Confirmed Food Life - Personal Experience In Long Term Storage

BigY Yellow Corn Muffin Mix. July 2010 and Nov 2010. Stored in original boxes. Some dulling of flavor. 100% edible and good tasting. This one is really surprising me every year.

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Goya unsweetened coconut water. No added sugar or preservatives. Just straight coconut water. Expired 6/20/16. 4 years later it's still good. I honestly didn't think this would make it without preservatives.
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I think the other big part with keeping dates (and even sources when it comes to my vacuum sealed/frozen meat) is size. I have some things like powdered eggs which have decent life before opened, but then must be refrigerated and used in a short period, buying what amounts to 4 dozen egg bags makes more sense than the 13 dozen ones even though about 20% higher in price.
 
currently eating some Progresso Homestyle Chicken Lentil soup dated expiration 6/17...tastes just like the day it was made (at least I think so...I admittedly wasn't there for that.)

Coupled with a mildly moldy swiss on wheat grilled cheese, this drunken meal is ghetto fabulous!

i'm not poor (not that there's anything wrong with that,) but I used to be and despise wasting food. i found the can of soup when I was cleaning the basement last weekend (we just moved here last year, so I moved a 2.5 year past expired can of soup) and decided it was worth a shot. the swiss cheese only had a moldy film on the edges and I tore those off and made due.

...as mentioned previously...I've been drinking.

I was looking for something 'easy' and it basically made itself (ok, the beer made it for me).
 
Made pork chops, stuffing and green beans tonight. The stuffing honestly hasn't changed in taste. The pork chop shake n bake seasoning has aged but still good. Not bad considering the age and just placed on a shelf.

I might buy more of the shake n bake in bulk and just throw the packets in a mylar bag/bucket. For longer term given how well its done.

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What is vacuum canning?

you get a mason jar attachment for a foodsaver and it preserves food for a long time.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgKnNIF_pwE
You need to pressure can meats, etc but you can vacuum can dry goods like rice, beans, flour, sugar, etc. Adding an oxygen absorber extends the time the canned food is viable.
Because mason jars are pint, quart or half-gallon sized, you can open them one at a time instead of exposing a 5 gallon bucket or larger store. It also gives you an opportunity to have a smaller portion if you were going to test use part of your preps.
The 25 pound size many long terms preps come in works out well for a 12 can quart jar case.

Allegedly.
 
I scanned some long term storage items.

Pear halves, purchased Feb 2013.

Found some bulged cans on Pears. I pulled two bad cans and one that still looked good and opened them. The liquid ate the coating off the inside of the can. I'm tossing all of them.

Given this result I am dubious about storing them longer than 1 year, even though they are dated to last 2 years. I dont like the idea I'm consuming heavy metals.

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I have some peaches also from 2013. None of the cans are showing bad, but I'm going to open one tomorrow to check. My assumption is they will be the same based on the syrup being similar.
 

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Reading these posts reminds me of a corner store that closed in the mid 60's in Gardner, the store was fully stocked and untouched until I bought all the contents in 1999, among the signs, clocks, etc. I was after, I took all the food products and tried my luck on ebay, I made over $4k on canned soups, chilis, breads, kotex, dog food, etc. I did open a few cans out of curiosity and was surprised most still looked edible, no I did not try any of it.
 
We label every piece of food in storage with the purchase date (month and year). Its how we FIFO.

I don't have a lot of food older than 24months. Some of this stuff I bough and put aside to test it long term.
This is a really smart idea that I’m going to adopt. Thanks!
 
This is a really smart idea that I’m going to adopt. Thanks!
Here's another good idea; either save candle stubs or take a small one, melted down and use a cheap paintbrush to "paint" the tops of canned goods to prevent rust. I did this to a bunch of #10 cans (for long term storage) from the bishops storehouse ten years ago. So far, no rust & all cans ok. (We check, rotate & adjust inventory every six months.)
 
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