Food Storage Information

[Weedygarden]

Peanut oil is cheaper! Grape seed oil comes in 6-8oz containers. I use it to add shelf life to my soaps. I don't know this but after reading your post wonder if a few drops added to other foods would help preserve them longer??? That's how it works with the soap.

I did not realize that. Thank you!

 

[LadyLocust]

I did not realize that. Thank you!

Something we can look into

 

[Morgan101]

I found this site on You Tube, and thought it was interesting. They have an entire series on prepping,

 

[Amish Heart]

My mom drinks alot of juice. I use her empty apple juice containers to store dried beans

 

[Caribou]

My mom drinks alot of juice. I use her empty apple juice containers to store dried beans

Plastic or glass?

 

[Weedygarden]

Rice, however, is not something, in my experience, that gets insects.

I am going through this thread and trying to make sure all the links work, and to see if there is anything else to add. I read this statement yesterday and I believe that this statement that I made is wrong. I do think that rice gets insects. Rice can get weevils. Rice may be able to get other bugs as well, but weevils are the most known insect to infest rice.
https://howigetridof.com/bugs-in-rice/

 

[Morgan101]

We had bugs in the rice we had in long term storage. I don't know what kind of bugs, but IMHO, bugs are bugs, and if they are in the rice I am not going to eat it. I have heard that freezing rice will kill any bugs, and bug larvae. Using a freeze/thaw/re-freeze/re-thaw process will make it even safer. We have rice in the freezer now, but have not thawed or re-frozen anything.

 

[Amish Heart]

I would cook that buggy rice up for the chickens anyway. But what a bummer.
The apple juice containers are plastic, and she goes through about 4 a week. They are thick plastic, so they work pretty well.

 

[Morgan101]

I would cook that buggy rice up for the chickens anyway. But what a bummer.

If I had any chickens that would be a good idea, but I don't so into the landfill it went.

Live and learn. We do a better job now.

 

[Caribou]

I've read that almost all grain has bug eggs when you buy it. Freeze thaw cycling works. Reducing O2 to 3% prevents the growth of bugs, so vacuum sealing or O2 absorbers. You need to have a good seal for this and plastics are O2 permeable.
I prefer to raise the CO2 level to above 3% as this also stops bug eggs from hatching. CO2 is heavier than air. I place a mylar bag in a 5 gallon bucket, add 3" to 4" of product, drop in a small chunk of dry ice, fill the bag, seal except for a small area to allow for the air to escape. The dry ice will sublimate and fill the bottom of the bag, lifting the air out of the system. I then push any excess gas out of the bag, seal completely and put my lid on my bucket.
The mylar is impermeable and my long term rice, beans, etc. is set to go.

 

[CalicoKatie]

I've been putting together ideas for meals made only from shelf stable food storage. I was thinking about baked beans and got a little stumped because bacon and salt pork from the grocery store has to be refrigerated.

Anybody have ideas for storing salt pork long term without refrigeration? I think before electricity they would pack it in a barrel of salt for long term. I'm just not sure about trying that with modern salt pork or bacon. My mother always kept salt pork but I grew up in town with electricity so it was refrigerated. Never occurred to me when I was growing up to ask questions like this one.

I could use a can of ham for flavoring but it just isn't the same thing. What am I missing?

 

[LadyLocust]

I've been putting together ideas for meals made only from shelf stable food storage. I was thinking about baked beans and got a little stumped because bacon and salt pork from the grocery store has to be refrigerated.

Anybody have ideas for storing salt pork long term without refrigeration? I think before electricity they would pack it in a barrel of salt for long term. I'm just not sure about trying that with modern salt pork or bacon. My mother always kept salt pork but I grew up in town with electricity so it was refrigerated. Never occurred to me when I was growing up to ask questions like this one.

I could use a can of ham for flavoring but it just isn't the same thing. What am I missing?

