BYU studies on food storage

Did you know that researchers at BYU are actively studying the storage lives of dry food products? Recently, they determined that we can store certain food products for much longer than originally presumed.2 This is great news for those of us working on our longer-term storage. It means much less stress about quick rotation.

Here is a list of the recommended storage life1,3 for many common home storage products (stored in ideal conditions):

Wheat, hard red - 30+

Wheat, hard white - 30+
White rice - 30+
Corn - 30+

Oats, quick - 30

Oats, regular - 30
Rolled oats - 30

Pasta - 30
Macaroni - 30
Spaghetti - 30

Flour, white - 10+

Pancake mix - very limited

Black beans - 30
Pinto beans - 30

White beans - 30

Refried beans, powdered - 5+

Non-fat powdered milk - 20

Cocoa Mix - 2+

Fruit drink mix - 2+
Sugar -30+

Potato flakes - 30

Potato pearls - very limited
Apple slices - 30
Dehydrated carrots - 20 to 25

Onions, dry - 30

Remember that the long storage life of these products depended upon correct packing techniques. In almost every case, BYU researchers were testing food that had been stored in #10 cans with oxygen absorbers. Best tasting products resulted from storage in a cool, dark, dry place in #10 cans with adequate seams.

If you would like to explore these studies yourself, here is a link to all of the BYU research studies:

BYU Research on Food Storage

General |  Apples |  Beans and Legumes |  Carrots |  Cornmeal |  Eggs |  Milk |  Oats |  Fats and Oils |  Potatoes |  Quinoa |  Rice

Wheat |  Other |  Thermal Processing |  Drying |  Food Storage Practices |  Packaging

Additional Sources:

1 - Longer Term Food Storage - 30 years or more.

2 - Home storage lasts 30 years or more. (LDS Church News - 1/19/2008)

3 - Family Home Storage Center Products (order form).

Photo Source:

Copyrighted by blog author. Please do not repost without permission.

How Do I Get Started With a Longer-Term Supply?

Question:  How do I get started with a longer-term supply?

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints says,

"For longer-term needs, and where permitted, gradually build a supply of food that will last a long time and that you can use to stay alive, such as wheat, white rice, and beans."  

At the Provident Living website, under product recommendations they add,

"You may also want to add other items to your longer-term storage such as sugar, nonfat dry milk, salt, baking soda, and cooking oil. To meet nutritional needs, also store foods containing vitamin C and other essential nutrients." [Link]

So, a good starting point is grains and beans.  Sugar, milk, salt, oils, baking soda, and vitamins can be also included.  I'm hoping you noticed that it doesn't say "one-year supply" anymore.  It's up to you to decide how much to store.

My Longer-Term Supply
There are so many approaches to organizing and gathering a longer-term supply.  Ultimately, you'll have to decide how to make a plan that works best for you.  This is how I gathered my longer-term supply:

1) I got a three-ring binder and filled it full of paper.  I set up one sheet for each long-term category.  [You could also do this with a spreadsheet or word processing program.]
2) We decided that we wanted to store 9 months' worth of longer-term items.

3) We figured out how much we wanted to store for each month's worth.  I used old food-storage recommendations to figure this out.  Roughly per person/per month: Grains - 25 lbs (we do 33); Legumes - 5 lbs; Sugar - 5 lbs; Fats - 1.7lbs; Salt - .7 lbs; Milk - 1.3 lbs. Vitamins - 30; Baking soda - unknown.  [Sources: http://providentliving.org/ & First Presidency Letter, 2002]

4) I wrote the category and goal amount at the top of a sheet of paper.
5) I did an inventory and listed what I already had on that paper.
6) I added items to the sheet as I purchased them.  I loved retotalling the amount and calculating how many months I had already accumulated. 

An Example:

GRAINS

Goal - 1485 lbs.

On Hand:

flour - 50 lbs

pasta - 20 lbs

pancake mix - 10 lbs

wheat - 265 lbs
rice - 200 lbs
cornmeal - 5 lbs
cereal - 20 lbs
oatmeal - 50 lbs
cream of wheat - 10 lbs
Total: 630 lbs (4 months' worth)
Still Need: 855 lbs

bought 2 - 50 lb bags of rice
New total: 730 lbs (5 months)
Still Need: 755 lbs
etc.

