More and more people are stocking up on food as a means to manage better during tough economic times, and as a way to prepare for disasters (think Hurricane Katrina). So we thought you might find these storage tips helpful if stocking up on food is something you’ve been thinking about:
And ideal storage room for food is a cool room in the basement that is dry all season of the year, free from steam, hot water and hot air pipes, odors (kerosene, onions, soap, petroleum products) and closed off from the rest of the house. Under these conditions the yearly temperature would be between 50 and 60 degrees F. The door to this room should be opened only to remove food items.
Exposure of cool canned goods to warm, moist air will cause rusting of the cans. (Food in rusted cans is good if there has been no perforation in the wall of the can.) If a basement room is not available, a closet or garage on the north side of the house can be used. It should be remembered that in peace or war, whenever disaster strikes, canned foods are the safest form of foods.
Canned fruits and vegetables: Store only high quality—avoid the “bargain sales”—these are products that have usually reached their shelf-life and are simply being unloaded on the consumer. Most quality canned food can be stored for 2 years with minimal loss in nutrition.
Canned milk: If it is stored at 40 to 50 degrees, F., it will keep for a year. It’s recommended the cans be turned upside down once every 2 months to avoid fat separation.
Fats and oils: Big quantities of shortenings and oils left open for extended periods of time should be avoided. Three-pound size cans of shortening and one-quart size bottles of vegetable oil would be ideal for a family consuming 12 to 18 pounds of shortening or oil per year. Oil should be rotated to avoid storage longer than a year. Keeping fats and oils stored at temperatures higher than 60 degrees will go rancid much quicker. Butter will keep well over a year if frozen, by the way.
Canned meat and fish: Canned meat, meat products, poultry, and fish have generally the same shelf life as fruits and vegetables when stores under the conditions recommended above.
Cheese: Cheese will not mold if it is wrapped for freezing and kept frozen. Most cheese will last two years in a frozen condition, while others should be rotated in about a year.
Eggs: Did you know you can freeze eggs? Alice likes to crack an egg into each section of her ice-cube trays and then after they’re frozen, she pops them out and stores them for 3 to 4 months in freezer bags. She thaws just those she needs in the refrigerator and uses them for baking. A pretty good idea when eggs are on sale (Easter time, for instance).
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