# 16 foods that last forever



## JayJay (Nov 23, 2010)

http://zombease.com/2013/03/06/forever-food-miracle-munchables-that-never-spoil/

Cornstarch - This gluten free forever food is most commonly used as a thickening agents for sauces, stews, and syrups, but it can do a whole lot more than that. Cornstarch is great for treating blood stains, detangling and cleaning hair, soothing rashes and sunburns, and it can even be eaten straight out of the box for a kick of starch when needed.

Corn Syrup - One of the most common substitutes for sugar, corn syrup is used in everything from baked goods to canned foods, candy, soft drinks, and more. While it wont work for medical treatments like real sugar does (see: Sugar Antiseptics), this substitute sweetener is a definite treat in an undead world. Try to avoid high-fructose syrups when possible. It might be the end of the world, but that's no reason to let yourself go.

Dried Beans - If left properly sealed and stored in a cool dry place, dried beans will never spoil. Available in the form of pinto, lentils, black, garbanzo, navy, peas, and more, these easy to find and store forever foods are packed full of proteins, fibers, and carbs, making them a great shelf-stable staple&#8230; even without an emergency on the horizon. As dried beans age, they harden slightly and need a little longer to soften while soaking or cooking.

Dried Pasta - Kept free of moisture and insects, dried pasta will last you more than a lifetime&#8230; unless you eat it all of course. This easy to prepare emergency staple is great for filling bellies and providing a boost to carb stores. Available in a wide variety of forms and base ingredients like buckwheat, rice, flour, egg, spinach and more, there is a type of pasta for just about every occasion.

Extracts - All liquor based extracts like vanilla, orange, almond, mint, etc. last a lifetime or longer&#8230; as long as you get the real stuff and not the cheap "flavored" kind. Useful in beverages, baking, and even as a mild deodorant, extracts are great to have on hand.

Hard Liquor - The uses for this valuable staple go beyond the occasional escape from reality or use for celebration during times of duress, it's also a highly valuable commodity for barter and even medical treatment and sterilization in some cases. Shelf stable even after being opened, hard liquor will be there as long as you need it to, and as long as you can resist downing a whole bottle at a time.

Hardtack - A simple mixture of flour and water, forming a hard dense cracker that can literally last for decades, hardtack has been used the world over as a dietary staple and supplement during times of disaster and war. While it might not be the most flavorful food, hardtack can keep you going when times get rough.

Herbs and Spices - Everything from garlic powder to cumin, basil, oregano, black pepper, cinnamon, mustard seed and more, will last you well into twilight ages of the world&#8230; as long as you keep them stored in a cool dry place and have enough on hand to go around. In addition to the obvious use as an ingredient in many dishes and baked goods, herbs and spices play an important role in supplying much needed nutrients for survival, as well as their widely accepted use as a natural alternative to many medications.

Low-quality herbs and spices often come with microscopic mold/mildew contamination that can lead to spoilage (not to mentioned illness) over time, and some low-cost options are even diluted with things like bricks dust and other non-edibles. So while it might cost a bit more in the immediate, in the long-term the benefits of high-quality herbs and spices are worth the extra upfront cost.

Instant Coffee - Not everyone needs a boost to the system all the time, but a little coffee can go a long way to making a bad situation a little more bearable. Available in a wide variety of containers from individual packets to gallon size cans and more, this is one of the most readily available forever foods you can find. The everlasting abilities of coffee don't stop with the instant kind though. Green non-roasted coffee beans can be stored just about forever, and you have the added benefit of roasting them as you see fit&#8230; as long as you have the tools and knowledge to do so.