On my first trip to the store after making these pages, I bought the entire supply of salt for less than $8!  I was so excited to have one category completely done!  It was so motivating.  So, I would recommend that you start with salt - and maybe you'll have the same experience.

I chipped away at the totals on each page for more than a year.  I loved seeing the progress.  A longer-term supply goal can seem very overwhelming, but by working on it in chunks, it became very doable. 

Even now, my longer-term supply is very fluid.  In some categories, I've fallen below our 9 month goal and need to replace some items.  In other areas, I'm ahead.  That, in some ways, is the biggest blessing of striving for a longer-term instead of a one-year supply.  Regardless of where I am in replacing this food, I'm able to have the blessings of being completely obedient.

Let me know if you have any questions!  I'd love to hear about your system for gathering a longer-term supply.  Please share in the comments below.

Wheat Grinder Owner's Manuals

You know that you should always read your owner's manuals, right? Well, so do I - but I don't always. I didn't read my owner's manual for my wheat grinder. If you had asked me 20 minutes ago, I would have told you that I knew how to use my grinder without any hesitation. Today, I found out that I was wrong.

Earlier this week, Crystal at Everyday Food Storage posted a video showing how to correctly use a Blendtec Wheat Grinder. I was drawn to watch because it was the same wheat grinder that I use. And guess what? I haven't been using it correctly. Like Crystal, I thought that the cup that came with was just measuring cup. It turns out it has a functional purpose.

So, I encourage you to read the manual for your electric grinder. You might discover some information that you've been missing.

Don't know where to find the manual? Here is a list of several online sources:

*K-Tec/BlendTec Mill - Crystal's Video;

*Wonder Mill - PDF; Video

*Nutrimill - PDF; Video

*L'Equip Vitalmill - PDF

Wheat Prices

Just a heads up -

Updated August 2011 hard wheat prices (per pound):
$.36 - Maceys, Auguson Farms, 45 lb. bucket ($15.99) - recent sale price.
$.42 - Costco, Lehi Mills, 45 lb. bucket ($18.**)
$.46 - Family Home Storage Center (LDS Cannery), 25 lb. bag - needs to be repackaged.
$.60 - Family Home Storage Center (LDS Cannery), #10 cans.
$.86 - Honeyville Grain, 50 lb. bag - needs to be repackaged, shipping is $4.49 extra. ($.78 for bulk orders)
$.99 - Emergency Essentials, 45 lb. super-pail (lined with mylar bag), shipping is extra. ($.84 for bulk orders)

2010 for comparison (per pound):

$.23 - Family Home Storage Center (LDS Cannery), 25 lb bags - needs to be repackaged.

$.29 - Maceys, Morning Moo, 45 lb. bucket ($12.99 - sale may end on Wednesday).

$.30 - Costco, Lehi Mills, 45 lb. bucket ($13.50).

$.45 - Family Home Storage Center (LDS Cannery), #10 cans.

$.82 - Emergency Essentials, 45 lb. super-pail (lined with a mylar bag), shipping is extra.

$.89 - Honeyville Grain, 50 lb. bag - needs to be repackaged, shipping is $4.49 extra.

What are the prices of wheat in your area?

Home-Storage-Price Dilema

Well, I've had two large storage buckets sitting empty for more than a month now. Typically, when I empty a bucket, I add that item to my grocery list and refill it as quickly as possible. However, when I visited Costco with that intention, I discovered higher prices on both the flour and rice than I remembered. I found myself conflicted with replacing the storage as quickly as I could and trying to find a good price.

In the end, I didn't make the purchase. I know that some of these items are likely to go on sale at our local grocery store in the near future. A "case-lot" sale is scheduled for April and flour and rice prices are typically lowered. But every time I pass those empty buckets, I find myself wondering if I should have just purchased the food stores. Knowing that those buckets sit empty reduces my feeling of preparedness - well, two-buckets-worth.

Was it worth waiting? I'm not sure.

Powdered Milk Taste-Test

I love this post by Angela at Adventures in Self-Reliance. She got samples of most of the major powdered milk brands, conducted a taste test, and posted her results. She has some great information.

