storing dried foods from market

[bricksnmudd]

If I am storing food such as rice-a-roni, MAC and cheese, ext.. How long will it last if I am using a food saver with oxegen removal packs, then also put in mylar bags and stored in a black container in a closet..

[Nicodemus]

Welcome to the TSPF, bricksnmudd. When you get the chance, please stop by The Intro Thread and say hello to the forum.

It's hard to determine how long some of those will store in mylar with oxygen absorbers, in the absence of light, and at stable temperatures due to the many ingredients. The best you can probably do is look up the storage life of individual ingredients packed in that manner.

I'd also suggest that if you're going to go to all that trouble to look up copycat recipes on the web and see if you can make them yourself out of shelf stable long term storage ingredients.

[Mountain State Prepper]

Agreeing w/ Nicodemus....the ingredents are the key.   I don't think there is a single easy ratio gaining "X" amount more time by using the long-term storage techniques.    I'm pretty new to this myself, and have similar questions.  It would be nice to steer clear of the things people have already found not worth the effort of repackaging.

   Hopefully there are some folks that can give us some real experiences.   

It is hard to pass up some deals for 10 for $10 on noodles and rice that take so little fuel to prepare.   But, if they are rancid when we go to use them, what's the point?  It would be nice to have a list of what is best to use, certain brands or flavors.  Personally, I have stayed away from things that require milk to prepare  (alfredo, "creamy" stuff)....but that is more a gut feeling, not an experience.


As a point of reference, at this very moment, I'm eating some Jiffy corn muffins I found in the back of the cupboard last night.  They have been expired over two years (best used by Oct 2010).  Normally, I'd have thrown them away, but I thought.."what the hell".   Actually, I was sort of happy in a way, an oppertunity to test something, so I gave it a shot.  They are a little dense, but taste OK.   I bet if it were vacuum sealed and out of light...5+ more years?  Longer?


Also, I found this website on another TSPF thread ....http://www.stilltasty.com/.    Folks out here are awesome!

[Cedar]

If I am storing food such as rice-a-roni, MAC and cheese, ext..

Not sure about Mylar packaging as I only use it for backpacking. I get Rice-A-Roni, Mac & Cheese and such from gleaners.

For instance I found I save ALOT of room in the pantry by taking about 40 of the Mac & Cheese boxes, ripping them open, dump all the macaroni part into a bakery bucket, labeling which of the packets was what brand, toss the packets on top of the noodles. The noodles all look the same, so I do not separate them. Cut out the directions of the different packages and tape them on the inside of the lid for easy reference. Each package holds one cup of dry noodles, so it is pretty much a no brainer to scoop out one cup of noodles, grab a packet of cheese sauce and then read the directions for that pack from the inside of the lid.

You can do that with lots of those kinds of box foods.

Dried pasta has little to no fat and has low moisture content, it doesn't spoil easily, and has a shelf life that is pretty darn long. Storage life will be 8 - 10 years at a stable temperature of 70 degrees F. and longer if kept even cooler than that. Also keep moisture and bugs at bay.

With your mylar, it will last even longer.

Cedar