I'm turning into somewhat of a prepper, not the fill your garage up type, just want to have a decent stash, multiple months. I have the guns and ammo part covered overkill, I also bought a water purifier that's good for 3600 gallons and I have a lake and stream very close to my house. Now I want to store some of the dehydrated food, I have bought several mountain house 24 serving buckets bur they are expensive even on sale. Searching on this sight mountain house seems to be the favorite. I'll buy some more but would also like advice on other brands, there are so many, that people have tried and are edible and nutritious. Taste is secondary, if I'm at the point I need to eat this stuff taste will be secondary. I'm looking to buy in buckets. I also am interested in emergency bars. Any suggestions? I was hoping to pick some stuff up on sale being that it is black friday week.

Hit up the LDS site for a canary

quote:

Originally posted by 1flynDO:
Hit up the LDS site for a canary

I dunno... There's not much meat on a canary. They're little birds. More of a light snack than a meal.

We have cases of #10 cans of Mountain House dehydrated food, bought them maybe 10 years ago. But inventorying our food in the freezers, fridge, and pantry, we calculated that the two of us can easily eat for well over a month. We have our everyday supply of rice and beans/legumes, but have also stored for long term 10lbs each of rice & beans in 32oz Mason jars with oxygen absorbers, maybe 12 jars total. Doesn't take up too much room since we can store them in various places, can get a month's worth of survival food for the two of us. In the past, we thought about storing bags of rice and beans in mylar bags/buckets, but haven't thought about it in awhile, it is something we should do.

Pastry buckets are frequently cheap or free at grocery stores that have a bakery. The lids for those have rubber seals and are quite solid. Fill them with oats, rice, or beans, add some oxygen absorbers, and they're good for a long time. Hardware stores like Home Depot sell screw on lids of the buckets making it easy for those you're actively using.

Pressure canning isn't hard to learn and can be great for canned meats and vegetables.

Related to the long term dehydrated foods available on line to purchase, which companies have the best food at reasonable prices?

I plan on buying a limited amount for my wife and I over the next two to three months (as funds allow).

Having a independent water supply and room to grow food would be very helpful in the long run. Ideally think ahead about what "could" happen, and what is your plan or back up plan.

The problem with this type of bulk prepping is it's based on the premise of you being able to remain at or being at home when whatever occurs that would require you to use these supplies. That may or may not be the case. That's why many are building bunkers and living in them leaving only when absolutely necessary.
In a natural disaster, tornado, earthquake perhaps hurricane your supplies may be buried under a couple tons of rubble or twenty feet of water and not accessible. You could be there as well in which case you wouldn't need those supplies anyhow. In a terrorist or global attack you most likely will be on the move or dead before you realize it.

The idea that you are going to be holed up in your house for a couple weeks while holding off terrorists outside isn't realistic. And if you are, finding quiet time to heat up that Mountain House Lasagna might prove to be difficult. I just make sure I have the pantry well stocked with things we use all the time such as canned goods, rice, cereals etc. Same with the freezer. Half full is the new empty when it comes to pantry and freezer space. You can spend a lot of money stockpiling all this stuff and then find you are unable to use a single ounce of it when needed. But just because you can't prepare for everything does not mean you should not prepare at all.

Eventually I plan on buying a freeze dry machine to make my own supplies: https://harvestright.com/home-freeze-dryers/

Freeze dry machine

Have you considered making your own?

They're a bit on the spendy side, but considering what you'd spend on a pre-made food supply, it's almost a wash. And, you can do what you want when you want. I've used the heck out of mine for all sorts of things and have a goodly supply of food stored up.

**mrvmax beat me to it.

Not to derail the conversation, but could you share what water filter you bought and why?
Thanks!

Bulk cans of sardines and lots Adam's peanut butter that would carry us through 2 months. The way the world is going feel a need to get some prepared meals that would get us through 6 months. Also have a significant amount of dog food to keep the watchdog functioning 24/7.

