11 Food Storage Tips You May Have Never Thought About

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The following has been contributed by Anonymous Prepper

Why is food stockpiling a big deal? Because most people expect to bug in for most disasters and emergencies. It’s easier to hunker down, as well as safer. Now, if you’re “trapped” inside, it must be because something bad is happening outside. This limits your ability to get fresh supplies and gives you no choice but to survive on what you’ve already stockpiled.

Improving shelf life of food is crucial for a couple of reasons… first, even if you rotate your stash twice a year, when SHTF, you want the expiration date to be as far away into the future as possible. Second, you’re probably going to store food in other places besides your home, such as your car, your bug out bag or your bug out location. As you may or may not know, storing food in your car’s trunk isn’t ideal because of high temperatures and temperature variations which significantly decrease shelf life.

In what follows, I want to give you a few kick-ass food storage tips to protect your survival food from spoiling, increase shelf life and decrease the odds of your family waking up with rotten food post-collapse.

11 Food Storage Tips You May Have Overlooked Tip 1: Focus on high-carb foods instead of high-fat

Why? Because fats go rancid pretty quickly while carbs don’t. Some foods high in fats such as butter or cheese won’t last more than a few weeks, particularly if your fridge or freezer won’t work. Much better to focus on foods that are low fat and high in carbs, meaning they can give you a good energy boost post-disaster.

Now, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t store fatty foods. Fats are an important macronutrient in your diet and, if stored under the right conditions, things like coconut oil will last up to two whole years. But, for your bug out bag or your car, where conditions are less than ideal (due to higher temperatures), consider keeping high-carb snacks such as energy bars and dried fruit.

Tip 2: Temperature variations are just as bad

We all know shelf life decreases with temperature but did you know temperature variations are just as bad? Keeping the temperature constant in your pantry may prove to be a challenge. You may want to consider a well-ventilated basement. As for your car, what you can do is store your food (and you’re your meds) into a wide-mouth thermos, which will prevent this and always keep your perishables a few degrees cooler than your trunk.

Tip 3: Store the ingredients as opposed to the cooked foods

Two good reasons for that. First, ingredients have a longer shelf life. Second, you get to decide how much salt or sugar to add later on. Keep in mind that, even if you’re not diabetic today, you might end up this way in the future, so being able to cook without adding too much sugar or salt might not be optional.

For example, you may want to store wheat berries instead of flour (but be sure to also have a grain grinder), cocoa powder instead of chocolate and so on.

Tip 4: Use a desiccant when storing seeds

When storing seeds for your survival garden, consider adding a desiccant such as silica gel to keep moisture away.

Tip 5: Tin foil can increase shelf life

Wrap veggies like broccoli or celery in it before storing.

Tip 6: Use pantyhose to increase the shelf life of onions

Besides, pantyhose have numerous alternative uses so it’s something you probably have or thought about storing.

Tip 7: Ventilate your basement…

To prevent mold and moisture. IF you have windows, a fan might be enough but if you don’t, you’ll have to install an exhaust fan and vent.

Tip 8: Put all dry food in food-grade storage containers

That’s where it’s protected from some of the food storage enemies. If you leave it in sacks, moisture or rodents will compete over it.

Tip 9: Freeze your oil

IF you have room in your freezer, one way of making it last past its shelf life if to freeze it.

Tip 10: Beware of shelf life after you open something

Many people don’t realize this but, after you open something, the shelf life decreases dramatically after the packaging has been open.

Tip 11: Don’t forget about rodents

Mice, rats, moths, cockroaches – they can significantly decrease the shelf life of your stash… in as little as a few hours until they finish eating it! Keep them at bay by ensuring they don’t get into the pantry or basement in the first place. If they do, other protection layers must be employed, such as putting your Mylar bags inside metal buckets.

Final Word

If you got at least one tip from my article, then it was worth writing and your time was not wasted. Still, there are other tips and tricks you can employ for a more robust stockpile, so I encourage you to keep educating yourself on the subject matter because it’s a pretty complex one.