Forever foods: 9 cooking staples that can outlast you (Prepper Ping!)

Yahoo ^

[Red in Blue PA]

Most weeks, you make a big grocery list and head to the store, prepared to buy loads of fresh food to make your family's meals. We often don't give a thought to stuff sitting in the kitchen cupboard or we automatically throw out anything that's been in there longer than we can remember.

But Janice Revell, co-founder of StillTasty.com, says "Look in your pantry and your cabinets and check whether the items really do need to go. You'll be shocked by what you really don't need to throw away."

So before you throw out that years-old sugar or replace that bottle of vanilla that's been gathering dust, consult this list of "forever foods." You may be surprised how many of your kitchen staples have a shelf life of decades — even after they've been opened.

[Red Badger]

I bet she was..

[Atlas Sneezed]

what would be considered a maximum safe unrefrigerated storage life of (brown rice).

If it’s more than a year, throw it all out. 6 months might still be too long.

It won’t poison you, but rancid fats are BAD for you.

If it doesn’t smell nice and fresh when you give a deep sniff after opening a package (instead you will frown) then it’s rancid.

[TxDas]

“He jokingly asked where I had hidden the olives and cocktail onions.”

What makes you think he was joking?

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

As an aside, after keeping honey for years it may turn black. And while the flavor is much the same, it takes on some complexity. There are connoisseurs that pay premium prices for black honey. A small jar of the right kind may be very valuable indeed.

Honey can be fantastic as a preservative. A good example are German Xmas honey cookies. Fresh out of the oven they are okay, but stored in an unrefrigerated tin, after six months they are delicious, and still tasty after two or even three years.

[boop]

When I was a kid in the late 70’s when we bought our house, the previous owner left cases of food from the early 60’s. It was still tasty, and my friends and I smoked the cigs in the accessory packets. They came in a 4-pack little box. Now THOSE were stale. But what did I know, I was 13, and we thought we were cool. We freshened our breath with the rock-hard Chiclets.

[Kartographer]

Product
Optimum Shelf Life Opened Shelf Life

Grains

Whole Wheat Flour
5 years
2 years

White Flour
5 years
2 years

Hard White Winter Wheat
30 years
30 years

6 Grain Pancake Mix
8 years
1 year

Spaghetti
8 years
2 years

Egg Noodle Pasta
8 years
2 years

Quick Oats
8 years
1 year

White Rice
30 years
30 years

Instant White Rice
30 years
30 years

Pearled Barley
8 years
18 months

Cornmeal
5 years
1 year

9 Grain Cracked Cereal
5 years
1 year

Elbow Macaroni
8 years
2 years

Germade
5 years
18 months

Vegetables

Potato Pearls
8 Years
2 years

Bell Peppers
8 years
2 years

Split Green Peas
8 years
2 years

Mushroom Pieces (Freeze Dried)
25 years
2 years

Potato Chunks
(Freeze Dried) 25 years
2 years

Sweet Corn
(Freeze Dried) 25 years
2 years

Tomato Powder
8 years
1 year

Sweet Potatoes
8 years
2 years

Green Peas (Freeze Dried)
25 years
2 years

Cauliflower
(Freeze Dried) 25 years
2 years

Carrot Dices
8 years
2 years

Broccoli
(Freeze Dried) 25 years
2 years

Celery
(Freeze Dried) 25 years
2 years

Spinach
(Freeze Dried) 25 years
2 years

Onions
(Freeze Dried) 25 years
2 years

Fruits

Pineapple
7 years
1 year

Apple Chips
7 years
1 year

Peach Slices
(Freeze Dried) 25 years
1 year

Raspberries
(Freeze Dried) 25 years
1 year

Strawberries
(Freeze Dried) 25 years
1 year

Blueberries
(Freeze Dried) 25 years 1 year

Applesauce
7 years
6 months (refrigerated)

