. The cold mountain temperatures froze the food and the water inside slowly vaporized under the low air pressure of the high altitudes.

inventors.about.com...

Originally posted by Patrioitinsheepclothing
reply to post by marriah3330

 

Thank you
You cant live off of berry, fish and meat alone...well you can but its going to #er you down the road with your digestion and get you overall.
You got to add what veggies you can, one thing I had to thick about was if I could grow wheat in my area which lead me into what grows in my area very well to some deep looking to ground breaking growing done up here in AK and what effects it has on the veggies.
Caning meat is just a bit diffrent process in prepping, your safe up to three to five yrs with canned and jarred goods.
Heres a link to the seeds I found, I didnt pay $1500.00 and got a Chit load more food then the pre prep stuff.

www.survivalistseeds.com...
Im with you for running to the hills (retreat) if order cant be restored on the home front in town.

I agree, if you've read my posts, that heirloom seeds are important and if you read the OP you'll see I never mentioned seeds as part of the original cost I incurred when falling for the patriot hype.

My current garden is 41 foot by 73 foot, in addition to my greenhouse. Not exactly small. I grow more than I can eat and can/dehydrate/pickle what can't be consumed on a normal schedule.

A pressure canner is equivalent to an autoclave so your pressure canned goods should last far longer than 3 -5 years if you can things properly.

Originally posted by thewanger
reply to post by bozzchem

 

I think you got some hard knocks on here for nothing, I was thinking of ordering the same thing. What is your major prob with the whole deal? The price? I have a dehydrater but doing that and then sealing it is risky. So?

My problem is that I don't feel you get your money's worth and would like to see people get their money's worth. I'm not trying to deter nor steer anyone in any particular direction but am merely pointing out what I did many years ago and what I've learned since then.

For those who don't have a lot of disposable income, $1800 is a hell of a lot of money. After getting my goods and realizing many of them are easily purchased for far less, I thought I should let others know my experience and then let them determine for themselves the road they should take.

While the LDS has been knocked for its religious thing, I can tell you that I've acquired a couple hundred pounds of beans, a couple hundred pounds of wheat, dried milk and dried pasta for about $300.

I'm just trying to help people who are interested in storing foods from making my mistake. It's really that simple.

Originally posted by Danbones
I have found that there is a big differance between things so it isn't always easy to quantify.
freeze dried tastes better then dehydrated
so comparing prices isn't the only thing...
freeze dried can last for up to 50 years

i would say learn to do the food storage thing NOW
which ever way you learn so you have it down BEFORE trouble starts.

oyu may not be able to defend, carry, hide, or for some reason, hang on to your stash.
it is ILLEGAL to hoard in the US.

The basic process of freeze-drying food was known to the ancient Peruvian Incas of the Andes. Freeze-drying, or lyophilization, is the sublimation/removal of water content from frozen food. The dehydration occurs under a vacuum, with the plant/animal product solidly frozen during the process. Shrinkage is eliminated or minimized, and a near-perfect preservation results. Freeze-dried food lasts longer than other preserved food and is very light, which makes it perfect for space travel. The Incas stored their potatoes and other food crops on the mountain heights above Machu Picchu. The cold mountain temperatures froze the food and the water inside slowly vaporized under the low air pressure of the high altitudes.

inventors.about.com...

A good friend of mine is an engineer and we're working on building a lyophilization unit since we both have large gardens as well as chickens and rabbits.

Again, the intent of this thread was not to compare/contrast quality of foods but merely to let others know what I paid and why I feel they should spend the time I didn't spend prior to shelling out the coin.

I didn't realize I'd strike such a sensitive nerve from folks when posting.

I'd suggest learning to use barrier bags, a bag sealer, and oxygen absorbers to store foods. The oxygen absorption part is critical as oxygen is the main enemy of stored food. Do a little homework on this and you can save a fortune on food storage. It really is easy and inexpensive to do.

reply to post by luminaut


Agreed. I use 7 mil mylar bags and get my O2 absorbers from....heaven forbid........the LDS.

My vacuum sealer is a snorkel type rather than one that uses channel bags.

If you're going to store in buckets, dry ice is a great way to eradicate oxygen and make certain your foods will be relatively oxygen free.

Good info to add! Thanks!

Thank you for helping others to learn from your experience.

I avoided the trap of buying the expensive food packages, simply because I could not afford them. What I did buy was a good vacuum sealer (on my second one now) and have been setting aside foods, as I am able, for a number of years now. I have vacuum sealed flour, milk powder, corn meal, sugar, nut and home-dried fruits and vegetables, with a great degree of success. I have eaten some of these things five or more years hence, and they were still in top condition.

My suggestion to everybody would be to learn to cook, from scratch. Ready-to-eat foods are good in the short term, but you need to know how to cook staple foods. You also need to have multiple methods of cooking these things. I am currently assembling a solar oven. I also stockpile candles, which can be used for cooking in inventive ways, and I have other methods as well.

Thanks again for your informative post.

Originally posted by NazcaP
Thank you for helping others to learn from your experience.

I avoided the trap of buying the expensive food packages, simply because I could not afford them. What I did buy was a good vacuum sealer (on my second one now) and have been setting aside foods, as I am able, for a number of years now. I have vacuum sealed flour, milk powder, corn meal, sugar, nut and home-dried fruits and vegetables, with a great degree of success. I have eaten some of these things five or more years hence, and they were still in top condition.

