[quote=VeganD]Adam
This is a very timely and reassuring article. I also felt the need to get back to the basics with everything going crazy. Many thanks. This is a terrific series.
Regarding cooking oil storage: I have been looking at shelf life of oil today on the web. Crisco shortening seems to have a longer shelf life than most (two years per the manufacturer). In an emergency it will do but it is not the healthiest option. I freeze my olive oil until I use it which seems to extend the shelf life a bit as well. However a gallon of oil takes up a lot of space in the freezer. FWIW.
Take care
Denise
[/quote]
VeganD,
Coconut oil has the longest shelf life: five years if stored in unopened container and in a cool and dark place. Dark because light shortens shelf life. Here are some links on the subject that you might find useful:
http://www.providentideas.com/why-coconut-oil-is-best-for-food-storage/
After a bunch of research, ou team found out that coconut had by far the best shelf life of any other cooking oil out there. Depending on the moisture content of the oil, shelf life is usually somewhere around 3-5 years. We also found out, however, that there are several types and quality of coconut oil.
http://www.fromnaturewithlove.com/library/storagevegetableoils.asp
Vegetable oils differ in the type of fats they contain and the rate in which they oxidize and deteriorate. Oils that are highly saturated like coconut oil (nearly 85% saturated fat) have a stable shelf life. Oils that are rich in essential fatty acids and other polyunsaturated fats are the most nourishing for our skin, but are also the most fragile of the oils. Their shelf life is generally shorter than oils that contain saturated and monounsaturated fats.
Thanks for your comments guys.
I forgot to say I had already bought a 2 burner camping stove and a regulator. With the 19kg gas cylinder it works out at about 70 hours - around 35 days worth.
I think the thing I’m thinking about most right now is priorities for the next few months assuming there is no disaster. I now have 5 months of uncooked food, 30-50 days (depending on if family come to stay with us) of water with a 2 candle filter and 35 days worth of gas.
Should I focus on increasing the water storage to 8 months, and then food to 8 months, and then gas to 8 months - or make sure they are all equal and move forward, so 6 months of all 3, then 7 months of all 3 etc.
Gas is expensive!!! And buying 4 more cyclinders to match my food supply is gonna hurt. I’m just wondering if you guys have matching food and gas supplies.
In the cottage soapmaking business people buy exotic oils and then worry about how to keep them from going rancid. or oxidizing. There are three solutions that I know of:
Add vitamin E to the oil: it will slow the process.
Make sure there is very little air in the bottle and very little contact area between the oil and the air. For example: use a narrow neck bottle and fill it up to the top. Do not lay the bottle on its side. Do not shake it!! This is an ancient solution and goes back even before the noble Romans.
Freeze or refridgerate it. That’s what the soapmakers do with the expensive oils or exotic butters that they can’t use right away. It might not be practical for extended storage, but its good to keep in mind that a cold temperature will retard the reaction.
Don’t fill a glass bottle to the top and then freeze it; just do that with plastic containers…Cold oils will sometimes solidify right there in the refridgerator,
Thank you all for the oil tips. Sorry for my incorrect info-I will be getting coconut oil this week for storage. I have eco fuel for cooking on a small camping stove but it does not generate much heat. However, it is safer for me to store in a multi-unit setting than coleman fuel or canned gas. Also have a pressure cooker to reduce cooking times for the dried lentils as previously suggested. Now I just have to practice using the pressure cooker and the camping stove.
Regards
Thanks for the great article. I have long known that the Mormons were the premier experts on food storage, but I assumed one had to be a member of their church to utilize their knowledge and facilities.
Last night, we visited ourlocal cannery. The people were extremely helpful and friendly, and the prices looked like a very good deal. We are definitely going to schedule a day with them to add to our food preps.
Again, great article, and thanks for the tip. I’ll report back after we get some canning done.