As you can see from her ratings, personal preference varied widely (with a few brands more broadly liked or disliked). As her tasters sampled one of the brands of milk, they were surprised to find out that they didn't like it. Angela writes, "I had some folks about cry when they found out how bad it tasted because that was the only kind they had stored."

Once again, this shows the importance of tasting the powdered milk that you store!

recipes

I currently have about 9 to 12 months' worth of longer-term storage. I'm familiar with many of the products I've stored and I use them somewhat regularly in my day-to-day cooking. There are a few, however, that I am not as familiar with. I usually choose canned beans instead of using my dried beans. And I feel like I have a lot to learn when it comes to using cornmeal and sprouting wheat. Because I have the food stored, I feel like we would be okay in an emergency. But I would like to have more experience with these products before I might need to use them under more serious circumstances.

So, I've started collecting recipes that use the grains and legumes that I've stored. I try to experiment and practice using these recipes so I can gain a familiarity working with legumes and grains. My goal is definitely a work in progress. I might make one new recipe a month or try a new technique here and there. Hopefully, over time, I'll also have the added advantage of slowly rotating through my longer-term supply.

Below, I've included some links that are great resources for longer-term supply recipes and techniques. I want to emphasize that your three-month storage should be made up of meals that you normally eat. So, these recipes are more for experimentation and use of longer-term food supplies - not three-month supply foods.

Longer-Term Storage Recipe Resources:
All Is Safely Gathered In - Intermittent recipes both for three-month supply and longer-term supply.

Basic Recipes - From Provident Living (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)

beprepared Recipes - beprepared.com (huge database of recipes - just click on category and go)

Emergency Bread - Suggestions for cooking bread in an emergency.

Everyday Food Storage - Fantastic Food Storage Recipe Blog. She includes pictures and videos.

Food Storage Recipes - Compiled by a Stake Food Storage Specialist.

More Recipes - Source unknown

Preparedness Brings Peace - An assortment of recipes and preservation techniques (3-month)

South Jordan River Stake Cookbook - featured by Preparedness Brings Peace

Using Food Storage - More from Provident Living

NEW GOAL: Find a recipe or new technique and try it in the next few months!

Found a great food storage recipe site? Let me know! I'll add it to this list.

vitamin c - additional items for longer-term storage

Scurvy was a disease that used to afflict sailors as they crossed the ocean. It was caused by a lack of vitamin C in their diets. Long voyages meant that sailors often ran out of perishable fruits and vegetables which supplied necessary vitamin C to their bodies. Scurvy is not very common anymore. Food preservation techniques have made vitamin C abundant throughout the world regardless of season. A longer-term supply full of grains and beans may keep you alive, but vitamin C is completely lacking in this diet. Consequently, it is advised to store vitamin C as a part of your longer-term supply.1

The best way to get vitamin C and other essential nutrients is from fresh fruits and vegetables in your diet. Through gardening and home preservation, you may be able to maintain a good supply of these vitamins in your home storage. You can also get vitamin C from canned goods. Most commercially canned and home preserved fruits and vegetables, however, have shorter shelf lives and require regular rotation. By storing a variety of fruits and vegetables that you regularly eat, you can ensure a good vitamin C supply. I have also chosen to store multi-vitamins as a part of our home storage. Vitamins decline rapidly and also require frequent rotation.

Sources

1 - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

baking soda - additional items for longer-term storage

Baking soda is a great item to have for longer-term storage. Not only is it important for cooking old, dry beans (see information on cooking old, dry beans here), but baking soda can also be used for cleaning, as a toothpaste substitute and as a laundry boost. Baking soda is also a great leavening agent and is an important ingredient as such in many recipes.

