Recommended Amounts for Long-Term Food Storage

[AZ Prepper]

Recommended Amounts for Long-Term Food Storage (1 Year) per person:


Grains (400 lbs per person)
- Wheat (red and/or white)
- Rice
- Barley
- Oats (regular and/or quick)
- Macaroni
- Noodles
- Cornmeal

Legumes (60 lbs per person)
- Beans (black, pinto, kidney, red, white)
- Lentils
- Peas

Dairy Products (48 lbs per person)
- Milk
- Cheese

Sugars (60 lbs per person)
- Sugar (white, brown, powdered)
- Honey

Leavening (6 lbs per person)
- Yeast
- Baking Powder
- Baking Soda
- Eggs

Salt (8 lbs per person)
- Salt (iodized and/or sea)
- Bouillon (beef and/or chicken)

Fats (30 lbs per person)
- Butter
- Shortening
- Cooking oil

Water (2 weeks)
- 14 gallons

[AZ Prepper]

Managing Your Food Supplies

1. It is important to be sanitary when storing, handling and eating food to avoid digestive upsets or other more serious illnesses. Keep food in covered containers. Keep cooking and eating utensils clean. Diarrhea may result form dish soap that is not thoroughly rinsed from dishes. Paper cups and plates, paper towels and napkins are helpful if the water supply is cut off. Keep all garbage in a closed container or disposed of outside the home if it is safe to go out. Bury garbage, if necessary. Avoid letting garbage accumulate inside, both for fire and sanitation reasons. Keep hands clean. Wash frequently with soap and water that has been boiled or disinfected. Be sure to wash before preparing or eating food, after toilet use, after participating in flood cleanup activities and after handling articles contaminated with floodwater or sewage.

2. Carefully ration food for everyone except children and pregnant women. Most people can remain relatively healthy with about half as much food as usual and can survive without any food for several days. Prepare only as much food as will be eaten at each meal.

3. Try to avoid foods high in fat and protein, since they will make you thirsty. Try to eat salt-free crackers, whole grain cereals and canned foods with high liquid content.

4. For emergency cooking, heat food with candle warmers, chafing dishes and fondue pots, or use a fireplace. Charcoal grills and camp stoves are for outdoor use only.

5. Commercially canned food can be eaten out of the can without warming. Before heating food in a can, remove the label, thoroughly wash the can and then disinfect them with a solution consisting of one cup of bleach in five gallons of water and open before heating. Re-label your cans, including expiration date, with a marker. Do not eat foods from cans that are swollen, dented or corroded even though the product may look okay to eat. Do not eat any food that looks or smells abnormal, even if the can looks normal. Discard any food not in waterproof container if there is any chance that it has come into contact with contaminated floodwater. Food containers with screw-caps, snap-lids, crimped caps (soda pop bottles), twist caps, flip tops, snap-open, and home canned foods should be discarded if they have come into contact with floodwater because they cannot be disinfected. For infants, use only pre-prepared canned baby formula. Do not use powdered formulas with treated water.

6. Refrigerators and home freezers should be kept closed as much as possible once the services they depend on are cut off. The food they contain will keep longer if you plan your meals well in advance so that you won't have to open the doors any more than necessary. Your refrigerator will keep foods cool for about four hours without power if it is left unopened. Add block or dry ice to your refrigerator if the electricity will be off longer than four hours.

7. Food will keep in home freezer units after they are shut off for varying periods depending on the amount and kind of food, the temperature at which it was kept, capacity utilization, and the construction of the freezer. Frozen meats and other frozen foods can be preserved for later use by cooking them soon after they have thawed or by quick re-freezing before they have thawed. Thawed food usually can be eaten if it is still "refrigerator cold," or re-frozen if it still contains ice crystals. To be safe, remember, "When in doubt, throw it out." Discard any food that has been at room temperature for two hours or more, and any food that has an unusual odor, color or texture. Use dry ice, if available. 25 pounds of dry ice will keep a ten-cubic-foot freezer below freezing for 3-4 days. Use care then handling dry ice, and wear dry, heavy gloves to avoid injury.


Why Process Food At Home?

