# Testing of stored items



## 41south (Dec 4, 2010)

Does anyone else cook and eat some goods that have been stored for some time? I have cooked pintos that had been stored in sealed ammo cans for twelve years and they were as good as fresh off the store shelf.


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## sailaway (Mar 12, 2009)

I have tried some of my name brand canned foods and some Mountain House foods that were 1-2 yrs. out of date and they were ok. The local food pantry says they serve food that isv up to 5 yrs.beyond shelf life, and most of what is donated to them is beyond shellf life.


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## JayJay (Nov 23, 2010)

Dry Food Study One
A scientific study conducted at Brigham Young University on the shelf life of a variety of different dry foods can be read at both of the following links:
http://ce.byu.edu/cw/womensconference/archive/2005/sharing_stations/pdf/52a.pdf
New Findings for Longer-Term Food Storage
A brief summary of the above web site information shows the following estimated shelf life per dry food item:
Over 30 years for wheat and white rice.
30 years for pinto beans, macaroni, rolled oats, and potato flakes.
20 years for powdered milk.
All dry food items should be stored in airtight moisture proof containers at a temperature between 40ºF to 70°F.
Salt, baking soda, and granulated sugar still in their original containers have no known shelf life limit if properly stored.
In the study, researchers taste-tested rolled oats that had been stored in sealed containers for 28 years. Three-fourths of tasters considered the oats acceptable to eat in an emergency.

~~~this makes me feel great about my storage and takes a load off my mind about the many foods I have stored.~~~


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## BasecampUSA (Dec 26, 2010)

41south said:


> Does anyone else cook and eat some goods that have been stored for some time? I have cooked pintos that had been stored in sealed ammo cans for twelve years and they were as good as fresh off the store shelf.


Yes, we do this all the time. We have found vaccuum-sealed 17 year old Pintos and 22 year old wheat we forgot we had and it was still very good to cook and bake with.

*Jay-jay's link says it all*... them Mormons are pioneers in this long-term food storage technology.

Ummm... you notice they said _WHITE rice_. That is correct, because _brown rice _ will go rancid within 5 years in my personal experience (twice I made that mistake!).

I grew up with LDS neighbors and learned long-term food storage from them, and have been doing it going on 40 years now.

All the stuff I put up now is packed in nitrogen for a minimum of 25 years storage... (but I got a feeling we're gonna need it long before that, the way things are heading now).

Everything we store is packed into 55gal open top steel drums with silica gel packs, lids, gaskets, and locking rings to seal them dry and tight; and is stored in the dry root cellar at 40-65 degrees year-round.

Basey


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## Moose33 (Jan 1, 2011)

BasecampUSA said:


> Everything we store is packed into 55gal open top steel drums with silica gel packs, lids, gaskets, and locking rings to seal them dry and tight; and is stored in the dry root cellar at 40-65 degrees year-round.
> 
> Hi Basey,
> About your storage, do you pack mylar or buckets or just off the shelf packaging into the drums? Replied to your PM a couple of days ago too.
> ...


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## BasecampUSA (Dec 26, 2010)

> _Everything we store is packed into 55gal open top steel drums with silica gel packs, lids, gaskets, and locking rings to seal them dry and tight; and is stored in the dry root cellar at 40-65 degrees year-round._
> 
> *Hi Basey,
> About your storage, do you pack mylar or buckets or just off the shelf packaging into the drums? Replied to your PM a couple of days ago too.
> ...


Most of it is bulk storage, like approximately 500# of wheat or 
white rice, or pinto beans etc. go in a 55gal drum and we line 
the drums with a large food-grade plastic bag before pouring in 
the bulk food.

Last year, we bought 1.5 tons of organic wheat from a farmer up in
Aroostook County and I sealed it in the drums with _Carbon Dioxide _because 
I didn't have a bottle of Nitrogen or Argon ready. The Carbon Dioxide 
was in the form of dry ice, and I put a piece in the bottom of each 
drum about the 1/2 size of a 12oz box of cereal.

*Pouring wheat in the plastic bag lined 
drums with dry ice in the bottom:









A 2# pack of silica gel is placed on top to
absorb any moisture in the grain or drum.









The bag is gathered together at the top 
and loosely tied, allowing the carbon
dioxide to push out the oxygen toward 
the top (barrel in background)









After all the dry ice has dissipated into carbon
dioxide (12 hours), the drum lid is locked into place.









This picture shows a drum lid with the gasket
in the groove, and the locking ring & bolt.*









These drums are all stacked 3 high in the "root cellar" where they are stored
