HOW TO STORE FOOD 

It's great to have a bunch of non-perishable food stocked up, but how do you keep the food as fresh as possible, and where can you stash it all? Unless you have a jumbo-sized house with an extra bedroom that you don't use, you're going to have to be creative!

FOOD STORAGE RECEPTACLES

• Use 4- or 5-gallon food grade storage pails to store bulk food (rice, dried beans, flour, etc), store bulk food in heat-sealed mylar bags, and store pre-packaged freeze-dried foods (which usually come in Mylar bags) - See below for ideas about where in your home to store these
• Gamma lids (for the above-mentioned pails) are awesome for making storage pails air-tight and for easy removal.
• 10-gallon galvanized steel trash cans with locking lids are quite secure.
• Cans can be store on can rotating racks in your garage, basement and/or pantry.
• Cans & glass jars can be stored on more traditional racks in garage, basement and/or pantry.

5-gallon storage pails

Gamma lid

Heat-sealed mylar food storage bag 

Can rotating racks

HOW TO PACKAGE FOOD FOR LONG-TERM STORAGE
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- Here's what we know about commercially canned and home-canned foods:

​Commercially canned food is good for at least as long as the "Best By" date on the can. Highly acidic foods (like fruit and tomatoes) last 1.5 years, but low-acid foods (most vegetables and meats) can last 5 years.

Home canned food is generally expected to taste good for 12-18 months. 

All canned food lasts longer/retains flavor best if kept in a cool, dry place.

- How will you know if canned food is still OK to eat?

• If it's leaking fluid or the top is bulging, throw it away
• If there is mold on top or it smells bad when you open it, throw it away
• If the color has changed a little but it smells alright, it's OK to take a small bite
• If it tastes and smells OK, it's probably OK

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- You can store dry bulk items (like powdered milk, flour, pasta, beans and rice) in heat-sealed mylar bags to help them last a LONG time. Here is how you do this:
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1) You'll need 1-gallon mylar bags (at least 3 mm & preferably 7.5 mm thick)

3) (continued) I like to use at least 2 oxygen absorbers per bag

2) Fill the bag with the (dry) food that you want to store for a few years

4) Seal the bag. They sell special tools for this but the easiest way is to use a (hair) flat iron

3) Put several oxygen absorbers into the bag

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5) The bag MAY shrink and look "vacuum-sealed" in a few hours, but if it doesn't (like this one) it's still OK.

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​WHERE TO STORE STUFF?
 
GARAGE

• Wire or other inexpensive shelving

• Overhead storage

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PANTRY OR GARAGE CAN ROTATION RACKS

• These racks hold many more cans than can normally sit on a pantry shelf, and present the “oldest” cans first, so you can rotate your supplies appropriately, before they expire (see photo above).

​UNDER BED STORAGE

• Under-bed storage bins are great for storing canned food and other survival food including pasta, bottled water, and mylar-packaged staples.

CLOSETS

• Put 1 pail full of food in every closet, plus some water.

BASEMENT or CRAWL SPACE

• Put in some cheap shelving/wire racks and store your well-packaged (rodent-proof) food down!
• Package food in Mylar bags with oxygen absorbers.
• Put food into 5-gallon plastic or 10-gallon galvanized steel cans (aka paint cans and small garbage cans), and tightly secure the lids.

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