five easy steps to food storage

8/4/2019 Five Easy Steps to Food Storage

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Five Easy Stepsto a Food Stor age Plan

A Plan that Will Work for Your Family

Suggestions and Techniques

A Prepared Pantry Publication


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Five Easy Steps to a Food Storage Plan

We hope you never have to use your food storage but we hope you choose to use it

every week.

Were used to running to the store every time we need something. But what if we cant?

Maybe the store is outrecently many of the stores in eastern Idaho were out of flour.

Maybe theres an extended storm or a power outage or terrorist event or . . .. We can

think of dozens of scenarios where we would have to rely on what we have on hand. If

we dont like what we have on hand, were going to be miserable. If we dont have

anything on hand, it will be worse.

If we use our stored food every week, well have on hand what we like and what we can

eat. There will be no surprises.

We think youll find a sensible approach to food storage in these pageseat what you

store and store what you eat.

We hope that youll consider it.

The Prepared Pantry

2 North Landmark Lane

Rigby, ID 83442

208-745-7892

www.preparedpantry.com

Copyright 2005-8, The Prepared Pantry. All rights reserved.

The material herein is published by The Prepared Pantry for the private use of individuals and may not be used for

commercial purposes without the express consent of the publisher. The information contained herein is believed accurate

but the publisher makes no warranties, express or implied, and the recipient is using this information at his or her own

risk.
http://www.preparedpantry.com/http://www.preparedpantry.com/


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Five Easy Steps to a Food Storage Plan

Table of Contents

Table of Contents .......................................................................................................................... 3Food Storage Available at The Prepared Pantry..................................................................... 4

Why Everyone Should Have a Stock of Food ......................................................................... 4

Will I Really Have to Use My food Storage? ........................................................................... 5

How to Save Money and Build a Personal Food Storage Program that Works...................... 5

Five Easy Steps to a Food Storage Program that Works........................................................ 6

A Personal Food Storage Program Saves Money in Three Ways: ......................................... 7

Rotate, Rotate, Rotate............................................................................................................. 7

Fats: Storing Butter, Oil and Other Products ........................................................................... 7

Why Good Food Goes Bad ..................................................................................................... 8

Shelf Life: How Long Does Food Really Last.......................................................................... 8

Bread: The Staff of Life............................................................................................................ 9

Why Grocery Store Foods Don't Store Well ............................................................................ 9

Make Your Own Mixes........................................................................................................... 10

Appendix: Family Preparedness Bulletin #4 (Storing Oils and Fats) .................................... 11

Free 250-page Baking Book.................................................................................................. 14

Free Baking Guides ............................................................................................................... 14

Free Recipe Collections ........................................................................................................ 14


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Food Storage Available at The Prepared Pantry

The Prepared Pantry sells baking mixespackaged in Mylar which greatlyextends the shelf life. In proper storage

conditions, many of these mixes willstore as long beans, dried milk, andsome other staples. Mixes containingnuts, cornmeal, and baking chips shouldonly be stored for six months and not ina warm place.

See our mixes and other products

recommended for food storage >>

Our recommended products include

breads mixes such as Country Farm White Bread, Honey Wheat Bread, and Golden

Honey Oat and cookie mixes such as Snickerdoodles and Chocolate Sugarsnaps.

Other kitchen items suitable for food storage and found in this section are dried honey

and molasses crystals, yeast, and dry dairy products such as sour cream.

Why Everyone Should Have a Stock of Food

We live in complex and perilous times. Whether it is a natural disaster, a nationaldisaster, or a neighborhood disaster, our food supply could be disrupted. In any

scenario, it is up to us to take care of our needs and those of our families--we should notcount on the government. We buy insurance for our home, our car, and our lives butsomething as essential as food--we often leave overlooked.

There are other crises as well--personal crises. The loss of a job, a loved one, or one'shealth might strain personal finances and make a supply of food look very attractive.Whether it is a personal crisis or a community one, we should be able to feed our familyand feed them with food that is healthy and that they enjoy eating. In a crisis, our foodsupply should be a point of comfort and refuge.

There's a certain confidence that goes along with being self-reliant, with preparedness. Ifwe know we have provided for our family--if we know they are safe--we perform better.

We're happier and they're happier. We're better parents, citizens, and neighbors and weperform better outside the home.
http://www.preparedpantry.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=578http://www.preparedpantry.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=578http://www.preparedpantry.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=578http://www.preparedpantry.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=578


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Will I Really Have to Use My food Storage?

