Hi, I am new here. I have been prepping a little for years, but have not stored any food for long term yet. I have been reading a book called "Beyond Collapse" and came across the below excerpt on putting away food. I have no plans on using this method. I do have supplies for proper dry storage, based on alot of what I read while lurking here the last few days. Thanks guys for the posts and info I have read. I just need to find time to start this weekend. My question is, based on the below except from that book, the author claims this can store for 20 years, how can these canned goods last that long?? Really? He is basically telling people to just throw stuff in a bucket with a hand warmer and tape it up. Very careless and misleading to the less informed in my opinion. I have found the book thought provoking so far, but this method is ridiculous. Any thoughts?
thanks, Jim
"If you're really on a budget, then do what you can without breaking your budget. If you’re
hurting financially, you can still scrounge up a month’s worth of food for two people for around
$70. Here’s how you do it:
● 15 one-pound bags of dried peas, beans, rice, lentils, or etc
● 1 64-oz box of powdered dried milk
● Four cans of tomato paste
● 1 26-oz can of salt
● 1 16-oz jar of honey (real honey - check the label)
● 1 5-lb bag of self-rising flour
● 1 small can of baking powder
● 1 large box of cheap tea bags (100 bag size)
● 4 16-oz cans of ham or other cheap canned meats
● 1 60- or 100-capsule bottle of daily multivitamins
● 1 small can of ground pepper
● 1 4-lb bag of sugar
● (Optional) - a couple cans of cheap spices (seasoned salt, garlic powder, etc)
And now to make it storable:
● 1 small box of sandwich-sized zipper bags
● 2 sturdy buckets with tight-fitting lids
● 2 chemical hand-warmer packets
● Electrical tape
● Duct tape
First, get the buckets and toss in the bags of beans, rice, lentils, etc. The reason we use onepound
bags is for proportioning and convenience. Next, get out the small zipper bags and punch
a couple of pin-sized holes (the smaller the holes, the better) in them; you will use them to hold
your powdered milk, tea-bags, flour, etc. Next, use the bags to hold your flour, sugar, tea bags,
powdered milk and salt - be sure to label each bag with permanent marker so you know what’s
in them. Be sure to tear off the directions for the powdered milk and put that in one of the
buckets. Place all of your goods except for the hand warmers into the two buckets.
Just before sealing each bucket, open a hand warmer and put it in the top, then immediately
close and seal the bucket with electrical tape, then with duct tape. So why the hand warmers?
Well, hand warmers usually operate by rapid oxidation of the ingredients in the pouch. The side
effect is that it consumes oxygen as it does so. This means that all of the oxygen in your sealed
bucket will be consumed by the hand warmer - at first the warmer will be hot, but will quickly
cool back down as the oxygen is absorbed in your bucket. The lack of oxygen means your food
won’t spoil as quickly and the warmer will always be present to consume any oxygen that leaks
in through the plastic bucket walls via osmosis.
Properly sealed, this can keep your goods from spoiling for up to 20 years. Be sure to label.........?
thanks, Jim
"If you're really on a budget, then do what you can without breaking your budget. If you’re
hurting financially, you can still scrounge up a month’s worth of food for two people for around
$70. Here’s how you do it:
● 15 one-pound bags of dried peas, beans, rice, lentils, or etc
● 1 64-oz box of powdered dried milk
● Four cans of tomato paste
● 1 26-oz can of salt
● 1 16-oz jar of honey (real honey - check the label)
● 1 5-lb bag of self-rising flour
● 1 small can of baking powder
● 1 large box of cheap tea bags (100 bag size)
● 4 16-oz cans of ham or other cheap canned meats
● 1 60- or 100-capsule bottle of daily multivitamins
● 1 small can of ground pepper
● 1 4-lb bag of sugar
● (Optional) - a couple cans of cheap spices (seasoned salt, garlic powder, etc)
And now to make it storable:
● 1 small box of sandwich-sized zipper bags
● 2 sturdy buckets with tight-fitting lids
● 2 chemical hand-warmer packets
● Electrical tape
● Duct tape
First, get the buckets and toss in the bags of beans, rice, lentils, etc. The reason we use onepound
bags is for proportioning and convenience. Next, get out the small zipper bags and punch
a couple of pin-sized holes (the smaller the holes, the better) in them; you will use them to hold
your powdered milk, tea-bags, flour, etc. Next, use the bags to hold your flour, sugar, tea bags,
powdered milk and salt - be sure to label each bag with permanent marker so you know what’s
in them. Be sure to tear off the directions for the powdered milk and put that in one of the
buckets. Place all of your goods except for the hand warmers into the two buckets.
Just before sealing each bucket, open a hand warmer and put it in the top, then immediately
close and seal the bucket with electrical tape, then with duct tape. So why the hand warmers?
Well, hand warmers usually operate by rapid oxidation of the ingredients in the pouch. The side
effect is that it consumes oxygen as it does so. This means that all of the oxygen in your sealed
bucket will be consumed by the hand warmer - at first the warmer will be hot, but will quickly
cool back down as the oxygen is absorbed in your bucket. The lack of oxygen means your food
won’t spoil as quickly and the warmer will always be present to consume any oxygen that leaks
in through the plastic bucket walls via osmosis.
Properly sealed, this can keep your goods from spoiling for up to 20 years. Be sure to label.........?
You need food grade buckets w/gamma lids then add oxygen absorbers. Yes some canned goods can last 20yrs such as canned corn being an example though you would lose almost all the nutritional value in other words you will fill the gut but not the needs. FYI, hand warmers aren't food grade, why contaminate a sealed environment?
