You might find this a better food investment

The folks att Bega Cheese, who have been making cheese, and only cheese, since 1899, have found a way to put great tasting, real cheddar cheese in a can. Produced and sold in Australia for more than fifty years, Bega is a household name in many parts of the world. Their product has a natural yellow color, medium cheddar flavor, and pleasing texture. It’s easy to cut, grate and slice – this is real cheddar cheese like you would expect to find in the deli case at your local grocery store, and it’s delicious.

Each can contains 7.05 ounces of cheese (200 grams), and the cans are similar in size to a typical 6 oz. can of tuna. You can remove both ends of a can and just push out the 3-3/8" x 1-1/2" mini-cheese-wheel. It doesn’t sag, quiver or run because it’s solid cheese!

look for it online.

 

Velveeta?? Why?? It's not even cheese! If you read the label it says it's cheese food it's what you would feed a cheese!

That being said Emergency Essentials carries a freeze dried cheese in #10 cans that are really good for longer than 5years.

 

There are a number of hard cheeses that can be kept indefinitely (25+ years). There are however some guidelines to follow. Velveeta is a processed cheese and is not completely cheese. The best way to long term keep Velveeta is to vacuum seal it. "Canning" might work really well, but I have never tried it.

 

I second the Emergency Essentials freeze dried cheese. It's really good.

I have had good luck storing just regular ol' Tillamook Medium Cheddar in my root cellar for over 12 months. It was kept in it's original shrink wrap packaging. The temperature throughout the year ranges from 33° to 55°F.

Haven't tried the Bega cheese yet. But I am intrigued.

 

Bega + B&M bread = grilled cheese!!!!

 

I buy a product called Cheddar Sensations at Walmart, it comes in a glass jars so it's good for a while but I do rotate them. Velveeta has a very short shelf life. I think I've read an article somewhere where someone tried to can it, didn't work.

 

Tillamok cheddar loaves keep pretty good. The other types, like Jack, not so much.

Canned cheese does not necessarily have a long shelf life. Cougar cheese available online and sometimes in a cooler at costco is canned but printes shelf life is short, maybe a year or two?

Oops I am wrong. Despite date on can apparently many age this cheese. Very expensive at Amazon but you can get reviews and tips there.

 

I've had this canned cheese approx. 1 1/2 years before I swapped them out, it may last longer, but didn't want to take a chance, I also have the Ghels canned queso, I haven't swapped out yet, Ill try my luck when TSHTF. I've been buying Thrive freeze dried cheese but the stuff if so expensive!

 

I have been able to pick up Emergency Essentials freeze dried cheese for around $25 a can. They will often have it as a Black Friday Sale or through their email daily sales alerts.

One #10 can has enough cheese for 10 Boboli (prepackaged pizza crust) sized pizzas.

I did reconstitute the mozzarella with water prior to using. The cheese melted, browned nicely and was stringy when pulling a piece away. The taste was very good. In fact, it tasted better than the cheaper store-brand mozzarella.

 

Just store dry milk powder and cheese powder.

Make cheese from milk powder at home: http://momprepares.com/easy-to-make-house-cheese/

Then as you finish up making it just blend in a bit of your favorite cheese powder for extra flavor.

 

Just store dry milk powder and cheese powder.



Make cheese from milk powder at home: http://momprepares.com/easy-to-make-house-cheese/



Then as you finish up making it just blend in a bit of your favorite cheese powder for extra flavor.

Have you tried this? I heard it tasted pretty nasty

 

I use dry powder milk from sport food shop. Protein with milk flavouring better food by forest walking. Solution clear water for 2 min. Energy!

 

I think that the next time I want to store velveeta that I will try freezing it. I HEAR you about it not being real food, but my husband loves the stuff and so, the next time I buy cheese on sale, I will buy some to freeze. The Federal government used to store cheese by freezing it: if they can store it that way for years I likely can as well.

I do know that Velveeta is fine for 8 months at room temperature because I have done it. When the one block of cheese gets low I buy another package or two.

