New to prepping

[Breck]

Does anyone have any suggestions for a six month supply of food for three? There are buckets of food you can buy online that are supposed to last for 25 years but I was wondering what some of your thoughts are. Thank you in advance.

 

[Alaskajohn]

Welcome to the forum first of all! You might want to introduce yourself in the introduction section.

I’d experiment a bit before making the plunge. Here are some recent threads on the topic that might be useful:

LTS or Long Term Food......what is your favorite company to order from?

Long term storage food Christmas gift ideas

Good sales (30% to 57%) for Augason Farms LTS food at Amazon

I look at food from a short term (oils for example), mid term (most canned or packaged food that might last 2-10 years) and long term (like what you are asking about), and store what you eat and rotate to be efficient and save money. I set aside a budget and by what we eat when it’s on sale for the stuff I want to build inventory on.

There is more to survival than long term food storage, but you are on the right track as a start. Look around this site and continue to ask questions! You will get lots of feedback!

 

[Aerindel]

Does anyone have any suggestions for a six month supply of food for three? There are buckets of food you can buy online that are supposed to last for 25 years but I was wondering what some of your thoughts are. Thank you in advance.

My thoughts are that food buckets are OK, if you are desperate and need it right away. Keep in mind, they usually VASTLY overestimate their servings sizes so whatever it says on the bucket for how many days of food it has in it, halve it.

With a little research, you an do much much better. For a small amount of food, like a six month supply, you can usually just get away with buying extra of the food you already eat. Most food sold on shelves, is good for 1-2 years. Some much longer. If its the food you are already eating, you don't need a 25 year shelf life, your six months supply will get rotated through twice a year through normal consumption.

Example 'normal' foods with at least year shelf life: this is not a comprehensive list by any means.

Pasta
Baking supplies.
All canned goods.
Mayonnaise.
Oils
Pickles
Ketchup, mustard etc.
Rice
Flour
Sugar.
Dried soups
Raisins/dried fruit.
Crackers
Candy
Spices.
Broth
Tea
Drink mixes.


All frozen food (if you can keep it frozen)
This includes things not commonly frozen but that freeze well like:

Butter
Milk
Cheese.
Bread

Other foods that last a good three or more months if stored in a dark cool place:

Onions
Potatos
Carrots
Winter squash (6 months and more is possible)
Eggs.

Until you get past the 'six months' level, I really do not recommend people get any dedicated long term food preps. Prepping is expensive, but buying more of the food you ACTUALLY eat, is just shopping a head of time, the net extra cost is almost zero.

It's also a way to train yourself to look at supplies, and shopping in general, in a different way, and makes you more ready to actually USE true LTS foods when you get to that point.

And once you get to that point, you will know how to select and package your own ultra long shelf life foods, and they will be foods that you know how to cook, and actually want.

 

[The Lazy L]

IMHO freeze dried food (25 years shelf) life is the way to go IF you like the taste of it. Buy a small quantity and try it first.

 

[phideaux]

When you buy a can of beans, buy 2 .
Peanut butter buy 2, on an on .
Buy 1 pack of toilet paper....buy 2.

One for using , one for storing.
Do this for 6 months.

Jim

 

[Amish Heart]

I agree....for six months worth of food, or even a year worth, don't buy the buckets of shelf stable. Just get regular shelf stable food.
Like what Phideaux says

 

[Breck]

My thoughts are that food buckets are OK, if you are desperate and need it right away. Keep in mind, they usually VASTLY overestimate their servings sizes so whatever it says on the bucket for how many days of food it has in it, halve it.

With a little research, you an do much much better. For a small amount of food, like a six month supply, you can usually just get away with buying extra of the food you already eat. Most food sold on shelves, is good for 1-2 years. Some much longer. If its the food you are already eating, you don't need a 25 year shelf life, your six months supply will get rotated through twice a year through normal consumption.

Example 'normal' foods with at least year shelf life: this is not a comprehensive list by any means.

Pasta
Baking supplies.
All canned goods.
Mayonnaise.
Oils
Pickles
Ketchup, mustard etc.
Rice
Flour
Sugar.
Dried soups
Raisins/dried fruit.
Crackers
Candy
Spices.
Broth
Tea
Drink mixes.