Raw Honey - This eternally shelf-stable delicacy is one of the best survival foods to have around. Literally lasting forever, honey crystallizes as it ages but never spoils. In fact, archaeologists have even discovered shelf-stable raw honey in Egypt's ancient pyramids. Used as a sweetener and treatment for a number of maladies, raw honey wont ever let you down. Check the labels at your local grocery store or farmers market carefully. Cooked honey will eventually spoil so stick to the raw stuff when you can. (see also: Honey Everlasting)

Salt - The only exception to this rule is with seasoned salts. These often contain ingredients that spoil within a year or so. The real stuff, from sea or from the table and iodized or not, should last a literal lifetime and beyond. (see also: Salt For Survival)

Soy Sauce - Stored in a well sealed container and left unopened, soy sauce will last forever. This is primarily due to an extremely high sodium content. Useful in a variety of sauces as well as a condiment on it's own, soy sauce is a tasty treat to have on hand for the apocalypse. While hoarding those little see-through packets you can snag from most Asian restaurants might seem like a good idea, it's probably better to just buy a few small glass bottles instead.

Just likes spices, and most prepackaged and prepared foods/sauces, low-quality soy sauce can come contaminated with mold. While it might not present an immediate problem, it can greatly reduce the shelf-life of the soy sauce, and it really isn't very good for you anyhow.

Sugar - Over time both white and brown sugars will clump together and harden, no matter how you store them, but that doesn't mean they've spoiled. In fact, just like honey, this cane-based sweetener and ingredient for many baked goods has a literal shelf life of forever, and can even be applied medically. (see also: Sugar Antiseptics)

Uncooked White Rice - Unlike naturally oily brown rice, uncooked white rice can last forever as long as you keep it away from moisture and invasive critters like moths and other small insects. Full of calories, carbs and proteins, white rich can be a meal on it's own or added to things like vegetable or meat stocks to height the nutrients and flavor.

White Distilled Vinegar - Found in most stores and even some quick-stops, this highly versatile Forever Food isn't just great for pickling, canning, sauces and preservation, it's a powerful cleaning agent, washing liquid and deodorizer as well. Stored in a cool cry place, a gallon of this can go a long way.

Wine - When properly produced and stored wine only gets better with age, and that makes it a highly valuable resource for barter and survival. Unlike its hard liquor counterpart, wine must be stored in a cool, dark dry place and consumed quickly after opening (3-5 days). Proper storage of wine can most difficult, as it requires positioning of the bottle so that the cork doesn't dry out, as well as the proper environment. For optimal storage, keep the bottles on their sides or tilted slightly cork-side down so that the liquid is in constant contact with the body of the cork. Keep stored in a cool, dry and more importantly dark area, with a stable temperature and level of humidity maintained as much as possible. Bottles should be checked a few times a year to make sure corks aren't drying out and that the bottles haven't cracked. Only wine bottled with real corks can be stored long-term, screw top or plasticized corks will not last for extended periods of time. Unfortunately, champagne and sparkling wines will not store for long term use


----------



## Sentry18 (Aug 5, 2012)

Twinkies. The list creator forgot Twinkies.


----------



## Texas (May 14, 2013)

Twinkies will not last forever. I had 4 or 5 boxes in the pantry. They all went bad after 6 months. At least thats what I told my wife and I am sticking to my story.


----------



## Boomy (Mar 17, 2012)

Sentry18 said:


> Twinkies. The list creator forgot Twinkies.


Also forgot canned spinnach. No way that stuff can go bad. It comes out smelling like it has been fermenting in the third stomach of some nondescript dinosour for half a decade before being regurgitated into a pig stine. If it did go bad, I don't know how you'd be able to tell.......


----------



## -prepper- (Feb 3, 2013)

Boomy said:


> . It comes out smelling like it has been fermenting in the third stomach of some nondescript dinosour for half a decade before being regurgitated into a pig stine.


Oh...
Oh my .
And it just oh 
So descriptive 
......


----------



## crabapple (Jan 1, 2012)

Most seeds last only a year or two.
But If you plant & save seeds then they last for hundreds of years.


----------



## Idaholady (Apr 24, 2010)

Of course canned spinach will never go bad...no one will ever open one of those cans to find out....ucky stuff. LOL The only way to eat spinach, is fresh, out of the garden....


----------



## Sybil6 (Jan 28, 2013)

Every single comment on this was absolutely priceless. And won't preserves last too? Jelly and syrup?


----------



## RevWC (Mar 28, 2011)

You forgot Maraschino Cherries..