 

Let me post my question again:

 

I think folks are just throwing out stuff because we don't have a real good answer for you.

Home canning cheese doesn't pan out and it's not going to dehydrate well either.

The best idea put forth so far is freezing it, which isn't realistically a LTS option.

If you can find a Middle Eastern grocery near you then you might be able to find Kraft canned cheese, which is about as close as you are going to find in a shelf stable option other than Bega cheese. Kraft canned cheese is not made in America.

 

I'll have to second the option for Bega Cheese. This is good stuff. We use it to eat by itself and it is really good to make your own mac & cheese.

 

OK so I'll admit it. I have a five gallon bucket labeled "velveeta" in my food storage. I plan on having broccoli from the many gardens people will leave behind.

 

Op, I have previously had Velveeta in my pantry for over a year. It seems to keep better in a pantry rather than refrigerated oddly enough. It seems to mold within weeks refrigerated.

I have also bought large waxed bricks of cheddar cheese that I have had for 3 years in the refrigerator. I have heard directly from cheese makers that waxed cheese can easily last from 10 to 20 years and will of course taste better with age.

 

I haven't done it myself yet but, on another forum, I can't remember which, a guy waxed Velveeta in the foil pack that it comes in and tested it every year out to 5 years. He said that it lasted just fine.

Al

 

I posted about this last year also. We have kept Velveeta in the bottom of the fridge for almost four years and it was fine. Tasted just like we had just bought it. No difference in texture, color or anything. We didn't keep any outside the fridge so I don't know if that would make a difference. Haven't tried canning it.

 

I did a quick search for: DIY Velveeta cheese and several recipes were returned. Then I did a search for: DIY Velveeta canning and several people seem to can both store bought and homemade successfully.

Canning store bought toward the bottom of page: http://www.oklahomapastrycloth.com/blog/?p=2887

Homemade Velveeta:
http://challengedsurvival.blogspot.com/2012/09/homemade-velveeta-cheese.html

If you decide to try any of this let us know how it goes, 'kay?

 

Okay, cheese In general is by far my favorite food, so I will offer my opinion. First, the Bega Cheese is a good quality product and will store for a long time. The Kraft canned cheese is pretty good too. I spent some time in the Middle East during my stint in the Army and the Middle East is by far the largest consumer of canned cheese, so as others have mentioned, if there is a Mid East market near you, they will likely have some there. You can also order it online, which is what I do. Bega is a staple in my pantry; not because it is the best cheese ever, but because I love cheese and cannot fathom life without it, so I keep plenty on hand in case TSHTF. In addition, as some have already mentioned, you can wax good high quality cheese and it will keep for years in the right conditions. So spend a little money and get some good quality cheese, which is after already wax sealed, and either wax seal it or do as I do and put another coat of wax on it just to be sure. As for velveeta, chez whiz, etc....those aren't real cheese products and will not keep the same and I personally would not risk it. Stick with the real stuff.

 

Why would you want to? The Apocalypse will be bad enough as it is without compounding it.

 

Can't remember where i saw it posted originally but i remember someone advocating wax sealing the velveeta in the carton itself. End Times Report, discusses this technique here; http://endtimesreport.com/waxing_cans_and_boxes.html
hope that this helps!

 

Found it;
http://www.endtimesreport.com/preserving_soft_cheese.html
enjoy.

 

I could probably freeze-dry Velveeta but since my husband (who loved the stuff) is deceased now, I don't know why I would since real cheese also freeze-dries beautifully.

I used to buy canned camembert and brie cheeses to use on long canoe trips (used to trail a net bag full of apples, pears and cheese cans along behind us in the water to be sure it was cold). Unopened, they lasted for many years. Haven't seen those products now in a while. Used to be on every grocery store's shelves but I guess the availability of fresh cheese these days has made them not sell as well. I should go looking for them again and hope that they still are out there.

 

I put some in my dehydrator a long time ago before my brains developed. Add this to your "never do this" list.