All frozen food (if you can keep it frozen)
This includes things not commonly frozen but that freeze well like:

Butter
Milk
Cheese.
Bread

Other foods that last a good three or more months if stored in a dark cool place:

Onions
Potatos
Carrots
Winter squash (6 months and more is possible)
Eggs.

Until you get past the 'six months' level, I really do not recommend people get any dedicated long term food preps. Prepping is expensive, but buying more of the food you ACTUALLY eat, is just shopping a head of time, the net extra cost is almost zero.

It's also a way to train yourself to look at supplies, and shopping in general, in a different way, and makes you more ready to actually USE true LTS foods when you get to that point.

And once you get to that point, you will know how to select and package your own ultra long shelf life foods, and they will be foods that you know how to cook, and actually want.

Thank you! What about storage of staples like rice, beans, grains, spices, etc. in mylar bags (with air fresheners) or in vacuum sealed bags? See links below. I don't trust mylar bags to keep food edible for 25 years. How long do you think they would last?

--Mylar Bags: The seller promises 25 years! Really?

--Vacupacks: This guy from Vacupack advocates for paper bags inside a vacuum sealed plastic bag and does not think that food storage can go for more than two years. Any thoughts here?

 

[joel]

I can buy beans & rice, was well as other dry prepared foods though the Company I retired from, so 0.44 for a pound of beans.
I can only buy X amount per month, so there is a limit. I store it in freezer & canning jars. I can get coffee too, but I leave it in the can because it is vacuumed packed. So I garden & can foods, Have never bought "long term foods", I may learn something from this thread.
https://www.homesteadingforum.org/threads/do-you-have-a-freeze-dryer.11969/#post-323039
https://www.homesteadingforum.org/t...rated-meals-in-6-easy-steps.7064/#post-252508

 

[Rebecca]

My 2 cents...if you only want 6 months worth of extra food, and you buy what you eat, and rotate your food correctly, you have no need for mylar or anything else. Just store the food normally in your kitchen. There is just more of it.

Now if you want to store really long term, as in you have built up a year or 5 worth of food. Then yes mylar is the way to go. Put the food eg rice in the mylar bag, with oxygen absorbers, seal it up. Then seal that mylar bag in a bucket to protect the bag from getting ripped or punctured etc.

The problem with plastic is that it is air permeable.
Over time, and yes slowly, air is going to get inside that vacuum pack. And with that air come food deterioration.

 

[Jay]

My supplies come in #10 size cans. and pails for such things as wheat. nutritional value good for 20 years. I get them thru Emergency Essentials. (be prepared.com), It's a mormon owned company, and those folks have been into preparedness for a long time. They do not try to convert you to their beliefs either.

 

[joel]

 

[joel]

My supplies come in #10 size cans. and pails for such things as wheat. nutritional value good for 20 years. I get them thru Emergency Essentials. (be prepared.com), It's a mormon owned company, and those folks have been into preparedness for a long time. They do not try to convert you to their beliefs either.

Here in South Carolina, it is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints.

 

[Cascadian]

Hi Breck​

I think what most of us think an no one has said yet is that you will likely be eating whatever you buy much sooner that 25 years. So shorter term foods are a good start.​

​

However if you have the money and really want to try freeze dried food I recommend Alpine air or Mountain House you can get them in small 2 serving packs. Places like sportsman warehouse, cabela's and backpacking stores. One of our favorites for kids breakfast is MH oatmeal with blueberries. It has its own powdered milk miked in and 1/4 cup is quite filling.​

​

​

 

[Neb]

Does anyone have any suggestions for a six month supply of food for three? There are buckets of food you can buy online that are supposed to last for 25 years but I was wondering what some of your thoughts are. Thank you in advance.

What the others wrote.

We don't get those 7-day etc. kits because we are picky about what we want to eat. The Princess (my better half) has a monthly budget and looks for what we like being on sale ands a little every month.

A little every month and just keep at it.

Ben

 

[UrbanHunter]

Does anyone have any suggestions for a six month supply of food for three? There are buckets of food you can buy online that are supposed to last for 25 years but I was wondering what some of your thoughts are. Thank you in advance.

