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Can I stock up on candy bars if I mylar and O2 them?

21K views 30 replies 24 participants last post by  NY Min 
#1 ·
I do confess to having a bit of a sweet tooth. That said, I'd like to have some of my favorite candy bars available as part of our preps (my wife likes M&M's, I'm more of a Snickers guy...).

Can I buy 'em, toss 'em in a mylar with some oxygen absorbers and expect them to last any amount of time???
 
#4 ·
They will last longer, but they won't last indefinitely if they have fats in them--which most milk chocolate and nuts do.

You can store cocoa indefinitely in mylar w/ O2 absorbers, but it's the fats that are the main issue.

How long would they last in mylar w/ O2 absorbers? I speculate 2-4 years. Snickers is unfortunately pretty fat-laden (130 calories from fat out of 280 total in their 2-ounce bar), so it's hard to imagine you'd go beyond a couple years. If you google shelf life and snickers or other candy bars, you find shelf lives in the 12-month range. Now, I've eaten candy bars that have been around for a while, and never had an issue with them--things like Halloween candy--so I suspect that's conservative. But beyond a few years in mylar, I doubt it.

FWIW: Why not just get as many as you'd like to store, and rotate as you eat them?

Here's a repost of a post I did a few days ago regarding Hershey's chocolate syrup. It has a long shelf life but there are no real fats in it. Same w/ Cocoa. I've looked at milk chocolate and other chocolate products, and if they have fat, it's a signal of short shelf life:

Googled shelf life of Hershey's Chocolate Syrup, ended up at this site:

http://www.thehersheycompany.com/con...ore-chocolate?

Where it says, among other things (and it's worth browsing the FAQ about storage):

Q. How should I store chocolate?
A. Solid chocolate products will maintain their quality if well wrapped and stored in a cool, dry place (55-60°F). While refrigerated chocolate is certainly safe to use, we don't recommend it. Chocolate kept in the refrigerator may "sweat" when brought to room temperature and may not melt properly.

Cocoa is considered a non-perishable item which should maintain quality if stored at room temperature in a tightly sealed container.

Now, that's not chocolate syrup, but if you examine the list of ingredients in chocolate syrup, there doesn't appear to be much there which has a short shelf life. It's mostly various sugars, cocoa, and some emulsifiers.

Here's the nutrition label for it:

http://www.thehersheycompany.com/bra...chocolate.aspx

There are no calories from fat, which is a good thing since fats are the worst when it comes to storage.

Here's a site that purports to go down the list of ingredients, and they match the ingredients of a generic brand of chocolate syrup we have here in my house:

http://simplydixon.com/2010/07/hersh...-is-it-really/


I think the StillTasty site is uber-conservative in the shelf lives listed there; I don't rely on it for authoritative information on shelf life.

As I read the above and more, I'm reasonably comfortable in saying that such syrup has a long, long shelf life, five years or more (this is me talking, and I'm just bits and bytes on the internet, so take my opinion with the grain of salt required).

BUT--on the Hershey site there is this:

Cocoa is considered a non-perishable item which should maintain quality if stored at room temperature in a tightly sealed container.

I'm going to lay in some chocolate syrup, *and* some cocoa. If there's a better comfort food, I don't know it. Well, beer maybe.
 
#6 ·
Yes, but rather than Mylar bags, I put my candy bars in mason jars (poke a hole in the wrapper first), and used a FoodSaver jar attachment to vacuum seal them. They will last about 5 to 10 years this way if kept in a cool dark place.

Note, if you don't have a FoodSaver you can still purchase the jar attachment from someplace like Amazon.com for about $9.00, then go to Harbor Freight and buy a manual brake bleeder pump for about $30 (I got mine on sale for $19). These have a hose that fits perfectly on the jar attachments and you can manually seal your jars even if the lights go out.
 
