DIY Bucket food (beyond rice and beans)

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  • Dorky_D

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    I am wanting to expand my stores beyond rice and beans. Those are cheap and a staple for low cost long term storage food. What else should I be looking at for storage that I can do myself, is cheap and can be had easily?

    Oats are on the radar. I am probably less interested in wheat, but I am not going to rule it out. Having a grinder and some sort of leavening to me is necessary to make bread and stuff, but educate me if I am wrong on usage.

    Also, is there a bulk place beyond Sam's and Costco?
     

    CampingJosh

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    Having a grinder and some sort of leavening to me is necessary to make bread and stuff, but educate me if I am wrong on usage.

    You can get yeast out of the air. You'll just have to cultivate it a little bit... and then get used to the taste of whatever strain(s) you caught.

    Also, is there a bulk place beyond Sam's and Costco?

    Not sure where you live. GFS has some bulk stuff. Saraga has some bulk stuff.
     

    cosermann

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    Pasta is easy to pack.

    I'd highly encourage a grinder. Wheat isn't the only reason for a mill. Popcorn is another (as is field corn). Seriously though, for a disaster situation, why would you want to go into it knowing that you couldn't make use of common grains?
     

    Expat

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    Not sure where you live. The local Amish stores have bulk dried potatoes and macaroni products that should store pretty well.
     

    Dorky_D

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    Pasta is easy to pack.

    I'd highly encourage a grinder. Wheat isn't the only reason for a mill. Popcorn is another (as is field corn). Seriously though, for a disaster situation, why would you want to go into it knowing that you couldn't make use of common grains?

    Do you have a suggestion for a good grinder?
     

    Dorky_D

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    Check out: https://mypatriotsupply.com I bot a two week supply from them. Decided to taste an item many months later. A pleasant surprise! These are 'just add water' meals, not just bulk commodities.

    I have the sample pack from them. I am prepping for 6, so these meals are a good thing, but when I am trying to get volume, these are a bit expensive for what I am trying to do. I will add some of this stuff over time, but I have to do this on a budget. If I had 5-10k, I would be all over it!
     

    spencer rifle

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    This:
    https://www.amazon.com/Country-Living-Hand-Grain-Mill/dp/B003UNNE3E
    We have used one for years. With proper attachments, it can do wheat, corn, acorns, almost anything. Human powered, but can be motorized or even run by your bicycle. Basically indestructible.

    We sometimes order bulk from Walmart, but we have Amish stores nearby also.

    Bulk up on:
    Honey (never goes bad if it's the real thing)
    Sugar
    Instant coffee (I never drink it, but it will be in demand for trade)
    Jolly Ranchers
    Miso soup (lots of iodine, in case of radiation)
    Dried milk
    Apple cider vinegar

    We have saved up some Wise Foods dried stuff and regularly use it backpacking. We only get the dinners - the other meals are too expensive for what they are. The Stroganoff is great.
     

    Jeepster48439

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    If you live near a LDS distribution center, they have a store that is open to the public where non-LDS can by beans, wheat, cocoa, potato flakes and other things in bulk.
     

    Dorky_D

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    I don't put away food in storage.
    I store what we eat.

    Enlarge your pantry, rotate stocks, and store more of what your family eats.

    Working on this too! I am going to make an investment in some better shelving to rotate some mid-term storage foods. The stuff that does not last 10 years, but will last a year to 6 or so and we will rotate through that.
     

    stocknup

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    Jeepster suggested LDS warehouse ...........................
    This is one of the best sources for a large variety of goods ........It is worth checking out.
    The one in Indy is located ..5151 W 84th St, Indianapolis, IN 46268 ( facility is located in a distribution warehouse park ) a little hard to find .
    Not open all the time . check hours on website . Good prices ......All they ask is for a small donation $$ for providing their service . Go on the tour of the place .
    They have a freezer that you can literally drive a semi into .

    https://providentliving.churchofjes...ge/home-storage-center-locations-map?lang=eng
     

    Leadeye

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    Buy the canned stuff you like and rotate it. Most have a pretty good shelf life and it's easier to prepare.
     

    Lex Concord

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    +1 on oats

    You can get bulk honey (up to 5 gallon bucket - they ship, but you might want to drive down for that; it weighs 60 lbs) from Hunter's Honey Farm in Martinsville (https://www.huntershoneyfarm.com/)

    We've had good luck with items (including oats and beans) from Honeyville Farms (https://shop.honeyville.com/). They have good variety, both in style and size, good product, and good prices. They used to ship any size order for just $4.95

    I like Gamma Seal lids on my buckets; ymmv

    If you really want to get into wheat, and you're really hard core, you and a boatload of friends can organize a bulk shipment from Wheat Montana (https://www.wheatmontana.com/) We've never organized, but have participated. Be sure to have a place they can park a semi for a while.

    If you have electricity, you'll want to use it to turn your wheat berries into flour. If you're worried about utilities, check Lehman's for hand cranked or dual-power (hand crank w/ motor option) possibilities. Also, the NutriMill is an excellent countertop electric grain mill.

    Suggestion of the LDS Home Storage Center above is also a good one. I see stocknup has already provided details on that one.

