# Candy?



## OldCootHillbilly (Jul 9, 2010)

How many yall store some hard candy?

I wen't ta the store fer a few thins I needed an they had all the Christmas candy on clearence fer a ridiculos price.

I picked up several bags a hard candy fer 25 cents a package. Put a bag in a vac bag an sealed it up. These should keep fer many, many years (well ifin we stay outa em! ) an when the time comes will make a real nice treat. Hey, Might be roughin it, but who says ya can't have a sweat er two also right?

I actually found several thins on clearence taday includin bar soap fer 50 cents a two pack. I can't afford ta mess round makin soap at that price. They got vac sealed an tucked away with the others. 

Clearence sales er a great way ta stretch them prep dollars!


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

I store hard candies for Roo. Mostly Jolly Ranchers. I vacuum seal them in jars. I tried storing chocolate but K ate it all.


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## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

I store candy. I don't eat much candy myself, but I have used starlight mints for sucking on when I have a cough or a sore throat. Lemon candy is also good for the same purpose. I have included some of these mints in my BOBs and food storage. 

A starlight mint in a fresh cut half lemon is good for sucking on if you have a cold.

Candy canes can be very cheap after Christmas. I have quite a few of them that I got for very little. Target's final Christmas clearance day is January 9 and if you get in there when they open on that day, all holiday stuff is 90% off. 

Hard candy, if kept wrapped in original packaging can stay edible for years. Think of it in this way: sugar is a preservative and is used to preserve fruit for drying. Hard candy is pretty much flavored, colored, cooked and hardened sugar. As long as it is not contaminated with other liquids or left exposed to air or other potential contaminants, hard candy can last for a very long time. 

There are several times a year that candy has a seasonal market. Post season candy can be a bargain.


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## OldCootHillbilly (Jul 9, 2010)

Christmas seems ta be the best fer hard candy. Valentines day just depends, but ya can usually get some chocolate then. Holloween round here has mostly all chocolate. I do buy some at my dollar store, get a decent size bag fer a buck an many flavours. I got mint, butterscotch, lemon an some mixed flavours stashed away. Several bags a chocolate chips to. Chocolate bars seem ta dissapper fer some strange reason!:dunno: I don't eat much candy niether, don't do the sugar count no good. Just nice ta have fer others ifin it'll bring a dash a comfort.

I've got some sugar free stuff stashed fer me.


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## goshengirl (Dec 18, 2010)

I store M&Ms. I haven't found hard candy on sale, but the seasonal M&Ms will go on sale right after the holiday (red and green for Christmas, pinks and white for Valentines Day, that sort of thing). I know chocolate doesn't keep as well as other items, but in jars and vac sealed they keep for a couple years - they don't survive longer than that around here, just long enough for us to rotate our stock. 

I did try to jar and vac seal some candy bars (the infamous 'fun size' on sale after Halloween) - Milky Ways and Snickers and the like - they didn't keep well like the M&Ms did. So now I keep it simple.

Would love to find some hard candy on sale after a holiday. I think I need to look harder.


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## camo2460 (Feb 10, 2013)

yeah I store hard candy for my home made MRE's


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## tsrwivey (Dec 31, 2010)

We stock hard candy (Werthers), M&M's, Skittles, & semisweet chocolate chips. We keep a lot of sweets stored back & just make sure we rotate them out.


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## Woody (Nov 11, 2008)

I have a bunch of vacu-sealed packages of peppermints and root beer barrels stored away. Dates on them are 2008 to 2010. I have not opened any since I sealed them up but they should be fine treats if ever needed. Didn't think of the butterscotch though... I'll have to start looking for some on clearance.


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## Dixie (Sep 20, 2010)

*All the hard Halloween candy, Easter, Christmas, etc. I vaccum seal either in a jar or the food saver bags. Some of the hard candies may get a little soft, but when it's the only game in town, it will taste pretty good.*


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## Wellrounded (Sep 25, 2011)

I store sugar and everything I need to make my own. 
I'm not a big fan of store bought candy, much rather home made.


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## bunkerbob (Sep 29, 2009)

Yes I do, 1/2 gal mason jars vacuum packed with hard candy. This is pat of the comfort food, along with all the candy and chocolate making ingredients.


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## dixiemama (Nov 28, 2012)

Jolly ranchers are my weakness....

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## Sentry18 (Aug 5, 2012)

I have several bags of hard candy vacuumed sealed and stored in smaller buckets. I started with root beer barrels and butterscotch candies because they were plentiful and inexpensive. I have since added Werther's Originals, Lifesaver's hard candy and peppermint hard candy. I also add those items to my homemade MRE's. My wife missed her calling as a confectionery / baker so we have cupboards full of chocolates chips and other candy / desert making supplies. Just the other day I went into her cabinet (24" wide, 60" tall and 24" deep, with 4 shelves total) in search of something and counted 12 bags of Ghirardelli chocolate chips. She is apparently gearing up to make something very chocolaty. I also saw bags of mini-M&M's, white chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, peanut butter chips, etc., etc. She will not buy something if she can make it and control the ingredients. And this is why I only store away hard candy.


