Early Retirement Extreme Forums

@Jacob-

The gamma seal thing is just the lid right? The buckets are just ordinary buckets aren't they? (Trying to figure out if I can fit maybe a couple buckets in the RV, under the bed for rice and beans, which is my family's primary staples. But 5 gal buckets are too tall to fit. 2.5 would work though I think.)

@jacob: How to you ensure FIFO with your bucket method? Perhaps, I shouldn't admit this, but I always thought that the challenge of figuring out what to cook from an odd lot pantry is fun. Instead of maintaining large supplies of dry staples (which I did do when I was frugal feeding a family of four on a regular basis), I might just start picking up random cans off of clearance racks. Commercially canned food can still be edible and nutritious after decades of storage, but dried beans and flour definitely have a shelf life.

@luxagraf - Yes, the gamma seal is just the lid (and the rim) and the bucket is an ordinary $3 food-grade bucket, bought separately. The 5 gal size seal fits 3.5 gal buckets too. For a 2 gal bucket you need a different size seal. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqIa21b4VLc https://www.uline.com/Product/Detail/S- ... astic-Pail

@7wb5 - Not an issue since the turnover << shelf life of the staples. And if there's a small fraction that survives the odds of multiple turnovers, it's not like they spoil the rest. Old beans just lose taste and vitamin. The rest lasts forever. However, you can always pour the old contents into a temporary bucket and pour the new stuff in and the add the old stuff on top---like when the buckets occasionally gets washed. Generally, I don't worry about it.

@7W5 -- When it's time to refill a bucket, I dump the remaining contents into another container, put the new stock into the bucket, and then dump the older stock on top. That way the oldest stuff always gets used first.

I keep my flour in the freezer to extend its shelf life and prevent infestations.

@luxagraf--For buckets, I found the best assortment and prices at a local restaurant supply store. You could also use plastic soda or water bottles (but don't use gallon milk jugs because you can't get the dairy out of the plastic).

At least I don't have to store water. Even without electricity I think my spring would keep working. I would just have to haul water in buckets, like I do when the power is out for several days.

George, all that fun and here I was wasting my time at a job training thing in Philadelphia. I suppose the mess will be gone when I get back tomorrow. At least I should be able to get my car up my driveway. I barely made it out on Tuesday morning.

@jennypenny,

I had to smile when I saw your photo...looks so familiar, right down to the labels. Pinto beans in a 2-liter soda bottle? Check, along with the frustration of trying to shake them back out. They tend to jam at the neck. We've also used a lot of glass gallon jars because they don't retain the smell of former contents, but they're thinner on the ground since we left the restaurant business.

I'm mystified by the opposition to reasonable, rotated food storage. It reminds me of my stepmother, who used to mock us for locking the front door of our house or using sunscreen.

The I-84 closure affecting groceries is now news:
http://katu.com/news/local/continued-i- ... es-grocers

McGinnis says store shelves are still fully stocked now, but that could change if I-84 doesn't thaw out soon.

"There our loads that we're not receiving at our distribution center because they're coming in from out east. Things like meat and produce, fruits, vegetables, chickens, things like that."
***
With the general populace now alerted, Jacob's scenario of a spike in demand will take place, thus emptying the shelves.

enigmaT120 wrote:George, all that fun and here I was wasting my time at a job training thing in Philadelphia. I suppose the mess will be gone when I get back tomorrow. At least I should be able to get my car up my driveway. I barely made it out on Tuesday morning.

Flying is no problem at the moment. Be glad you're not trying to drive here!

I meant I barely made it out my driveway (about 1/4 mile). An '04 Insight and over 8" of snow are not a good combination.

2004 Insight by Ed Miller, on Flickr

Ego wrote:How much space does two months of food take up? Add to that the fact that the conventional prepper-wisdom here says we need to store lots of water as well. How much space does that take?

for brute, the issue is refrigerator space. the only foods that can be stored at room temperature for longer than a few days are dried carbs, mostly grains, and purified fats/oils. brute has about a 2-3 month supply of various fats, but he doesn't eat carbs, especially grains. thus to store even a month's worth of food, he'd need to buy a separate deep freezer, which would probably require a garage, a car to do monthly grocery hauls, and so on.

the small-stock strategy is much more convenient and requires less total capital invested at any given time (in fridges and vehicles). it therefore seems more reasonable when mobility is high or at least valued, or capital invested is being minimized for other reasons.

brute seems to have an extensive food stock anyway. Perhaps add some jerky along with the fat? or canned sardines?
I would assume no veg for 2 months would be mostly an inconvenience.

spoon of lard a day keeps the doctor away good point, brute actually has some canned sardines and tuna from time to time. those could easily be stocked and buffered. most commercial jerky seems to be 25% sugar by weight and very expensive, so brute's not into it. and too lazy to make his own.

The highways opened the next day, but now onion storage facilities in SE Oregon & SW Idaho have collapsed roofs, so the price of onions is skyrocketing.

another food shortage:
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-38851097

Southern Spain provides around 80% of the fresh produce for the EU out of season, so it is not just the UK,"

Interesting ...

Yeah, when Florida goes underwater and California dries up, we'll be back to poaching prunes to go with our breakfast eggs and ham in February in Michigan.

For you food storage pros out there, how do you decide when to start to draw down your supplies vs when to continue to stockpile things?

For example, during the initial COVID lockdowns did you stay at home and draw down your months long supply? Or did you continue to replenish your stockpile with regular grocery trips as a hedge against supply chain disruptions?

I have refilled my freezer with meat every few days. When I got sick and had to quarantine I would make a beef stew every few days and never wanted for anything.

No hard rule but more a decision weighing the "risk of going out" vs the "risk of running out of food". There are two boundary cases to this. One is that you have no food, like most people, and therefore have to go out. The other is that you have tons (1 year++) of food and therefore don't have to make the decision at all.

I'd say as a general rule, watch what other humans are doing. Specifically the first group because it is largest and determines what demand the supply will try to meet. I remember there being a thread with moral debates whether one should stock up further if one already had enough during the early COVID stage. You could read that for a "live" example.