#8 ·
HA! We have one of those foodsaver thingees, my wife is an expert with that thing. And we've got the big jar, little jar attachments as well. I can live with five years or better, it'll give me something to look forward to five years from now as I rotate stock, yesss. Never has "store what you eat/eat what you store" sounded so good! heh heh
 
#7 ·
I got 2 years out of my Hershey Bars with Almonds and about 1 year on some Snickers, but I didn't use Mylar w/O2. I put them in a tupperware box that sealed really tight and put them in my cold storage. The Hershey Bars were a little white around the very edges, but all in all, they tasted just fine.
The Snickers however, were getting kind of hard. Tasted ok, but the caramel wasn't gooey anymore. Not sure if it was an older lot in the beginning, but I really think the max I would push the Snickers even in Mylar would be 2 years tops. I love M and M's too, and have some in Mylar right now, but it's only been about 9 months. I would be interested in others experiences too.
 
#11 ·
snickers last about 2 years from the example of donated ones where i work. at 2 years of age and kept around 65 degrees in a darkened place, the nuts are starting to get stale tasting. my guess is they will end up going bad now they have headed downhill.
The candy with the almonds (dove pieces) is already pretty yukky. they will throw it away soon. too bad, we had mountains of them. however the solid chocolate has a bit of a bloom on the outside but tastes just fine with no loss of flavor or texture (yet)
my personal favorite is jawbreakers, we probably have over 10 lbs of them stashed... and i want more!!!
 
#14 ·
I've got 2 cases of those large Hershey's chocolate bars stored in those little plastic bags where you suck all the air out? The name escapes me right now...anyway, I've had some of them stored that way for 4 years, and opened them up the other day...they tasted just fine! I shrink wrap 3 to a bag...

I've also stored Snickers for 3 years...with no problem.

Another thing I like is those great big bags of peanut M&M's...they keep well too!

Zulu Cowboy
 
#15 ·
Like many of the processed things that could become difficult to easily access in troubled times, there is usually only one solid long term solution.
Learn what it will take to produce them on your own and store those components.
It's usually not the easiest route and compromises will be made, but in the end you might just find that your own creations can rival the off the shelf items.
Adapt and overcome, and all that sort of thing.

And of course, you can stock and rotate out store bought.

Sugar has a longer shelf life than humans.
 
#19 ·
The fats themselves go rancid and they polymerize. It has nothing to do with bacteria. It is mostly a reaction with O2 causing oxidative rancidity. But even removing O2 from the atmosphere doesn't stop it.

I've always assumed some O2 was dissolved in the fat sort of like how CO2 is dissolved in a soda. That would explain why heat processed fats such as canned will last, while the others don't. Heat drives gasses out of solution.
 
#25 ·
This thread is from 2012 and the guy you are replying to has not logged on since 2013 so I doubt he sees your reply.
 
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#26 ·
I have some candy stored away in mylar. But I don't think that they will last forever. I'm thinking a year, tops. But, I'm diabetic, and nee to stay away from candy for the most part. I just it around for barter after a SHTF event. People will want things like that. I've, also, taken up candy making. And I have a decent stash of alcohol and cigarettes. Again, I don't drink or smoke. It's just there for barter. Things like that will, probably, be at a premium.
 
#27 ·
LOL Yep! Maybe someone will then. I found his question real good. I believe it was the Tropical Chocolate Bar by Hershey. If someone could find similar chocolate, it would have a good shelf life. I believe some German chocolate in round tins have pretty good shelkd life. Anyway! Have a good day!
 
#31 · (Edited)
There is not a lot of water content to most chocolate bars/candy, chocolate is going to melt in a dehydrator, and neither dehydrating nor freeze-drying does a darn thing to extend the shelf life of fat or fatty foods like nuts. So, way to ruin a good chocolate bar/waste of time.

Cocoa stores long-term sealed with oxygen absorbers. Since cocoa butter is very saturated, chocolate will keep well stored away from heat for several years, although you will get "bloom" with temperature changes. Remelted/retempered, it will be good as new.

As noted, added fats/oil and especially nuts will greatly reduce shelf life in spite of the preservative abilities of sugar.

My advice is store cocoa, canned butter, and Hershey's cocoa fudge recipe or one of the similar recipes out there. If you have nuts or caramel or almond paste etc., you can add those. Instant candy bar.
Hersheys Cocoa Fudge Recipe

If you have cocoa and fat (cocoa butter or substitute), you can also make a reasonable facsimile of chocolate with those.
Instructions here:
Cocoa powder LTS
 
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