We hope that you are never faced with aemergency but food storage is not newand it seems that most people who have

had long-term food storage have utilizedit at least once in the past. Usually, itwasn't because of a public emergencybut a personal difficulty of some kind--aneconomic setback brought about byillness, the loss of a job, or an accident.But times have changed. We expect thatcommunity crises--from terrorists tocomputer failures--will make foodstorage an even more important issue inthe future.

How to Save Money and Build a Personal Food Storage Program that

Works

Food storage programs that work are built around one simple principle: Store what youeat and eat what you store. Store what you like, what you know how to fix, and whatyour bodies are accustomed to. When an emergency comes, we will want to disrupt oureating patterns as little as possible. Most of what we eat today, from main dishes, tobreads, to desserts, can be accommodated with storage items. Store them.

Eat what you store. All foods deteriorate over time. They become less palatable and the

vitamin content decreases. If you don't use your food, you will throw it out. Surveys haveshown that people regularly overestimate how long food lasts. Governmental anduniversity experts publish shelf lives much shorter than what some manufacturers andindividuals suggest. The best way to assure that you will have a good supply of food inan emergency is to regularly eat what you store, using it before it becomes marginal,and replace it. Eating what you store is not a challenge if you store what you like to eat.


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Five Easy Steps to a Food Storage Program that Works

1. Determine what you like to eat. Make a list of what you are eating now. Start

with your grocery list or grocery receipts. Look in your pantry. These foods are

what you want to store. Storing foods that your family likes to eat--not trying to

persuade your family to like what you store--is the key to practical food storage.Fundamentally changing what your family likes to eat is not a realistic

expectation. While it may be true that "if our kids get hungry enough, they'll eat

anything," who wants to put their children through that kind of misery? In a

hardship, we want to maintain our routines and habits as much as possible and

not stress family members with foods that they do not like or that their bodies are

unaccustomed to.

2. Determine how much of what you like to eat is storable. Build your storage

program around these items. For those items that are not storable, look for ready

substitutes that your family will enjoy. Fresh fruits and vegetables can be

complemented with frozen and canned produce. Meats can be purchased on

sale or in bulk and frozen. Mixes will readily substitute for the breads, desserts,

and snacks you currently buy.

3. Purchase storable foods regularly. Keep your plan simple and affordable

but buy storable foods regularly. Every week, every pay period, or every month

buy something that you can store. You will be surprised how fast your stocks

build. Buy items on sale and buy in quantity so that you save money. Think in

terms of stocking up, not storing. Replace what you use.

4. Eat what you store. As a general rule, even storable foods need to be used

within two years. The FDA suggests that canned goods be consumed within twoyears. Using your stocks regularly will keep your food fresher, tastier, and more

nutritious.

5. Take inventory. From time to time, take inventory. You will be reminded of

what you have and surprised at what you don't have. You can then purchase

those items you need and use older items while they are still sound.


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A Personal Food Storage Program Saves Money in Three Ways:

1. Stocking up leads to buying

in quantity or on sale--often

with substantial savings. If we

store what we eat and use thosefoods regularly, we save on

everyday food.

2. Foods suitable for storage

tend to be less expensive than

prepared foods. As we gradually

rely more and more on our

stocks, we use less prepared

food and the average cost of our meals is reduced.

3. Habits and attitudes change with a food storage program. Those that have apersonal food storage program tend to be more careful with their food purchases

and better utilize the foods they purchase.

Many families find that when they adopt a program of purchasing and using storablefoods, their food bill drops substantially--as much as 25%.

Rotate, Rotate, Rotate

We believe that most foods--including the products that we provide--should be usedwithin two years for both palatability and nutritional reasons. Foods stored longer thanthat, though they may be safe to eat, are less appealing and less nutritious. The onlyway to build a food storage program that ensures that you will have safe, palatable,nutritious food on hand in an emergency is to continuously rotate stocks.

Fats: Storing Butter, Oil and Other Products

Our bodies need fat--good fat--and yet most fats are fragile and don't store well. Oil

oxidizes and becomes rancid as it ages-a process that is accelerated by heat, light, andoxygen. So store your oil in a cool, dark location and rotate it often. (For moreinformation about storing fats, see "Family Preparedness Bulletin #1: Storing Oils andFats" available on this site.)