Great article. I’ve made an appt at the local LDS facility, which accepts everyone. However, I want to point out that providentliving.org seems to suggest there is only ONE cannery in New England, and certainly not everyone is going to be able to get there due to schedules, time constraints, etc. After going to Chris’ Rowe seminar I got motivated to start an inventory of what I already have on hand, including lots of stuff from my 1999 storage spree. I have several buckets of things like wheat, rice, whole corn, etc. I stored it, in the barn, in used 5-gallon pickle buckets, with the sole addition of diatomaceous earth to the wheat. I was amazed to find that all of this stuff still looked exactly the same as it did in 1999. It may not have quite the nutritional value it did then, but it is all edible in a pinch. I’m only mentioning this to encourage those who can’t get to an LDS cannery to DO WHAT YOU CAN with available materials. Food grade buckets can be scrounged for next to nothing (hint: icing and pickles come in them), and lots of bulk foods are available through your local food coop (the monthly delivery kind, usually free to join). It is not the Rolls Royce of food storage, but it is useful and better than having nothing. For those who are financially strapped and/or have no time to join food coops, get some used buckets and fill them up with bulk grains from a feed store, after making sure that they have no additives. Diatomaceous earth is available from most garden supply stores - it is ground up limestone and acts as an insect deterrent, while being harmless to mammals. Don’t let the distance to an LDS cannery, or the lack of companions in this effort, deter you. Start small.
So I have been working with a group recently on doing our long term food storage “event” and we recently switched strategies to going with the #10 cans from the mylar bag/bucket system. The LDS cannery loans (or I should say “loaned” but more on that in a minute) the sealer for the cans for free and you can purchase the material (including oxygen absorber) directly from them, at a very good price. It came to $7.79 or so for each case of six #10 cans-including the box (which was determined to be a rough equivalent to the amount stored in a 5gal bucket-and the best price on a bucket/lid set was $13 each not including mylar/dessicant/oxygen absorber). We have some members of our group who feel very particular about the source of the food being stored (including food produced by ourselves…) which is why we did not just go ahead to the cannery and use their supplies and food.
On the day we were ready to schedule our pickup date for the canner and equipment, I was informed by the manager of the department that they are not allowed to loan out the #10 can sealers to non-members of the church any longer. They have had some problems with not getting them back or getting them back broken or something. BUMMER For us! In any case, this is a very recent thing and I dont know that all the canneries have implemented the change or not. They told me that anyone who was not on their list already could not do it. We just did not get on the list in time, darn it. He even suggested I could try other canneries nearby. I did call one and it appeared I could get on their list without a problem except that the first available date was the middle of August!!! I only mention it because they also told me that some of their local branches “stakes” do have a canning sealer as well and that there may be folks who would be willing to “host” you at the local branches. Seems like an extra bit of work, but the cost savings is substantial with the #10 cans and we decided that they were a bit more of a manageable dimention to work with as well.
One thing I forgot to mention was that this change only applies to folks wanting to borrow the canning sealer. They assured me again and again that I would be more than welcome to come to their facility and can using their food (you cannot bring in food from the outside to be canned due to FDA regulations or something). i did not want to creat confusion, anyone and everyone can go to the LDS cannery nearest you to can your own food stores.
a couple things no one seems to be addressing is the fact that not everyone can afford,nor does it make sense to just store food until its bad,throw it away,and store more.my suggestion is to start by putting away more than you need the first year,then use the oldest food first next time and get into an annual cycle of renewal.although I definately keep dry food,cooking food in the canning process will be much cheaper now than when electricity,gas,diesel or other fuels is at a premium.keep in mind that you can eat a cold can of veggies or meat,but not a bag of dry beans.
This is a fantastic article. I hope that people will read it and understand some of the importance of having an emergency food supply. The food supply of this world is in a very delicate place, and we all need to get ready. I found a simple way to get started, and I spend about $150 per month and buy one bucket of food at a time. Within 6 months, you can have several months worth of food storage. Get moving everyone!!! Food StorageEmergency Food