Cheapest way to stockpile food...?
 

I want to start stockpiling food, whats the cheapest and most effective way to do it?

I was thinking about getting a dehydrator for local farm food then sealing it in vaccum bags.

But before I start I want to see if anyone know a better way.

Re: Cheapest way to stockpile food...?
 

Have you spent any time reading this Survival forum? There's a lot of great threads.

Stock what you'll eat is #1.
Rotate.
Buy in bulk, buy on sale is a good general start too.

Re: Cheapest way to stockpile food...?
 

Re: Cheapest way to stockpile food...?
 

if you don't have any food preps stashed away RIGHT NOW
forget about the dehydrator and go out and pick up $200-$300 worth of food preps

Re: Cheapest way to stockpile food...?
 

What these guys said. I just finished a series on my blog about food storage. Go to SurvivalPrep.net and check out the "Nine Meals From Anarchy" link. I hope it's helpful.

Re: Cheapest way to stockpile food...?
 

Buy crap loads of canned food. We just found some canned corn the other day with a Bes if Used By: 2004.....probably manufactured in 2002/3.....it was perfectly fine.

We rotate our stock.....that one came from my brothers house when he moved out...

Just wait for sales and buy many flats...and keep on buying.

Also, rice spaghetti, dehydrated mashed potatoes, stuff like that on sale....just buy tons of it.

Way easier that do it yourself...and also cheap.

It pays to do some canning of special items yourself.....like fresh strawberries, pie fillings, etc....when you can find it cheap fresh in season.

By lots of peanut butter and jelly - last just about forever.....also canned meals like ravolli....things that need no cooking are nice to have...just warm it up.

Thats how we do it.

Re: Cheapest way to stockpile food...?
 

Forget the dehydrator right now. Go to Costco and buy 2 or 3 baskets full of canned food. Sign up to get the sales alerts from www.honeyvillegrain.com and www.beprepared.com. Both offer some good sales.

Make sure to watch the ingredients that are in the foods you are buying. You want to try to stay away from all the crap ingredients. ( I mention Costco because they have a lot of USDA organic type foods now.)

Be sure to mark the date on everything you bring in the house. Even non food items. When your pile grows things get mixed up and leaves you wondering "when did I get this" A date will clarify it!

For now, buy flour in stead of whole grain (unless you have a grain mill) .

If you don't have an LDS store house close buy, see if you have a Cash and Carry type store - which mostly sells to restaurants. They carry bulk items.

Re: Cheapest way to stockpile food...?
 

Why not do both? You can get a Nesco American Harvester dehydrator on eBay for about $25. It's a great model.

Re: Cheapest way to stockpile food...?
 

Suggest some fast action on your part. Refer to post 8 in this link:

http://www.goldismoney.info/forums/s...=1#post2222218

Re: Cheapest way to stockpile food...?
 

Try this: http://survivalprep.net/category/nin...narchy-series/

Lots of info on quick food storage and preparation.

Re: Cheapest way to stockpile food...?
 

Do you have canning supplies?
if so pick up a chicken, some spiral noodles, and a few veggies and make a big batch of soup.

you can easily make a Lot Of great tasting soup from many of the left overs that you would normally throw away at very low cost

Can and save as many food items as possible that you would be wasting otherwise. You would be surprised how fast you can fill a pantry doing this,
it takes more effort than money to do so.

Re: Cheapest way to stockpile food...?
 

Not to mention the fact that dehydrated items take up a lot less space. Here's 4 lbs. of spinach after dehydration--this is a 1-quart mason jar:

http://survivalprep.net/images/dehydrated_spinach.jpg

I'll try to post more pics later.

Re: Cheapest way to stockpile food...?
 

Regular canned goods and other shelf-stable items that you like to eat. Buy lots more than normal, and eat the oldest first, replenishing as you go.

You can do the home dehydrator thing, but be sure to practice in order to it right.

Re: Cheapest way to stockpile food...?
 

I'm not sure what you mean by dehydrating food "right." There might be a little prep work involved before dehydration, but the general rule is just to dehydrate stuff until it's totally dry. It's not hard at all.

kimchi
 

napa cabbage
sea salt (trader joe's)
5 gallon food grade plastic buckets with lids
toss in various other homegrown & wild veggies
this usually lasts four to six months with no refrigeration

eat with blue ribbon long grain rice

Re: Cheapest way to stockpile food...?
 

Store what you eat. Eat what you store. Forget about "storage foods", most things on your normal shopping list will keep just fine for a long time. When stuff goes on sale, buy extras. Your cost of eating will go down because you're buying at sale prices. When you eat what you store, that makes it obvious that you have or don't have everything you need to prepare your normal diet: spices, condiments, side dishes, etc. When TSHTF happens you will suffer no change of diet.

I took my car to a shop and didn't get it back for two months. My eating habits were not affected at all.

Re: Cheapest way to stockpile food...?
 

I started a couple years ago with buying lots of canned food.
Next was 50lb bags of Rice and beans from Costco (vacuum packed in jars and bags)
Then we started Pickling and canning our own home grown Veggies.
we also Have a dehydrator(works great for home grown Peppers!)

we still do all of the above.

