Jennifer (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
jenniferkobernik) wrote2023-06-23 03:09 pm
jenniferkobernik) wrote2023-06-23 03:09 pm
Further Thoughts on Food Storage
Salutations! We are all doing well, but still crazy busy. Peeking out from under my rock to share some further thoughts on food storage:
What to Store
Wheat berries, white rice, oat groats, beans, and lentils will all store well for years or even decades if packaged properly.
Brown rice, quinoa, amaranth, and some others will store for months to a few years depending on storage location and methods, and are more suited for short- or intermediate-term storage.
It is a good idea to store a mix of grains and legumes in order to meet your complete protein needs.
Most dry grains and legumes contain about 1,500-1,700 calories per pound, or 37,000 - 42,000 calories per 25-lb bag. That means that a 25-lb bag of grains or legumes will provide one person with about 1,200 calories per day for one month.
Assuming a 2,000 calorie diet, this means that you’d need an additional 800 calories per day, or about 25,000 calories per month, to meat your caloric needs.
Cooking oils contain about 30,000 calories per gallon, or 7,500 calories per quart.
Nut butters contain upwards of 20,000 calories per gallon, or 2,500 calories per pint.
Honey contains upwards of 15,000 calories per gallon, or 1,875 calories per pint.
A five-oz can of tuna in oil is about 280 calories.
So, for instance, you could get your additional 25,000 calories per month from:
1 quart of olive oil
1 quart of coconut oil
1 pint jar of peanut butter
1 pint jar of almond butter
2 six-packs of tuna in oil
1 pint of honey
You can replace the six cans of tuna with three cans of coconut milk, six cans of Amy’s lentil soup, or a mix of any six canned goods of 200-300 calories or more per can.
You could also substitute a pound of sugar for the honey or replace it with additional canned goods, granola bars, spaghetti and tomato sauce, beef jerky, nuts, chocolate bars, olives, or whatever shelf-stable goods you desire that add up to around 1,800-2,000 calories total.
Add that to your 25-lb bag of grains or legumes, and you have a month’s worth of food for one person.
I would recommend adding a month’s supply of multivitamins to ensure that micronutrient needs are met.
You might also consider canned, freeze dried, or dehydrated fruits and vegetables, greens or superfood powders, electrolyte powders or tablets, and protein or meal replacement powders/shakes to round out your nutrition, depending on your habits and preferences.
If you have some short-term storage foods in rotation like onions, garlic, potatoes, sweet potatoes, winter squash and pumpkins, and unwashed eggs, that is ideal. Washed eggs from US grocery stores unfortunately will not keep long without refrigeration, but fresh unwashed eggs will.
I would also ensure that I had plenty of salt on hand. One pound of salt per person per month will be more than enough to cook with, to use for fermenting and preserving fresh foods if necessary, and to use for inhibiting undesirable bacterial growth on surfaces such as cutting boards.
Herbs, spices, tea, and coffee will make life more pleasant, as well.
If you have or are expecting a baby, then prenatal vitamins, infant vitamin D and iron supplements, and formula would be worth stocking. Even if you are breastfeeding, stress and poor nutrition can decrease supply, so in my opinion it would still be wise to stock formula.
How Much to Store
I personally aim to have a year’s food storage for every household member. FEMA recommends at least three days’ worth of food and water. I think it’s wise to have at least three months’ worth; this is enough to cushion the blow in case of job loss, debilitating injury or other diagnosis, unforeseen major expense, etc. and will last through almost any localized natural disaster in which electricity, banking, supply chains, or ingress/egress is interrupted.
For instance, I evacuated Beaumont just before Hurricane Rita hit, and it was two months before the grocery stores, grid, and infrastructure was restored to the point that I was able to return. Friends who stayed there through the storm had trouble getting gas, accessing their money in the bank (including in safe deposit boxes), using credit/debit cards, and getting to stores during that time.
If you are concerned about longer-term or nationwide (rather than localized) emergencies, or simply believe that food prices will continue rising for the next year or more, I think a year’s worth of food for every family member is reasonable and doable, although space constraints and logistics (tracking and rotating food) become more challenging as quantities grow.
If you are able to afford the upfront costs, buying larger quantities to last several months (honey, oil, and nut butters in gallon containers or even 3 to 5 gallon buckets, for instance) can save you quite a bit of money per unit. I typically buy these from Azure Standard.
How to Store It
I recommend using food grade buckets and Mylar bags with 2000 cc oxygen absorbers for long-term storage of grains and legumes. If you’ll be using the food up within a few months, you can skip the Mylar and oxygen absorber.
