Long Term Food Storage
Storing Food
Certain foods lend themselves well to long term storage. Similarly you can extend the life of other foods by repackaging the food. Due to the volume of resources on this topic, we will touch lightly on the subject. Even if you are a novice, you can easily learn to package food!
Canning Food in Mason Jars
While you are able to 'can' almost anything in this manner, its mostly used for moist foods, such as Meats, veggies, fruits. This requires a fair amount of time, but you end up with a shelf-stable product that will preserve food for a long time without refrigeration. Canning is a lot more involved but has the benefit of you getting complete control over the contents of your canned foods (can organic vs. non-organic). And! you need to be totally up on botulism and how to spot problems in canned foods. This shouldn't put you off if you want to do this. The jars and lids are a bit spendy and there are other tools /pots you need.
Video Links:
Pressure Canning 101: A Beginner's Guide (Back to Basics) 29m. Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EauFBWpq75M. You will get a good chance to understand the process end-to-end, and supplies equipment needed.
Properly packaged, there are many food items that can be stored for an extended period of time. This protects your investment and extend the amount of food you have available on hand for a long-duration event.
In addition you can buy many foods at a significantly lower price in bulk, which can help if you are leveraging your food budget, and you can also look for organically grown foods and avoid toxins and all the chemicals food manufacturers routinely add to you food.
WHERE TO STORE
The #1 enemy of long term food storage are temperature extremes. Cool storage between 50-70f is recommended. But as this is likely not going to be readily available to most people, you should assume a shorter shelf life if you can't adequately control the temps. Food stored in jars must be kept out of direct sunlight.
OILS DON'T STORE WELL LONG TERM
Since oils have a fairly short shelf life we recommend you not stock up on oils until it looks like there is a high probability of a crisis developing.
When buying always scrutinize the sell by date on the oil and avoid anything within 1 year of the best before date. Look for recently batched (fresh) oils. We have seen grocery stores with oils that are still on the shelf well past their sell by / best before dates, meaning you are probably getting rancid oil. If you eat rancid oil, it removes B and E vitamins and releases free radicals which can cause cellular damage. For the same reason, peanut or other nut butters should be tossed after the expiry date.
Heating oils (frying) to > 375f can cause oils to turn rancid. Monitor your temperatures when cooking with oils.
We are not a fan of Canola oil, which was originally an oil used as machinery and engine lubricant. There is mounting evidence that certain seed oils negatively impact brain function. Unfortunately this oil is in almost everything. We generally consume olive and avacado oils where possible. DHA (fish oil/seaweed) is super brain healthy in comparison and should be supplemented if you want to protect your noggin.
GHEE
Aka canned "Clarified butter" is extensively used in hot climates (India, Australia) as it does not require refrigeration until after it is opened. Similar to other oils, 1-2 years is probably a good rule based on general internet research.
RED FEATHER CANNED BUTTER
There are a few good quality canned butter manufacturers. While I think you should reasonably assume this lasts 1-2 years, many people have had it for a long time and opened it more than 10 years later with good results. We have eaten canned bacon after 8 years and it appeared to be fine; taste was good. We don't really have an opinion here but it is something you can dig into. In general, foods with dairy, kept refrigerated even if canned, will help the food last longer. We store unopened dehyrdated milk in a fridge and dehydrated food to extend shelf life.
Controlling the Environment for longer term food storage
Whole grains and beans go bad because oxygen causes the fats in the food to go rancid. The simple fix for this is to store the food in an air-tight bag (Mylar) with Oxygen Absorbers. The absorbers chemically react with oxygen in the bag, removing it. No oxygen, no oxidation - and your food stays fresher longer.
All grains are seeds of plants. All seeds have fats. You get the least exposure to fats if you store the grain without processing it and crushing/cutting the fatty part of the seed. For example, storing Oat Groats (seeds) is better than storing rolled or steel cut oats as both expose the fat to oxygen. Whole grains last longer. The same is true for wheat berries, etc.
