Confessions: Dumb prepping stuff you bought or did

[Morning Sunshine]

canned butter.  I have a whole case of it downstairs that is now 8 years old.  It smells good when we open it, but goes rancid quickly.  I should use it for baking.

[LVWood]

I hear virgin coconut oil has a pretty good shelf life.

[Mr. Bill]

canned butter.  I have a whole case of it downstairs that is now 8 years old.  It smells good when we open it, but goes rancid quickly.  I should use it for baking.

Thanks for that bit of knowledge.

I have canned ghee (in small quantity).  I store it in the fridge after opening (actually, before opening too, although that's probably unnecessary), and it doesn't go rancid over a period of months.  Using it mostly for popping popcorn. Yum!

[mountainmoma]

canned butter.  I have a whole case of it downstairs that is now 8 years old.  It smells good when we open it, but goes rancid quickly.  I should use it for baking.

I've 3 -- not very old tho -- so, maybe I should just rotate it and use instead of fresh ?

[endurance]

canned butter.  I have a whole case of it downstairs that is now 8 years old.  It smells good when we open it, but goes rancid quickly.  I should use it for baking.

I ran into this exact same problem with dried milk. I bought some obscene amount in the early 1990s, like 10 cases (for just two people).  I initially drank it as my normal milk, so it may have had a chance at rotation every four or five years, but after I moved closer to town it was easier to buy store-bought milk and it sat for about 15 years. When I tried it again, it tasted good at first, but would sour in just one or two days in my fridge. Very strange. I tried several other cans and it did the same thing.

[Morning Sunshine]

I ran into this exact same problem with dried milk. I bought some obscene amount in the early 1990s, like 10 cases (for just two people).  I initially drank it as my normal milk, so it may have had a chance at rotation every four or five years, but after I moved closer to town it was easier to buy store-bought milk and it sat for about 15 years. When I tried it again, it tasted good at first, but would sour in just one or two days in my fridge. Very strange. I tried several other cans and it did the same thing.

I use my dry milk in recipes - my family will not drink the stuff.

[endurance]

This was good stuff. I think it had potato flour added to make it thicker. When I first got it I loved it, but it didn't age well.

[Stwood]

Bump for a good thread....


Local church bucket'ed up whole corn from the combine, in 1990.
Talk about rocks.......it's some hard stuff.
I'm trying to get them to replace it. I tried grinding it into cornmeal, and had to run it through the grinder 3 times. It was ok when used though. Made decent cornbread.

[Carl]

  I 'fatten up' my powdered milk with powdered creamer and find it acceptable and worth the calories.

[Stwood]

.

[Carl]

.

Fly speck ?

[Stwood]

Yea. Jumped off my desk and landed on your monitor. Sorry.   

[Carl]

Yea. Jumped off my desk and landed on your monitor. Sorry.   

Gotta' have humor after we dropped a Mother of all bombs on Afghanistan today ...largest non nuke bomb made to destroy a cave network and arms storage...lotta' specks on that target now.

[Stwood]

Yep. Seen a picture of it posted somewhere. (The bomb) It took up the better part  of a lowboy trailer. 
Hopefully they injected some chit in it so that would get spread around the bomb site. 

[JimNKC]

I buy the 5 gallon buckets of black beans from Auguson Farms from Walmart online, free shipping to the house and they last a while. We soak them usually for 12+ hours before cooking, but I could eat black beans most every day. My wife has done some meals and not soaked them long enough, and then they were tougher than I prefer. A favorite meal of mine is when she cooks beans, rice, some ground beef, and throw some cheese and sour cream on a big burrito shell... can leave out the cheese and cream if needed and still fills you up.

Silly prepper things I've done though... with 5 year old twins we can put away some milk... so I used to rinse well every gallon jug, then dry and store a bunch of them to make 72 hour food kits for the family. I also filled maybe 20 of them up 7/8 with RO water and froze them in the huge freezer we have. (That part at least HAS helped when we had a power outage last summer for a day or so.