In order to maximize the storage life of our products, we do not add oil, shortening, orbutter. We believe that the freshest oil or butter possible should be added when mixed.


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Why Good Food Goes Bad

Assuming that you have stored your valuable food where bugs and water can't reach it,can it still go bad? Well, that depends on your definition of "bad". As stated elsewhere,properly canned or dried foods (if fat free or nearly so) usually do not become unsafe

when stored longer than recommended, but palatability and nutrient value arediminished. So while it probably won't go "bad" as in unsafe, it will become less nutritiousor less appealing.

All, or nearly all foods, deteriorate over time. Living organisms are designed with self-preservation mechanisms but when they die or are harvested, naturally occurringenzymes cause discoloration, loss of nutrients, textural changes, or flavor changes. Wecan slow these changes; we can't stop them.

The three enemies of stored foods are light, heat, and oxygen. Most foods deteriorate inthe presence of light, heat, and oxygen. UV rays damage foods. Fats oxidize just asmetals oxidize (rust) in the presence of oxygen. Heat accelerates these processes. To

counteract these destructive forces, store food at cool temperatures, in opaquepackages, and in airtight, oxygen depleted containers. (Plastic bags are not effectivelong term oxygen barriers. Nearly all plastic sheeting lets oxygen seep through. In thetrade, it is known as the "oxygen transfer rate".)

Most of our products are sold in Mylar packages. The oxygen transfer rate is very low inmetal based containers, less that 1/400th of the best plastic bags.

Shelf Life: How Long Does Food Really Last

As you might expect, there is a widerange of published shelf lives. Becausefoods deteriorate over time, rather thanbecoming unsafe, they lose quality andnutritional value. But since it is a gradualprocess, what is acceptable to yourneighbor may not be acceptable to you.Since shelf life is partly a matter of

judgment and preference, evenscientists differ in their evaluations.When in doubt, rely on governmentalsources.

We encourage our customers to rotate products by using them before they get old. In sodoing, the best in quality and nutrition is captured. We suggest that all dried productsand most canned products be stored in a cool environment and used in two years orless. We recommend that products containing nuts and whole wheat be used in oneyear and all other products be used in two years. Those products with nuts and wholewheat are so noted on both the product packages and our literature. We package nuts


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separately so that you can check them for staleness before using. Products can be usedbeyond the recommended periods but performance and nutrition may be reduced.

Bread: The Staff of Life

Americans (and many other cultures) serve breadwith nearly every meal. Meals don't seem completewithout some form of bread. No wonder it's calledthe "staff of life". We believe that bread is a keyconsideration in any food storage program.

How do you store bread? Some rely on wheat astheir source of bread in the event of an emergency.If you are into grinding wheat and baking breadregularly--bravo! The rest of us need a better

answer. We don't have time to grind wheat andbake bread, or we haven't acquired those skills, orour families don't like the heavy, dense bread thatusually comes from ground wheat. We need abetter answer.

If the bread that we eat is going to be a keycomponent of our food storage program, thenmaking bread should be quick and convenient. Mixes help. Not only do they save timewhen time may be a premium, but all the ingredients are available and assembled.

Stored foods often are boring or dry. Boring foods don't work well in a food storage

program because they don't get used and eventually become stale. Our mission is toprovide food that you will use and enjoy. In an emergency, we want to lift your spirits.Instead of meals from food storage being a burden, we want them to be enjoyable andcomforting. That's why we provide products that are exciting and different, that will addinterest and variety to your meals, everydaynot just in an emergency.

Why Grocery Store Foods Don't Store Well

Most grocery foods are not packaged for long-term storage. Instead, they are packaged

inexpensively, suitable for consumption within a few weeks. Plastic and paper containersdo not provide adequate oxygen barriers. Unless you are willing to repackage the foodyou buy at the grocery store, using metal containers or bags, do not consider grocerystore products suitable for long-term storage and family preparedness.


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Make Your Own Mixes

Save time, save money, or put some away for food storageyou can make some of your ownmixes. It's easy to get started, a great way to put a little food by, and a great solution to a busyday. Generally, mixes should cut your prep time by about 75%.

Mixes can be grouped into three categories:

Mixes that require refrigeration or freezing. Mixes that contain some added fat such as butter or shortening Mixes that are fat free or nearly so.

Be sure to store dry mixes in a cool, dry environment in airtight containers. You should plan onusing mixes without added shortening or other fat in 6 to 12 months. Mixes with fat added shouldbe used within three months. Be sure and label and date your mixes.

Here are some recipes to get you started. Often though, you can convert your favorite recipes tomixes.

All Purpose Hamburger Mix

5 pounds of ground beef or turkey1 tablespoon salt1 cup chopped onions1 cup chopped green peppers1 cup chopped celery

You may substitute other vegetables to suit your family's taste.

Brown the ground meat and drain the grease. Add the chopped vegetables, cover, and steam.The vegetables should be a little crisper than what you would usually serve. Set aside to cool

Spoon into freezer containers. Poke with a knife or fork to remove any air pockets. Cover with atight lid and freeze for up to three months.

Use in your favorite ground beef recipe such as chili, enchiladas, or casseroles. Thaw and addas the recipe directs for freshly browned meat.

Note: Spices lose their potency in the freezer. Add any spices during final cooking.

All Purpose Hamburger Mix II

Here's a link to another great ground beef mix that can be used for lasagna, casseroles, or otherbeef dishes. This is a dry mix that you add to hamburger as you cook it. Click here to see.

Calico Bean Soup

Many of us have dry beans in our food storage. Often, those beans do not get used until they arehard and very difficult to cook. Combining beans and split peas into a calico bean soup mix andpackaging the beans into usable quantities means that they are more likely to get used.

2 cups pinto beans2 cups split peas or lentils
http://busycooks.about.com/library/recipes/blgrbeefmix.htmhttp://busycooks.about.com/library/recipes/blgrbeefmix.htm


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2 cups kidney beans2 cups Great Northern beans2 cups black-eyed peas

(Use the mixture of legumes that best suits your tastes.)

Mix well and divide into two-cup packages or another size suitable for your family.

California Seasoned Rice Mix

3 cups uncooked regular white rice1/4 cup dried parsley flakes2 Tbsp. instant chicken flavor bouillon1/4 teaspoon white pepper2 tablespoons dried, minced onions2 tsp. onion powder1/2 tsp. garlic powder1/4 tsp. dried thyme leaves

To make California Seasoned Rice, bring two cups of water to boil. Add two tablespoon butter ormargarine and one cup of the mix. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes oruntil the rice is tender and the liquid is absorbed.

Appendix: Family Preparedness Bulletin #4 (Storing Oils and Fats)

Storing Oils and Fats

The human body requires the intake of six types of substances for survival: Fats,carbohydrates, proteins, water, vitamins, and minerals. Certain fatty acids are essentialto our health and fats and oils are important components of our food and theirpreparation. Fat is responsible for much of the texture, appearance, and taste of ourbaked goods. Since fat is both required for human health and an important part of ourdiets, we should include fat in our emergency preparedness plans--some combination ofbutter, margarine, vegetable oil, olive oil, and shortening. (Oils are liquid at roomtemperature; fats are solid.) Though we need to store these foods to maintain ourlifestyles and our health, they represent a particular food storage challenge. As oils andfats age, they oxidize. Oxidation is the process that turns fats rancid. Rancid foods notonly taste bad, they are unhealthy. As fats and oils breakdown, they become toxic.These oxidized oils promote arterial damage, cancer, inflammation, degenerativediseases, and premature aging.1 So it is important that we store fats properly, use allfatty foods well before they become rancid, and discard those foods that have beenstored too long.

So what is the proper way to store fats and oils? Three conditions accelerate theoxidation of fats: the exposure to heat, to oxygen, and to light. Fats should be stored incool or cold conditions-never in a warm pantry-in the dark, and sealed so that they arenot exposed to air. We store our vegetable oil, olive oil, and shortening in a dark, fifty-degree room. Once opened, we store our vegetable and olive oils in the refrigerator.


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How long can we safely store fats and oils? That, of course, depends on the storageconditions. At seventy degrees, shortening can be kept for eight months.2 Butter doesnot last long at all in the refrigerator-only two weeks-but can be stored for up to ninemonths in the freezer (not the freezing compartment of a refrigerator which is usually notas cold).3 Margarine can also be frozen though some margarine tends to be flaky oncethawed. While I do not have a government source for the shelf life of vegetable oils, I

would not store oils for over eight to ten months.4 My recommendation is to store butterin the freezer for up to nine months and store oils and shortening for eight months atseventy degrees--slightly longer at cooler temperatures. Maybe more so than any otherfood group, fatty foods must be carefully and conscientiously rotated to maintainadequate and healthy stocks. Use what you store and store what you use.

Not just oils and fats have to be carefully stored. Any food with a significant fat contentsuch as nuts, cookies, or whole wheat flour is subject to rancidity. Nuts should be storedin a cool, dark environment and always checked for rancidity before they are used.Ideally, nuts should be stored in metal or metalized containers-plastic bags arepermeable to air and slowly allow oxygen to seep into the package and accelerateoxidation. We keep our nuts in the freezer-even unopened bags. Freshly ground whole

wheat should be kept in the refrigerator and used within two weeks. (The commercialmilling process removes most of the fat from wheat. Most white flour is nearly fat free.Any whole wheat flour with a fat content higher than two percent should not be stored.)Any food that has any rancid odor should be discarded.

So what fats should we store? Flaxseed oil and safflower oil oxidize very rapidly and arenot good candidates for storage. Most commonly purchased vegetable oils are extractedwith heat, pressure, and chemical additives, which may accelerate oxidation.5 Coldpressed oils are better though more expensive. I know of no government source for theshelf life of cold pressed oils. Check any oil carefully for rancidity before using.

The modern diet is high in the consumption of Omega-6 essential fatty acids and low in

Omega-3 fatty acids. Flesh from grain and corn fed animals and most vegetable oils arehigh in Omega-6. The National Institutes of Health urges nearly all people to reduce theconsumption of the Omega-6 fatty acids and increase the consumption of Omega-3believing that this is critical to achieving optimal brain and cardiovascular functions.6 Ofthe commonly used oils, canola oil and soybean oil contain Omega-3 fatty acids.Avocados and nutmeats, especially walnuts, are high in Omega-3.7

Andrew Weil in his excellent book, Eating Well for Optimum Health, promotes olive oil asa healthy substitute for vegetable oils. It has the highest percentage (77%) ofmonounsaturated fats of any of the oils but is low in Omega-3. There are many differentvarieties of olive oil available, each with a little different flavor. Choose what you like butwatch it carefully for rancidity. Stored in the refrigerator or a cool basement, olive oil mayturn cloudy-but the quality is unaffected.

Nutritionists advise us to reduce our intake of hydrogenated fats-margarine andshortening. Margarine is not a healthy substitute for butter.8 Hydrogenated means thathydrogen atoms have been added to stabilize the oil and turn it from a liquid at roomtemperature to a solid. A saturated fat is a fat that has been saturated with hydrogenatoms, is stable and less prone to oxidation but the molecular composition of saturatedfats is believed to raise serum cholesterol levels.9


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Store oils and fats-they are essential to a well-prepared household and some fat isnecessary to maintain health. However, choose the right fats and oils, store themproperly, rotate religiously, and discard any that happen to get old.

Prepared by Dennis Weaver, January 15, 2003

Click here for the printable version of this article.

Learn more about food storage and emergency preparedness.

1Weil, Andrew, M.D., Eating Well for Optimum Health, The Essential Guide to Food, Diet, and Nutrition, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2000,

p.89, and:Amendola, Joseph and Rees, Nicole, Understanding Baking: The Art and Science of Baking, Third Edition, John Wiley and Sons, Inc.Hoboken, New Jersey, 2003, p. 84.2Kansas State University, "Cupboard Storage Chart" www.oznet.ksu.edu/dp_fnut/hrap/storage, Sept. 9, 2002.

3

Clemson University, http://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheets, Nov. 11, 2002.4Salsbury, Barbara G., Just in Case: A Manual for Home Preparedness, Bookcraft, Salt Lake City, 1975, p. 158. This source states that oilscan be kept for six to twelve months depending on storage conditions. The author believes this is accurate.5Weil, Ibid., p. 91. In addition to accelerating oxidation, common extraction methods may create detrimental trans -fatty acids.

6Ibid., p. 88.

7Ibid., p. 95.

8Ibid., p. 93.

9Amendola and Rees, Ibid., p. 83.
http://www.preparedpantry.com/fatsandoils.htmlhttp://www.preparedpantry.com/index.asp?PageAction=Custom&ID=38http://www.preparedpantry.com/index.asp?PageAction=Custom&ID=38http://www.preparedpantry.com/fatsandoils.html


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