Storing rice, grains, etc

[Newbomb92]

What's the proper method for storing brown rice, quinoa, farina? Thinking of buying 50lb of each.

 

[SemperFiUSMC]

Do you eat any of that stuff today? If not, don't buy it.

Everything you mentioned requires a lot of work to prepare and other food to provide a well balanced diet. Concentrate on complete meals for SHTF. Individual sizes, not institutional. Soups and canned foods, freeze-dried meals, MREs, stuff that you can reconstitute quickly and easily and that can be consumed without water, milk or heat. That's what you want. Stuff you can split up into smaller caches so that if one is compromised you don't lose all your food stores.

If you are intent on storing grains, do so in separate airtight packages. In other words if you have a 50 lb bag of rice break it down into 10 5 lb containers. Store away from moisture, light and heat. Preferably away from rodents. They will chew through your containers to eat your grains.

 

[Newbomb92]

Yes we eat it regularly. Also doing an organic garden. MREs cost way too much to stock up. Organic quinoa and almonds and such are very nutritional. So are cucumbers and wheat grass.

 

[oldbikelvr]

I would have to respectfully disagree that those foods are difficult to prepare. All can be cooked in boiling water easily. Quinoa cooks in 20 minutes and is a complete protein as well as a carbohydrate. Brown rice takes longer to cook, but is much more nutritious than white rice and with the addition of beans, makes a complete protein. I eat both of these regularly and enjoy them. I definitely agree with SemperFiUSMC's storage suggestions and I might suggest vacuum packing. Good luck!

 

[dudley0]

I have a question for all about the store what you eat policy. This is a serious inquiry, not trying to start some flame war.

I eat beef stew, not on a regular basis but I eat it enough that I would consider it a staple. I have some beef stew in my cache of food supplies. I wonder if we had a true SHTF event if that would be something that would last for 10 or even 30 years.

What I am getting at is people have moved toward the store what you eat mind set, and yet I can't store beef stew for as long as I can say some rice that has been properly contained.

What about for longer storage times? Right now I am attempting to store for mid and long term. Although actually this evening I had rice with dinner I don't consider it a regular staple. I do know that it will sustain me in the long term, if it is packaged correctly.

At what point does one decide that they have enough set aside for a mid-length (however long that is) crisis and they start preparing for longer term?

 

[Newbomb92]

Besides o2 absorbers, should dessicants be used as well?

 

[SemperFiUSMC]

I would have to respectfully disagree that those foods are difficult to prepare. All can be cooked in boiling water easily. Quinoa cooks in 20 minutes and is a complete protein as well as a carbohydrate. Brown rice takes longer to cook, but is much more nutritious than white rice and with the addition of beans, makes a complete protein. I eat both of these regularly and enjoy them. I definitely agree with SemperFiUSMC's storage suggestions and I might suggest vacuum packing. Good luck!

I agree that they're easy to prepare today on your stovetop. But if you don't have access to a water source or heat, can you prepare them easily? At all?

My point is that food that can be consumed simply by opening a bag, jar or can is ideal. Every step or resource that you add (heat, water, milk, eggs, salt, etc.) puts you one step closer to having unconsumable waste, not food.

I would not avoid having rice, grains, etc in your SHTF stores. I have some. But I would caution against making them primary foods that I intend to survive on.

I have a question for all about the store what you eat policy. This is a serious inquiry, not trying to start some flame war.

I eat beef stew, not on a regular basis but I eat it enough that I would consider it a staple. I have some beef stew in my cache of food supplies. I wonder if we had a true SHTF event if that would be something that would last for 10 or even 30 years.

What I am getting at is people have moved toward the store what you eat mind set, and yet I can't store beef stew for as long as I can say some rice that has been properly contained.

What about for longer storage times? Right now I am attempting to store for mid and long term. Although actually this evening I had rice with dinner I don't consider it a regular staple. I do know that it will sustain me in the long term, if it is packaged correctly.

At what point does one decide that they have enough set aside for a mid-length (however long that is) crisis and they start preparing for longer term?