Store what you eat and eat what you store. Look at what you are currently eating and expand that a little.... Most shelf stable foods have a shelf life of about 2 years, if you manage your food storage on a First In First Out (FIFO) control system you should be able to get by on every day store foods.

I have found that many of the "long term food solutions" are very expensive, and if you don't eat them you will never know if you are going to be able to eat them in an emergency. Here is a chart comparing cost per 1000 calories that I made a long time ago, but the idea hasn't changed much:

I am going to assume that you have a family of 4... if that is the case here is my list for you, it is only an estimate:

Well this is might be more than you asked for but I hope it helps..

Urban

 

[joel]

UrbanHunter

Your chart plus protein, is why I stock beans dry & can, & rice.

 

[Alaskajohn]

Store what you eat and eat what you store. Look at what you are currently eating and expand that a little.... Most shelf stable foods have a shelf life of about 2 years, if you manage your food storage on a First In First Out (FIFO) control system you should be able to get by on every day store foods.

I have found that many of the "long term food solutions" are very expensive, and if you don't eat them you will never know if you are going to be able to eat them in an emergency. Here is a chart comparing cost per 1000 calories that I made a long time ago, but the idea hasn't changed much:
View attachment 70532

I am going to assume that you have a family of 4... if that is the case here is my list for you, it is only an estimate:

View attachment 70530

Well this is might be more than you asked for but I hope it helps..

Urban

Great post. I’ve taken lots of crap on other forums for promoting ramen noodles, so thanks for helping to demonstrate that they are a cost effective food item to have in your rotation. Plus, on those cold winter days outdoors, they are an easy way to warm up your body. We stock and rotate all but minute rice on the 8 lowest cost per calorie food items. Note my post above about looking at food in short term, mid term and long term. Most of those are mid term and should be in your rotation as long as you eat it as a normal meal source.

Most of my long term storage items are food sources that would be impossible to source where I’m at such as dehydrated fruits, etc. Not many mango trees in Alaska.

 

[UrbanHunter]

Personally we have a mix of short term (fresh foods), mid term (1-3 years; home canned, store bought, and frozen), and long term canned dried foods and bulk long term grains)

For all pasta my wife adds a bay leaf to each end of the box to keep bugs out.
Our rice is repackaged in seal-a-meal and stored in cheap plastic ice chests at the bottom of my food storage shelves.
We keep a mix of canned and dry beans, if we have time we prefer to use the dry beans and keep the canned beans as a quick response item.
We have a lot of wheat, and we have a stone grinder to make flour with, If you plan to have wheat you better plan to get get a grinder.
@Amish Heart taught me about shelf stable milk, it is okay and has about a 6 month shelf life... We usually take a cup out of a gallon of milk, and then freeze the rest, then when we go to the store we swap out the frozen milk with fresh, that way we always have an extra gallon of fresh milk in the house....

As @joel and other mentioned the Mormons (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) has some information on food storage Food Storage

If I can be of any help with your prepping let me know, I've been doing it since the 1990s but I learn something new every week.....

We started out making 72hr kits with BOB (Bug out Bags), Then we started working to a balanced Month's supply, the 3 Months, and the beat goes on.

@Breck don't forget WATER, it is a cheap as it gets and other than AIR it should be the most important thing on your list because you can't last a week without it.....

 

[Breck]

Store what you eat and eat what you store. Look at what you are currently eating and expand that a little.... Most shelf stable foods have a shelf life of about 2 years, if you manage your food storage on a First In First Out (FIFO) control system you should be able to get by on every day store foods.

I have found that many of the "long term food solutions" are very expensive, and if you don't eat them you will never know if you are going to be able to eat them in an emergency. Here is a chart comparing cost per 1000 calories that I made a long time ago, but the idea hasn't changed much:
View attachment 70532

I am going to assume that you have a family of 4... if that is the case here is my list for you, it is only an estimate:

View attachment 70530

Well this is might be more than you asked for but I hope it helps..

Urban

Thank you, Urban! This is great!

 

[Breck]

My 2 cents...if you only want 6 months worth of extra food, and you buy what you eat, and rotate your food correctly, you have no need for mylar or anything else. Just store the food normally in your kitchen. There is just more of it.

