[ChristyACB]

Lots of posts wanting to know what's the best of this or that and we all have our opinion, including me. So...I decided to do a head to head comparison on price, amount of servings or quantity for the major sellers and see what the differences were. Today I did common Dairy products.

And no, I don't work for any of them. I'm just restocking so very interested in getting the most for my money and storage space.

If you want me to go ahead and do other categories that tend to be pricey, like meat or what not, let me know. I don't mind since I have to do it for restocking. **Yes, I did search for similar posts.

Non-Fat Instant Milk #10 can
-Grandma's Country Cream, $15.49, 80 cups
-Thrive Instant, $18.79, 80 cups
-Provident Pantry Fortified Non-Fat, $15.95, 48 cups
-Provident Pantry Instand Milk, $19.95, 72 cups
-Augason Farms Country Fresh Fortified, $11.45, 39 cups

Milk Substitute or Blend
-Honeyville Grains Milk Substitute, $13.99, 128 cups
-Grandma's Country Cream MilQ, $12.99, 88 cups
-Augason Morning Moo, $12.69, 90 cups
-Thrive Powdered Milk (soy/milk blend), $12.99, 43 cups

Whole Eggs
-Thrive, $20.99, (says 236 servings but that equates to about 70 eggs if you check the calories, fats and so on and compare them)
-Honeyville, ~$21.00, 81 to 90 large eggs
-Augason, $17.45, ~56 large eggs
-Provident Pantry, $18.95, ~96 XL eggs (by weight, cals, etc, more probably lg eggs)


I've tried a good many of them. I have my favorites but would love to know your favorites and why. From price comparison it seems like some companies give way less for the size of a $10 can and the price.

Opinions?

 

[neosurvivalist]

Thanks for the price comparison. Several have done a taste comparison. We use Provident Pantry Instant Fat Free Powdered Milk from Emergency Essentials. Quite good when served cold. We also store their powdered whole eggs. We also have some Nido milk which is pretty good.

Taste Test
http://www.utahpreppers.com/2010/03/great-powdered-milk-taste-test-and-review/

 

[MikeK]

-Thrive, $20.99, (says 236 servings but that equates to about 70 eggs if you check the calories, fats and so on and compare them)

You really have to watch the storage food companies and double check. You can never take their "servings" at face value. Thrive seems especially bad about it.

I've seen some companies try to pass off "year supplies" that didn't have enough calories per serving to even keep you alive a year. Or that "bucket" that Sam's or Costco sold that supposedly had 275 servings. I forget if it was supposed to be a 30 day supply or a 90 day supply, but it worked out to something like 500-600 calories a day. Or those "survival food tablets" that are supposedly a month's supply yet only contain 120 calories a day or so.

Even the ones that on the surface look like they provide adequate calories often cheat by inflating the calorie count with lots of sugary drink mixes and/or cans of sugar.

Thanks for a well thought out comparisons!

 

[ChristyACB]

MikeK - Yes, that is why I did this comparison and broke it down to cups for the milk instead of servings. Thrive seems to boost up their numbers by cutting down on serving size so it seems like you're getting the same amount as some of the others. Cups is just that and they are the same for all. Big huge difference. That is why I posted.

Of course, taste and how well it mixes and so on are big factors with dairy products in LTS so that I why I would love other opinions.

My personal fave for drinking straight is actually the Morning Moo alternative milk. It just tastes better and smoother. PP is also very good.

 

[ChristyACB]

Butter Powder:

-Provident Pantry, 23.95, 192 Tbsp
-Augason Farms, 22.69, 178 Tbsp
-Thrive, 22.09, 192 Tbsp
-Honeyville Grains, 19.99, No TBSP equivalent but it is 2.25 lbs at a 4 to 1 mix ratio which is approximately the same as PP and Thrive.
-Grandma's Country (AFS), 21.03, Same as honeyville

Butter powder appears to have a lot less variation so it almost comes down to which one works better rather than for the money. Anyone have an opinion on this one?

Also, today I was going to do meats. If this is no value to folks I won't post it. If it is, please let me know. If folks aren't really shopping for this stuff or are brand dedicated then this might not be useful. Me, I like to shop around for the best deal and most for my limited storage space!

 

[JRD505]

Ya i think it would be good for you to do a meat comparison... Though i have done my own comparison with 3 of those 4 companies, I think for other ppl that havent it would be good for them to see! ANd also i believe quality and taste is a big part of it. So if u or anyone else has experience in using these companies products,whether it be the milk, eggs, butter, meat etc let us know! Everyones opinion helps!