We've decided to cut way back on the beans, after finding some that were like granite. 


Cooked em and still coulda used em to pave the driveway with.

So no more 5 gallon buckets of em

[Carl]

I buy the 5 gallon buckets of black beans from Auguson Farms from Walmart online, free shipping to the house and they last a while. We soak them usually for 12+ hours before cooking, but I could eat black beans most every day. My wife has done some meals and not soaked them long enough, and then they were tougher than I prefer. A favorite meal of mine is when she cooks beans, rice, some ground beef, and throw some cheese and sour cream on a big burrito shell... can leave out the cheese and cream if needed and still fills you up.

Silly prepper things I've done though... with 5 year old twins we can put away some milk... so I used to rinse well every gallon jug, then dry and store a bunch of them to make 72 hour food kits for the family. I also filled maybe 20 of them up 7/8 with RO water and froze them in the huge freezer we have. (That part at least HAS helped when we had a power outage last summer for a day or so.

Milk jugs 'break down' and are most often weak...one and two and even 3 liter cola bottles are stackable,tough,and don't break down over time...better recycle choice...and my SAWYER FILTER screws right on top of all of them.

[Stwood]

I quit the milk jugs for regular water storage. Had too many that leaked. Most were slow leaks, slow enough you didn't notice. Bottom would be moist, dry up as it leaked. Pretty soon (maybe a year) you would notice the jug was only 3/4 full. 

[Smurf Hunter]

I quit the milk jugs for regular water storage. Had too many that leaked. Most were slow leaks, slow enough you didn't notice. Bottom would be moist, dry up as it leaked. Pretty soon (maybe a year) you would notice the jug was only 3/4 full. 

A local farm supply store near me sells used soda barrels like these for < $20


Mine are like the one on the left.  I prefer those to the bigger 55gal, as I can move them around (still heavy).
I rotate the water annually.  Not a long term solution, but it's good backup for a family.

[Stwood]

Sweet. What is that, about 15-20 gallon?

[Carl]

A local farm supply store near me sells used soda barrels like these for < $20


Mine are like the one on the left.  I prefer those to the bigger 55gal, as I can move them around (still heavy).
I rotate the water annually.  Not a long term solution, but it's good backup for a family.

Nice Jugs....

[LVWood]

Nice Jugs....

Oh stop!
 

[Smurf Hunter]

Sweet. What is that, about 15-20 gallon?

I believe they are 15 gallons. 

[Stwood]

Thanks. Hey can someone slap Carl? 

[Morning Sunshine]

Thanks. Hey can someone slap Carl? 

 

[Ms. Albatross]

Thanks. Hey can someone slap Carl? 

Thanks Morning Sunshine. 

[Stwood]

 

[Carl]

I was not talkin' dirty.

[Stwood]

I was not talkin' dirty.

I know. Was just razzin ya. 

[Carl]

all good,I deserve a bit as I give a lot.

[bcksknr]

     Because of the recent tensions with NK, I opened up my RADEF ammo can to check on my radiation meters. Yes, I know, they are from the Cold War (Civil Defense Issue) and probably aren't close to being calibrated anymore. But hey, it's what I've got for now. I never store items with batteries installed. However, the alkaline "D" cells had disintegrated into powder; they were from 2009. Luckily they were double bagged and didn't damage anything. The 22 1/2 volt carbon batteries (now obsolete) were intact, but dead. One meter takes a single "D" cell. The other two each take a "D" and two 22 1/2 volt cells. I can get new manufacture alkaline 22 1/2 volt cells for about 10 bucks each; cheaper than making up packs with 9 volt batteries in series.
     Given their age ,although carefully stored and in good condition and dubious reliability, I'm not sure if I want to drop the 40 bucks to have batteries for them. I should just bite the bullet and buy a new, proven unit. So, don't store anything electronic with batteries installed.