When building storage for canned goods, build narrow shelves on a slant and store cans on their sides so they roll down the shelf , with the oldest at the lower end of the shelf. That way no thought is involved in using the oldest. The can at the bottom of the ramp is used first. The can work for jars if one is careful.
Ella, That is a simple but brilliant idea! Thank you so much for sharing. My sister and I store a bit extra just in case and neither of us ever thought of this. This is foolproof and easy. I love it!
Too many people buy nonperishable food and forget the rotation and eating out of your supply to replace it with fresh while you can. That's how they end up with boxes of food well past their "best by" dates.
Food a few months past its "best by" date is usually fine. It just may not taste quite right. My wife and I are eating some sticky rice and mango chips that are a few months or of date and they're fine. We have some dried ramen bowls in the same state that are fine. I'm not interested in those food buckets. They're usually high in carbs and salt. Same for MRE's*. I'd rather buy food we'd actually eat.
*There's a reason soldiers refer to them as "Meals Rejected by Ethiopians."
I go 'Shopping' in my stored foods - it is fun and we restock UPSTAIRS with the cellar food before going to the grocery store - it really keeps things rotating nicely and i take stock monthly to replenish things we had a bit of a run on - (red lentils seems to be very popularly used right now lol)
What’s your take on Mylar bags and deoxygenaters? They seem expensive. Worth it? I currently just have large, unopened bags of flower in my freezer. Spending $30 to bag it all up sounds horrid, but having it somehow become unusable (would it??) also sounds horrid.
I'd say reserve mylar for things you want to store for longer than 1-2 years. Flour lasts about a year at room temp and 2 years in freezer, so I think you're good. Our longterm solution has been wheatberries, which last 10+ years in mylar, with plans to grind our own flour. When we use mylar for frozen goods, it's to save space while avoiding freezer burn for things like nuggets, etc. We don't heat seal the bags, and we reuse them. That saves money. We mostly use steel canisters with latch seals, and each one can store about 20 lbs of dry goods. We have 4-5 and keep them in regular rotation. Hope this helps.
One of your articles from months ago inspired me to start stocking up but very modestly. Every time i show I get one or two canned or dried goods and add it. I don't have much space but it's something and helps feel like I'm doing something.
Great list. You might have covered this elsewhere, but if you’re getting hungry it’s a good chance the rodents are, too. They will happily chew through fabric, plastic and thin membranes. Even some wood if pressed.
Fantastic post! Vegan here... did your quest for food security drive you to eliminate eggs/dairy/meat, or were you already there before this? Do you use or store TVP chunks or soycurls?
Your dehydrated beans/lentils make me consider pre-cooking and dehydrating some of my own stock, very cool!
It’s how we do it. Been vegan for many years. You can live on dried beans/grains for a long, long time. Learning how to prepare and store food in mason jars when crops come off helps too. Done properly many veggies store well.
We eat black beans, pasta, rice etc regularly, and these things keep well. So I always keep lots of them but I make certain to rotate them. Just buy things you really will eat!
tx for this post. my austrian omi taught me a lot of this when i was younger. issue now is that, with MCAS and multiple intolerances/allergies due to autoimmune and other chronic conditions, many/all these kinds of foods are problematic for me (histamine reactions to the lion's share + inflammation from grains/legumes/pulses, etc) regardless, i have had a pantry of stock building over the past 10 years for others in my fam and have been planting berries, apples, and edible varia over the past 15 at the different places we have lived in our city -- just wish they had kept the chicken (for eggs) bylaw in place. always appreciate your missives.
This article is very exciting and I have ALL THE QUESTIONS! First, my spouse also loves tofu and so I'd like to learn to make it. Which binder (nigari or gypsum) do you prefer, and where do you source it? Also, what kind of blender are you using? Ok, about grinding your own flour. The stone mill - were did you get that? Is it very difficult to do? Ok, I'll stop there. Thanks for sharing your hard-earned wisdom with us.
I wasn't judging at all. Strange response i am curious why you thought that? I TEACH prepping and permaculture and other things. I too agree i want others to survive.
two different terms with different meanings i think intent matters. Using the word 'hoarding' is the problem pre planning and prepping is usually done with great care and informed decision making.
When building storage for canned goods, build narrow shelves on a slant and store cans on their sides so they roll down the shelf , with the oldest at the lower end of the shelf. That way no thought is involved in using the oldest. The can at the bottom of the ramp is used first. The can work for jars if one is careful.
