Forever Foods: 10 Cooking Staples That Can Outlast You

Mother Nature Network ^ | December 17, 2010 | Laura Moss

[Diana in Wisconsin]

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Sugar
Pure Vanilla Extract
Rice
Corn Starch
Honey
Hard Liquor
Salt
Corn Syrup
Maple Syrup
Distilled White Vinegar

[Not gonna take it anymore]

Kitchen Bouquet.

Love that stuff, that little bottle goes on forever.

Tabasco sauce. Also lasts forever.

[MsLady]

I thought rice went bad after awhile. The others I knew about. I think even the yellow vinegar is good for a long time. I’ll have to say, I have spices as old as the hills and I still use them. I’m guessing they just lose flavor over time. As long as you don’t get boweevels I’m thinking there fine.

[ClearCase_guy]

I told my kids that honey was found in Egyptian tombs and was still edible. (I think that’s actually true.) Over time, this story has evolved and now any questionable food in the refrigerator can be in this category — “They found Cool Whip in the pyramids; still good after 4000 years.”

[I Buried My Guns]

Anything that has fat will go rancid in a few years. Wheat, for instance, has fat in every grain, and when it is ground into flour that fat gets exposed to air. However, if the wheat is kept whole and the little seed/grain thingy remains intact, it can keep for many years.

I learned this the hard way, when I bought a 20-lb. bag of flour and thought I was set forever, survivalist wise. I figured I'd make bread and pizza after the apocalypse. I was wrong.

[Ripliancum]

Fruitcake. Also lasts forever.

[Red_Devil 232]

Foodie Ping

[basil]

Boll weevils!

[MsLady]

Yea them...lol

[Tainan]

HONEY

It literally lasts for centuries.


...unlike beer.

[Graybeard58]

My experience with honey is that it will turn to sugar eventually, just a sticky grainy mess, probably still edible but not very palatable.

[cbkaty]

Fruitcake. Also lasts forever.

These can eventually be used as exterior wall building materials or foundation beam supports....

[Diana in Wisconsin]

LOL! Thanks for the laugh this morning!!

Reminds me - cleaning out the two fridges is on the ‘Things To Do’ list today. Mom will be over here for Christmas and she’s OBSESSED with a clean fridge.

I, however, didn’t inherit that particular piece of DNA. :)

[Not gonna take it anymore]

I have Tupperware containers that I bought when Harvest Gold (remember that?) was a popular color. I store flour and sugar in mine.

I don’t even know how old my flour is but I’ve lived in this house for almost 20 years.

I honestly don’t remember if I brought it with me or bought it when I moved in.

Safe to say not a lot of baking goes on here. ;-D

[djf]

I put another 20# of sugar up the other day. Also, Winco foods sells in bulk these dried, shredded potatoes that look like they would last forever if stored cool and dry w/ an oxygen absorber.

I have bunches and bunches of egg noodles - along with those little dried gravy packages. And have cooked it up a few times - really quite good! All U need is water to cook the noodles and about a cup of water for the gravy, that thickens up very nicely.

And U are free to add whatever you like - any veggies on hand, spices, whatever!

[cbkaty]

Bug invasion protection....treat with dry ice.....

Dry Ice Storage

[basil]

My daddy picked cotton!

[listenhillary]

I found Kitchen Bouquet in a 64 oz container. How long does it keep? Anyone? I think I bought it last year.

[30Moves]

All you have to do with crystallized honey is warm it up a bit and it turns back into the honey you know and love.

But.....never add warm water to honey to dissolve the crystals. Water will introduce bacteria.