at 40-65 degrees year round. We have about 45 drums full so far, enough to get 
the extended family through 1.5 to 2 years while we are farming more food
for our needs WTSHTF.

Bulk sugar does not require Nitrogen or CO2, but is very hygroscopic and must 
be sealed from all moisture and humidity.

Bulk flour etc. is not recommended, it goes stale in 5 years... grains, rice 
and legumes (beans, etc.) keep 20-30 years with Nitrogen or CO2.

- Basey


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## UncleJoe (Jan 11, 2009)

That's a lot of wheat. I guess I'm coming to your place now. 

Sorry to all the other folks I told to keep a lookout for me.


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## The_Blob (Dec 24, 2008)

BasecampUSA said:


> Ummm... you notice they said _WHITE rice_. That is correct, because _brown rice _ will go rancid within 5 years in my personal experience (twice I made that mistake!).


funny you mention that... my Mom just made some rice last week that was a bit mushy & when I looked at the bag (normal 10 lb. waxed paper sack, not a prep item or anything) it was 15 year old brown rice that I had set aside to toss to the pigs  it tasted ok, but then again, most of our food is kept in the basement where the hottest it might ever get is 65


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## BasecampUSA (Dec 26, 2010)

UncleJoe said:


> That's a lot of wheat. I guess I'm coming to your place now.


Bring your hoe,
Uncle Joe,
and your sickle
'cause you will mow.

Half an acre
you can make,
all day long 
it's cut and rake!

Thrash and winnow,
grind that wheat,
Ma's bakin' bread
that can't be beat!

Hehehe... -anybody know why we make up those rhymes on the farm?

Jest like them "rags and hollers" work songs farmhands made up and sang back in the old days...

_It is like a "cadence"... _ -it helps keep you in rhythm as you swing the scythe back and forth cutting the grain stalks, and when you are threshing the wheat with a flail.

The long tedious work gets boring, so we have contests who can come up with the most clever of jingles.

Am I crazy? -Nope... all this was once history (that may repeat itsself WTSHTF)

Work song - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

*Rags and hollers developed into blues and jazz...*


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## Moose33 (Jan 1, 2011)

Hey Basey,
Thanks for the photos, they're wonderful and very helpful. My best friend is from the county. I'm guessing her dad, because of his former business relationships, will know someone I can get some wheat from. Again, thanks for the photos, it really helps to actually see how you do things. :thankyou:
Take it easy,
Moose


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## BadgeBunny (Nov 2, 2010)

The_Blob said:


> funny you mention that... my Mom just made some rice last week that was a bit mushy & when I looked at the bag (normal 10 lb. waxed paper sack, not a prep item or anything) it was 15 year old brown rice that I had set aside to toss to the pigs  it tasted ok, but then again, most of our food is kept in the basement where the hottest it might ever get is 65


I was just wondering how you tell when brown rice is rancid. The longest I have kept any is for 24 months and I thought it was fine. Like you, nothing special about storing it, just dark, dry and cool.

Thanks!!


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## UncleJoe (Jan 11, 2009)

BasecampUSA said:


> Bring your hoe,
> Uncle Joe,
> and your sickle
> 'cause you will mow.
> ...


No problem. I have 2 scythe's and 6 replacement blades. 

I hope you don't mind but I'll also want to bring a couple of the horses, the chickens, goats, (you might need a new barn) seeds, high wheel cultivators, canning supplies, guns, ammo and anything else I can fit into the 3 trailers and 3 trucks and one of the trucks is an F700 with an enclosed box.


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## BasecampUSA (Dec 26, 2010)

Heh... if you can't catch the critters and load all that stuff in time WTSHTF, just haul *ss up here with your brains, brawn and experience... I got all the rest of that stuff... been collecting horse farmin equipment for years.
--we gotta teach all these homesteader newbies comin outa the woodwork up here how to survive... if you're over 55 like me and have been doing this for over 1/2 of your life, _you are obligated to pass the torch of knowledge!_

Anybody that hauls with an F700 is a friend of mine (I got one too! -'79, 18' flatbed dump)
We're building a brand new barn as I speak! (snow stopped us for a while)


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## UncleJoe (Jan 11, 2009)

BasecampUSA said:


> Anybody that hauls with an F700 is a friend of mine (*I got one too! -'79,* 18' flatbed dump)


Mine is a '94 which could present a problem in the event the suns gives us a shot of EMP. 
I also have an '82 14' flatbed with a knuckle boom crane and an '81 GMC 4X4 1 ton dump. Yeah, I have a lot of hauling capacity.


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