The Gun Counter

I just bought a 4lb bag of iodized table salt, a 5lb bag of granulated sugar, and a 5lb bag of white long-grain rice for $5.76 total.

I'm going to pack the sugar into two 2.5lb bags, the salt into two 2lb bags, and the rice into 1 Cup packets. (1 Cup of dry rice makes one serving of prepared rice for my family, so I won't have to measure, open too much at a time, or risk making too much).

Don't wait to start your long-term storage program. There are plenty of staple items for dirt-cheap.

If you look at supermarket circulars, you can usually find on-sale stuff cheaper than can be had at bulk stores like Sam's or Costco. And often the store-brand stuff like rice, canned goods, etc. is always cheaper.

I have ~3 month supply. Slowly working up to 6.

How's that vacuum sealer, Workin?

Buy it cheap, and stack it deep. I've been working on building up our food storage for awhile now. First I hit up the canned goods that we use often, like beans, potatoes, chicken, SPAM (which I love), fruit, and anything on sale that tastes good. I have a few pounds each of salt, sugar, flour, and the staples. Right now I've been grabbing complete meals that really don't need re-heating, like soups and stews that we don't eat as often, but occasionally would use if we're running on short notice. After I build up that, I'm planning on stocking up more of the grains and dry beans that are dirt cheap and store for nearly 30 years if properly packaged.

Remember, store what you eat and eat what you store. Storing food is not just for the end of the world, or even a disaster, but if you lose your job tomorrow, at least you'll be eating for the next 30, 60, 90 days(thanks, Jack Spirko!)

For your obsessive-compulsive pleasure, here's the link to the list of lists that I posted awhile back:

http://theguncounter.com/forum/viewtopi ... 691#p89691

I got it from the Squirrel forum, and I believe that James Wesley Rawles had a hand in starting it. I made a few mods, and did the formatting.

rightisright wrote:How's that vacuum sealer, Workin?

Really well, thanks. I bagged up a bunch more meat for the garage freezer, and a ton of strike-on-box matches in their original boxes.

I'm ordering some desiccant, oxygen absorbers, and mylar bags and getting to work on this stuff. I found a way to vacuum seal mylar bags using my sealer, so the stuff I just bought will go into five-gallon buckets.

workinwifdakids wrote:

rightisright wrote:How's that vacuum sealer, Workin?

Really well, thanks. I bagged up a bunch more meat for the garage freezer, and a ton of strike-on-box matches in their original boxes.

Is that an upright or chest freezer?

A really good food to store is quinoa. It is a complete protein (like you need beans with rice not either alone) and cooks like rice and lasts forever. It tastes good too, especially properly prepared. I often have just used the rice cooker and it has come out great. Ounce per ounce more protein than steak as well.

They're making a drink out of quinoa now too. Haven't tried it myself.

308Mike wrote:

workinwifdakids wrote:

rightisright wrote:How's that vacuum sealer, Workin?

Really well, thanks. I bagged up a bunch more meat for the garage freezer, and a ton of strike-on-box matches in their original boxes.

Is that an upright or chest freezer?

It's the chest freezer. The problem is, within 30 minutes of it being unplugged, everything inside is thawing at a terrible rate. Thus, the other thread. I still haven't decided what to do.

It should be set no higher than 0F.


HTRN

CByrneIV wrote: 1. You're running your freezer too hot

Or

2. You have a really shitty freezer

Or

3. Both

What he said.

Check out the ConServ(formerly Vestfrost) that I linked to in your freezer thread. I have one, it's great, and I'll buy another one when my old Sears freezer dies.

Something else: consider heat treating your rice before storing it long term. Rice is notorious for having tiny insect eggs in it, which will hatch in very warm weather.
To heat treat: Spread your rice in a 9"x13" pan, about an 1" deep. Place in a 175-190F oven for 1.5-2 hrs. Allow to cool, and bag.

Or you could not heat treat, and consider the bugs as extra protein...........