What NOT to stockpile?

[DakotaMom]

OK...for those of you wanting to buy spices at the last moment...why not hit Craigs list and buy an extra freezer just for long term storage...Put containers of wanted spices in there, oil can be frozen as well, flour, sugar, oatmeal, boullion. This extends the life of spices almost indefinitely. I also keep several gallons of milk in my freezer at all times. Milk thaws beautifully, just put it on the counter and give it a good shake every few hours. Thaws out in about 24 hours.

One note...do not freeze yeast. its kills it.


Back to the original topic at hand...what am I not stocking up on??

Water - I have 100 bottles of aquafina in the basement. Beyond that we have a handpump well within a mile of the farm, 2 free flowing springs within 1/2 mile of the farm, and 3 artisian wells within a mile of the farm that flow all year. We also own our own well on the farm and have a generator to pump it. All of these water sources are pristine ND water, totally unpolluted and perfect to drink with no filtration or boiling.

Meat - other than 30 cans of canned chicken, not at all worried about meat. With 250 head of cattle fenced in behind the house, I'm not at all worried there.

Wheat - With 10,000 to 75,000 bushels on hand at all times, not at all worried about storing this either. When stored properly, it is good indefinitely. We recently sold 20 yr old wheat on the open market...with absolutely no problems...they had no idea how old it was.

Chickens - On one hand I know I should have some chickens...but they're such a PITA...I am not sure how well powdered eggs work for baking...eeek...no way in **** am I eating powdered eggs...and I don't own any at this point. This is something that stresses me out. No chicken farmers around here that I know...

 

[Reco]

Survival Cache ? The Gear Site for Survival

Excellent blog talks about all your SHTF needs

 

[cyborg]

Dakota Mom,

You are not stocking up on water but you have 100 bottles on hand. Hahahaaa! Sounds like stocking up to me.
250 head of cattle...thats sounds like stocking up to.
10,000+ bushels of wheat...
damn you are the queen of stocking up! Hahahaa!

I hadnt thought of freezing oils. Thats a great idea as oil in particular and its spoilage before i can rotate it is a concern of mine. Let the power go out and thaw out the oil and THEN the clock really begins counting down on its expiration. That will allow it to last a lot longer. Good idea.
WHen freezing oil I think it contracts rather than expanding... is that correct? I wonder about glass bottles in the freezer breaking. Do you use plastic bottles exclusively or other containers? Any additional info would be appreciated.

 

[EZLivin]

One note...do not freeze yeast. its kills it.

Maybe a good reason to get into sourdough making. I started a couple of months ago. Now have starter in the fridge, and will eventually try freezing some as I read many places that you can successfully freeze sourdough starter.

For those who are stockpiling spices, don't forget about planting some herb plants. This year we planted basil, thyme, rosemary, sage, bay, tarragon, tea, oregano, and a couple of citrus that will grow in this climate. Will add some other things next year. Made room for them by replacing useless ornamental shrubs with herb plants.

What not to stockpile? I don't know. Lima beans? Eight-track tapes of dead opera singers (or living for that matter)?

 

[DakotaMom]

Dakota Mom,

You are not stocking up on water but you have 100 bottles on hand. Hahahaaa! Sounds like stocking up to me.
250 head of cattle...thats sounds like stocking up to.
10,000+ bushels of wheat...
damn you are the queen of stocking up! Hahahaa!

I hadnt thought of freezing oils. Thats a great idea as oil in particular and its spoilage before i can rotate it is a concern of mine. Let the power go out and thaw out the oil and THEN the clock really begins counting down on its expiration. That will allow it to last a lot longer. Good idea.
WHen freezing oil I think it contracts rather than expanding... is that correct? I wonder about glass bottles in the freezer breaking. Do you use plastic bottles exclusively or other containers? Any additional info would be appreciated.

Well...100 bottles of water is what we typically drink in about a month. It's only 4 flats of water. We have 3 sons and 2 adults on the place...so to me its not really stocking up, its just what I always have on hand. Once a month I bring 4 more flats home. Maybe we're abnormally thirsty. Lol.

And the cows and wheat...well, that's just part of living on a farm.

I guess I have only ever frozen the plastic bottles of canola oil (we raise canola, so its the main oil we choose to buy). That seemed to stay about the same size. I don't think glass jars would break...but you could easily save some drinking water bottles and fill them with the oil and freeze that way. Just write on the outside with a sharpie what is in them. Might be a nice size to have in the freezer, if you ever need to dip into your stock to avoid a grocery store run right before supper!

Milk does expand if you ever freeze that...I always take out about a 1/2 a cup per gallon before I freeze it. When thawing, just put it out on the counter and give it a good shake every hour or so. It takes about 12 hours to thaw out a whole gallon. I've frozen 1%, 2%, and whole with no problems.

Spices and the like I've not have any problems with freezing. I like to buy the huge sam's club containers and just toss them right in the freezer.

I also have powdered milk frozen too..I've read that it can go rancid pretty fast, due to the fat content in the milk. I took the big carton of milk powder and put it in a tupperware container and froze that.

I guess I would think if the normal shelf life of something is a year, you should have a year from when you take it out of the freezer. And if you make sure you have a good cold freezer, just for stockpile items, you shouldn't have to open it very often, therefore, keeping things colder and making them last longer.

 

[CommandoJoe]

Gunner,

It is not a question of having the money to buy the stuff but rather not wanting to stock proper levels now which will spoil due to my inability to rotate it fast enough. THe point of the thread was to see if anyone feels there might be some things that could wait. Apparently the consensus is .... no.

Here's a couple of ideas:

1. Get yourself a diesel vehicle and convert it to run on veggie oil - When the oil is expired, dump it in the tank. It becomes some relatively expensive fuel, but at least you get some value out of it rather than just tossing it out...

2. Deep fry everything you eat so you can use enough to rotate out your oil stores before expiration - as a side benefit you will fatten up for when the SHTF and have some stored energy reserves if food becomes scarce... Also filter the used oil and use in #1 above.