Long Term Storage for Dry Milk and Potato Flakes

[jhill1965]

I have been searching the internet for information about long term storage of Dry Milk because I read it might be more difficult to store long term. My intended method is to use 5 food grade gallon buckets with mylar bags and 2 of the 2000 cc Oxygen absorbers. I think 2 of the O2 absorbers might be overkill but I figure it is an insurance policy.

Does anyone have any experience with dry milk and know how it tastes 5 or 10 years after packaging it?

Any help, insight, or information is appreciated.

Thanks

[leaftye]

I've had some nonfat milk that was about 5 years old. Tangy is the best word I can think of to describe the taste. It was still in the packaging it came in without any other kind of packaging of my own. I believe the bags they were in didn't keep a good seal because some bags tasted much better than others, even almost okay. I bet you'd be fine if you do as you're planning. I wouldn't repackage it though. Like if you're using Nestle Nido, don't open the can, but do seal the whole thing in a big mylar bag and put it in a bucket.

Edit: I've read elsewhere that it's still better to repackage. I'd like to try both ways.

[Dixielee]

I think milk is one of those things that is just hard to store long term. I do have a good bit that I put into #10 cans at the LDS cannery, but for normal use, i use my Food Saver with the jar lid attachment and store in 1/2 gallon glass jars. I do like the Nido! It is dried whole milk instead of non fat so it tastes so much better. I have been finding it in what is close to a #10 can sized with a metal seal and not one of those metalized things that a lot of cans are now being sealed with. So I do store them just on the shelf and figure I have a reasonable shelf life with them as is.

My back up plan if it looks like whatever event makes me have to depend on my long term storage is to get a milk goat! I can store a lifetime supply of wheat and it won't go bad but I can't say the same about milk. One good thing "old" dry milk is good for though is making a soft cheese. There is a book, I think it is Cooking with Home Storage, that has recipes for using powdered milk and tells how to make cheese out of milk that you may not really want to drink but is not really spoiled.

[Pitcher]

Go to the LDS cannery you can get both powdered milk and potato flakes good for 25 years if you follow their packaging guidelines

[lanahi]

Here is a good review of some brands of powdered milk:
http://selfrelianceadventures.blogsp...-test-and.html
The LDS milk was the least favorite for a taste test, but would be good in baking.

Dried milk should be good for 10 years at least, and it will be good for one year if opened, if it is kept dry. The lower the temperature, after opening, the better.

[pejames42]

Can anyone go to the LDS canneries?

[jungatheart]

Emergency Essentials sells excellent powdered milk in #10 cans with oxygen absorbers.

[getFOODnow]

i store powdered milk and instant potatoes in mylar with oxygen absorbers. I believe it will be fine ten yrs from now if any of it is left by then.

[Bearack]

Originally Posted by pejames42

Can anyone go to the LDS canneries?

Yes. I'm become a frequent visitor of late

[leaftye]

Originally Posted by lanahi

Here is a good review of some brands of powdered milk:
http://selfrelianceadventures.blogsp...-test-and.html
The LDS milk was the least favorite for a taste test, but would be good in baking.

That's too bad that they only tested low fat and nonfat milk. I want fat in my survival milk. I'm not on a diet, so let it give me all the energy it can. It tastes a LOT better with fat too. I would even say it tastes good. For the fatty whole milk version, I get Nestle Nido. It can usually be found in the hispanic section of grocery stores. I usually get it at Walmart for $13 for a #10 can.

[12vman]

hvnt used dairy since i was 15

one less thing to worry about...........

[MikeK]

Mylar and O2 absorbers are perfect for both of those. Powdered milk can last for a couple decades packed like that. A few months back I finished a bucket of it that had been packed in the '90s and forgotten in the hot metal shed along with some other preps. They were put in there temporarily, then forgotten during a move. I assumed they had been integrated into the preps at the new house, but they had been left behind.

Anyway, the milk was fine.

[MikeK]

Originally Posted by leaftye

That's too bad that they only tested low fat and nonfat milk. I want fat in my survival milk. I'm not on a diet, so let it give me all the energy it can. It tastes a LOT better with fat too. I would even say it tastes good. For the fatty whole milk version, I get Nestle Nido. It can usually be found in the hispanic section of grocery stores. I usually get it at Walmart for $13 for a #10 can.

That's because the nonfat versions are the only ones that really store well long term. I like Nido too, but even packed in mylar with an O2 absorbers, the storage life would be significantly reduced compared to nonfat milks. For Nido and such, the only real way to keep it is to keep it rotated, so that you're going into the SHTF with a fresh batch.

[leaftye]

While that makes sense that it would be less, how bad is it? The shelf life is already two years. Wouldn't it be much longer when packaged for long term storage?

[Flivver]

It is also cheap and easy to keep a few packages of vanilla pudding on hand. If you need to rehydrate the mild, add a spoonful of instant vanilla pudding for some better flavor.

[ULTRAMAGNUM]

There's a good idea.... maybe even a few drops of liquid vanilla instead?