Food Storage beginnings..

I think I will cover the beginnings of food, and storage today..
 First of all if you haven't started storing food in an "untouchable" storage area, keep in mind that the sooner you start storing food.. the better. when you start getting food to store, you will need to think of many aspects of it to cover. Knowing you can't think of everything you can still cover what you may forget. Some things may be unable to get in a disaster situation, and you may have a "neighbor" that has plenty of extra but, isn't willing to just hand it out because they will end up going without something because you forgot to get it. So they have a few things they for got to get and are now willing to trade for it. Now you both could end up better off, but what are you willing to trade or sacrifice "barter"? Fortunately for you,.. you were smart enough to cover that in you thinking ahead!  You managed to put things up and store you don't like, use, or really want but the "neighbor"  does and they want it as bad as you want what they have! So you go into your emergency stocks, and go to your "barter" preps to retrieve it. Now you are both ahead! See, because you were smart enough to think ahead to cover what you may not remember you are going to be ok.. Myself, I don't drink, but I put up and hide not beer, but liquor. Liquor  never goes bad, and only gets smoother and better with age. I am like most people and I do love coffee. Most people forget it or can't get enough or whatever. I store instant and brew coffee. Instant for if you are in a hurry, and grounds for brewing for when you have the time to wait for it. No matter what is and isn't your "boat", you can still make sure you don't start sinking when the water level raises.Barter preps are definitely a good idea.

Now to standard preps for you. Many things are out, and available with a long term shelf life that you can get at your local store and you need to keep an eye on and rotated, oldest in the front, and freshest in the back and there are a lot of things that go well beyond their "best if used by" date. That date is usually a FG mandatory date even though it may safely last well beyond that date, sometimes by years! I won't recommend anything but regulations, because I have to cover my own legal butt, If you do choose to go beyond that it is purely your own judgement, and there are ways to test it before consumption to get an idea of it's condition. There are the obvious mold growing, discoloration, smell and etc to look for.  But what about slime on meats and other indicators? Is it safe? My suggestion here is research, and more research. If you keep 50 cans of something you can open one yearly and inspect it. and see the stages of it's condition. Some long term food storage is better dehydrated, and sealed foods. If you want to do it yourself, I myself am still a beginner at canning and such but have learned a few things  the canning I have done for my veggies was the "hot water bath" method and turned out pretty good. I canned it in about Aug of 2010 and they are still looking good! I used a quart jar for my Jalapenos in water and about half a teaspoon of non-iodized salt. you want the water well over the veggies and after filling up the mason jar with veggies and water I put the salt on top, put the lid and ring on somewhat loose to let the air out as the temp inside rose  and set it in a "Canners" pot with water up to the bottom of the ring then I slowly brought the water up to about a Med-Hi setting to let the water inside the jar keep up with the water in the pot to about 20*F before boiling. You don't want it to boil. Once it got to about 200* +/-, I let it sit in there with the stove on for about 20-30 mins, after that carefully remove it, place it on the counter and tighten the ring and lid all the way down. and leave it there to cool for a few hours. With the lid tight as it's cooling, it will suck down the pop up button on the lid and seal it. Once it's cool they say you can remove the ring but not the lid. Do not break the seal on the lid!  I always leave it on as a precaution and it makes me feel better. That's it! I still have the can full of jalapenos and tried it a couple months ago, and giving it another canning bath (they advise you not to) Although the Jalapenos had lost a lot of their fresh off the plant heat (Like the ones in the store) they were still really good! This is something I am very happy I did and look forward to doing more of, once my lil garden is ready with enough to can at the same time. By doing it myself I knew what went into the food while growing and what went in to them again when canning. There's no better peace of mind for you when you feed your family with the food you have raised and canned, and know it's safe to eat! I love doing it myself, and look forward to a whole lot more! There are different ways to do it for acidic, and non-acidic fruits and veggies, meats and other things, make sure you research as much as possibel before doing it, so you know it will be done right.


I got a little carried away off of the original topic, but have much more for you in the future.

Until next installment.. Be Safe, and Happy Prepping!