Baking soda has a long shelf-life.1 Steer clear of those small cardboard boxes in which baking soda is often packaged. Instead choose baking soda in #10 cans or repack it into a PETE container for ideal storage life. A typical #10 can contains 576 teaspoons.3 I also store baking powder and yeast as a part of my longer-term storage. All store well in cool, dry conditions.2


Sources:
1 - LDS Church News
2 - USU Extension
3 - Emergency Essentials

cooking oil - additional items for longer-term storage

It's interesting that during World War II, one of the most desired, but difficult to find cooking items was cooking oil.1 It makes sense when you realize that many foods need a little bit of fat in them. There are times that you can substitute beans or applesauce, but this doesn't always work well. Other oil substitutions include different varieties of cooking oil, shortening, mayonnaise, peanut butter, miracle whip, and high oil/fat content salad dressings (oil based vinaigrette, ranch etc.).

All of these oil-based products have very short shelf lives – anywhere from 6 months to 2 years. When they get too old, they are usually inedible. Because of this you HAVE to rotate these products regularly. One way that you can keep these products regularly rotated is to donate any items that are close to date expiration (but not over) to a local food kitchen. Extra Virgin Olive Oil is supposed to store longer than other oils, but is also the most expensive. By storing and using a variety of oil products (see above), you are more likely to be able to rotate within appropriate time frames.

The thing that I've noticed about using older oil from my storage is that it tastes/smells just fine when I first open the container. But if the oil is very old, it becomes rancid very quickly. Because of this, I like to store my oil in very small containers. It makes it more likely that I'll be able to completely use (and not waste) a container of oil before it goes bad. It also helps to keep oil products in a completely dark area. I double pack my oil bottles into boxes so that light exposure is limited.

Sources:
1 - World War II Food Rationing

salt - additional items for longer-term storage

Salt is one of the easiest and cheapest items to store. It stores indefinitely as long as it doesn't get wet. You can usually purchase enough salt for your three-month supply and a bunch (9 months-worth) for your longer-term supply for less than $10! It is often available for $.33 per 1 1/2 pound container. It is also available at Costco in large quantity sacks for a similar price. Make sure that you purchase "Iodized" salt.

Salt is a good preservative, but I would say that taste is the most important reason to store salt. Have you ever had cookies/oatmeal/fill-in-the-blank without salt? It's terrible! Salt, like sugar, makes most things taste better.

sugar - additional items for longer-term storage

Sugar is a fantastic addition to longer-term storage. In tough circumstances, it would be great to make a batch of cookies and put smiles on your family's faces. Sugar makes everything a little more palatable and versatile.

Sugar stores well unless it gets wet. If you live in a humid climate, it's a good idea to store your sugar in a PETE container or #10 can so that the moisture in the air doesn't turn your sugar into a brick. But even if that does happen, your sugar is still usable. Sugar, stored in a #10 can in ideal conditions can last up to 30 years.

Storing sugar does not just mean white sugar. You can store honey, brown sugar, powdered sugar, molasses, maple syrup, corn syrup, jam, jello, and powdered fruit drink (with sugar already added). Most of these items, however, are more suitable for a three-month supply because of the short shelf lives. Brown sugar is also not recommended for longer-term storage because of potential microbial growth as a result of the moisture content.1 Honey will crystallize over time, but can be warmed and returned to a liquid state. Do not use honey that has developed mold in storage.


Sources:
1 - Provident Living

milk conversion

If you like the idea of using powdered milk regularly in your cooking, you'll probably need a conversion chart. I used to write the conversion amounts onto the paper labels of my #10 cans of milk. Unfortunately, I often threw away the can without remembering to transfer all of my math. So, my can would sit, unused, until I sat down and refigured the numbers. Now I keep a conversion chart on my fridge.

Here is a milk-math chart for you (and for me):

1 gallon milk = 2 & 2/3 c. powdered milk + 1 gallon water

1 quart milk = 2/3 c. powdered milk + 1 quart water

2 cups milk = 1/3 c. powdered milk + 2 cups water

1 cup milk = 3 T. powdered milk + 1 cup water

1/2 cup milk = 1 & 1/2 T powdered milk + 1/2 cup water

1/3 cup milk = 1 T powdered milk + 1/3 cup water

You may also want to print out this cute powdered milk conversion chart created by Crystal at Everyday Food Storage. You can hang this on your fridge or tape it to your can of powdered milk.