The down side is you may have to do more processing to turn the grain into something edible, such as grinding wheat into flour. So if you are planning to store grains long term, make sure you have some kind of a grinder to process the grain. Hand crank grinders are available. Larger ones can be spendy. Food processors can grind the grains but you'd need a power source (generator, solar generator (battery) and solar panels. If you have a generator or backup power then its not as much of an issue.
Can I store flour? Yes. There are varying opinions on for how long. A critical part of storing flour is making sure its moisture level is dry. If it is too high, botulism and mold can grow in the bag and spoil the flour. Freezing the flour in the mylar bag extends freshness of flour. Controlling the moisture content (use dessicants/water absorbers) in the mylar package. You can also take the step to 'dry' the flour in the oven at 200 to demoistureize it and kill bugletts in the flour. We are not experts on this topic so I suggest you read up on it and decide what makes the most sense for you. Here's a link: https://www.primalsurvivor.net/how-to-store-flour/
For comparison, you should expect to get 25-years or more from properly stored whole wheat berries. If you want to store flour, try and find flour that was recently milled. Because flour has a lot more gas/air in the bag, you need probably 2000-2500c of oxygen absorbers in the bag per 5-lb of flour. The companies that make oxygen absorbers often have tables that indicate how many CC of oxygen absorbers are required. You'll also want to squeeze the air out of the bag as possible before sealing the mylar.
MYLAR BAGS
These bags are available on Amazon or via other manufacturers, such as Pack Fresh USA. They vary in size and thickness, may have a gusset (which allows them to stand up and expands the bottom of the bag) or not; and they may or may not have a zip-lock style closer at the top of the bag.
Mylar bags can be reused if handled properly and are not damaged. However, they are NOT rodent proof. For storage we pack in boxes if rodents are not present. If they are present, then best to pack them in a clean 5 or 6g bucket with an air-tight seal / twist lid. 5-gal mylar bags can be used as a liner for a 5g bucket. Put the mylar bag in the bucket then fill it, toss in the oxygen absorbers and seal it. Then put on the bucket lid.
Always recommend you squeeze out the air after you put in the Oxygen absorbers, then seal with a flat iron and mark the bag with contents and date.
Video Link: https://theprovidentprepper.org/how-to-package-dry-foods-in-mylar-bags-for-long-term-storage/
Complete Proteins
Complete proteins contain the 9 essential amino acids and are found in meats. If you are short on meat, then you can get a complete protein from a few plants, and / or create a complete protein by combining beans with carbs to provide all the amino acids.
Each variety of bean absorbs different nutrients and minerals from the soil, so if you are looking for all-around nutrition, combine bean types in a soup, chili or other dish. You might have notices the frequent inclusion of beans, corn (tortillas, chips) and rice in mexican food. Even if vegan you'd get complete proteins by combining Pinto beans with corn.
The following chart comes is taken for reference and comes from the link below if you want to do more research on this topic with some links to good recipes.
Link: https://veganfitguide.com/complete-proteins-combinations-chart/
If you avoid beans cause they cause "tootilege" you can pick beans low in lectins and oligosaccharides. Soaking beans is very important prior to cooking as it will help them degas before you eat them. Pressure cooking also breaks down the lectins that cause gas. As mentioned in the Stoves section, you can save fuel when cooking beans by using a regular pressure cooker.
Oh - and don't combine beans with fruit as this can cause fermentation in the gut...
Popcorn is a great snack and is something you can consider when looking for items to store. I consider this a comfort food and could be a hit with folks during a crisis.
Nuts do not store very well due to the high fat content. For you to safely store peanuts in mylar with O2 absorbers, you should add dessicants and make sure they are dried to no more than 10% moisture. They can also be stored in honey (no expertise on this topic - check online) and will store best between 50 and 70 degrees F out of sunlight according to sources.
Similar to oils, if you want to store nuts, we recommend to not buy more than you will rotate thru every year or 18 months to prevent over-stocking. Overstocking IS helpful if you have the means and you can share with your community.