In my case food is not the limiting factor. I have two years worth of food. If an event occurs of such magnitude that I run out of food after two years, I've got bigger problems. I've had to start taking meds (get old sucks) that I likely wouldn't live a year without. You can't live more than a couple months without water. So food may not be your biggest concern.

As far as storing what you eat, rotate your stores. A lot of canned food has expiration dates that don't spoil. Hell I ate c-rats that were older than me when I was in the Corps.

People will die off quickly. You can have their food.

 

[philo]

Quinoa is good and good for you, but ist's fairly water intensive. You have to rinse it well before you cook it in a change of water. The rinse water is to remove the saponins - naturally occuring soaplike chemical in the grain. Don't rinse it and the stuff is nasty and just barely palatable. If you do rinse it, the rinse water can't be used for cooking or drinking - it may be okay as wash water.

Water may fast become the limiting factor in a SHTF scenario.

 

[Newbomb92]

I soak and rinse all of it. Still need a bunch more mason jars.

 

[snorko]

Brown rice does NOT store well for LTS. The oil in the hull will go rancid even with nitrogen, O2 absorbers, etc.

 

[Sailor]

Brown rice does NOT store well for LTS. The oil in the hull will go rancid even with nitrogen, O2 absorbers, etc.

This.

Make your regular pantry huge and rotated. Then keep your just in case buckets of stored grain/beans/salt/spices/pasta.

 

[kludge]

If you dry can or vacuum pack in the right type of bag, O2 absorbers are enough, no desiccant needed.

White rice will store OK, as will wheat and oats and legumes. 30 years or more.

I don't know about Quinoa, I like it, just never tied to store it.

 

[CarmelHP]

I

What I am getting at is people have moved toward the store what you eat mind set, and yet I can't store beef stew for as long as I can say some rice that has been properly contained.

You can store stew for a long time is canned properly. Can it yourself in glass using a pressure cooker. The biggest limiting factor in store bought canned food is the life expectancy of the steel cans, they'll eventually rust out. The old tin can had a much longer life as would glass jars. Meats are also pretty easy to can using a pressure cooker. Even cheap cuts come out pretty moist and tender.

 

[jdhaines]

Old man with gun asks what about peanut butter

how long will peanut butter last seams like good pro.& other things sealed

 

[CarmelHP]

how long will peanut butter last seams like good pro.& other things sealed

I find that if I keep a sealed jar longer than about 18 months the fat in it has developed a very unpalatable rancid flavor.

 

[Regionnus Rattis]

Rice, legumes, whole grains can be stored a long time. Can as much food as you are able, want, etc. You can can just about anything and they last for quite a few years. Just label the month and year on the top and rotate your stock.

For the grains, use a hand millgrinder. You can also dehydrate and store alot of food as well.

 

[kolob10]

food storage

I've stored the grains you mentioned and more over the past 35 years with great success. We store in #10 cans and 5 gallon plastic buckets. We use O2 absorbers with great success. Before o2 absorbers, we used co2 with good success also. Keep it cool and dry and it will last several years. I just opened a bucket of oatmeal that was stored for 8 years. It was fine and tasty. I have eaten wheat stored for over 30 years and it was also fine. I have read that there has been wheat found in the great pyramids that was yet edible.

Just be sure to eat what you store and rotate where possible. Good eating!

 

[ranjah6]

Rice and grain are a good idea in my opinion. When NATO does relief efforts in foriegn countries a big scource of the food they provide is rice. With a rain barrel and a little fire you can make it fill your stomach and be a great staple that goes with ALOT of things. I do agree with packaging it in smaller containers however.

 

[dudley0]

I am buying 1 gallon mylar bags and O2 absorbers. Figured at least to start out I could have a few different items in one pail. If it all works I can start filling entire pails with one thing.

 

[Bazooka Joe]

how long will peanut butter last seams like good pro.& other things sealed

You know I wonder, anyone ever can peanut butter? Or what about the peanuts to make the butter at a later time?