In my youth as a bartender I dropped one behind the bar..6 months later we did a complete cleaning of the bar and I found the Maraschino Cherry I had dropped, and it was perfect! No wrinkels or discoloration..

I can't imagine how long they would last in a jar!


----------



## Salekdarling (Aug 15, 2010)

Idaholady said:


> Of course canned spinach will never go bad...no one will ever open one of those cans to find out....ucky stuff. LOL The only way to eat spinach, is fresh, out of the garden....


I couldn't agree with you more. I can't even stand frozen spinach - eeyuck!


----------



## Tacitus (Dec 30, 2012)

"Cooked honey" vs. "raw honey"...how do you tell the difference? I buy the stuff in bottles like this at Costco...it just says "pure" not "cooked" or "raw":


----------



## jeff47041 (Jan 5, 2013)

I'd like to know about the cooked and raw honey too.

I've always heard that store bought spices are only good for a few months. Any truth to that? Do you guys have store bought spices stocked up? And if so, do you just have them in the original container or would it be better to use the food saver to remove air and seal it? Opinions please.


----------



## Lake Windsong (Nov 27, 2009)

Tacitus said:


> "Cooked honey" vs. "raw honey"...how do you tell the difference? I buy the stuff in bottles like this at Costco...it just says "pure" not "cooked" or "raw":


Business Week posted an article recently called The Honey Launderers. 
Magnus von Buddenbrock and Stefanie Giesselbach arrived in Chicago in 2006 full of hope. He was 30, she was 28, and they had both won their first overseas assignments at ALW Food Group, a family-owned food-trading company based in Hamburg. Von Buddenbrock had joined ALW-the initials stand for its founder, Alfred L. Wolff-four years earlier after earning a degree in marketing and international business, and he was expert in the buying and selling of gum arabic, a key ingredient in candy and soft drinks. Giesselbach had started at ALW as a 19-year-old apprentice. She worked hard, learned quickly, spoke five languages, and within three years had become the company's first female product manager. Her specialty was honey. When the two colleagues began their new jobs in a small fourth-floor office a few blocks from Millennium Park in downtown Chicago, ALW's business was growing, and all they saw was opportunity.

On March 24, 2008, von Buddenbrock came to the office around 8:30 a.m., as usual. He was expecting a quiet day: It was a holiday in Germany, and his bosses there had the day off. Giesselbach was on holiday, too; she had returned to Germany to visit her family and boyfriend. Sometime around 10 a.m., von Buddenbrock heard a commotion in the reception area and went to have a look. A half-dozen armed federal agents, all wearing bulletproof vests, had stormed in. "They made a good show, coming in with full force," he recalls. "It was pretty scary."

The agents asked if anybody was hiding anywhere, then separated von Buddenbrock and his assistant, the only two employees there. Agents brought von Buddenbrock into a conference room, where they questioned him about ALW's honey business. After a couple of hours they left, taking with them stacks of paper files, copies of computer hard drives, and samples of honey.

Giesselbach returned from Germany three days later. Her flight was about to land at O'Hare when the crew announced that everyone would have to show their passports at the gate. As Giesselbach walked off the plane, federal agents pulled her aside. She, too, answered their questions about ALW's honey shipments. After an hour, they let her leave. The agents, from the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Department of Homeland Security, had begun to uncover a plot by ALW to import millions of pounds of cheap honey from China by disguising its origins.

Americans consume more honey than anyone else in the world, nearly 400 million pounds every year. About half of that is used by food companies in cereals, bread, cookies, and all sorts of other processed food. Some 60 percent of the honey is imported from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, and other trading partners. Almost none comes from China. After U.S. beekeepers accused Chinese companies of selling their honey at artificially low prices, the government imposed import duties in 2001 that as much as tripled the price of Chinese honey. Since then, little enters from China legally.

Von Buddenbrock and Giesselbach continued to cooperate with the investigators, according to court documents. In September 2010, though, the junior executives were formally accused of helping ALW perpetuate a sprawling $80 million food fraud, the largest in U.S. history. Andrew Boutros, assistant U.S. attorney in Chicago, had put together the case: Eight other ALW executives, including Alexander Wolff, the chief executive officer, and a Chinese honey broker, were indicted on charges alleging a global conspiracy to illegally import Chinese honey going back to 2002. Most of the accused executives live in Germany and, for now, remain beyond the reach of the U.S. justice system. They are on Interpol's list of wanted people. U.S. lawyers for ALW declined to comment.

