# Long-term food storage question



## Deb862 (Jun 22, 2005)

After reading here alot, I see that many have both short-term and also long-term food storage plans. We're good at the short-term stuff like canned goods and other things we use on a weekly or monthly basis but not so good on the long term things like flour/wheat, pasta, rice, baking soda/powder, pancake mix, etc. We know that things like sugars and salt last indefinitely, but many of the other things seem to have 1-2 year shelf lives or so even when packed in mylar and such; is that correct?

We wondering if it's possible to just "put up and forget about it" with the mylar and oxygen absorbers? If not, do you just use smaller mylar bags and containers so that you don't have to keep opening the main large container, thereby exposing it to spoilage quicker? I was doing some research on the Emergency Essentials site and at first I saw that they said their foods have a "30-year shelf life" but then when you read the small print it says that it's really only about 5-7 years and after that you can eat it and gain calories but many of the nutrients will probably be gone so not sure if that would be a better way to go or not on some items.

Things we are wanting to add are white rice, elbow pasta, backing power, baking soda, pancake mix (or other baking mix) and flour of some sort as we don't have a grain mill. Thanks in advance for any advice!

ETA: Also, when they say sugars and salt last "indefinitely" does that mean we can 'put up and forget about them" for a super long time, like 5-7 years?


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## NewGround (Dec 19, 2010)

For long term storage you will want to invest in a grain mill. Generally speaking whole grains, wheat berries etc. will last a long time stored properly but once milled their shelf life is short.

Many here are way ahead of me on this...


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## SquashNut (Sep 25, 2005)

I don't have long term storage, I use the stuff in the order I buy it and I don't buy mixes as I am afraid the baking powder will go bad. Every thing is from scratch.


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## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

Don't buy baking powder, it has a very short life span. Buy baking soda and cream of tartar. You mix those together for baking powder. Use 2 tsp of cream of tartar to 1 tsp of baking soda. You can also use baking soda and vinegar or sour milk.

Mixes have a short shelf life because of the baking powder in them and sometimes there is fat that goes rancid.

As long as salt and sugar are kept dry and away from strong odors, they are good 30 yrs or more.

I store whole grains and have a grain mill. I never buy flour or mixes of any kind.


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## Spinner (Jul 19, 2003)

A good rule of food storage is to store what you use and use what you store. If you put up a years worth of food, it will be rotated every year so won't be in storage for many many years. I like to keep a 2 year supply in case the garden fails one year. 

I keep things in 5 & 6 gallon buckets. White rice will keep for several years if sealed in a bucket with 02 absorbers. Some of my buckets are lined with mylar, some are not. Flour starts losing it's vitamins within 2 weeks of being processed. Wheat berries keep their vitamin content for years. That's one of the reasons many of us store wheat berries instead of flour. 

I have kept baking powder in the freezer and it has stayed good past the expiration date. If you plan to store long term, it might be better to store the ingredients to make you own fresh instead of storing commercial cans. Making it at home is easy: mix together a teaspoon of baking soda with 2 teaspoons of cream of tartar. This does NOT store well so only mix as much as you can use quickly. If you need to store for a while, add a teaspoon of cornstarch to absorb moisture and help keep it from reacting before you get it used up. Store it in an air tight container.


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## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

I don't do much with mylar bags because we had a mouse get into some once. If I have to put the mylar bags in a bucket and seal both bags and bucket....well, that's too many steps for me. I just seal my stuff buckets or the gallon cans when I can. I have not had an issue with something going bad from not using a bucket fast enough once unsealed. I have wheat and oats that are very old. If I don't eat it - the chickens will. Even the powdered milk that might have gone bad - can be eaten by something or used in the compost. 

My long-term food storage isn't meant to be the sum total of what I eat. I could live on it if absolutely necessary. Hopefully what I can producein the gardens and orchard will expand the long term stuff and make up for some of the nutrients that might have lessened over time. As far as that goes- I bet 30 yr old Long-term storage items have more nurtients than what most folks get today anyway. 

Sugar and salt will keep forever (not just 5 years) if kept air tight. They have little nutrients to lose. The elbow macaroni will have a shorter shelf life. I replace all baking powder every 3 years. Baking soda over 3 years gets moved to the cleaning supply area.


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## Deb862 (Jun 22, 2005)

Thanks for the tip about the cream of tartar. That'll work!

On the long-term storage thing, we are shooting for a 1-year supply or more and as we build it we are rotating things. It's just, we're coming up against two things: As there are only 2 of us (and we don't always eat what we should LOL) we expect to have spoilage or out of date food at times before we rotate all the way through. 

Secondly, we would like to attempt at least a 1-year supply for 4.5 people (the 2 of us plus daughter, husband, and grandson) in the event of a bad situation, so our second question is, for those that are prepping for more than just themselves how do you do it without food going bad or out of date (besides the obvious things that store long term like wheat berries, sugar, salt, etc.)?


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## stamphappy (Jul 29, 2010)

Deb862: 

Could you track the food expiry dates and when they are within a month or two of expiration give them to to food bank and ask for a receipt? Then you can take fair market value off on your taxes.


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## stanb999 (Jan 30, 2005)

Deb862 said:


> Thanks for the tip about the cream of tartar. That'll work!
> 
> On the long-term storage thing, we are shooting for a 1-year supply or more and as we build it we are rotating things. It's just, we're coming up against two things: As there are only 2 of us (and we don't always eat what we should LOL) we expect to have spoilage or out of date food at times before we rotate all the way through.
> 
> Secondly, we would like to attempt at least a 1-year supply for 4.5 people (the 2 of us plus daughter, husband, and grandson) in the event of a bad situation, so our second question is, for those that are prepping for more than just themselves how do you do it without food going bad or out of date (besides the obvious things that store long term like wheat berries, sugar, salt, etc.)?


A few thing to consider as well is your storage place. I see your in NY State. Your storage food would stay good years longer than some one in Louisiana for instance if your storage was in an "unheated" basement or garage. Now you don't want them to freeze of course but lowering the temperature from say an average of 70 to an average of 50 would greatly extend the shelf life. Here we keep most of our long term in our unheated basement with it's summer high temp in 50's and winter temps in the upper 30's for instance. 

Also, A lot of those expiration dates have little to do with the quality of the food. They are the "opinion" of the food manufacturer as to when flavor suffers. Can goods stored well can keep it's quality for many years... Even decades.


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## mekasmom (Jan 19, 2010)

Deb862 said:


> many of the other things seem to have 1-2 year shelf lives or so even when packed in mylar and such; is that correct?
> 
> Things we are wanting to add are white rice, elbow pasta, backing power, baking soda, pancake mix (or other baking mix) and flour of some sort as we don't have a grain mill. Thanks in advance for any advice!


White rice, pasta, baking soda, sugar, honey, salt, etc all last many years, even decades.
Just because something has an expiration date printed on it doesn't mean that it goes "dead" or bad on that date. I have cake mixes that are 3-4yrs past their expiration. I just add a pinch of baking soda to them when I make them. It's not a big deal.
I have had good luck keeping white flour for several years. Whole Wheat doesn't last over 3-4 yrs or so in my experience. Ground flax is the worst thing for keeping more than a few months.
If you just want to store it and forget it then rice, pasta, salt, sugar, honey, beans, and wheat berries are your best choices. They last for decades and decades and decades.


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