Now if you want to store really long term, as in you have built up a year or 5 worth of food. Then yes mylar is the way to go. Put the food eg rice in the mylar bag, with oxygen absorbers, seal it up. Then seal that mylar bag in a bucket to protect the bag from getting ripped or punctured etc.

The problem with plastic is that it is air permeable.
Over time, and yes slowly, air is going to get inside that vacuum pack. And with that air come food deterioration.

Okay, thanks. So mylar will last no more than 5 years then.

 

[Breck]

Hi Breck​

I think what most of us think an no one has said yet is that you will likely be eating whatever you buy much sooner that 25 years. So shorter term foods are a good start.​

​

However if you have the money and really want to try freeze dried food I recommend Alpine air or Mountain House you can get them in small 2 serving packs. Places like sportsman warehouse, cabela's and backpacking stores. One of our favorites for kids breakfast is MH oatmeal with blueberries. It has its own powdered milk miked in and 1/4 cup is quite filling.​

​

​

Thank you!

 

[joel]

Great post. I’ve taken lots of crap on other forums for promoting ramen noodles, so thanks for helping to demonstrate that they are a cost effective food item to have in your rotation.

Why???
Ramen noodles are light weight, low cost & easy to prepare. The season pack has to much salt in it, but you can use only a little.
I do not see the problem.

 

[Branwyn]

Why???
Ramen noodles are light weight, low cost & easy to prepare. The season pack has to much salt in it, but you can use only a little.
I do not see the problem.

It's because they contain oils that go rancid relatively quickly, after about 6-8 months in normal storage conditions. The rancid oils often don't even have a detectable flavor (and probably not after the salty seasoning is added) but they have major health risks associated with eating them, and cumulative long-term health effects.

They are fine to store for normal use as long as they're rotated regularly, but a bad idea for medium to long term storage food. The problem is when people think of them like other dry foods (pasta, beans) and think they'll last just as long.

 

[joel]

It's because they contain oils that go rancid relatively quickly, after about 6-8 months in normal storage conditions. The rancid oils often don't even have a detectable flavor (and probably not after the salty seasoning is added) but they have major health risks associated with eating them, and cumulative long-term health effects.

They are fine to store for normal use as long as they're rotated regularly, but a bad idea for medium to long term storage food. The problem is when people think of them like other dry foods (pasta, beans) and think they'll last just as long.

So is it fair to say, rotate them every 120 days, eat them first after the shortage's are in affect & save the 180 to 365 day food until after they are gone. Ramen noodles last longer than most fresh produces, like bananas & tomatoes. Apples, pears, winter squash, onions & potatoes, can last for months, (180 day).

 

[UrbanHunter]

@Branwyn is right, ramen noodles do have a shelf life, and can go bad. You can extend that life by proper storage and by keeping them away from moisture. This website has a lot of good information on them The Shelf Life of Ramen Noodles: How Long They Last and How to Tell if They're Still Good

The ones I purchased indicate a shelf life (best by) of 1 year and if you store them properly that could be extended to 2 years. If you are using a FIFO inventory control and making yourself eat everything in your food storage (If you won't eat it you shouldn't buy it) you shouldn't have a problem.

I think balance is the key to effective short/mid term food storage, and these are the things that will get you through that snow storm or being in lock down for a month or 2. If you really need the long term food storage, then you have much bigger problems to worry about....

I started doing food storage when my employment became unstable, I wanted to be sure that if the company went under I would be able to eat while looking for new work. Since then we have had blizzards, hurricanes, droughts, and a number of events that have stressed our prepper skills, but I can honestly say that up until last year I have never eaten off my food storage for more than a month. Early in the Pandemic when there were shortages and shopping issues I decided to use it as an opportunity to eat down our older food storage, we were able to go for 6 months on our short term food storage (only buying fresh vegetables, milk, and eggs) without any issue. I think that everyone should know what they have in storage and eat down the older stuff from time to time; but that's just me....