In the spring of 2006, as Giesselbach, who declined requests for an interview, was preparing for her job in Chicago, she started receiving e-mail updates about various shipments of honey moving through ports around the world. According to court documents, one on May 3 was titled "Loesungmoeglichkeiten," or "Solution possibilities." During a rare inspection, U.S. customs agents had become suspicious about six shipping containers of honey headed for ALW's customers. The honey came from China but had been labeled Korean White Honey.

The broker, a small-time businessman from Taiwan named Michael Fan, had already received advice from ALW about how to get Chinese honey into the U.S. ALW executives had told him to ship his honey in black drums since the Chinese usually used green ones. And they had reminded him that the "taste should be better than regular mainland material." Chinese honey was often harvested early and dried by machine rather than bees. This allowed the bees to produce more honey, but the honey often had an odor and taste similar to sauerkraut. Fan was told to mix sugar and syrup into the honey in Taiwan to dull the pungent flavor.

After Fan's honey shipment was confiscated, an ALW executive wrote to Giesselbach and her colleagues: "I request that all recipients not to write e-mail about this topic. Please OVER THE TELEPHONE and in German! Thank you!"

Nonetheless, Giesselbach and executives in Hamburg, Hong Kong, and Beijing continued to use e-mail for sensitive discussions about the mislabeled honey. When Yan Yong Xiang, an established honey broker from China they called the "famous Mr. Non Stop Smoker," was due to visit Chicago, Giesselbach received an e-mail. "Topic: we do not say he is shipping the fake stuff. But we can tell him that he should be careful on this topic + antibiotics." E-mails mention falsifying reports from a German lab, creating fake documents for U.S. customs agents, finding new ways to pass Chinese honey through other countries, and setting up a Chinese company that would be eligible to apply for lower tariffs. Giesselbach comes across as accommodating, unquestioning, and adept.

ALW relied on a network of brokers from China and Taiwan, who shipped honey from China to India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Russia, South Korea, Mongolia, Thailand, Taiwan, and the Philippines. The 50-gallon drums would be relabeled in these countries and sent on to the U.S. Often the honey was filtered to remove the pollen, which could help identify its origin. Some of the honey was adulterated with rice sugar, molasses, or fructose syrup.

In a few cases the honey was contaminated with the residue of antibiotics banned in the U.S. In late 2006 an ALW customer rejected part of Order 995, three container loads of "Polish Light Amber," valued at $85,000. Testing revealed one container was contaminated with chloramphenicol, an antibiotic the U.S. bans from food. Chinese beekeepers use chloramphenicol to prevent Foulbrood disease, which is widespread and destructive. A deal was made to sell the contaminated honey at a big discount to another customer in Texas, a processor that sold honey to food companies. According to court documents, ALW executives called Honey Holding the "garbage can" for the company's willingness to buy what others would not. Giesselbach followed up with Honey Holding, noting "quality as discussed." The contaminated container was delivered on Dec. 14, 2006.

Von Buddenbrock's introduction to the honey-laundering scheme came months after he'd settled into Chicago. In the spring of 2007 he was getting ready to take over the U.S. operation from a university friend, Thomas Marten. They talked about the business every other week for a couple of hours over dinner. One night at an Italian restaurant near their office, Marten told von Buddenbrock about ALW's mislabeling Chinese honey to avoid the high tariffs. "The conversation started normally," says von Buddenbrock. "Then he started talking about honey. I always took notes in all our meetings, and I tried to take notes then. He told me I shouldn't. I was surprised and a bit shocked about what I was hearing. We were talking about something criminal, and some people imagine meeting undercover, in a shady garage." They were out in the open, eating pasta. Marten could not be reached for comment.

Von Buddenbrock took over from Marten in August 2007. The raid on the ALW office on North Wabash Avenue occurred seven months later, after U.S. honey producers had warned Commerce and Homeland Security that companies might be smuggling in cheap Chinese honey. Low prices made them suspicious. So did the large amount of honey suddenly coming from Indonesia, Malaysia, and India-more, in total, than those countries historically produced.

Although the illicit honey never posed a public health threat, the ease with which the German company maneuvered suggests how vulnerable the food supply chain is to potential danger. "People don't know what they're eating," says Karen Everstine, a research associate at the National Center for Food Protection and Defense. The honey business is only one example of an uncontrolled market. "We don't know how it works, and we have to know how it works if we want to be able to identify hazards."

After they were questioned in March 2008, von Buddenbrock and Giesselbach continued to work for ALW. "We didn't know what direction this was going to go," says von Buddenbrock. "I was considering leaving, but I thought this might actually be a good opportunity for me." If ALW got out of the honey business, he could focus on selling the products he knew more about. The ALW executives in Hamburg, he notes, kept in touch by e-mail but for obvious reasons no longer traveled to the U.S. Giesselbach, meanwhile, arranged to return to ALW's Hamburg office; it's not clear if she was being sent home by the company. Her flight to Germany was on Friday, May 23.

Von Buddenbrock drove her to O'Hare, hugged her goodbye beside the curb, and got back in his car. It was late afternoon, the beginning of Memorial Day weekend, and he called his assistant to see if he needed to return to the office. While he was on the phone, an unmarked Chevy Impala drove up behind him. Officials shouted for him to pull over, arrested him, and drove him to a downtown Chicago courthouse where Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, federal prosecutors, and his lawyer were waiting. About 20 minutes later, Giesselbach was brought in. She had been arrested before she checked in for her flight. "We were not allowed to talk, but I could see on her face that she was shocked," says von Buddenbrock. "We were both in complete disbelief."

Von Buddenbrock had also booked a flight to Germany for the following week; he planned to attend a friend's wedding and return to Chicago. "I think that made the agents nervous," he says. "At that point they didn't know the complexity of the scheme. They probably thought No. 1 and No. 2 are leaving the country."

He and Giesselbach were charged with conspiring to import honey from China that was mislabeled and adulterated. They were taken next door to the Metropolitan Correctional Center, where they turned over their belongings, put on orange jumpsuits, and waited. "I was tense and nervous," says von Buddenbrock. "But I managed to get along. I speak Spanish. I like soccer." He played Monopoly with someone's contraband dice. He got to know Joey Lombardo, the mafia boss. "He gave me a recommendation for an Italian restaurant."

Back in Hamburg, Wolff told local newspaper Abendblatt: "The accusations against us are unfounded, and we will fight them with every legal means."

On Monday, June 2, agents seized thousands more files from ALW's office. Later that month, Giesselbach and von Buddenbrock were released after posting bond and continued to cooperate. "At first we didn't have any clue how big it was," says Gary Hartwig, the ICE special agent in Chicago in charge of the investigation.

"They were extremely sophisticated and intelligent in some ways, but so sloppy in other ways. What do they think-no one can translate German?"

ALW soon closed its U.S. operations and cut off contact with Giesselbach and von Buddenbrock. "ALW had such a nice scheme that functioned so well for a while," says T. Markus Funk, an internal investigations and white-collar defense partner at Perkins Coie who was a federal prosecutor in Chicago when the ALW investigation began. "They were extremely sophisticated and intelligent in some ways, but so sloppy in other ways. What do they think-no one can translate German?"

In Germany, Giesselbach's parents pleaded with ALW to help their daughter, but "the company cowardly abandoned their young employee without any help when she was in dire straits," her father, Frank, says in an e-mail. One ICE agent called Giesselbach a marionette; the puppet master was Wolff. "I feel that Stefanie and Magnus got the rough end of the pineapple," says Funk.

Giesselbach and von Buddenbrock each pleaded guilty to one count of fraud in the spring of 2012. According to Giesselbach's plea agreement, between November 2006, when she arrived in Chicago, and May 2008, when she was arrested, as much as 90 percent of all honey imported into the U.S. by ALW was "falsely declared as to its country of origin."

In February 2010, Wolff & Olsen, the century-old conglomerate that owned ALW, sold it to a Hamburg company called Norevo. According to an affidavit by one of the ICE agents, the sale was a sham; a former ALW executive assured customers in the U.S. by e-mail that after the sale was complete it would be "business as usual." The transaction price was not disclosed. Norevo replied to a request for comment with a statement that had been posted on its website in March 2010. It concludes: "Within the frame of this acquisition, as legally required, the whole staff [of ALW] was taken over by Norevo, allowing for the business continuity of the company."

Giesselbach went to jail. For one year and one day, she was Prisoner 22604-424 at Hazelton, a federal penitentiary in Bruceton Mills, W. Va. In a sentencing memo, Giesselbach's lawyer wrote of his client: "She was living her youthful dream of international travel and business; under those circumstances she ignored her good judgment and went along with her predecessor's scheme knowing it was wrong." Giesselbach was released on Sept. 8 and is being deported. Von Buddenbrock was put under home confinement in Chicago for six months. His last day in an ankle bracelet was Friday, March 8. On the Monday after that, he self-deported. "I was relieved and happy, but I wasn't sure what's going to come," he says. He's settling back into life in Germany. "At the beginning it was a bad, lone wolf, so to speak," he says. "Later, digging deeper the government found it was more than just ALW. A lot of people were doing it. It was an open secret."

A second phase of the investigation began in 2011, when Homeland Security agents approached Honey Holding, ALW's "garbage can," and one of the biggest suppliers of honey to U.S. food companies. In "Project Honeygate," as agents called it, Homeland Security had an agent work undercover for a full year as a director of procurement at Honey Holding.

In February 2013, the Department of Justice accused Honey Holding, as well as a company called Groeb Farms and several honey brokers, of evading $180 million in tariffs. Five people pleaded guilty to fraud, including one executive at Honey Holding, who was given a six-month sentence. Honey Holding and Groeb Farms entered into deferred prosecution agreements, which require them to follow a strict code of conduct and to continue cooperating with the investigation.

When it announced the deferred prosecution agreement, Groeb Farms, which is based in Onsted, Mich., said it dismissed two executives who created fake documents and lied to the board of directors even as the company's own audits raised concerns that honey was being illegally imported. "Everything we are doing at Groeb Farms this year has been to ensure the integrity of our supply chain," Rolf Richter, the company's new CEO, said via e-mail. Groeb Farms paid a $2 million fine.

In a statement on its website, Honey Holding says it accepted full responsibility and that in its settlement "there will be neither admission of guilt nor finding of guilt." The company, now called Honey Solutions, is paying its $1 million fine in installments.

Edit:Added the above article.
Raw honey has not been processed/heated. The stuff at Costco has been heated, filtered, etc.


----------



## Wellrounded (Sep 25, 2011)

jeff47041 said:


> I'd like to know about the cooked and raw honey too.
> 
> I've always heard that store bought spices are only good for a few months. Any truth to that? Do you guys have store bought spices stocked up? And if so, do you just have them in the original container or would it be better to use the food saver to remove air and seal it? Opinions please.


Whole spices will last years, especially if vacuum sealed. Ground spices no where near as long. I buy most of mine in 2kg (about 4b) bags and then repack. They last me years without any noticeable change. 
The ones that are a little tricky are those like turmeric, ginger etc. If you can buy them in the largest dried pieces possible or even can them. 
I've was lucky to get a small patches of galangal, tumeric and ginger established last year, they weathered our temperature winter quite well. I won't harvest any until I've got large patches going


----------



## helicopter5472 (Feb 25, 2013)

I'd like to know about the cooked and raw honey too.


----------



## Lake Windsong (Nov 27, 2009)

Basically, raw honey will say on the package that it is raw honey. Most store bought honey has been heat treated and filtered.


----------



## JayJay (Nov 23, 2010)

Lake Windsong said:


> Basically, raw honey will say on the package that it is raw honey. Most store bought honey has been heat treated and filtered.


Not here--when we buy from the Mennonites and Amish, we know it's pure!!:teehee:
Especially the quart jar with the hive in it!!