Note: Check your milk containers to compare conversions. Amounts to use actually vary by brand (and by non-instant vs. instant).

milk - additional items for longer-term storage

Milk provides calcium and protein, both of which are particularly important for growing children and nursing mothers. Milk also adds flavor to many recipes and sauces. Evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, shelf-stable milk, chocolate milk or cocoa mix (with milk included), and/or canned cheese, can also be stored to provide calcium needs. These other calcium products, however, have shorter shelf lives and need to be rotated regularly.

Researchers at BYU have found that powdered milk can be stored in #10 cans for up to 30 years in ideal conditions. Non-instant and instant powdered milk both store well long term. Powdered milk costs anywhere from $7 to more than $18 per #10 can. Milk can also be purchased in cardboard boxes or other containers. If you purchase it this way, you'll need to transfer the powdered milk into PETE containers and add an oxygen absorber for long term storage.

Make sure that you taste the brand of milk before you store large quantities of it. LDS home storage milk is the one of the cheapest brands ($7), but many people (including me) don’t like the taste. Don't know which milk you like the best? Have a powdered milk tasting party/enrichment. It's a fun and inexpensive way to sample the different milks without buying a large can of each.

I also recommend that you read the labels before buying large quantities of powdered milk. Some are actually milk alternatives and have added sugar and/or hydrogenated fats and less protein. Some kids prefer powdered milk made this way. However, these added/substituted ingredients can affect cooking and baking.

Here is an older post on powdered milk that talks more about specific brands and easy ways to rotate it from your longer-term supply into your three-month supply: More On Powdered Milk.

additional long-term storage items

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints states on providentliving.org, "you may also want to add other items to your longer-term storage such as sugar, nonfat dry milk, salt, baking soda, and cooking oil. To meet nutritional needs, also store foods containing Vitamin C and other essential nutrients."1

These additional items can be a great boost to the grains and beans that you've already stored as the core of your longer-term storage. By storing items in these six additional categories, you gain flavor, nutrition, and flexibility for your longer-term storage meals. All of these items can be stored in ideal conditions for up to 30 years except for the oils and vitamin c products. We'll be covering each of these six items in the posts over the next few days. Most of these items are available at your local Home Storage Center.

Remember that the main goal for longer-term storage is storing grains and beans that will keep you alive in case you don't have anything else to eat.2 These items are optional - so don't be overwhelmed, thinking that you HAVE to store these. Longer-term storage is intended to be expanded gradually depending on your needs and circumstances.2

Sources:

1 - Product Recommendations - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

2 - Two Cans of Corn: Home Storage for Newlyweds (Allie Schulte, Welfare Services, Ensign, September 2009, pages 66-69)

beans as a treat!

Like I said in the last post, beans are a wonderful, versatile food. They can be used as a meat extender, a salad garnish, a main course, or as a soup. My favorite creative use for beans, though, is in cookies and cakes. Yes, really! Here's how:

Blend cooked beans and a little bit of water in your blender (the water just helps the blender to work well). You can also mash the beans yourself, which will result in a chunkier texture. Substitute beans measure-for-measure for all or some of the fats in brownie, cookie or cake recipes. Or you can also simply add some of the blended beans to the recipe, which will result in a heavier, more moist dough. Are you afraid that your family will scoff at the bean "bits" that appear in the recipe? They are almost invisible in anything chocolate. Using white beans make them almost invisible in lighter-colored recipes.

Freeze mashed beans into an ice-tray for long term accessibility. After the beans are frozen, pop them out and store the small bricks in a freezer bag for easy use. My standard-sized ice trays yield 2 tablespoons per brick. 4 bricks would give you 1/2 cup; 8 bricks for 1 cup.

more on beans

Beans are very versatile! They can be used to make dips, casseroles, soups, cookies, salads, and more. Beans vary in color, size, texture and flavor, but are easily interchanged in recipes. All of this and they store well for up to 30 years. They really make the ideal food for your longer-term storage.

Another great thing about beans, most kinds in fact, is that you handle them similarly. With the exception of lentils, split-peas and black-eyed-peas (which don't require soaking), beans are soaked and cooked in the same manner. There are two main steps to preparing dried beans: soaking and cooking.