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## GrinnanBarrett (Aug 31, 2012)

I learned one thing about storing hard candy and that was I should not store it in a hot area. I wound up with one big can of hard candy goop. I store in cool and dry now. I agree with everyone here it is best to buy on sale and store your own rather than go for prepackaged survival hard candy. 

we try to put some in each of our 6 gallon buckets we use for general survival stores. those are the ones we have a little bit of everything in one mylar bag. Helps not to have to open one bucket of just rice or beans or candy. gb


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## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

Sentry18 said:


> I have several bags of hard candy vacuumed sealed and stored in smaller buckets. I started with root beer barrels and butterscotch candies because they were plentiful and inexpensive. I have since added Werther's Originals, Lifesaver's hard candy and peppermint hard candy. I also add those items to my homemade MRE's. My wife missed her calling as a confectionery / baker so we have cupboards full of chocolates chips and other candy / desert making supplies. Just the other day I went into her cabinet (24" wide, 60" tall and 24" deep, with 4 shelves total) in search of something and counted 12 bags of Ghirardelli chocolate chips. She is apparently gearing up to make something very chocolaty. I also saw bags of mini-M&M's, white chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, peanut butter chips, etc., etc. She will not buy something if she can make it and control the ingredients. And this is why I only store away hard candy.


I grew up with a grandmother who baked lots. She made bread, cakes, pies, cookies and she also made lots of homemade candy. Her mother had been a baker for weddings more than a century ago. My grandmother was not the best baker in her family. Her sisters were better than her, and grandma was great!

I have tried storing chocolate chips, butterscotch chips and most of what you have mentioned. I have done my best to not eat so much sugar, especially candy. But I agree, having some comfort food when things get tough will be good.

The real challenge with storing things that are not hard candies is that the shelf life is diminished. Have you ever opened a chocolate bar that had turned white or at least partially white? I have. Because of that, I keep chocolate chips and etc. in the fridge and freezer. It might keep it fresh, but it still turns white.

Yes, like all foods, heat is not good for hard candy. I have had some that I've kept in my car kit and the results were not good. The heat of summer is really hard on it, but is hard on all food that we try to keep in our cars for emergency purposes. I wonder what the best recommendations are for foods for the car during times when it is hot?


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## Sentry18 (Aug 5, 2012)

We never seem to store any of those goods (outside of my hard candy preps) long enough for it to go bad. But my wife does store those items in the freezer as well if she thinks it will be awhile before she gets to them. My wife seems to be the first name that comes to mind when there is a bake sale or a get-together of some kind. The other week she was asked to provide cookies for one of the youth groups (4-6 year old) and she made 10 dozen chocolate chip macadamia nut cookies. Of course 2 dozen went into the freezer and the rest went to church. Just imagine how many things like that come up when you have as many kids as we do! Plus she won't buy sweets or treats that are pre-made. She wants to control the ingredients and will often mix in healthier components (like mixing almond flour with wheat flour and honey in place of corn syrup). The funny thing is that my mother-in-law does not even cook, bake or anything else. 

When it's hot we store beverages and food in the car. Beverages like sports drinks with potassium and other vitamins (yes it will be warm). The food we store is usually in nut form, granola or trail mix with dehydrated fruits and coconut and no M&M's. All of which my wife makes as well.


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## OldCootHillbilly (Jul 9, 2010)

Sentry18 said:


> I have several bags of hard candy vacuumed sealed and stored in smaller buckets. I started with root beer barrels and butterscotch candies because they were plentiful and inexpensive. I have since added Werther's Originals, Lifesaver's hard candy and peppermint hard candy. I also add those items to my homemade MRE's. My wife missed her calling as a confectionery / baker so we have cupboards full of chocolates chips and other candy / desert making supplies. Just the other day I went into her cabinet (24" wide, 60" tall and 24" deep, with 4 shelves total) in search of something and counted 12 bags of Ghirardelli chocolate chips. She is apparently gearing up to make something very chocolaty. I also saw bags of mini-M&M's, white chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, peanut butter chips, etc., etc. She will not buy something if she can make it and control the ingredients. And this is why I only store away hard candy.


You got inta yer wifes chocolate cabinet and lived ta tell about it?!


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## gam46 (Jan 24, 2011)

Do have a stash of various forms of chocolate and enough sugar to make more than I can expect to need. DH always has multiple big bags of LifeSaver mints.


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## tsrwivey (Dec 31, 2010)

We don't store that much chocolate, we do, however, store a lot of unsweetened cocoa & sugar. Both store well long term.


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## ras1219como (Jan 15, 2013)

I have a big sweet tooth so I should probably start storing some candy. I'm afraid the candy won't last though, especially chocolate! 


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