[johnnyringo]

I'm at the point of buying some long term ( I hope) survival storage food. Not into size 10 cans. Reviews on line drive me nuts. Tell me who you like and why please. Thanks, JR

 

[SquirrelBait]

I like cans of some foods, I also keep dehydrated food, MREs, It's an odd mix. I like diversity in methods of food storage. If water isn't abundant I can eat the canned, And MREs to save the water for drinking.

 

[sparkyprep]

Generally, I store the things that I eat every day. When you buy canned corn, buy an extra 5 cans. I actually like Spam, and corned beef hash. I like canned peaches, and pineapple. Buy what you always buy, just a little extra each week.

Keep in mind, though, stored food will only hold you over for a short time. A garden, small livestock, you need to obtain a renewable food supply to truly be self-sufficient. Canned/freeze dried/dehydrated food will only last so long.

 

[HuntingHawk]

Living in Florida, where you store you supplies is more important then what you store. Put them out in a shed that gets to 110 daily & no stores are going to last long.

Grain, sugar, etc I put in the freezer for about a week to kill any larve then repackage in thick plastic bottles.

 

[paraquack]

I too, try to store the same stuff I eat regularly. I can rotate the canned food with my regular pantry stuff and not have to worry about throwing food away. IMHO eaing the same foods, maintains a sense of normalcy. Especially important for kids to feel that things aren't all that bad off. Dry foods, like rice, etc. is packages up in the Mylar bags with oxygen absorbers and heat sealed.

 

[nightshade]

I like the beef stew from Mountain House a lot. Mountain House is expensive, but for backpacking it is great. As far as cans are concerned. Bushes baked beans "original flavor" is the best in my opinion. San Marzano canned tomatoes for sure are a favorite of mine. They are very expensive compared to the other competition. However, for me the price is worth it since the taste is incredible. Sweet Sue chicken and dumplings are delicious.

 

[HuntingHawk]

Food stores longer in climate control so find some places in the house out of the way like under beds to store stuff.

 

[Oddcaliber]

I have a lot of Mountain House stashed. Looking into getting MRE's next. Still nothing beats growing your own.

 

[johnnyringo]

I bought a package of Mountain House's Beef Stew and tried it yesterday. Good stuff....very good! I'll be ordering some soon! Thanks folks!

 

[Slippy]

Diversification is our style when it comes to food stores.

Long Term products like Mountain House and Wise Food are part of our long term stores. Some taste good, others taste like a cheap glue. But its calories and (hopefully) some vitamins and minerals when needed.

We also have a system using 5 gallon buckets filled with various foods sealed in Mylar Bags with Oxygen Absorbers. Everything from the basics of various types of dried beans and rice to Whey Protein, Grits, Pastas, Prepackaged Fiber like Metumicil, coffee, sugar, salt and other spices, dog food, granolas, flour, corn meal, etc. We package most of these items in 1 gallon bags. Our theory is that a 1 gallon bag will give a couple of people food for a day instead of everything packed in 5 gallon bags and you run into the potential of food spoilage or insect infiltration when you break into a 5 gallon bag of rice.

We also use a regular rotation of store bought canned goods. We keep a bin system of rotation based on the "Suggested Expiration Date". For example we are buying cans with a 2017 exp date and putting most of them in a bin marked 2017. We are using the cans that we probably bought 2-3 years ago and placed in the 2014 bin.

Additionally, we "Can" some of the food that we grow in our garden; cucumbers/pickles, tomatoes, peppers etc.

There are some good threads with this subject discussed on the forum. Good luck.

 

[Slippy]

We have some large Rubbermaid totes and I use duct tape to mark the Expiration Date. When we do our regular shopping, the majority of the canned foods go into the appropriately dated bin. When we need to replenish the kitchen cabinet for everyday use, we take the cans from the current year bin and use them. We've found that Commercially canned foods last longer than the "suggested exp date" and we've only found 1 or 2 bad cans in the last few years. Don't buy dented cans and if one gets dented, use it immediately.

Sometimes, I'll use a Sharpie and write how much we paid for that particular canned product. We've been amazed at the subtle yet real increase in canned food prices over the years.

Food, Fuel and Insurance are our top three monthly expenses. Wine, Beer and Whiskey are #4. Ammo is 5th. (Maybe I need to switch #4 and #5)