Back to Ramen Noodles: I like to use half a brick with half a can of condensed soup. Using that approach I can get 2 lunches out of a small can of soup and a pack of noodles. If you did that every other week you would use 26 packets of noodles in a year. So 2-12 Packs of Ramen Noodles and 2 flats of mixed soups and you have half of your lunches for a year.... Say the soup cost @1.75 a can and the Raman Noodles are $2.50 a 12 pack, for a total of $47 you have made a start. No I would not object to someone spending $5 on Raman noodles.....

In a true SHTF (Something Hit The Fan) situation you could just have half a brick of noodles and half the seasoning to stretch your resources. I had a rough patch where my food budget was under $50/month, I ate Ramen noodles like that for a year, once... That will make a prepper out of you....

 

[Magus]

Does anyone have any suggestions for a six month supply of food for three? There are buckets of food you can buy online that are supposed to last for 25 years but I was wondering what some of your thoughts are. Thank you in advance.

Hi there. I dropped a sort of book in the writings section that may go a long way to help you out with storage, diet etc plus stuff you need. if you have questions, you may ask me anything, I've been doing this literally all my life.

https://www.homesteadingforum.org/t...-the-nice-admins-and-literature-lovers.13434/

 

[ladycat]

I just stock up on the regular ordinary foods that I normally eat, then use the oldest first.
Those freeze dried buckets are so expensive!!!

 

[Magus]

Dehydrated > freeze dried.

 

[Aerindel]

Thank you! What about storage of staples like rice, beans, grains, spices, etc. in mylar bags (with air fresheners) or in vacuum sealed bags? See links below. I don't trust mylar bags to keep food edible for 25 years. How long do you think they would last?

It's actually the other way around. Most food lasts a lot longer than people think.

WITHOUT mylar, rice and wheat have at least a 10 year shelf life. (except brown rice, which because of its oil content, should not be stored more the six months)

With mylar, 25-30 years.

Beans are shorter, 5 years without mylar, 10 with.

Flour is about 2 years in original packaging, up to 5 with mylar.

You also need to know, the mylar is just a barrier. What really extends shelf life, is the use of oxygen absorbers by eliminating the main reason dry foods loose nutrition, oxidization. They also eliminate any pests, fungus and most bacteria growth (being dry does the rest)

Plastic is permeable to oxygen (and other gases) metal is not, this is why mylar is used. Even a plastic bucket with o2 absorbers, will be full of oxygen again in less than a year.

One of the best sources for general food prepping info is the LDS survival manual.

https://thesurvivalmom.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/LDS-Preparedness-Manual.pdf
Vacuum sealers only buy you a little time, they are best for preventing freezer burn of meats, they are not a system for long term storage of bulk grains and you won't see any of them sold that way. O2 absorbers and metal containers (either canned or mylared) are the industry standard.

This is why I say when you are just starting out, and storing relatively small amounts, there is no need to worry about mylar and 02 absorbers, what we commonly call LTS storage (long term storage)

Its only when you start storing bulk quantities, hundreds of pounds, of those foods, that you need to start worrying about how to keep their nutrition 10-30 years out.

You should also note, dry goods, kept dry NEVER become inedible. What does happen is that nutrition decreases. Calories stay the same, but vitamin content and taste are reduced. Beans will become hard and won't soften when cooked and eventually the only thing you can do with them is grind them up.

 

[Peanut]

To clarify one small detail about mylar storage…

Take corn for instance (or any grain)… When stored in mylar in its natural dried state, back filled with nitrogen, it will easily last 12-15yrs… when stored AS a dried whole kernel or seed.

But, if you take that same corn, grind it into cornmeal its only good for 6months to a year when stored. When you crush a seed by grinding, its oil is exposed to oxygen and will go rancid. However, that same seed stored whole (uncrushed or broken) can easily be stored over 10years.

This has nothing to do the the mylar. Mylar is excellent for long term storage. The reason you are hearing someone say 10+ years storage or others say less than 2 years has to do with the “state” of the food you are trying to store... Not the mylar.

Edit to add… I don’t try to store noodles long term. Why? What are noodles made from? Flour! How do you get flour? You crush and grind wheat.

I can easily store wheat directly from the field for 12-15yrs. I don’t trust flour stored more than 2 years, noodles even less.

With all of them stored in the same mylar. Again, it’s not the mylar that makes the difference. it's the state of what you put in the mylar that determines the shelf life.

Hope this helps.