----------



## crabapple (Jan 1, 2012)

Wellrounded, whole spice or fresh spice are better.
But ground cinnamon is of a higher quality then whole or stick cinnamon.


----------



## Dixie (Sep 20, 2010)

I buy mine from a cousin so look for raw honey at festivals, farmers markets or maybe online. I would think if it has the combe inside it would be fresh but IDK.


----------



## Tacitus (Dec 30, 2012)

I find it hard to believe that raw honey lasts longer than treated honey.


----------



## Salekdarling (Aug 15, 2010)

Tacitus said:


> I find it hard to believe that raw honey lasts longer than treated honey.


Honey literally does last forever, raw or processed. You just have to keep it sealed and away from water.

From the Smithsonian Magazine - The Science Behind Honey's Eternal Shelf Life



> Modern archeologists, excavating ancient Egyptian tombs, have often found something unexpected amongst the tombs' artifacts: pots of honey, thousands of years old, and yet still preserved. Through millennia, the archeologists discover, the food remains unspoiled, an unmistakable testament to the eternal shelf-life of honey.
> 
> There are a few other examples of foods that keep-indefinitely-in their raw state: salt, sugar, dried rice are a few. But there's something about honey; it can remain preserved in a completely edible form, and while you wouldn't want to chow down on raw rice or straight salt, one could ostensibly dip into a thousand year old jar of honey and enjoy it, without preparation, as if it were a day old. Moreover, honey's longevity lends it other properties-mainly medicinal-that other resilient foods don't have. Which raises the question-what exactly makes honey such a special food?
> 
> ...


----------



## tsrwivey (Dec 31, 2010)

Maybe the raw honey has natural antibiotics in it that prevent anything from growing in it to ruin it & those natural antibiotics are killed during processing? :dunno:


----------



## 21601mom (Jan 15, 2013)

Raw honey usually looks lighter and cloudier than processed honey. 

Here's an example:


----------



## Wellrounded (Sep 25, 2011)

crabapple said:


> Wellrounded, whole spice or fresh spice are better.
> But ground cinnamon is of a higher quality then whole or stick cinnamon.


I guess that depends on where you buy your cinnamon, our whole is NOTHING like the ground we can buy!


----------



## alergyfree (Feb 15, 2011)

Coconut oil is very stable when properly stored and can be used for every thing from cooking to making soap. One of the healthiest oils available used internally as well externally.
If I get heartburn after eating spicy food I eat a small spoon of it and the burn goes away. Sounds weird but it works for me.
Ive eaten stuff that was twenty years old, tasted fine.


----------



## JayJay (Nov 23, 2010)

alergyfree said:


> Coconut oil is very stable when properly stored and can be used for every thing from cooking to making soap. One of the healthiest oils available used internally as well externally.
> If I get heartburn after eating spicy food I eat a small spoon of it and the burn goes away. Sounds weird but it works for me.
> Ive eaten stuff that was twenty years old, tasted fine.


I've eaten green beans and tomato juice I canned in 1992--it was last year, so that was 20 years.
It was great.


----------



## lanahi (Jun 22, 2009)

21601mom said:


> Raw honey usually looks lighter and cloudier than processed honey.
> 
> Here's an example:


That is crystallized honey or what they call creamed honey (honey that has been intentionally seeded with tiny wax crystals.) Creamed honey spreads like butter.

Raw honey looks the same as any other honey. I used to keep bees. There's no way to tell by looking at it if it is heated or not.

Commercial beekeepers heat the honey a bit so it more quickly filters out the impurities (they take out much of the pollen so it doesn't crystallize so soon. But the pollen is a protein and healthier. Usually very clear honey has been filtered.

A back-yard beekeeper doesn't heat honey, so I'd buy it locally. But I doubt if heating it to the low temperatures the commercial guys do really hurts it much unless it kills some of the good enzymes. It will still keep forever.

If it crystallized, you can just put the jar in a pan of hot water until the wax melts.

What WILL spoil honey is water. It will ferment to either a poor wine or poor vinegar if it draws too much moisture from the air. Honey wine is called mead.