Right out the gate, I'm going to say I could be wrong!!!! But. . . .
My family did salted pork also. My understanding was that it wasn't actually what I would call "long-term." My guess is maybe 2-3 months, and it was kept in a cellar so was kept cool. I asked my FIL who is still alive about meat. He was a child during the Depression, grew up in a very rural area and was raised by his grandparents since his mother died giving birth to him. He said they would butcher, can what they could, and cook up as much meat as they had fat for. They would layer the cooked meat in the fat (in a barrel) again in a cellar. The rest would be shared with other families. That would last a couple 2-3 months then the next family would butcher and do the same thing. I am thinking this is how my family probably did with the salted pork. It was a community &/or family groups working together. Meats were also dried for longer storage.
A book you might enjoy is "Country Kitchen" by Della Lutes. (Last I saw Amazon only had a collector version so might check other sources or library.)
PS: Today's salt pork and bacon have mystery chemicals so I have no idea how they would store. Until about the 60's-70's depending where you were, bacon in particular had natural ingredients.

 

[Weedygarden]

I've been putting together ideas for meals made only from shelf stable food storage. I was thinking about baked beans and got a little stumped because bacon and salt pork from the grocery store has to be refrigerated.

Anybody have ideas for storing salt pork long term without refrigeration? I think before electricity they would pack it in a barrel of salt for long term. I'm just not sure about trying that with modern salt pork or bacon. My mother always kept salt pork but I grew up in town with electricity so it was refrigerated. Never occurred to me when I was growing up to ask questions like this one.

I could use a can of ham for flavoring but it just isn't the same thing. What am I missing?

Whenever you don't have what you need, you find a substitute. I would go with canned ham if I didn't have salt pork. I like to use bacon in my beans as well, but it is in the same category as salt pork, needs refrigeration. I do know some people have canned it. I'm not sure what it is like to have canned bacon.

 

[CalicoKatie]

Whenever you don't have what you need, you find a substitute. I would go with canned ham if I didn't have salt pork. I like to use bacon in my beans as well, but it is in the same category as salt pork, needs refrigeration. I do know some people have canned it. I'm not sure what it is like to have canned bacon.

After I posted that I had a "duh" moment because I remembered that I have some cans of Yoder's bacon that I can use. I keep it as a LTS item but it's getting a little long in the tooth so I need to use it up this winter. I also have a #10 can of TVP bacon bits that might work as a substitute for the real thing.

So the baked beans would be a go on using shelf stable foods.

 

[CalicoKatie]

. . . PS: Today's salt pork and bacon have mystery chemicals so I have no idea how they would store. Until about the 60's-70's depending where you were, bacon in particular had natural ingredients.

I found this interesting video on preparing salt pork and this guy confirms what we thought. The modern version of salt pork is nothing like the real stuff. It doesn't even look like it to me. When I was watching the video, I was thinking that I could use my 2 gallon crock and give this a try. If I do, maybe I can find a volunteer to taste test if for me.

Preparing Salt Pork - 18th Century Cooking Series S1E5 - YouTube

 

[ClemKadiddlehopper]

I watched the video. Personally, I don't use that method. I would dry cure with salt, not brine, same as for dry cured bacon.

That involves rubbing the salt in and setting the meat on a slanted board to let the moisture drain. Keep rubbing in salt every day intil the pork is completely dehydrated. Than pack it in salt to store, or smoke it and hang it from the rafters.

I don't like salt pork. It is incredibly salty and no amount of soaking makes it palatable to me. It takes a lot of soaking and rinsing so you need a good water supply. You also need good access to a pile of salt. I keep 300 lbs and I know it wouldn't go far if I had to resort to much old school usage of this nature.

 

[UrbanHunter]

@CalicoKatie, this summer we canned lots of what we call quick meals, everything from chicken soup to meat loaf, they are shelf stable for a year or 2 and don't need refrigeration.... We have also learned that they are great for BAD days when you get to dinner time and start playing the "what do you want to eat?" game. In the past we have made frozen casseroles and they are great, we have about a half dozen good recipes at this point, BUT you have to know ahead of time to thaw them out before cooking them. The canned quick meals are just dump them in a sauce pan or skillet, heat them and eat them. We even have quarts of chicken soup liquid canned and a variety of egg noodles seal-a-mealed in quart jars, so you just boil the noodles while heating the liquid and then add the drained noodles to the liquid for chicken noodle soup.... I have to be honest, we didn't do this to be prepared, we did it to control the salt, wife is on a "no salt" diet and every fast food we have tried makes her sick for a week (if not hospitalized).....

