# prepping with pancake mixes....



## mldollins (Jun 21, 2008)

I know they don't have a very long shelf life but they do have at least a year to year and half.

But if you think about it, you can store syrup a long time along with about a dozen of these boxes or so. Also, pancakes are very kid friendly and they only require water. We rotate so this wont be a problem.

If there ever were a food shortage, this is a great item and it would be a great break from having beans or rice for that day.

I guess my point is that prep items are sometimes right under our noses.


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## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

I store the maple flavoring so we can make our own syrup. I also use jam leftover from th year before to remake into syrups. Yummy. Pancakes from scatch aren't that hard to eo either.


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## Myles7 (Apr 30, 2008)

I agree pancake mix is a very good prep item. To extend the shelf life remove from the package and vac seal then store in a 5 gal bucket with a lid. I have hopes of 4 or 5 years.

Myles7


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## SquashNut (Sep 25, 2005)

Any thing with oil all ready in it will go rancid easily. Better to have seperate ingredients. Also the baking powder may not work correctly over time.

I know this blows the whole kids can do it Idea but, i would hate for you to wast hard to come by money on this.


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## Ohio dreamer (Apr 6, 2006)

We make our own pancake mix. Lasts a while - I used dehydrated fats or none at all in it so it will have a long shelf life.


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## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

Any kid old enough to be trusted with the stove is able to learn to mix pancakes from scratch. Much better to teach the child a skill that to teach them to depend on convenience foods, IMHO.


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## beaglebiz (Aug 5, 2008)

Cyngbaeld said:


> Any kid old enough to be trusted with the stove is able to learn to mix pancakes from scratch. Much better to teach the child a skill that to teach them to depend on convenience foods, IMHO.


I agree...its like 4 or 5 ingredients (we just had some for breakfast) and takes only seconds longer than a mix. I just dont have the space to store premade mixes, and I prefer my own anyway.
OD, I have seen powdered shortening and such, and always wondered, is it dry, or greasy? How do you dehydrate a fat??


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## Ohio dreamer (Apr 6, 2006)

beaglebiz said:


> OD, I have seen powdered shortening and such, and always wondered, is it dry, or greasy? How do you dehydrate a fat??


I have no clue how they do it (I'm sure I don't want to know, lol). It's not greasy at all (unlike the bisquick mix from the store - I can feel the fat in that). It does work, but makes a more cake like consistency. If you want sticky gooey cookies like on the Toll House commercials....you'll need to add "wet fat". 80% of the time, the cake like consistency works fine - especially for pancakes.

The mixes I make are from scratch...same as if I opened a cookbook and made that way. I just do not have my feet under me when the kids want to eat breakfast.....so a scoop of this, crack an egg into and enough milk or water to make the right consistency (I'm a dump cooker - so once the mix is made I rarely measure anything - I don't measure when not using a mix, either) and we are good to go. Same with cakes, cookies, etc....usually they come up at the end of the day when time and kitchen counter space are not available. My mixes allow me to do the impossible, lol.


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## nadja (May 22, 2011)

Wallyworld now sells pancake mix in #10 cans. Quite a bit and should last quite awhile. They have a heck of a lot now. Got some scrambled eggs, bisquit mix and soup mix with beef. Will be buying more in a few weeks or so


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## DryHeat (Nov 11, 2010)

We've stocked up several economy packs (10 lbs)of CostCo's Krusteaz buttermilk pancake/ waffle mix. I've got an opened pack stored just out at room temp that I make waffles from every month or so, eat some, freeze a few for later on in a week or two. Reading this thread got my appetite going so I got out the Belgian Waffler and cooked up a few (4) from 2 cups of the mix plus a dash of milled flax seed, I generally throw in one or two odd dashes of other grains.. flax, cornmeal, wheatgerm, whatever. The mix instructions call for a couple tablespoons of oil, I use a bit less than that, 1.5 tbsp olive oil this time. Came out fine, as far as I can tell, munching a second one down right now. 

The point of note is that the pack has been opened for at least a year, perhaps closer to two, and the "best used by date" is three and a half years ago, Jan 2008. I'd think a side-by-side comparison might get blind preference for ones made from in-date ingredients, but if you're really hungry or want something to give to neighbors who aren't prepped during bad times, I'd say not to pitch this stuff too soon based on a bit of fat content listed (and it does show a couple of oils and eggs as very minor ingredients). Maybe the key idea is to store a mix that requires an oil to be mixed in prior to cooking? That way you don't have near the rancidity concern during lengthy casual storage.


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## bourbonred (Feb 27, 2008)

Regardless to how one makes them, I've always thought that pancakes were a faster, easier way to make a bread for sandwiches if the SHTF. My homemade bread takes forever to make, doesn't store for long, and doesn't slice easy for a sandwich.


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## beaglebiz (Aug 5, 2008)

bourbonred said:


> Regardless to how one makes them, I've always thought that pancakes were a faster, easier way to make a bread for sandwiches if the SHTF. My homemade bread takes forever to make, doesn't store for long, and doesn't slice easy for a sandwich.


Like the bread the Hebrews ate during Passover :bowtie:
Im working on improving my flatbread making skills


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## mekasmom (Jan 19, 2010)

mldollins said:


> I know they don't have a very long shelf life but they do have at least a year to year and half.
> 
> But if you think about it, you can store syrup a long time along with about a dozen of these boxes or so. Also, pancakes are very kid friendly and they only require water. We rotate so this wont be a problem.
> 
> ...


With older mixes, you can just add a pinch of baking soda, and they work out fine. They last well beyond the expiration date, so you don't have to be overly concerned about the 18mo or so. And, of course, we can store wheat, or flour, then mix up our own pancake mixes too.


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## Txsteader (Aug 22, 2005)

SquashNut said:


> Any thing with oil all ready in it will go rancid easily. Better to have seperate ingredients. *Also the baking powder may not work correctly over time*.


You're sure right about that. I found one of those packets of cornbread mix that was over a year old in the back of the pantry. Needless to say, the chickens got what came out of the oven. Even the dog turned his nose up at it.


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## Spinner (Jul 19, 2003)

Pancake mix? I'm not knocking your idea, but I hate the taste of those mixes so I'm offering an alternative. I make pancakes from scratch and have the ingredients to make tons of them. The ingredients do not expire so can be stored for years, years, and YEARS. 

Here's how I do it:

Wheat berries to be ground into flour as needed.
Baking soda
Cream of tartar (mixed with baking soda it becomes baking powder)
chickens for eggs
goats for milk
sugar, or alternative like honey or stevia for sweetening
salt

The current recipe I use is:

Beat 1 or 2 eggs until light and fluffy (2 eggs are better, but you can use 1 and it's ok)
add 1/2 to 1 cup sugar (depending on how sweet you like your cakes)
add 3 tsp. baking powder
add 2 cups milk
add about 2 cups flour, you'll need more or less depending on the weather.
1/2 tsp salt

Beat it all together and you have pancake batter. Much better tasting than any mix you can buy, and the ingredients will store for a very VERY long time without going bad.

You can use any kind of wheat berries (hard red winter, hard white, soft white, etc.) You can also add other flours like spelt, amaranth, etc. 


The reason I store the baking soda and cream of tartar is to make fresh baking powder. Baking powder expires, but you can store the ingredients to make it fresh. I mix up enough to last about a month or two.


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