    Finally, don't forget the bacon...if you get your timing right, you may be able to get an oz or two of gold for a can of this stuff :):
    https://www.amazon.com/Yoders-Fully...&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B0039LDMV6&th=1

    It's not thick-sliced applewood smoked, but your mouth will have no doubt it's bacon.

    Be sure to shop around for best pricing.
     

    Lex Concord

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    This:
    https://www.amazon.com/Country-Living-Hand-Grain-Mill/dp/B003UNNE3E
    We have used one for years. With proper attachments, it can do wheat, corn, acorns, almost anything. Human powered, but can be motorized or even run by your bicycle. Basically indestructible.

    We sometimes order bulk from Walmart, but we have Amish stores nearby also.

    Bulk up on:
    Honey (never goes bad if it's the real thing)
    Sugar
    Instant coffee (I never drink it, but it will be in demand for trade)
    Jolly Ranchers
    Miso soup (lots of iodine, in case of radiation)
    Dried milk
    Apple cider vinegar

    We have saved up some Wise Foods dried stuff and regularly use it backpacking. We only get the dinners - the other meals are too expensive for what they are. The Stroganoff is great.

    That's a nice looking mill!

    Regarding things you don't use but might stash, I have some tobacco (I'm reformed, I tell you!), Nicorrette, and (my favorite) I found a good deal on plastic candy canes filled with airline sized bottles of liquor in an after-Christmas sale last year. One color had various flavors of schnapps, another various vodkas. Okay... I might use that.
     

    Thor

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    Could be anywhere
    You can also find good mills at antique shops. We picked up a Star mill from 1885 at one, it does an outstanding job on just about anything you want to grind and is adjustable from course to fine and will take a #10 can in the hopper. (I tried to find a pick...I'll post one later if I do)
     

    JeepHammer

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    You can get yeast out of the air. You'll just have to cultivate it a little bit... and then get used to the taste of whatever strain(s) you caught.

    Yeast is a booger!
    It's hard work to keep a strain pure.
    What you started out with 5 years ago isn't what you'll have today since it constantly picks up other yeast & mixes with them and it mutates depending on what you feed it. (Mitochondrial mutation, or so I've read)

    I started out with a specific baking brand of yeast, and after feeding it for about 5 years I started a new batch of the same type/brand, and the two were completely different.
    So I fingered the internet, ask a few questions and found out you can't keep a strain pure in your kitchen sticking your fingers in it and feeding it non-sterilized food media.

    So much for my big plans of having proper yeast forever...

    I find it REALLY hard to keep it dormant more than about a year without it dying, I don't know how they manage to seal up yeast in packages for years and it be active...
    But then again, I'm not a mycologist and don't have lab equipment.

    I did learn enough to NOT stick my fingers in the jar, and to bake the food media before I feed it...
    Even a blind pig finds an acorn once in a while! ;)
     

    JeepHammer

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    Spencer Rifle, does that mill have roller bearings?
    When I saw the parts/pieces I didn't see bearings listed.

    I'm mostly slip fit, metal on metal, but I have a can of food grade silicone grease and that keeps wear down pretty well if I don't hang a motor on them.
    I'm always looking to put roller bearings in this or that, but I never quite get around to machining on my hand crank tools... Just seems wrong somehow.

    I'm of the mindset that two is one, one is none.
    The meaning is, if it breaks, you are up a creek without a paddle.

    I settled on a specific size meat grinder/chopper, and picked up two or three with as many attachments as I could find.
    I even found the sausage stuffing attachments for them in stainless steel, I couldn't believe someone still made parts for them.
    (Not that I make my own sausage, but I do have the attachments! ;) )

    The junk (spelled antique) stores have them cheap, flea markets, and if there is an antique farm equipment show with swap meet there will be several dozen if not hundreds.
    We go poke around the antique farm show every year, browse the swap meet (they only swap for cash) and look for something we don't have, and marvel at the old equipment that's still running.

    I picked out older grain mills and picked up 2 or 3 with attachments,
    And I purchased a couple from Eastern Europe and a couple from Mexico on eBay.
    The basic steel burr mills are dirt cheap, like $20 or $30 cheap.

    I also have juicers, peelers, coffee (hard bean) mills, and any of the other old, hand cranked stuff I ran onto for a reasonable price.
    It's a real accumulation, but we do use them, often motor driven at slow speed, but in a pinch the hand crank works just fine.
    I don't know how many I have, never counted, but it's quite a few. No more than they cost, why not?

    When my wife wants to make bread from white soft wheat (instead of hard red wheat) I'm more than happy to whip out a couple cups per load!
    Well worth the 20 minutes setting up & tearing down/cleaning to get bread from scratch!

    Do you guys have pictures of your hardware? Know when it was made, etc? I'd be interested in seeing what everyone has.
     

    bwframe

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    :popcorn:

    Over the past couple weeks, I've finally polished off the last of a case of MRE's that was 5ish years beyond expiration. When I first started eating them, I was pretty unhappy with them. Towards the end of the case I'd got used to MRE's enough that I could appreciate their worth. Still I want to do my own.

    It makes sense as a gardener/prepper sort to make use of what I do for sustenance and hobby to be expanded upon to put up foods in various fashion to be prepared and save at the grocery.
     
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