A few questions in regards to stockpiling...

**alotofgooddeals** · 01-17-2010, 09:46 AM

How long will flour stay good in an air tight container?
How long does yeast stay good in an air tight container? I bought some at a health store and it didn't seem to work when i went to use it about a month later.

How long will veggies stay good when canned...? I love frozen veggies better however...if the power goes out for any extended period of time they will be wasted....

ummm...I will probably think of more along the way... thanks!

**NewLeaf** · 01-17-2010, 10:16 AM

I bought 25 pounds of SR flour last yr about this time. I separated it into big ziplocks and stored the ziplocks in a 5 gallon bakery container (airtight). The flour is still good.

I also bought tons of canned goods. Fruits and vegies. They lasted all year w/no problem.

I don't know about yeast. I would advise you to look up some of Grainlady's posts. She is really good w/these kinds of questions.

Good luck.

**Grainlady** · 01-17-2010, 10:17 AM

What kind of flour?

If it's a whole wheat flour, it needs to be stored in the freezer, not room temperature, in order to slow-down the germ oil from going rancid. It won't prevent it going rancid, just slow it down.

Bleached and unbleached flour has a 6-12-month shelf life when stored at room temperature. Two years when stored in the freezer.

The problem comes from ALL commercial flour is you have no idea how old it is when you purchase it. That's why storing grain and milling your own flour has so many benefits. Wheat can be stored for decades. Other grains have long storage times, just not as long as wheat. But in order to get all the valuable nutrients from wheat, as some studies have shown, it should be used within the first 3-hours of milling. Flour left at room temperature for many months have lost most of their B Complex and C Vitamins. In bleached flour, the bleaching destroys all vitamin E, should there have been any left after removing the bran and germ from the grain.

Store yeast in the refrigerator, and better yet, in the freezer, not room temperature for the longest storage time. Keep a user-friendly amount in the refrigerator, but the bulk amount in the freezer.

When you purchase bulk amounts of yeast it's good to test it occasionally to see if it's still got it's "umph".

To test yeast:

In a 1-cup glass measuring cup, add 1/4 c. warm water, 1-1/2 t. yeast and 1 t. sugar. Allow to sit for 10-minutes. It should be up to the 1/2 c. line if it's still active.

There is a use-by date on canned goods. It's recommended you use home-canned foods within a year. BUT both commercially canned and home canned are fine even past the use-by date. However, the texture alters, and the nutrients degrade the older they are. It also depends on the storage temperature of both commercially canned and home-canned foods. Temperature 70°F or warmer will degrade the taste, texture, and nutrients faster than if kept at much colder temperatures.

Have you considered having freeze-dried foods in your home storage? Freeze-dried foods retain that fresh-food taste, nutrients, and looks. Freeze-dried foods can be stored at room temperature.

I only have the freezer on my refrigerator, so when I find frozen veggies at bargain prices, I dehydrate them. These are great in soups, stews, casseroles, etc. They take much longer to rehydrate than freeze-dried foods, but I dehydrate a large amount of garden produce and free-for-the-picking fruit. It will last longer if you can vacuum-seal it. In fact, all foods will store longer in the absence of oxygen. The three things that degrade food are oxygen, heat, humidity, and light.

**AnW819** · 01-17-2010, 12:42 PM

Wow Grainlady! WTG!

**alotofgooddeals** · 01-17-2010, 01:27 PM

I do have a dehydrator we use it to make beef jerky.... how would i dehydrate them... just put it on the dehydrator and see how it goes. Also I would be canning my own veggies and how long do they stay good canning them yourself.... Thanks for your help....

Originally Posted by Grainlady

What kind of flour?

If it's a whole wheat flour, it needs to be stored in the freezer, not room temperature, in order to slow-down the germ oil from going rancid. It won't prevent it going rancid, just slow it down.

Bleached and unbleached flour has a 6-12-month shelf life when stored at room temperature. Two years when stored in the freezer.

The problem comes from ALL commercial flour is you have no idea how old it is when you purchase it. That's why storing grain and milling your own flour has so many benefits. Wheat can be stored for decades. Other grains have long storage times, just not as long as wheat. But in order to get all the valuable nutrients from wheat, as some studies have shown, it should be used within the first 3-hours of milling. Flour left at room temperature for many months have lost most of their B Complex and C Vitamins. In bleached flour, the bleaching destroys all vitamin E, should there have been any left after removing the bran and germ from the grain.