 

WOW CHEESE IN A SHTF SITUATION THAT IS A NICE IDEA,,,WILL MORE MUCH MORE AT HOME AND FORGET ABOUT THE SITUATION OUT SIDE, JUST ENJOY THE CHEESE WITH CRACKERS AND SOME WINE,,,THE GOOD LIFE,,,:thumb:

 

It's a necro thread, but since you bring it up again:

Velveeta cheese ingredients: WHEY, MILK, MILK PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, MODIFIED FOOD STARCH, CANOLA OIL, SODIUM CITRATE, CONTAINS LESS THAN 2% OF GELATIN, SALT, CALCIUM PHOSPHATE, SODIUM PHOSPHATE, LACTIC ACID, SORBIC ACID AS A PRESERVATIVE, MILKFAT, CHEESE CULTURE, PAPRIKA EXTRACT AND ANNATTO (COLOR), ENZYMES, NATURAL FLAVOR, VITAMIN A PALMITATE.

Like all other oils high in polyunsaturates, that canola oil is not going to hold up long-term. It will last a little longer vacuum sealed than just as is, but not much.

For those who want a Velveeta/American cheese-style cheese in a can, the closest you can come, and it's pretty close, is the Jamaican Tastee processed cheese in a can, which comes in multiple sizes. It's more expensive than Velveeta because it's all real cheese, but it will keep as long on the shelf as Bega. You will likely get rip off prices on Amazon for it. Look for an online Caribbean grocery, and opt for the more economical larger 2.2 lb (1 kilo) can if you eat a lot of Velveeta/American cheese. That should run you something around/under $10/lb.

Jamaican Tastee cheese Ingredients: Cheddar Cheese (Milk, Salt, Bacterial Culture, Enzyme), Water, Butter, Sodium Phosphates, Salt, Citric Acid, Nisin (Preservative), Annatto (Coloring).
(Nisin is a natural food preservative, an antibacterial peptide produced by Lactococcus lactis, used to inhibit listeria etc. Annatto is used, as it is in many other foods, to give it that American cheese/Velveeta orange color.)

 

It's a necro thread, but since you bring it up again:

Velveeta cheese ingredients: WHEY, MILK, MILK PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, MODIFIED FOOD STARCH, CANOLA OIL, SODIUM CITRATE, CONTAINS LESS THAN 2% OF GELATIN, SALT, CALCIUM PHOSPHATE, SODIUM PHOSPHATE, LACTIC ACID, SORBIC ACID AS A PRESERVATIVE, MILKFAT, CHEESE CULTURE, PAPRIKA EXTRACT AND ANNATTO (COLOR), ENZYMES, NATURAL FLAVOR, VITAMIN A PALMITATE.

Like all other oils high in polyunsaturates, that canola oil is not going to hold up long-term. It will last a little longer vacuum sealed than jsut as is, but not much.

For those who want a Velveeta/American cheese-style cheese in a can, the closest you can come, and it's pretty close, is the Jamaican Tastee processed cheese in a can, which comes in multiple sizes. It's more expensive than Velveeta because it's all real cheese, but it will keep as long on the shelf as Bega. You will likely get rip off prices on Amazon for it. Look for an online Caribbean grocery, and opt for the more economical larger 2.2 lb (1 kilo) can if you eat a lot of Velveeta/American cheese. That should run you something around/under $10/lb.

Jamaican Tastee cheese Ingredients: Cheddar Cheese (Milk, Salt, Bacterial Culture, Enzyme), Water, Butter, Sodium Phosphates, Salt, Citric Acid, Nisin (Preservative), Annatto (Coloring).
(Nisin is a natural food preservative, an antibacterial peptide produced by Lactococcus lactis, used to inhibit listeria etc. Annatto is used, as it is in many other foods, to give it that American cheese/Velveeta orange color.)

NY Min,

Is there a scale for the basic oils ? ... Eg the quality oils when an ingredient of food, stores well (like discussion above) ?

What is recommended for a prepper to avoid ? What is recommended for foods packed for an evacuation ie short term storage ?

Do we see the costs of the basic oils as a function of quality for storage ?