Honey is a powerful antiseptic because of the acid that doesn't allow bacteria to grow. It was used on war wounds before penicillin was discovered or not available.


----------



## Bigdog57 (Oct 9, 2008)

Peanut butter will last forever, if it's the type made with Canola Oil. I once left some out in a small dish. TWO years later, NOTHING had touched it - no mice, bugs or mold. If these vermin won't eat it, I sure won't. I avoid canola oil, as it is made from the Rape Seed. Rape oil is used in insect poisons.
Sure, you can find yeas and nays to it online. Plenty other healthier choices, so I avoid it. 
I eat natural peanut butter. I never fridge it. That makes it too stiff to spread.
Catsup (or Ketchup) and Mustard also need no fridging.


----------



## crabapple (Jan 1, 2012)

Bigdog57 said:


> Peanut butter will last forever, if it's the type made with Canola Oil. I once left some out in a small dish. TWO years later, NOTHING had touched it - no mice, bugs or mold. If these vermin won't eat it, I sure won't. I avoid canola oil, as it is made from the Rape Seed. Rape oil is used in insect poisons.
> Sure, you can find yeas and nays to it online. Plenty other healthier choices, so I avoid it.
> I eat natural peanut butter. I never fridge it. That makes it too stiff to spread.
> Catsup (or Ketchup) and Mustard also need no fridging.


Rape oil is good for you, rape is a vegetable planted for deer.
Oil used in insecticides is so the poison can stick to the insect, as a bug crawls thought poison laced oil.
Any oil will do for this, you can buy the oil to mix with your own poisons.
We have done this for years in Landscaping & farm work.

http://rapeseedoilbenefits.hgca.com/guide-to-rapeseed-oil/rapeseed-oil-health-benefits.aspx


----------



## crabapple (Jan 1, 2012)

lanahi said:


> That is crystallized honey or what they call creamed honey (honey that has been intentionally seeded with tiny wax crystals.) Creamed honey spreads like butter.
> 
> Raw honey looks the same as any other honey. I used to keep bees. There's no way to tell by looking at it if it is heated or not.
> 
> ...


I knew a Beekeeper who put his honey comb in a dish pan on a sunny day, let the sun melt the wax under cheese clothes. Then he remove the pan to a cooler place to remove the sheet of wax, with no harm to the honey (like sun tea).
He said Commercial units could do this slower process, but that time is money, so they do it the fast way.


----------



## Bigdog57 (Oct 9, 2008)

crabapple said:


> Rape oil is good for you, rape is a vegetable planted for deer.
> Oil used in insecticides is so the poison can stick to the insect, as a bug crawls thought poison laced oil.
> Any oil will do for this, you can buy the oil to mix with your own poisons.
> We have done this for years in Landscaping & farm work.
> ...


Okay, that's one vote for the "YAY!" side. I still remain firmly on the "NAY!" side. As I said, in researching this, it's about an even split. I have plenty of other options I can feel better about. Choice is a good thing!
And yes, we plant Rape on our deer food plots. Doesn't mean I want to eat it.....


----------



## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

jeff47041 said:


> I'd like to know about the cooked and raw honey too.
> 
> I've always heard that store bought spices are only good for a few months. Any truth to that? Do you guys have store bought spices stocked up? And if so, do you just have them in the original container or would it be better to use the food saver to remove air and seal it? Opinions please.


I think the whole business of spices losing their effectiveness or flavor in 6 months is poppycock. That is a story to sell more spices. There may be a couple that change a little, but I am not about throwing spices away because they are older than 6 months. I have never noticed a difference in any of my spices, and some of mine are a couple decades old.

I know there are people who are OCD and if this is suggested to them, they will be all about cleaning them out in 6 months. I have a friend like this.

The one thing that happened was when my paprika that was about 20 years old turned a little brown.


----------



## Bigdog57 (Oct 9, 2008)

I have several spices (Garlic Salt, Italian Spice, Oregano and black Pepper especially) that are a good two or more years old. Maybe they've lost a bit of their 'zing', but they still seem okay.


----------