Store yeast in the refrigerator, and better yet, in the freezer, not room temperature for the longest storage time. Keep a user-friendly amount in the refrigerator, but the bulk amount in the freezer.

When you purchase bulk amounts of yeast it's good to test it occasionally to see if it's still got it's "umph".

To test yeast:

In a 1-cup glass measuring cup, add 1/4 c. warm water, 1-1/2 t. yeast and 1 t. sugar. Allow to sit for 10-minutes. It should be up to the 1/2 c. line if it's still active.

There is a use-by date on canned goods. It's recommended you use home-canned foods within a year. BUT both commercially canned and home canned are fine even past the use-by date. However, the texture alters, and the nutrients degrade the older they are. It also depends on the storage temperature of both commercially canned and home-canned foods. Temperature 70°F or warmer will degrade the taste, texture, and nutrients faster than if kept at much colder temperatures.

Have you considered having freeze-dried foods in your home storage? Freeze-dried foods retain that fresh-food taste, nutrients, and looks. Freeze-dried foods can be stored at room temperature.

I only have the freezer on my refrigerator, so when I find frozen veggies at bargain prices, I dehydrate them. These are great in soups, stews, casseroles, etc. They take much longer to rehydrate than freeze-dried foods, but I dehydrate a large amount of garden produce and free-for-the-picking fruit. It will last longer if you can vacuum-seal it. In fact, all foods will store longer in the absence of oxygen. The three things that degrade food are oxygen, heat, humidity, and light.

**Grainlady** · 01-17-2010, 02:38 PM

Originally Posted by alotofgooddeals

I do have a dehydrator we use it to make beef jerky.... how would i dehydrate them... just put it on the dehydrator and see how it goes. Also I would be canning my own veggies and how long do they stay good canning them yourself.... Thanks for your help....

Because frozen veggies have been pre-treated with a heat process to stop the enzymes, they don't require blanching; but I go ahead and give them an acid bath treatment in order to help prevent the potential for bacteria growth in dehydrated foods.

I use 1/2 t. citric acid per 1 quart of water (you could also use Fruit Fresh - 1 T. per quart of water). Dip the frozen veggies into the water and then drain well. Place in the dehydrator. The type of vegetable will determine what temperature and how long to dehydrate them. Check your user's manual for your dehydrator, or check this web site for more information - http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/dry/csu_dry_vegetables.pdf.

If you haven't used dehydrated foods before, you may want to start slowly and see if it's something that fits your needs.

I'd suggest the book Making & Using Dried Foods by Phyllis Hobson. Great information about how-to dehydrate, how-to reconstitute the foods and use them after they've been dehydrated, and recipes for using dehydrated foods. Check your local library for a copy of this book, and other on the subject of dehydrating foods.

As an example, I use dehydrated apple slices for making apple pie/cobbler, applesauce, apple desserts, added to baked goods, and as a snack.

It's suggested to use home-canned foods within a year of canning. Once again, they can last longer and be safe to eat, but the older they get the texture is compromised and the nutrients are severely diminished. Home-canned foods are NOT considered long-term storage foods. All you end up with are empty calories and very little nutrition. Nutrition is needed to feed your body.

I've taught home-canning classes for years, but no longer use home-canning as a method for preserving food because the loss of nutrients from high-heat processing and the cost of energy to process foods (not to mention the cost of extra energy needed for air conditioning when you do home-canning in the summer). Home canning is no longer cost effective for me when I did a cost analysis, so I do as much dehydrating, dehydrofreezing, and freezing as possible to save money on home food preservation.

As already mentioned in my previous post, the temperature of the storage area for both commercially canned and home-canned foods will also affect how long they are "good". Storage temperatures over 70°F will diminish the storage times for ALL foods. Optimum storage temperatures are 50°-70°F. It's suggested that high-acid foods (tomato products, etc.) be used within 6-8 months because the acid can react with the metal.

These links may be helpful:

http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/store/texas_storage.pdf

http://extension.usu.edu/files/publi...ion/FN_502.pdf

**alotofgooddeals** · 01-17-2010, 02:43 PM

Do you use ziploc bags and put them in the freezer or do you put them in jars etc...Thank you so much for all of this information grainlady....maybe dehydrated food is the way to go....how long will dehydrated food last if stored and done correctly...