 

[PaulaMM]

Thank you, Christy! I'm pretty new to buying survival foods online and have found it very frustrating that seemingly similar sized cans can have such a difference in servings. We don't have a lot of extra money, so I am needing to get all the bang I can for my buck.

I do have stuff coming from Provident Pantry and Augason Farm but haven't received or tried anything yet.

I'll be watching this thread in earnest. I am really looking forward to reading other people's reviews on these products.

I have 2 large boxes of instant, store brand non fat milk, both dated until 2013. Does anyone have any experience with keeping it longer than the expiration date?

 

[ChristyACB]

Thank you, Christy! I'm pretty new to buying survival foods online and have found it very frustrating that seemingly similar sized cans can have such a difference in servings. We don't have a lot of extra money, so I am needing to get all the bang I can for my buck.

I do have stuff coming from Provident Pantry and Augason Farm but haven't received or tried anything yet.

I'll be watching this thread in earnest. I am really looking forward to reading other people's reviews on these products.

I have 2 large boxes of instant, store brand non fat milk, both dated until 2013. Does anyone have any experience with keeping it longer than the expiration date?

You can, but I'd repackage it to do so. The oxidation will get you in the end with that stuff as is. Also, the flavor will go off with more time.

It's one of the main reasons that powdered milk of any kind needs to stay in a firm rotation in your preps. You can use it for baking as well as regular cooking and that will help you use it up.

 

[Jazzn]

Good thread

Thanks for the homework!
I spent a lot of time eyeballing web sites back and forth before placing my orders, as I didn't feel like ordering one of everything to try first. These kinds of articles are really useful information...I would welcome more!
It is frustrating to have to watch things so closely with different vendors.... let alone worrying about how the stuff tastes!

 

[ChristyACB]

Meats - Not a whole lot of comparison out there. Especially with no mountain house available anywhere to really compare prices on. This is what I got. I had to equalize out the servings to 30g each to get cost comparisons. Some have servings huge others ridiculously small.

All Freeze Dried

Chicken
-Thrive, $34.89, 16 oz, 48 servings at 10 g each. (Totally unrealistic serving. Cost = $0.072 per gram/$2.11 per 30 gram serving.
-Augason, $51.25, 16 oz, 15 servings at 29 g each. (Cost = $0.12 per gram/$3.53 per 30 gram serving.)
-Provident Pantry, $42.95, 23 oz, 16 servings at 41 g each. (Cost = $0.065 per gram/ $1.96 per 30 gram serving)

Ground Beef
-Provident Pantry, $43.95, 20 oz, 12 servings at 47 g each. (Cost = $0.078 per gram/ $2.34 per 30 gram serving)
-Thrive, $41.59, 28 oz, 48 servings at 17 g each. (Cost = $0.051 per gram/ $1.52 per 30 gram serving) *I'd like to check this because it seems odd that they have so much more in a can. Could be an error in their math on the site.
-Augason Beef Chunks (no ground beef), $48.99, 16 oz, 13 servings at 34 g each. (Cost = $0.11 per gram/ $3.33 per 30 gram serving)

Ham Dice
- Provident Pantry, $51.95, 23 oz, 12 servings at 54 g each. (Cost = $ 0.08 per gram/ $2.41 per 30 gram serving.)
-Thrive, $47.99, 20 oz, 48 servings at 12 g each. (Cost = $ 0.08 per gram/ $2.50 per 30 gram serving.)

There are other meats and forms of meat but none that more than one has right now. No good for comparison.

Bottom line on meats is that they are way expensive! Certainly when compared with what most of us can pick them up for during any decent sale (or even regular price).

So far I don't stock FD meat, just home canned stuff and some commercial canned. I can't imagine that it can possibly be put into a rotation at those prices.

Anyone have an opinion on these? Stock them? Use them?

 

[MikeK]

I have 2 large boxes of instant, store brand non fat milk, both dated until 2013. Does anyone have any experience with keeping it longer than the expiration date?

It'll typically keep unopened for a year or two. Maybe 6 months to a year opened, depending on your humidity.

But if you repackage it into mylar with O2 absorbers, you're looking at 15-20 years or so. Powdered milk lasts really well under those conditions.

 

[MikeK]

So far I don't stock FD meat, just home canned stuff and some commercial canned. I can't imagine that it can possibly be put into a rotation at those prices.

Anyone have an opinion on these? Stock them? Use them?

I don't stock FD meats either. They're a poor value. I don't normally like canned foods, but I don't mind canned meats. So between home canned and store bought, I can put away a LOT more meat than I could with FD.

I find most FD foods a poor value anyway. After having years of experience with both, I have come to strongly prefer dehydrated individual ingredients so that I can turn them into whatever I want. Though I do LOVE FD berries.