Ella, That is a simple but brilliant idea! Thank you so much for sharing. My sister and I store a bit extra just in case and neither of us ever thought of this. This is foolproof and easy. I love it!
Too many people buy nonperishable food and forget the rotation and eating out of your supply to replace it with fresh while you can. That's how they end up with boxes of food well past their "best by" dates.
Food a few months past its "best by" date is usually fine. It just may not taste quite right. My wife and I are eating some sticky rice and mango chips that are a few months or of date and they're fine. We have some dried ramen bowls in the same state that are fine. I'm not interested in those food buckets. They're usually high in carbs and salt. Same for MRE's*. I'd rather buy food we'd actually eat.
*There's a reason soldiers refer to them as "Meals Rejected by Ethiopians."
I go 'Shopping' in my stored foods - it is fun and we restock UPSTAIRS with the cellar food before going to the grocery store - it really keeps things rotating nicely and i take stock monthly to replenish things we had a bit of a run on - (red lentils seems to be very popularly used right now lol)
She means empty food buckets to store the food.
What’s your take on Mylar bags and deoxygenaters? They seem expensive. Worth it? I currently just have large, unopened bags of flower in my freezer. Spending $30 to bag it all up sounds horrid, but having it somehow become unusable (would it??) also sounds horrid.
I'd say reserve mylar for things you want to store for longer than 1-2 years. Flour lasts about a year at room temp and 2 years in freezer, so I think you're good. Our longterm solution has been wheatberries, which last 10+ years in mylar, with plans to grind our own flour. When we use mylar for frozen goods, it's to save space while avoiding freezer burn for things like nuggets, etc. We don't heat seal the bags, and we reuse them. That saves money. We mostly use steel canisters with latch seals, and each one can store about 20 lbs of dry goods. We have 4-5 and keep them in regular rotation. Hope this helps.
One of your articles from months ago inspired me to start stocking up but very modestly. Every time i show I get one or two canned or dried goods and add it. I don't have much space but it's something and helps feel like I'm doing something.
Great list. You might have covered this elsewhere, but if you’re getting hungry it’s a good chance the rodents are, too. They will happily chew through fabric, plastic and thin membranes. Even some wood if pressed.
Fantastic post! Vegan here... did your quest for food security drive you to eliminate eggs/dairy/meat, or were you already there before this? Do you use or store TVP chunks or soycurls?
Your dehydrated beans/lentils make me consider pre-cooking and dehydrating some of my own stock, very cool!
KellyKettle. And a twin flame alcohol stove.
It’s how we do it. Been vegan for many years. You can live on dried beans/grains for a long, long time. Learning how to prepare and store food in mason jars when crops come off helps too. Done properly many veggies store well.
We eat black beans, pasta, rice etc regularly, and these things keep well. So I always keep lots of them but I make certain to rotate them. Just buy things you really will eat!
tx for this post. my austrian omi taught me a lot of this when i was younger. issue now is that, with MCAS and multiple intolerances/allergies due to autoimmune and other chronic conditions, many/all these kinds of foods are problematic for me (histamine reactions to the lion's share + inflammation from grains/legumes/pulses, etc) regardless, i have had a pantry of stock building over the past 10 years for others in my fam and have been planting berries, apples, and edible varia over the past 15 at the different places we have lived in our city -- just wish they had kept the chicken (for eggs) bylaw in place. always appreciate your missives.
This article is very exciting and I have ALL THE QUESTIONS! First, my spouse also loves tofu and so I'd like to learn to make it. Which binder (nigari or gypsum) do you prefer, and where do you source it? Also, what kind of blender are you using? Ok, about grinding your own flour. The stone mill - were did you get that? Is it very difficult to do? Ok, I'll stop there. Thanks for sharing your hard-earned wisdom with us.
Lately seen some sell ‘broken’ peas 🫛 as chicken food
Also Drone terror will become more widespread but governments do not like empowering so will soon ban clay dove and the weapons to train drone defense
hoarding and prepping are utterly different. Be respectful of the intelligence of this community. Thank you.
I wasn't judging at all. Strange response i am curious why you thought that? I TEACH prepping and permaculture and other things. I too agree i want others to survive.
two different terms with different meanings i think intent matters. Using the word 'hoarding' is the problem pre planning and prepping is usually done with great care and informed decision making.
Hoarding is a mental illness.