But now I like to Stack wheat and oats from the LDS.

http://www.ldscatalog.com/webapp/wcs...cg3=&cg4=&cg5=

If things get real bad we might have 5 grand kids their parents here with us.
So im doing my best to be ready.

With Gods help, I will protect them and their food with my life.

Re: Cheapest way to stockpile food...?
 

There is no one answer, but for me my biggest staple is white rice. It's a no brainer. White rice in mylar bags put up in 5 gallon buckets. Add a few hundred cans of various flavors of tomato sauce and chicken broth and then go from there.

You can buy and store a few hundred pounds of white rice and tomato sauce and chicken broth for very little money.

White rice stored in Mylar will last 20 years or more.

Then move on to canned chicken, tuna , ham etc.

Don't forget brown sugar and honey.

Re: Cheapest way to stockpile food...?
 

Think quality not quantity.

Check out 50lb bags of seeds that can be sprouted.

Re: Cheapest way to stockpile food...?
 

Never said it was hard. There is a right way and a wrong way to do things. Using the right equipment is part of it.

Re: Cheapest way to stockpile food...?
 

Blanch the veggies appropriately before dehydrating... Slice to appropriate sizes... Yes, you are quite right. There is a right way and a wrong way. And to the OP, buy frozen veggies on sale, which have already been blanched for freezing, and go straight to the dehydrating step. Just one instance of doing things the right way.

Re: Cheapest way to stockpile food...?
 

I have a question/reservation about this recommendation. Seeds for sprouting have a limited shelf life during which they will germinate and sprout -- never mind their shelf life for use in cooking. My onion seeds, for instance, are good for germinating only for a year or so. I personally would rather buy sprouting seeds in somewhat smaller quantities. It would be a shame to watch a 50 pound bag go bad after a few years. I like your original idea -- think quality, not quantity.

Re: Cheapest way to stockpile food...?
 

Merlin.........shelf life is important. :cooler: Check into vacuum sealing 50lbs of seeds and storing the sack inside an oak barrel. Put an oxygen absorber or 2 in the bag. You have to take out the oxygen from the environment. I know some guys who do this and they have taken seeds that have been stored for 10+ years and they have sprouted. The seed type varies. Do an internet search about how to store seeds for sprouting, it would take me a few pages to give you the details. Most prepers on this forum will dye in 6 months if they had to rely entirely on there food stocks. Think high blood pressure. Its not about how many cans of Campbells soup you can get for the cheapest price, its about the quality of the food. Think about it, you can eat a lot less of something if there are more nutrients in it, you can save a lot of money prepping with this line of thought. Sprouted seeds are full of everything from vitamin C (the most important) to your essential fatty acids. You could go so far to say that you could rely almost entirely off of sprouted mung beans.
For some reason the "Mormons" have this down to a science, (I'm not Mormon :banana:), i guess they have been thinking the world is coming to an end for a lot longer than we have. :rofl:
This stuff is nothing new and can be easily researched, here is a good place to start. http://www.isga-sprouts.org/

Re: Cheapest way to stockpile food...?
 

Storing seeds with oxygen absorbers will kill them. I keep my seeds in just a sealed mason jar. I'm not sure if you'd want to necessarily vacuum-seal them, just put them in an airtight container and store them in a dark, cool place.

Re: Cheapest way to stockpile food...?
 

every preper should have a bucket of these:
http://www.lifesprouts.com/Products?product=01P

Re: Cheapest way to stockpile food...?
 

You just need to learn your ABL's (always be lookin'). I only buy non perishables when they're more than half off and they're either the cheapest food item (rice/beans/noodles/wheat) or something I really like. But they have to be more than half off because the stuff in my pantry is and if you have a year's supply you're not really pressed to buy.

I was on a long roadtrip tonight and decided to drop into a random walmart to grab a drink. I checked on a few prices and found tomato sauce below my normal buy price (4c/ounce). And the best deal was on the smallest size (8oz for 26c) which is more convenient for me anyway. I got 40 and some other random good deals.

Re: Cheapest way to stockpile food...?
 

Vacuum sealed or nitrogen treated seeds store the longest, with a shelf life of up to 15 years. There is also an old school dry ice method. I would say, nitrogen treated vacuum sealed seeds are the way to go. no oxygen absorber.

Re: Cheapest way to stockpile food...?
 

Do you put the rice bags in mylar, then in the buckets? How many bags in a bucket? I get the rice in 25 pound bags.

I like getting the buckets from the pastry section at a local grocery. They just toss them away and are glad to give them to people.

Check out the difference between canning (dead + bolutism) vs fermentation of veggies. Historically, most of the deaths from botulism have been from the heating and canning of foods.

http://www --- youtube.com/watch?v=9QdhSFfaoz0

Re: Cheapest way to stockpile food...?
 

Take the rice out of the store bought bag and dump it directly into Mylar bag with oxygen absorbers. Iron the bag shut then put the mylar bag into a food grade 5 gallon bucket with a gasketed lid.