 

[LadyLocust]

We never did a brine. I think probably more like Clem. mentioned. I remember my grandfather sitting at the table rubbing salt into each piece, putting it in a big pot/bowl thing then sprinkling salt over the layers in addition to what was rubbed into it. And yes, even with rinsing it's a salty flavor.

 

[SheepDog]

If you want bacon with your beans then can it in the beans. You can also can the bacon separately.

 

[CalicoKatie]

. . . I don't use that method. I would dry cure with salt, not brine, same as for dry cured bacon. That involves rubbing the salt in and setting the meat on a slanted board to let the moisture drain. Keep rubbing in salt every day until the pork is completely dehydrated. Than pack it in salt to store, or smoke it and hang it from the rafters.

I'm obviously not knowledgeable about it but the way I knew of was what you described, actually rubbing the salt into the meat and then packing it in the salt. I'd never heard of using a brine for salt pork before seeing the video. One thing about fried salt pork, you don't need a big piece on your plate 'cause a little goes a long way.

My oldest sister loved it but she commented once that when she was little (before our dad sold the farm and they moved to town) they ate a lot of squirrel so that might explain it.

 

[Weedygarden]

I found this site on You Tube, and thought it was interesting. They have an entire series on prepping,

I like to watch their videos. They have great information. I only recently found out that they have 11 children! We only see the 4 youngest in their videos.

 

[Weedygarden]

I don't like salt pork. It is incredibly salty and no amount of soaking makes it palatable to me. It takes a lot of soaking and rinsing so you need a good water supply.

When I was growing up, we usually had side pork with potato dumplings and kraut. Side pork is fresh bacon, uncured. After I graduated from college and got an apartment with roommates, I saw some of what I thought was side pork in the store. I wasn't paying close attention. It was salt pork and it was not edible, imho. I've never had any since.

 

[Weedygarden]

I just read through this whole thread again, every post, every word. I need to watch all the videos again, and may do so in the next day or two.
I wish I had something new to add now, but I don't, except to say, keep on prepping! Keep learning and moving forward in being prepared. Look at inventory lists and check out your inventory. Evaluate what you can do with those foods, and what you might need to use them. If your inventory is short because of life's curve balls, keep adding something, anything. Watch Wendy DeWitt videos and see what you need to prepare for your meal plans. I need to do this as well. The holidays with planning for that will keep me busy and distracted for a while. I need to inventory and make new goal lists. I've been working on getting certain items that I know I had never planned well for, because of prices.

So you have an inventory record printed out somewhere that you can use?

 

[Caribou]

I've been waiting for the holiday sales for quite a while.

 

[Amish Heart]

Yep! Keep prepping! The food prices are shocking, and there's no reason at all why they would get lower. It will be a good return on our money by next year.

 

[Peanut]

Soggy crackers! A few months ago I found these air tight ssteel containers w/latches. The lid has a rubber gasket. The back rooms of my house sit below grade. Humidity is always an issue. It stays down in winter because of gas heat. Spring, summer and fall, not so much.

An annoyance, a box of crackers in my pantry will absorb enough moisture to loose their crispiness. The only thing that sort of worked was a large plastic container with a lb of rice in the bottom. Worked until the rice absorbed moisture too.

Finally, after 20yrs I have crispy crackers in the house. Still have to run them through my toaster oven when I open a box but that’s a small price to pay. I eat a lot of crackers, will usually choose them over bread. So these containers are a big deal around here. One for saltines, one for ritz, one for clubs.

Took blueberries out of my dehydrator this morning. I vacuum sealed most of them in pint jars and put them in the pantry. The rest went into another steel container, a great place to keep dried fruit on the kitchen counter.

Anyway, got these on amerzit and they work well. More than I wanted to pay but stainless steel is pricey these days.