Soaking:
First rinse and clean out any debris from the beans. In preparing this post, I've read about hot soaks, cold soaks and even gas-free soaks. It seems that it is important to soak them, but not for too long or too little. In all cases, discard the water in which the beans have been soaking and use fresh water for cooking (helps reduce gas). I'll try to summarize some of the options:

COLD SOAK - Cover 1 lb. of beans with 10 cups of water. Cover and refrigerate 6 to 8 hours or overnight.

HOT SOAK - Add 1 lb. of beans to 10 cups of boiling water. Let water come to a boil again. Cover tightly, after removing from heat, and let sit for two or three hours.

QUICK SOAK - Add 1 lb. of beans to 10 cups of boiling water. Let water come to a boil again. Boil beans for two or three minutes. Remove from heat, cover and let sit on counter for one hour.

GAS-FREE SOAK - Add 1 lb. of beans to 10 cups of boiling water. Let water come to a boil again. Boil beans for two or three minutes. Remove from heat, cover and let sit on counter overnight. You can further reduce gas by rinsing the beans multiple times and changing the soak-water several times.

Don't want to do all of this extra work? Beano works great when added to your beans. Also, eating beans regularly will acclimate your body to beans and reduce gas.

Cooking:
Discard soaking water and add water equivalent to three times the amount of beans. Boil from 45 minutes to 2 hours or until beans reach desired tenderness (which is usually when you can squeeze the bean between your fingers). Don't add salt or anything acidic until the end of the cooking process. Refrigerate or freeze remaining beans. One pound of dry beans usually makes between 5 and 6 cups of cooked beans.



Sources:Bean Fact Sheet - University of ConnecticutMayo Clinic

[Photo Source]

how to cook OLD beans

How do I cook old dry beans?

The longer dry beans are stored, the longer they may take to cook. First, sort and rinse the beans. For each cup of beans, bring 3 cups of water to boil, add the beans to the boiling water, and boil for two minutes. Next, add 3/8 teaspoon of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) for each cup of beans, cover, and soak for 1 hour or more. More baking soda may be required for older beans. Next, drain and rinse the beans thoroughly, cover with water, bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer 1-2 hours or until tender. Do not add salt or other ingredients until the beans have softened adequately. (Instructions from the Provident Living FAQ)

Because baking soda is helpful for cooking old beans, it's a good idea to store some baking soda with your beans. Optimum shelf life of baking soda is about 2 years. If you use baking soda regularly, it can be rotated as part of your three-month and long-term supply so you'll always have some on hand.

goal 4(b) - gather beans for longer-term storage

Our current goal is gathering our longer-term storage.

Specifically - Store Beans.

In addition to grains, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints recommends beans for longer-term storage. Beans are a fantastic protein source and are the perfect complement to many of the recommended grains. In fact, beans and rice (or beans and cornbread) make a complete protein which is full of amino acids and all sorts of good stuff. Our family really likes black beans and refried (pinto) beans -- so that's what we've stored.

Beans are not cheap. I've seen them recently for about $50 for a 25 lb. prepacked bucket. The church cannery offers them for around $5 for a #10 can. They have black, pinto and white beans. Beans are also available in bulk bags from the home storage centers for approximately $16 for 25 lbs. The Provident Living website states that beans can be stored for 30 years or more in ideal conditions.

You should store 5 lbs. of beans per person per month (45 lbs for a 9 month longer-term supply -- 60 lbs per person for a 12 month longer-term supply).

pasta

You might wonder why I'm including a post on pasta as we work on storing grains. Most pasta is made from semolina flour, which is ground durum wheat. Once the pasta is dried, unless it is made with eggs, it has shelf life of up to 30 years1 in ideal storage conditions.

Pasta packaged in #10 cans (or PETE bottles) with oxygen absorbers will store the longest. Pasta can also be purchased in many other types of packaging. If I buy my pasta already sealed in a plastic bag, I'll simply store it in a 5-gallon bucket (without opening the package). A lot of pasta comes in boxes without any additional packaging (plastic lining etc.). I try NOT to buy this type of pasta. I've had more than one experience with boxes of pasta also transporting critters.

I use pasta regularly as a part of my three-month supply. I also include it as a portion of my longer-term storage "grains."

Sources:
1 - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints