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19K views 46 replies 28 participants last post by  DerekFSU 
#1 ·
OK... Before anyone says store what you eat, eat what you store and rotate, this is not a post about food storage at home.

I'm thinking about burying a cache of supplies way out in the boonies, and will probably not want to go back to it until the time I need it.

On that basis... does anyone have any suggestions for food supplies that will store for many many years. I will be using PVC capped and sealed burial tubes.

So far I'm thinking about storing the following items sealed in mylar with oxygen absorbers.

Whole wheat
Rice
Pemmican (Home made).
Jar of Honey
Salt

Any other Suggestions?
 
#3 ·
You can also put in some regular sugar. It keeps well. I suppose you are determining how many people will be supplied from this cache and for how long. Most food storage plans that I've read include some type of oil, but oils usually don't keep as long as the other items you plan to store. You might do some research: dehydrated peanut butter may be a consideration. At any rate, you have a good plan......
 
#6 ·
I doubt your pemmican will make it. Fats tend to go rancid in most storage conditions. Oddly enough, canned fats don't seem to be plagued with that problem, though I don't understand what the difference is. Perhaps dissolved oxygen permeating the non canned fats?

Anyway, your idea of basics wheat, rice, honey and such are good. You might also add some of the smaller, faster cooking beans such as split peas and/or lentils. When combined with the grains, they form a complete protein.
 
#7 ·
I decided on the pemmican based on claims that it would last for as long as 80 years, although I must admit that I have no way to verify these caims. Does anyone have any experience of storing Pemmican?

One possible item of Fat for long term storage is canned Ghee... I've had cans opened over 5 years after the best before date and they've been as good as new.
 
#9 ·
Well... Given the insane price of screw on end caps and the fact that I would like to put quite a few of these caches together and bury them at strategic locations on my bug out route. I'm considering sealing the ends of 6" PVC pipe with fibreglass resin. I can get pretty good deals on the stuff from a boat repair company, so should be able to load up a bunch of them without costing the earth. I'll need to hide a junior hacksaw with each cache to get into them.
 
#10 ·
One thing to consider when placing caches like this is the moisture in the ground. If you put a sealed container in the ground and the water table/moisture is sufficient, it will float the tubes out of the ground. This happens with swimming pools, septic tanks, and other underground storage when they are not full.

Be sure to fill the tubes to the maximum so they will less likely to "float". You might even consider filling the void spaces with some type of ballast.
 
#36 ·
I had that problem with 55 gallon barrels that I buried and when we had a more than average rainfall, they just popped out of the ground. I still have not put anything in them, in case we need to bury guns or hide a surplus of food. I have put a stack of old tires and cement stepping stones on top of them and so far they are staying in place.
 
#12 ·
My preps started with breakfast, since it would set the pace for the rest of the day

Instant pancake mix, dried potatoes (for harsh browns) and powdered eggs- just add water, sealed in mylar bags and oxygen absorbers.

Lunch and dinner - Rice, beans (pinto beans for protein), potato flakes, oatmeal, pasta,,,,,,, and so on.

Honey is always good
 
#33 ·
My preps started with breakfast, since it would set the pace for the rest of the day

Instant pancake mix, dried potatoes (for harsh browns) and powdered eggs- just add water, sealed in mylar bags and oxygen absorbers.

Lunch and dinner - Rice, beans (pinto beans for protein), potato flakes, oatmeal, pasta,,,,,,, and so on.

Honey is always good

Did everyone miss this or did no one want to correct kev? :taped:

Instant pancake mix is not a LTS food item. It will go bad in a year or two.

The rest of kev's suggestions are perfectly fine but all-in-one mixes generally have a poor shelf life, especially anything with baking powder.
 
#17 ·
FYI,

The orange "Homer" buckets Home Depot sells for 3.69 are HDPE2 (food grade) as are the gasketed lids. I order dessicant packets and oxygen absorbers from eBay, throw them in with whatever I am packing, and so far I haven't had any loss of vacuum. Just a cheap solution versus food-grade containers with gamma lids.


GP5K
Preparedness is a process, not an event.
 
#19 ·
Are they for sure food grade? Do they say so on the bucket like Lowe's Encore buckets do? Just because they're HDPE2 doesn't mean they're food grade. And without the mylar, O2 will get back into the bucket. The plastic that it's made from is not a gas barrier. So O2 can actually pass through the plastic of the bucket itself. This is why all the long term food storage companies pack it in mylar with O2 absorber (no dessicant...requires special packing for them to work together) and then use the bucket to protect the mylar.

As I keep saying, if you want to guarantee yourself that you're packing your foods properly. Then do it the way the long term food storage companies are doing it. They have decades of experience and laboratory tests to prove that their methods work. There are a whole of of "it seems like it should work" methods that don't. And food is too important to take chances on something that "seems like it should work."
 
#18 ·
If it is to be cached and the purpose is to serve as a backup emergency cache, not normal long term food at your BOL, then I recommend Mountain House freeze dried backpacking pouch meals for the following reasons:

1) These will store a lot longer than any other food - at least twice as long, possibly as much ten times as long.

2) They are already packaged securely - no worries about mistakes in this regard, and you can't afford mistakes in an emergency cache unless you never actually use it.

3) They are lightweight - weight will matter a lot if you are on foot, and you probably will be if you need to dig up a cache.

4) The food is easily prepared - just add water, it usually doesn't even need to be hot water (but for most meals that is better). Some food pouches can even be eaten as is without adding water (although you will want to drink water with it).
 
#28 ·
How would you keep these cache tubes from sweating inside once buried? I was going to bury a test cache in my yard this summer just to see what really happens with the contents after a year. Would you need to get below the frost layer to prevent the container from sweating on the inside? If it does sweat inside, anything that's metal is going to be a rusty mess. Just curious if anyone has buried anything like this and then went and checked it a year or two later.
 
#32 ·
Personally I go for meals rather than just food. It helps break up monotony and aids in alleviation of stress.

I would recommend stuff like instant hot cereal (just add hot water type), instant pancake mix, and stuff like powdered eggs and the like. Add to that stuff like canned tuna, self made soup mixes, and the like.

I also agree with those saying things like MH. Especially things like Pro Pak type ones that are vacc packed for size.

One thing I also highly recommend is the often neglected powdered drink mixes. For one, many types of water treatments make them taste funny; these help. As well, you can include things like Gatorade or such for additional electrolytes and such. Not to mention, including things like hot drink mixes can be awesome on cold or wet nights.
 
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#37 ·
To add flavor to your cache, I'd suggest Tabasco sauce. Both the red and green varieties can go a LONG way to helping make rice and beans more palatable. Since it's a fermented/aged/pickled product and has no expiration date listed, it should last almost forever.

In cleaning out things, I found a bottle of unopened Tabasco that I bought 3-5 years ago. The vinegar and peppers had separated but I shook it up and it was fine. I plan on making some beans later for a taste-test.
 
#39 ·
To those of you who don't like beans.

You haven't tried the right recipe.

Dried beans are just too high in protein and nutrients to be ignored.

The fact that dried beans are also very easy to store long term, make them pretty much a prepper's dream food.
 
#41 ·
I am starting to stock pile canned food items and I was on a web site and they said that any Hormel canned products can last indefinitely. Can anybody tell me if this is true and if there is anything that will last indefinitely? Thanks for any reply.
It's not just Hormel. Any canned products last as long as the seal remains intact. Afterall, the product is sterile, and the can prevents any new bacteria from getting in the can. Del Monte and a few other canneries have said the same thing, as well as the USDA or FDA (forgot which). And it only makes sense when you think about it

There are some exceptions. High acid foods such as saurkraut, tomato products, and some fruits, can corrode the can from inside. Causing invisible pinholes that can let bacteria in. These should be rotated regularly, but will still last much past the "best by" date on the can. That's NOT an "expiration" date. It's just the date that the factory guarantees the quality will be the same as new.

The foods will slowly change in texture and flavor over the years, but remain safe to eat. It's always best to rotate them if you can. But don't let the date on the can freak you out.
 
#43 ·
WD40 is a lousy rustproofer. But you could use mineral oil which is food safe an doesn't evaporate. Be sure to use a good quality permanent marker on the can itself, as the oil is going to take the label off.

But a properly prepared cache with desiccant inside is not going to have any moisture issues anyway.
 
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