**frugalfranny** · 01-17-2010, 03:10 PM

As always.......thanks grainlady for all the good info. Also love it when you post the good websites.

**2ndGenGranola** · 01-17-2010, 04:20 PM

I keep my yeast in the freezer and have kept batches over 5 years.

**frugalfranny** · 01-18-2010, 01:44 AM

Originally Posted by 2ndGenGranola

I keep my yeast in the freezer and have kept batches over 5 years.

Wow - good to know.......are you talking about the jars/envelopes/packets of yeast?

**2ndGenGranola** · 01-18-2010, 03:56 AM

Originally Posted by frugalfranny

Wow - good to know.......are you talking about the jars/envelopes/packets of yeast?

The first time was a huge vacuum sealed package (about the size of a house brick). I've kept jars too but they don't hold enough to last 5 years here. I'm currently on about year 3 for my case of about 1/2 cup size bags.

**Grainlady** · 01-18-2010, 11:15 AM

Originally Posted by alotofgooddeals

Do you use ziploc bags and put them in the freezer or do you put them in jars etc...Thank you so much for all of this information grainlady....maybe dehydrated food is the way to go....how long will dehydrated food last if stored and done correctly...

I don't use ziplock bags or glass jars in the freezer, I'm a fan of the FoodSaver and vacuum-seal foods. When you remove the air from foods, they will store much longer.

Dehydrated foods store well at a cool room temperature in an air-tight container, such as a canning jar. Without vacuum-sealing or freezing dehydrated foods, the "experts" suggest:

"Recommended storage times for dried foods range from four months to one year. Because food quality is affected by heat, the storage temperature helps determine the length of storate; the higher the temperature, the shorter the storage time. Most dried fruits can be stored for one year at 60°F, six months at 80°F. Vegetables have about half the shelf-life of fruits."

-Store dehydrated foods in small amounts (1/2-pint, pint or quart jars). I prefer jars for pantry storage so I can see through the glass to check for moisture or mold after they are placed in storage.

-Check periodically for mold growth. If you find mold in the food you need to toss all of it, not just the moldy food. Mold spores will be throughout the entire container of food. Potato slices are notorious for molding if not prepared properly. I keep them in small portions so if they do mold, I only have a small amount to discard.

**alotofgooddeals** · 01-18-2010, 12:24 PM

I am looking at trying to store food indefinitely if it is able to be.. I know that is impossible but am looking for storing something for two years or so....just in case something happens....(never know)..i would like to be prepared as much as possible..

I also wanted to thank you grainlady for all the helpful post...I am working at becoming self sufficient and love reading everything here...

**MakeADollarHollar** · 01-18-2010, 06:50 PM

You can also check out Dehydrate2Store on Youtube. She has an amazing video series on dehydrating foods and lays out many of the How-To's, including putting things up for Long-Term (using Mylar Bags and Oxygen Absorbers) and how to cook with the foods she dehydrates. You can also ask her questions and she responds right away.

Also, Mary Bell is a well known food dehydrator. I have two of her books, Mary Bell's Complete Dehydrator Cookbook (my Dehydrating Bible) and Food Drying with an Attitude (a good book but not my favorite).

**Grainlady** · 01-18-2010, 07:40 PM

Originally Posted by alotofgooddeals

I am looking at trying to store food indefinitely if it is able to be.. I know that is impossible but am looking for storing something for two years or so....just in case something happens....(never know)..i would like to be prepared as much as possible..

I also wanted to thank you grainlady for all the helpful post...I am working at becoming self sufficient and love reading everything here...

Here are some links that give you storage times for different foods. These are foods hermetically sealed in #10 cans. I have freeze-dried meat, veg., fruit, grains, cheese, powdered eggs, cheese, peanut butter, milk/milk substitutes, etc.... I have hundreds of pounds of a variety of grains/seeds/beans.

Survival Acres
http://survivalacres.com/information/shelflife.html

Dehydrated VS Freeze Dried
http://survivalacres.com/productdifferences.html

Millennium Ark
http://standeyo.com/News_Files/menu.food.store.html

Prudent Food Storage Q&A
http://www.survival-center.com/foodfaq/ff1-toc.htm

That should keep you busy for awhile...