You can sometimes get used food grade buckets from local stores, especially bakeries, for free or cheap. I’ve also found good deals on Craigslist. You also don’t really have to use food-grade buckets if you are lining them with Mylar bags, but I prefer it so the buckets can also be used for short-term food storage without Mylar.
I freeze the food for a couple days before adding it to the buckets in order to kill insect larvae (I just throw the whole 25-lb bag in the freezer). This is a good idea even if you won’t be sealing it in Mylar for long-term storage—in fact, it is more necessary if you are not using oxygen absorbers and an airtight seal.
Then the food sits at room temperature for at least a full day afterward in order to prevent condensation once sealed. The food must be fully back to room temperature before it goes into a bucket.
Line each bucket with a Mylar bag and add the food (you can mix in a little food-grade diatomaceous earth as further insurance against insects like pantry moths).
Add the oxygen absorber (look for individually packaged absorbers so you don’t have to race to use a whole package before they become useless). Oxygen absorbers are not the same as desiccants, and size does matter—you need a 1500 - 2000 cc oxygen absorber for a 5 gallon bucket (2000 cc is necessary for a six-gallon bucket).
Iron the Mylar bag to seal it according to the instructions (you can put a length of board across the bucket mouth for an ironing surface). Secure the lid firmly on the bucket, and you’re done. A secure lid is necessary to keep out rodents, which can easily chew through the Mylar.
Don’t forget to label and date the bag and bucket before you forget what’s in it, because you can’t open it to check until you’re ready to eat it.
Put it somewhere dark and cool (or at least stable in temperature) if possible.
Grains and legumes stored this way can last 25-30 years. I would consider 10 years a safe bet and try to use them within that time frame.
A food grade bucket with gamma lid and oxygen absorber and no Mylar will also work pretty well, but I would try to use it within 1 - 3 years, maybe 5 at a stretch.
Oils, nut butters, canned goods etc. I store in their original containers, organized by expiration date, and try to use them before they expire.
If you rely on grains and legumes for your food storage, you need to have a way to cook them if the power goes out. A gas stove with a full tank (and a way to light it if it has an electric ignition), a propane tank and camp stove, a rocket stove, a solar oven (practice before you rely on this), or an old-fashioned wood stove with plenty of wood laid up may all work, depending on your circumstances; I’d try to have at least two options available.
That’s about all there is to it!
What to Store
Wheat berries, white rice, oat groats, beans, and lentils will all store well for years or even decades if packaged properly.
Brown rice, quinoa, amaranth, and some others will store for months to a few years depending on storage location and methods, and are more suited for short- or intermediate-term storage.
It is a good idea to store a mix of grains and legumes in order to meet your complete protein needs.
Most dry grains and legumes contain about 1,500-1,700 calories per pound, or 37,000 - 42,000 calories per 25-lb bag. That means that a 25-lb bag of grains or legumes will provide one person with about 1,200 calories per day for one month.
Assuming a 2,000 calorie diet, this means that you’d need an additional 800 calories per day, or about 25,000 calories per month, to meat your caloric needs.
Cooking oils contain about 30,000 calories per gallon, or 7,500 calories per quart.
Nut butters contain upwards of 20,000 calories per gallon, or 2,500 calories per pint.
Honey contains upwards of 15,000 calories per gallon, or 1,875 calories per pint.
A five-oz can of tuna in oil is about 280 calories.
So, for instance, you could get your additional 25,000 calories per month from:
1 quart of olive oil
1 quart of coconut oil
1 pint jar of peanut butter
1 pint jar of almond butter
2 six-packs of tuna in oil
1 pint of honey
You can replace the six cans of tuna with three cans of coconut milk, six cans of Amy’s lentil soup, or a mix of any six canned goods of 200-300 calories or more per can.
You could also substitute a pound of sugar for the honey or replace it with additional canned goods, granola bars, spaghetti and tomato sauce, beef jerky, nuts, chocolate bars, olives, or whatever shelf-stable goods you desire that add up to around 1,800-2,000 calories total.
Add that to your 25-lb bag of grains or legumes, and you have a month’s worth of food for one person.
I would recommend adding a month’s supply of multivitamins to ensure that micronutrient needs are met.
You might also consider canned, freeze dried, or dehydrated fruits and vegetables, greens or superfood powders, electrolyte powders or tablets, and protein or meal replacement powders/shakes to round out your nutrition, depending on your habits and preferences.
