Long shelf life foods

There was a big group purchase done via some volunteers at the survival forum at ar15.com recently. I don't know when they might do it again (seeing as the shelf life is 10-30 years on the stuff people bought), but the prices were about 50% of retail for the mountain house stuff when they did it.
 
I contacted Emergency Essentials in becoming a group leader to do group buys. Let you know when I get the info. I have also contacted Mountain house to see what we have to do also to do a group buy through them. I also suggest people try out some of their products to see what you like and don't like.
 
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Which is why I suggest that those that are interested get some single serving ones and try them and make sure they buy what they like. That way you won't have things you don't.[wink]
 
Skald said:
I agree, but since I'm planning ahead I got the luxury of making sure I like it.
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Some of the stuff out there can put a healthy man or woman in the hospital. It's a damn good plan to try this stuff before you have to depend on it. One source I have suggests you gradually alter your diet to match what you have stored long-term so that the changeover from you're used to eating to the survival stash, in the event that it's necessary, won't be a big blow to your system.
 
The Tasty-Bite lentils and other indian food, is sold at Trader Joe's, (repackaged with Trader Joe's brand name). They have about 2 year shelf life (18 months anyway on the package) and are way way better than MREs.

I eat the lentils virtually every day for lunch, with some whole wheat tortillas ("chapati" to an Indian person) heated over a stove burner.
 
I think if you look closely, you will see that those Rammen noodles that you can get for .10 a package do not have any expiration date!

Adam
 
Adam,

They probably do, but they are written in Chinese, so that doesn't count! [wink]


I agree, they seem to be good forever! And an added advantage is that they are so cheap that a C&R collector can still afford to eat while buying guns at an uncontrollable rate! [devil]
 
Just had some of the "Lipton Sides" pre packaged pasta last night, and I looked at the package. I'll be dammed if those don't expire either. The only problem is that you needed milk to make them. So I go to the pantry and check out the others that we have. There were a couple we had in there that didn't require anything but plain water. I checked those out as well, and no expiration date listed either...
 
FYI I heard on another forum that Mountain House is backordered about 2 months on freeze dried food.
 
Adam_MA said:
The only problem is that you needed milk to make them.
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I remember using either powdered milk or milk in the little (Evaporated ? Condensed ?) cans with good results.

I believe if you put Ramen noodles in a vacuume sealed bag they would last 100 years.
 
Wally mart has a bunch of mountain house stuff in the sporting department. Thought about checking some out. If they're palletable that could have a preparedness niche, but they're too expensive as a rule for me. I'm more oriented toward canned food, ramen noodles and large bags of rice, etc.
 
What is the shelf life of rice? I was at BJs tonight and noted that the 50-lb bags of rice are only $14. I'd like to set aside 3-4 months worth of food for my family and I'm thinking of storing rice inside large Rubbermaid plastic containers. I estimate each 100 lb would be good for about a month for my family.

I'm also thinking about stockpiling large cans of tuna, bags of sugar, jugs of oil, etc. Any thoughts on rice or other readily obtainable (and edible) staples other than Raman noodles?
 
For rice you will have to use oxygen absorbers or diamatheus earth.
# May be stored indefinitely* (in proper containers and conditions):

* Wheat
* Vegetable oils
* Corn
* Baking powder
* Soybeans
* Instant coffee, tea
* Cocoa
* Salt
* Noncarbonated soft drinks
* White rice
* Bouillon products
* Dry pasta
* Vitamin C
* Powdered milk (in nitrogen-packed cans)

Which also means proper temps too.
 
I store my rice (and other LTS food) in food grade Mylar bags, inside 5 gallon plastic buckets that have a seal on the lid. Before I add the rice, I throw in 2-3 oxygen absorbers, then fill the bag until it's just at the top of the bucket, then throw in a few more oxygen absorbers. Once they are in, I seal the mylar bag with an iron, and pound the lid onto the bucket.

Before I store any food like rice that is known to be a favorite of bugs like weevils, I freeze the food for at least a week, to not only kill any bugs that might be in the food, but also any eggs that they may have left behind. Then I do the above procedure.

Rice is a great food to store, as it has all but an indefinite shelf life when the correct procedures are used to store it. However if you are looking to store food that will be your only source of sustenance in a SHTF scenario, you will need lots of other food types as well. Imagine eating just rice every day for a week... It would get old REAL fast. I figure rice as a staple in storage, but canned meats and bullion of different variety will make that same rice MUCH more interesting for long term.
 
So what are these oxygen absorber thingies? And where can I purchase food-grade mylar bags?

I bought two 50-lb bags of rice, and intend to buy two or three more, along with some sugar, oil, pasta and dehydrated chicken stock. I'm also going to buy one case of ensure each time I go to BJs for the next couple months, but, damn...that stuff is expensive. I'm also thinking about building a pantry down in my basement where I can rotate stuff in and out, like giant cans of tuna, chile, peanut butter, jam, etc.

I also have a water well and I'm going to rig up some sort of a manual pump for it.
 
Rather than attempt to seal food so that it will keep for the rest of your children's life times, here's a suggestion. I buy two large bags of rice, and start eating from one. When that one's gone, I open the second bag and buy a new one. The result is that I've always got at 50-100 pounds of rice on hand, and none of it's been sitting around for more than a year or two. I freeze each bag first to kill any insect infestation, then then store them in a bucket with a seal top. I do essentially the same thing with salt, sugar, soup base, dry beans, canned tuna, peanut butter, jam, honey, etc., all of which I keep in an extra metal book shelf in my basement.

Ken
 
You really don't need to use mountain house and stuff for a long term stash. There are a lot of things that have an indefinite shelf life right in your supermarket. Here's a link.

http://www.a1usa.net/gary/expire.html

Save a few bucks using things like Spam and Dinty Moore, etc.. I know it's not like sitting at the Four Seasons, it's about a good size stash for long term, not about breaking the bank doing it. Plus this is all everyday stuff that you can use to rotate stock. Not your special purchase of M. House.
 

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