I put 30 pounds of rice per bucket.

Re: Cheapest way to stockpile food...?
 

Thanks. Do you have a good source for mylar bags?

What is the advantage of having or not having the oxygen absorbers?

Re: Cheapest way to stockpile food...?
 

Not to keep coming back to the subject, but dehydrating vegetables doesn't have the risks that come with canning, assuming the vegetables are completely dry. Botulism isn't a concern unless the veggies have botulism before they're dehydrated.

Re: Cheapest way to stockpile food...?
 

I get my mylar bags from Impak. Their website is sorbentsystems.com.

The advantage of O2 absorbers is that it will keep vitamins from oxidizing and maintain nutrition, plus if there are any bugs in like your rice or other items, it will cut off their oxygen supply and kill them.

Re: Cheapest way to stockpile food...?
 

Beans, if you like them, are cheap and known for long germination times. That provita mix is a bunch of beans and peas plus some wheat (also germinates well after sometimes 1k years) and a wheat rye cross, triticale. So beans can be cooked or sprouted, and are cheap.

Lots of good advice on this thread. We have peanut butter too. A spoonful is quite calorie dense.

As Saul points out, stored food can come in handy before total macro SHTF. We had a rough month I was glad to need only fresh fruit and veggies during.

Re: kimchi
 

Kimchi is good stuff. I like to add plenty of garlic, chopped green onions, sliced peppers, plus plenty of dried/ground red pepper.

Re: Cheapest way to stockpile food...?
 

I kept 25lb of white rice for 18 months before opening the bag (I did freeze it early on but I doubt that's necessary). Now I've been working on it for the past 6 months with no problems. Seeing as it does fine for 2 years with no trouble I now plan to move up to 50lbs in my rotation (likely 2 25 lb bags if the price is really close) which is a two year supply for me.

Re: Cheapest way to stockpile food...?
 

Can you provide a link that talks about this, or provides some test results. I have never heard this. I would be interested in knowng the reasons behind it if it were true. ie "why does the abscence of O2 sterilize the grain?"

thanks

sb

Re: Cheapest way to stockpile food...?
 

I had two 25 pound bags of rice sitting around for a year, one of them opened and one not, since I wasn't eating rice for awhile.
Both of them got invested with pantry bugs. Sticking the bags in the freezer for a couple of days killed the bugs, and they floated off the top when rinsing the rice.

The usual rice packaging did not keep them out, or if they came with the rice then that would be a problem when storing the rice in other containers, unless sealing the containers would kill them.

Re: Cheapest way to stockpile food...?
 

I've started storing rice and beans in the large buckets could someone recommend the best quality oxygen absorbers for the money? Thx :s1:

http://www.sorbentsystems.com/order_O2.html

Re: Cheapest way to stockpile food...?
 

One great way is to plant a lot of fruit & nut trees. Then you will always have a fresh supply on hand...

Sure, gardens are great too - but they are less hardy and require more tending. Trees you can just plant and more or less "forget," minus some low maintenance...

I think preppers can get too stuck in the box (no pun intended) with food storage...and forget some of the more obvious options here too.

I encourage everyone to go plant some crop trees in their yard!! Make sure to research the ones best-suited for your area. And then typically, you'll want to plant them either in early Spring or Fall - to avoid hot summers or cold winters... The Spring window is already closing soon, so get to it!!!

Re: Cheapest way to stockpile food...?
 

Well, there always the dog food option if you're looking for cheap:
http://goldismoney.info/forums/showthread.php?t=459548

Re: Cheapest way to stockpile food...?
 

Ugh, that's like all the diseased leftover scrap meat that isn't even fit for hot dogs... Damn, you're better off raising some game hen or fish in a pond then eating that crap. :puke:

Re: Cheapest way to stockpile food...?
 

Re-read that thread. The ingredients in dog food are enough to make you arf. http://planetsmilies.net/vomit-smiley-31.gif

Re: Cheapest way to stockpile food...?
 

Umm - wait till TSHTF then murder your Mormon neighbor. Take his food.

I figure if you can pull it off, you are out ~$0.50 per bullet used - not bad for a year's worth of food for a family.

(obvious lame attempt at humor and sarcasm!)

In truth, as a bachelor, it is hard to stockpile food - the darn stuff expires faster than I can eat it! As mentioned on the boards, hook up with your local LDS (Mormons) - they have all this figured out to the last grain of cereal!

:s1:

Re: Cheapest way to stockpile food...?
 

Dude, that's not funny...not at all. That'll get you on TPTB's radar in a heartbeat.

You want far more than you'll be able to eat, just in case. And who knows who else you might be in a position to help?

Jim Rawles and I are of the same mindset with regard to stocking up on food:
http://survivalblog.com/charity.html

Re: Cheapest way to stockpile food...?
 

Chili - man that shit is made for GIMers. Stagg brand is either going out of biz or just really good sales for last month on it...$1 a can (normally almost 3 bucks!) and that shit is the best. I bought another case this weekend...