My suggestion to everybody would be to learn to cook, from scratch. Ready-to-eat foods are good in the short term, but you need to know how to cook staple foods. You also need to have multiple methods of cooking these things. I am currently assembling a solar oven. I also stockpile candles, which can be used for cooking in inventive ways, and I have other methods as well.

Thanks again for your informative post.

You are light years ahead of me and others. Kudos to you and keep up the good work. DO NOT buy that expensive crap. I did and now I know better and am trying to help others avoid that trap.

I do believe one should prepare but do not believe that one should advertise their procurement.

reply to post by Erongaricuaro


We bought a dozen of the fold-up military can openers several years ago, and they are still razor sharp. They are very small and easily stored with the canned goods. My husband carries one in his wallet all the time. Definitely worth getting a few and putting them up!

Here is a link to a shopping page with a lot of the openers! They are very easy to use:
miltary issue can opener

reply to post by canadianfrontier


Excellent advice.

I don't sweat it since my name hasn't been used but you are 100% right about keeping your supplies to yourself. Again, I just wanted to post this so nobody else would pull the dumbass move I did and spend what I did to get a bunch of beans and macaroni.

I'll take one for the team if need be.

Originally posted by bozzchem
reply to post by canadianfrontier

 

Excellent advice.

I don't sweat it since my name hasn't been used but you are 100% right about keeping your supplies to yourself. Again, I just wanted to post this so nobody else would pull the dumbass move I did and spend what I did to get a bunch of beans and macaroni.

I'll take one for the team if need be.

edit on 12-12-2010 by bozzchem because: (no reason given)

Just don't forget, the right kind of eyes can find your IP and go right to your house to "get you" for all your beans and macaroni. Haha.

reply to post by canadianfrontier


Understood. Thanks for the reminder!

They'd really want to do it when I'm away since I do have a penchant for laying my life down for a bag of beans...LOL......NOT

reply to post by bozzchem

Thank you for the advice. l have often wondered how good those food deals are, now l know, so thanks for that.
l am sure the information on the food store will be a great help to a lot of people too. dont forget to have a good first aid kit, lots of salt and a wind up radio with a built in torch could come in very useful too. Good luck to you and yours and stay safe, unfortunately l think things are going to get a lot worse before they get better. Peace and love starchild.

I figured I'd just use the same stuff I used to take camping. Freeze dried meals easily prepared with boiling water. Heaven only knows what it's going to taste like. I guess I'll find out when the time comes.

Ok, since one of the main themes of this post is getting your monies worth; I thought I'd add my two cents (adjusted for inflation of course!).

A couple of essential items are:

A good vacuum sealer. There are a number of different varieties on the market so choose the one that best suits your budget. Buy the best you can, but any is better than none.

Food storage containers. Not the generic plastic bins that you get at the Mega-Mart, but certified food-grade containers. The food-grade containers have less of the known nasty stuff like PCBs, etc. than can contaminate your food. You sometimes need to get these at specialty chef stores or the like. Or, you can find them one the intraweb. If you can't afford these, a good dry cardboard box is ok too.

Then, for stuff to stuff them with, I recommend:

Protein powder. This can be bought in giant bottles at your local health food store. You don't need all the 'X-TREME XTRA MASS with GUANOFENISINE 9' stuff. Just simple protein powder. Egg and milk are the most efficient but will degenerate quicker. Soy or whey based proteins are usually cheaper and are more stable but less efficient for digestion. Still, any protein is better than no protein. Daily protein requirements vary based upon gender, mass and physical activity. But even so, an intake of a mere 10-20 grams per day versus no protein at all could be the difference between being a survivor and a quivering lump. A few jars of this could save your life.

Powdered milk. This is not only a protein supplement but a valuable ingredient to vary your diet. It also may make the vegetable based proteins more digestible if consumed together.

Dried lentils, beans, peas and rice. This stuff will last forever if properly stored. Just make sure you don't rely on the crappy package that it is sold in. Make sure to vacuum seal properly. It will then outlast you and Western civilization.

Spam. Spam and more spam. This stuff, if the can maintains it's integrity, is virtually indestructible. Ignore the expiration dates - those are put there for lawsuit purposes. That won't be a factor when your city is in flames - probably. This miracle meat is easily digestible, chock-full of energy and cheap. It ain't great food but it's food!

Salt, sugar and whatever dried spices you choose. These will become invaluable for maintaining your will to live: in terms of epicurean delights this menu really suxx. A bowl of rice and dehydrated milk/protein-powder shake for breakfast every morning can eventually drive you nutty. But add a little nutmeg to that milk and a little sugar and cinnamon to that rice and you have a little taste of sanity.

Finally, vodka. A great antiseptic, anesthetic, cleaner, solvent and party enhancer. Couldn't hurt to keep a couple of bottles on hand in a post-apocalyptic world.

The best thing about all the above mentioned items - besides being cheap, easily obtainable and readily storable is that they can all be prepared with two basic ingredients: water and/or fire.

Nothing fancy here, but stuff that can keep you alive for extended periods. At the very least for a couple of months. If it goes beyond that and you haven't found alternative sources, e.g. wild game, fruits, abandoned army depot, etc. - then you would do better to give up anyway. Bon appétit!

reply to post by bozzchem


Don't feel bad at least you are trying that's more than I can say for most people. I think it's a real good idea to have things you can move quickly and easily too MREs are great for that, water and purification aids a weapon of your choice to pop a squirrel on the run if need be and waterproof matches, really really good knife a fever reducer and iodine. Happy trails