Food storage question

[Bini]

Part of Labour Day weekend was spent at a family member's house. At one point, I had run out to their emergency food storage pantry to retrieve a couple items, and noticed some old dates. The precooked canned ground beef (from the church cannery) was dated 2006 - that's 6 years ago - and is the oldest item on the shelf. I'm just curious how typical it is for emergency food storage to have dated supplies. I should add that not all the food in their pantry is old, most of it is recently purchased from Costco but some of the stuff has been there for years. They have two pantries, one inside the kitchen for weekly menus, and a large one located by the garage for emergency preparedness. I joked with the family member about the old dates, and was basically told that the food in there is fine. She's a bit of a clean/organised freak like I am, so she is always going through both pantries, only she isn't bothered by food dates like I am. By the way, when something is canned with a label "canned 2006" for example, how do you know when that food expires?

Hubby and I have been meaning to start an emergency food storage for years but aren't sure how to go about it. Stocking up isn't the problem. But for how long do you allow that food to sit in there unused? If you do a clean-out every couple years, that can get expensive with stocking up and restocking. Even bottled water goes bad.

[Wingnut]

Pssshhhh...six years old is nothing! My parents have canned food older than I am! (true story)

[Guest DeborahC]

I opened a can of dried apples that had a date of (what was it now?) 1954?

It tasted like it had been canned yesterday!

I'm not sure about food value, but I feel those dates are guidelines, not rules...

[Wingnut]

but I feel those dates are guidelines, not rules...

Like the pirate code?

[Bini]

I opened a can of dried apples that had a date of (what was it now?) 1954?

It tasted like it had been canned yesterday!

I'm not sure about food value, but I feel those dates are guidelines, not rules...

Okay, so I guess I'm overreacting but 1954!? Yikes.

[Guest]

I was watching an episode of Hoarders once where the guy had a box of honey bears- you know, the bear-shaped squeeze bottles of honey? They talked him into throwing it away because it was a couple of years old. Honey has an indefinite shelf life! They've found it completely fine in Egyptian tombs.

[EarlJibbs]

I beleive that quite a few expirations are placed on items so that you purchase more often. Even things done to food to make you purcahse more often.

Did you know that you can wax your store purchased cheese and it will last over 12 months? Why isnt it like that now? I highly doubt it is all because of safety. It is so that you have a need to purchase more often.

You can do something similar with eggs. When they pasturize and clean the egg, it also washed off a protective layer making a need to be refrigerated and used so quickly. There is a meothod to create a protective coating again making your eggs last more than 6 months!! Crazy!

I all reality, canned goods may not taste the same way long after expiration, but they should still be edible.

[NeuroTypical]

If you wish to become BiniXena, warrior of food storage, then you store what you eat, eat what you store, and nothing gets older than a year or two because you are constantly rotating it.

If that goal is too lofty, and you want to shoot for Bini the preparadnes enthusaist, then you just make sure you donate stored stuff a month or two before the date on the can, and replace it that way.

If you wanna be like most of us though, you'll make stuff out of a can of chicken chunks dated 2003, like I did a few days ago.

[Dravin]

Okay, so I guess I'm overreacting but 1954!? Yikes.

That's nothing:

In 1824 Sir William Edward Parry took canned beef and pea soup with him on his voyage to the Arctic in HMS Fury, during his search for a northwestern passage to India. In 1829, Admiral Sir James Ross also took canned food to the Arctic, as did Sir John Franklin in 1845.[4] Some of his stores were found by the search expedition led by Captain (later Admiral Sir) Leopold McLintock in 1857. One of these cans was opened in 1939, and was edible and nutritious, though it was not analysed for contamination by the lead solder used in its manufacture.

Linky: Canning - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[NeuroTypical]

I think I remember an article a decade or so ago, about some rich folk who got hold of a ten-thousand year old mammoth that had stayed frozen in a glacier. They cooked and ate it and said it was good.

I tried tracking back the story about millenia-old egyptian honey, but all I could find was an account of millenia-old egyptian honey that had turned black, but still otherwise looked like honey. I couldn't find any account of anyone tasting it.

We did crack open a 5-gallon tin drum of food storage honey that was at least 30 years old, and it just needed to be reheated to re-liquify the stuff that had crystalized. Still good honey.

(And the chicken chunks were still ok too.)

[Vort]

(And the chicken chunks were still ok too.)

Except at the time it was canned, it was whole beefsteaks.

[Bini]

Except at the time it was canned, it was whole beefsteaks.

OK I think I just threw up in my mouth a little bit..

Well it seems that my family members are not unusual in their emergency food storage at all. I was under the impression that even canned food goes bad, and I'm not referring to the stamped expiration label on it either.. Honey is one thing. A cow or chicken that has been slaughtered, canned and then shelved for a decade or more -- that's scary to me! I guess if the can were deformed or bloated, you'd know the item is no longer safe to eat.