If you have some short-term storage foods in rotation like onions, garlic, potatoes, sweet potatoes, winter squash and pumpkins, and unwashed eggs, that is ideal. Washed eggs from US grocery stores unfortunately will not keep long without refrigeration, but fresh unwashed eggs will.
I would also ensure that I had plenty of salt on hand. One pound of salt per person per month will be more than enough to cook with, to use for fermenting and preserving fresh foods if necessary, and to use for inhibiting undesirable bacterial growth on surfaces such as cutting boards.
Herbs, spices, tea, and coffee will make life more pleasant, as well.
If you have or are expecting a baby, then prenatal vitamins, infant vitamin D and iron supplements, and formula would be worth stocking. Even if you are breastfeeding, stress and poor nutrition can decrease supply, so in my opinion it would still be wise to stock formula.
How Much to Store
I personally aim to have a year’s food storage for every household member. FEMA recommends at least three days’ worth of food and water. I think it’s wise to have at least three months’ worth; this is enough to cushion the blow in case of job loss, debilitating injury or other diagnosis, unforeseen major expense, etc. and will last through almost any localized natural disaster in which electricity, banking, supply chains, or ingress/egress is interrupted.
For instance, I evacuated Beaumont just before Hurricane Rita hit, and it was two months before the grocery stores, grid, and infrastructure was restored to the point that I was able to return. Friends who stayed there through the storm had trouble getting gas, accessing their money in the bank (including in safe deposit boxes), using credit/debit cards, and getting to stores during that time.
If you are concerned about longer-term or nationwide (rather than localized) emergencies, or simply believe that food prices will continue rising for the next year or more, I think a year’s worth of food for every family member is reasonable and doable, although space constraints and logistics (tracking and rotating food) become more challenging as quantities grow.
If you are able to afford the upfront costs, buying larger quantities to last several months (honey, oil, and nut butters in gallon containers or even 3 to 5 gallon buckets, for instance) can save you quite a bit of money per unit. I typically buy these from Azure Standard.
How to Store It
I recommend using food grade buckets and Mylar bags with 2000 cc oxygen absorbers for long-term storage of grains and legumes. If you’ll be using the food up within a few months, you can skip the Mylar and oxygen absorber.
You can sometimes get used food grade buckets from local stores, especially bakeries, for free or cheap. I’ve also found good deals on Craigslist. You also don’t really have to use food-grade buckets if you are lining them with Mylar bags, but I prefer it so the buckets can also be used for short-term food storage without Mylar.
I freeze the food for a couple days before adding it to the buckets in order to kill insect larvae (I just throw the whole 25-lb bag in the freezer). This is a good idea even if you won’t be sealing it in Mylar for long-term storage—in fact, it is more necessary if you are not using oxygen absorbers and an airtight seal.
Then the food sits at room temperature for at least a full day afterward in order to prevent condensation once sealed. The food must be fully back to room temperature before it goes into a bucket.
Line each bucket with a Mylar bag and add the food (you can mix in a little food-grade diatomaceous earth as further insurance against insects like pantry moths).
Add the oxygen absorber (look for individually packaged absorbers so you don’t have to race to use a whole package before they become useless). Oxygen absorbers are not the same as desiccants, and size does matter—you need a 1500 - 2000 cc oxygen absorber for a 5 gallon bucket (2000 cc is necessary for a six-gallon bucket).
Iron the Mylar bag to seal it according to the instructions (you can put a length of board across the bucket mouth for an ironing surface). Secure the lid firmly on the bucket, and you’re done. A secure lid is necessary to keep out rodents, which can easily chew through the Mylar.
Don’t forget to label and date the bag and bucket before you forget what’s in it, because you can’t open it to check until you’re ready to eat it.
Put it somewhere dark and cool (or at least stable in temperature) if possible.
Grains and legumes stored this way can last 25-30 years. I would consider 10 years a safe bet and try to use them within that time frame.
A food grade bucket with gamma lid and oxygen absorber and no Mylar will also work pretty well, but I would try to use it within 1 - 3 years, maybe 5 at a stretch.
Oils, nut butters, canned goods etc. I store in their original containers, organized by expiration date, and try to use them before they expire.
If you rely on grains and legumes for your food storage, you need to have a way to cook them if the power goes out. A gas stove with a full tank (and a way to light it if it has an electric ignition), a propane tank and camp stove, a rocket stove, a solar oven (practice before you rely on this), or an old-fashioned wood stove with plenty of wood laid up may all work, depending on your circumstances; I’d try to have at least two options available.
That’s about all there is to it!