Apple Slices
30 years
30 years

Banana Chips
7 years
1 year

Blackberries
(Freeze Dried) 25 years
1 year

Dairy

Instant Milk
25 years
1-2 years

Chocolate Drink Mix
25 years
1-2 years

Cheese Powder
15 years
1-2 years

Non-Fat Powdered Milk
25 years
1-2 years

Meats and Beans

Small White Navy Beans
30 years
5 years

Black Beans
30 years
5 years

Small Red Beans
30 years
5 years

Sloppy Joe TVP
10 years
1 year

Whole Eggs
5 years
6 months

Taco TVP
10 years
1 year

Sausage TVP
10 years
1 year

Pinto Beans
30 years
5 years

Chicken TVP
10 years
1 year

Beef TVP
10 years
1 year

Ham TVP
10 years
1 year

Kidney Beans
30 years
5 years

Lima Beans
30 years
5 years

Lentils
30 years
5 years

Bacon TVP
10 years
1 year

Basics

Butter Powder
5 years
2 years

Orange Drink
3 years
6 months to 1 year

Iodized Salt
30 years
2 years

Chicken Bouillon
5 years
2 years

Peach Drink
3 years
6 months to 1 year

White Sugar
30 years
2 years

Powdered Sugar
30 years
12 to 18 months

Baking Soda
30 years
2 years
Apple Drink
3 years
6 months to 1 year

Baking Powder
30 years
2 years

Beef Bouillon
5 years
2 years

Brown Sugar
10 years
1 year

Baked Potato Cheese Soup
8 years
1 year

Broccoli Cheese Soup
8 years
1 year

Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup
8 years
1 year

[Publius6961]

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[ChildOfThe60s]

I have 50 lbs of jasmine rice stored in 1/2 gallon wide neck bell canning jars. I use them for storing all kinds of staples. Figure I’ll pick up another 25 lb bag next time I’m at the Asian market.

Makes me feel warm and fuzzy looking at all that food on the shelves. Right near the boxes of 5.56s and 38s.

My BIL and his commie NEA wife store nothing lasting past the next week’s Sunday shopping. She has a hissy if he buys more than a week ahead on anything. She thinks I’m some kind of survivalist, militia type kook for having a couple month’s food laid in.

Good thing they live in another state. They won’t be knocking on my door when the time comes.....

[Kartographer]

Also you can look here:

http://www.y2kkitchen.com/html/can_code_decoder.html

[Kartographer]

[RobinOfKingston]

Downloaded the manual and quickly scanned some of it. Looks great. Thank you.

[Kartographer]

You are most welcome.

[djf]

I would think that pasta and certain kinds of beans would be on the list.

Sealed and stored with a desiccant and an oxygen absorber, they should easily last thirty years or more.

BTW, beans are in a sense “designed by nature” to last AS LONG AS IT TAKES until conditions are right for them to germinate. They’ve gotten beans and seeds and lentils to germinate that were in jars in the pyramids and stuff.

[Kartographer]

See my post #66

[Flamenco Lady]

For brown sugar, I microwave it on regular power in 30 second intervals until it is soft enough to break apart. I would assume you could do the same with white sugar.

[djf]

I saw it.
Thanks.

But I have to say I am always suspicious of a list that has an expiration date for SALT.

What’s gonna happen? Somebody gonna open it 100 years from now and say “Dang... it turned to garlic powder!”

But the fact is that most foods have a MUCH longer shelf life than what’s on the package if they remain cool and dry and unopened away from the bugs!

[ChildOfThe60s]

Whiskey doesn’t last. That’s a fact.

It will last forever.....unopened. /bummer, knew there was a catch.

[JDW11235]

Thanks for the timely ping, I’m very appreciative. I was just looking into this kind of info today (Well, I do daily, but some more than others, ha!)

[MtnClimber]

I downloaded the manual as well. Scanned through about half so far. Looks like I have been doing the right things. Additional things are toothpaste and toilet paper.

[djf]

I’ve been wondering about storing cooked bacon in jars.

I mean I’ve bought the jars of bacon bits and they have a one year shelf life stamped on them, probably good for longer than that.

And In cooking bacon, you take it to temps that NOTHING could survive. Not any of the normal bugs that cause food-borne illnesses, not botulism.

If it was cooked to a good crisp, set on paper towels to drain a bit, and then the slices put into jars, it ought to last a heck of a long time.

I know lard, as long as it is unopened, has a long shelf life 5-10 years or more...