[mirkwood]

Hubby and I have been meaning to start an emergency food storage for years but aren't sure how to go about it.

Bini sit down with your husband and read this: Easy Preparedness

I've been teaching that lesson for about 6-7 years and have followed this plan for over 22 years.

[Iggy]

I beleive that quite a few expirations are placed on items so that you purchase more often. Even things done to food to make you purcahse more often.

Did you know that you can wax your store purchased cheese and it will last over 12 months? Why isnt it like that now? I highly doubt it is all because of safety. It is so that you have a need to purchase more often.

Do NOT use paraffin wax. You need to use a wax specifically made for cheese, like that use on Edam cheese. And you do not need to store in the fridge- but in a cool, out of sun place.

You can do something similar with eggs. When they pasturize and clean the egg, it also washed off a protective layer making a need to be refrigerated and used so quickly. There is a meothod to create a protective coating again making your eggs last more than 6 months!! Crazy!

I all reality, canned goods may not taste the same way long after expiration, but they should still be edible.

Yes, you can store fresh, from the chicken eggs for up to a year. Do NOT wash them, but do wipe off any chicken poo. Make sure you candle them first to make sure that no chicks are growing inside, and they need to be stored in a cool, out of sun/light place. I think that you can also coat them with mineral oil. The same kind of oil that you season wood cutting boards with.

As long as the can is still in good condition ~ no dents, rust, or expanded tops ~ and have been kept out of direct sunlight & heat or kept from freezing temps, and do not contain acidic foods ~ then they should still be okay to eat after several years past their "use by" date.

From personal experience Mayo (any brand) needs to be tossed a few months after it's "used by" date. It was kept in a cool, dark cupboard. It was NASTY when I opened it. Same for yellow prepared mustard. And Velveeta Shells and Cheese packaged meals. The shells were okay- the foil pouches of cheese were horrible. THAT is why I no longer purchase them. I use 1/2 jar of Cheese Whiz (or store brand) and my own macaroni. So far the jar of cheese is still good and it is 1 year past the "use by" date. Plus being a clear jar,you can see if it has gone bad.

[EarlJibbs]

Do NOT use paraffin wax. You need to use a wax specifically made for cheese, like that use on Edam cheese. And you do not need to store in the fridge- but in a cool, out of sun place.

Yes, you can store fresh, from the chicken eggs for up to a year. Do NOT wash them, but do wipe off any chicken poo. Make sure you candle them first to make sure that no chicks are growing inside, and they need to be stored in a cool, out of sun/light place. I think that you can also coat them with mineral oil. The same kind of oil that you season wood cutting boards with.

As long as the can is still in good condition ~ no dents, rust, or expanded tops ~ and have been kept out of direct sunlight & heat or kept from freezing temps, and do not contain acidic foods ~ then they should still be okay to eat after several years past their "use by" date.

From personal experience Mayo (any brand) needs to be tossed a few months after it's "used by" date. It was kept in a cool, dark cupboard. It was NASTY when I opened it. Same for yellow prepared mustard. And Velveeta Shells and Cheese packaged meals. The shells were okay- the foil pouches of cheese were horrible. THAT is why I no longer purchase them. I use 1/2 jar of Cheese Whiz (or store brand) and my own macaroni. So far the jar of cheese is still good and it is 1 year past the "use by" date. Plus being a clear jar,you can see if it has gone bad.

Special wax is needed for the cheese indeed. You can actually (for a lack of better words) re-seal store purchased eggs and they are perfectly safe. I wasnt going to go into detail on here about the eggs and cheese, rather put the idea out there and let people do research on their own if interested. I should have made that clear in my original post, or made a disclamer I guess.

[Misshalfway]

I just redid my 72 hr kits and they were covered in maggots. I realized that I'd packed a kit for the dog and hadn't sealed the dog food well enough. It was gross. I decided to get some pet MRE's instead. Hoping for better luck this time around.

[pam]

I'm probably going to sound naive, but I didn't even know they sold pet MRE's.

[Misshalfway]

Neither did I. But they do! They have pet first aid kits too. In fact, you can buy a ready made 72 hr kit for your cat or dog for an almost low price.

[pam]

I need to check into that. Do you think they sell them at Emergency Essentials?

[Misshalfway]

I don't think so. I've got to run to a service project just now. But I'll post the link where I found them later if you want.

[Misshalfway]

Here is what I found.

Pet MRE -12 Pack Food Dog

Pet Survival Kits,Disaster Preparedness Supplies,Dog-Cat MRE

[mordorbund]

My dog IS my MRE.

[Vort]

My dog IS my MRE.

Do you wok your dog?

[mordorbund]

Do you wok your dog?

I haven't yet (knock on [cat's ] wood[en leg]).

You'll also be pleased to know that you can store a lot of soup in a swimming pool. Won ton to be exact.