Wondering how to store emergency food? You’ll need more than your grandmother’s pantry.
Buying in bulk is the least expensive way to buy some foods but how do you store it once you get it home? Don’t ruin the deal by wasting the food. Learning how to store emergency food for the long-term is a crucial part of your prepper education.
Whether it is food you have purchased or have grown, packaging your food well will help you handle it more easily, more safely, and for a longer duration than simply storing it in bulk.
Break it Down
The key is portioning packages for the people who will eat it (whether that is just one person or a group) and using proper storage techniques for each item. Canned foods, whether they’re store bought or home canned, have a long shelf life and should make up the bulk of your survival food. Even though it is canned, however, you still need to date the cans. Dating is important for all products that you are storing.
Not everything you use comes in a can so products like flour, cornmeal, salt, sugar, herbs, rice, beans, and other dry products need to be portioned and dated. Using airtight, food-grade containers with airtight lids or gamma seal lids will help keep your food sealed well.
Use The Right Containers
Necessary storage items:
- Various size food-grade plastic buckets. Gamma lids will fit three, five or seven gallon buckets.
- Tight fitting lids with gaskets or gamma lids
- Mylar bag liners in various sizes that fit your buckets
- Lid opener – for buckets
- Oxygen absorbers –Oxygen absorbers take away the atmosphere where bacteria grow.
- Desiccant packets absorb any extra moisture that might be in the container.
Use double barriers
Over time, oxygen can get through plastic. By first portioning and sealing your food items and then placing them in a Mylar bag and then adding oxygen and desiccant packets, the bacteria will have nowhere to grow and insects will have no way to penetrate your food stores.
Really Dry Dried Food
Items like dried beans, dried fruits and vegetables, rice, flour, and herbs can be portioned into bags and stored in buckets or they can be stored in glass or plastic jars. Dehydrated food, no matter which way you store it, must be dried properly prior to storage or it will mold. This applies to fruits, vegetables and meats.
Rotate your Stock
Meals-ready-to-eat (MREs) claim to least 25 years, but pretty much every other food that your store for survival has a shelf life. Your long term storage should include a system for rotating your food. It will make sure that your food is fresh and nutritious, in the event that you ever need to depend on it for survival.
Keep on Prepping!
How to store emergency food will take thought, consideration, and the right equipment when deciding what foods you want to store. You know what you like so you need to store it right and when the time comes, you will have what you need to survive.
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