Home production of foods by using the boiling water, pressure canning or dehydration method can be a safe and economical way to preserve quality food at home. All three ways of food preservation can be a fulfilling and enjoyable experience for families and friends.
Begin with good-quality produce. Process fruits or vegetables at their peak of quality - within 6 to 12 hours after harvest. (If you must delay the canning, keep it in a shady, cool place.) Some fruits such as apricots, nectarines, peaches, pears, and plums should be ripened one (1) or more days between harvest and canning. Discard any diseased or moldy food and trim any small lesions or spots from food before processing.

Boiling-Water Canners
The boiling water bath method of canning is used for processing high acid foods, such as fruits, tomatoes, pickles and relishes. It can also be sued for jams, jellies, preserved, marmalades, butters, syrups, etc. Adding a fruit protector (such as Fruit Fresh™) will help prevent discoloring. The heat from the boiling water is sufficient to destroy microorganisms which cause spoilage in these foods. Boiling water bath canners are made of aluminum or porcelain-covered steel. They have a removable rack and fitted lid. The canner must be deep enough so that at least 1 inch of briskly boiling water will be over the tops of jars during processing. A flat bottom must be used on an electric range. Either flat or ridged can be used on gas ranges. To ensure uniform processing of all jars with an electric range, the canner should be no more than 4 inches wider in diameter than the element on which it is heated.

Pressure Canners
Low-acid foods must be processed in a pressure canner to be free of botulism risks. This includes vegetables and meat. Since there are a variety of pressure cookers available, make sure yours is recommended for canning. Pressure does not destroy microorganisms, but high temperatures applied for an adequate period of time do kill microorganisms. The success of destroying all microorganisms capable of growing in canned foods is based on temperature obtained in pure steam, free of air, at sea level... At altitudes above 1,000 fee, canners must be operated at pressures of 10 instead of 5, or 15 instead of 10, PSI. Two serious errors in temperatures obtained in pressure canners occur because:
Internal canner temperatures are lower at higher altitudes. To correct this error, canners must be operated with an increased pressure.
Air trapped in a canner lowers the temperature obtained at 5, 10 or 15 pounds of pressure and results in under-processing. To be safe, all types of pressure canners must be vented 10 minutes before they are pressurized.

Dehydration
Dehydrating provides us with a connection between the worlds of cooks and raw foods. It is a method of preservation that helps retain food enzymes and nutrients. The process removes enough water to prevent growth of bacteria, yeast and mold. Because drying removes moisture, the food shrinks, and becomes lighter in weight. When the food is ready for use, water is added, and the food returns to its original shape.
In order for fruits to dehydrate properly, you must perforate the skin to allow the moisture to escape. Adding a fruit protector (such as Fruit Fresh™) will help prevent discoloring. If drying vegetables, you must blanch them first. Once dried, be sure to cool completely (30 to 60 minutes) before packaging. After packaging, check containers within seven to ten days to see if any moisture is present. If there is moisture, the food must be re-dried at 140 to 160 degrees. If food is moldy, discard it. Keep dried foods in airtight glass or plastic containers in the coolest, darkest, driest place you have. Although it is not necessary to store dried foods in refrigerator or freezer, except for meat jerkies, this does provide a low temperature which will extend the shelf life.

Helpful Tools for Canning
Food processor - slicing, chopping, ricer (for applesauce).
Canning funnel - pouring hot liquid into jars.
Plastic gloves - when handling hot peppers or chilies.
Jar lifter - getting jars out of the pressure canner or boiling water bath.
Pan with strainer - used for blanching or for putting peaches or tomatoes in for removing their skins.
Canning element for your stove.



*(The "Why Process Food at Home" section Sources: United States Department of Agriculture, Extension Service; Cooperative Extension Program Fort Valley State University; Minnesota Extension Services, University of Minnesota; and "Living and Raw Foods" by Rose Cabalerro.)

[rlaw]

Thats all great stuff thanks for the info. I just bought a one year supply of food storage from http://www.emergencysupplyonline.com, but I am not done. I am going to keep storing with some DIY methods also. Thanks again.