The wife and I have about a years supply of freeze dried foods if we ration it. (approx 1500 cals/day) We bought Augason Farms. It's tastes OK but certainly not gourmet. We also purchased some life straw water purifiers with extra filters.

Did a bit of studying on freeze dryers a few weeks ago, more research than real planning, but here's what I'd likely go with:

https://bluealpinefreezedryers.com/

Made in Idaho btw.

Raising your own protein sources and growing and canning your own vegetables will do more for being prepared than any number of buckets you can buy, and it's a helluva lot cheaper. Just a little more work. Some beans, rice, and seasonings to get you through the lean times.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:

I dunno...

OK, I'll say it. That's pretty funny.

It's been my experience that those buckets of emergency food has a wayyyy too high a sodium content.

If you need to be efficient with your preps, you don't want too much sodium because you'll go through more water than you think. Everyone is worried about food storage but few seem to consider water.

US Foods (big ginormous food wholesaler) has a retail store near me. I've bought the #10 cans of foods such as vegetables, fruits, chili, stew, puddings, etc. Over the last 10 years I bought these to make a quick and easy potluck meal for work (but retired now) and no one complained. While not as good as a good home cooked meal these made a satisfactory easy substitute.

FWIW for years I bought the #10 can of banana pudding, chilled it overnight in the fridge, and in the morning put into a 9x13 dish along with freshly sliced bananas and vanilla wafers. Never got anything less than good comments from coworkers who scarfed down the *homemade* banana pudding. No one had a clue.

You can buy by the case or individual units.

Anyone who has ever worked in the food service industry is familar with US Foods, Sysco, Ben E Keith, and more.

HERE is my local US Foods Chef Store to give you the idea. They have roughly 80 of these scattered around the USA. You can search for one near you "US Foods Chef Store Near Me".

There are others. Shamrock Foods (wholesaler) is also open to the public. I am familar with their places in the Denver area and the Phoenix area. If you are near it's absolutely worth the drive.

Also, I highly recommend the LDS home food storage centers. #10 cans of rice, oats, wheat, sugar, flour, beans, dehydrated carrots, onions, apple slices. Pasts such as macaraoni, spaghetti, potato flakes, and more.

These things will store for many years.

You do NOT need to be a LDS member, this is open to all. I'm not LDS and have had zero questions etc when buying these products.

CLICK here for info. Peruse the site. These prices you see are per the case, they ship to you, but you can buy individual cans at their Home Storage Centers. CLICK here for what you can buy, and prices, at the local places

I have a halfway decent supply from these guys of dehydrated stuff:
https://www.thrivelife.com/

What's cool is that you can have a monthly subscription so you can build up a supply over time.
They have whole meal packets (like a mountain house pouch) or the traditional #10 cans.
They also have "pantry cans" which are like a #10 can but smaller.

We've busted open a couple different ones and they taste perfectly fine once you re-hydrate them and use em to cook a meal.

I keep a mixture of dehydrated food (Mountain House) and the regular canned and boxed stuff that I eat all the time. Plus several flats of canned dog food and a spare sack of dry for my 2 furry guys. Enough for something like a month for all three of us, and the pantry gets added to a little bit every time I go shopping. About 25% of it is dehydrated stuff, and the rest gets rotated through regularly. I have one food-grade 50 gallon drum for water in the garage (which never freezes), plus a couple of 6 gallon jugs and several cases of bottled water.

quote:

Originally posted by OKCGene:
It's been my experience that those buckets of emergency food has a wayyyy too high a sodium content.

If you need to be efficient with your preps, you don't want too much sodium because you'll go through more water than you think. Everyone is worried about food storage but few seem to consider water.

The wife and I lived off of a couple of buckets for a month. No extra water consumption and we monitored the hell out of it. My family is prepped for food and water shortages but sodium causing too much water consumption is something I haven't heard of? I am very interested in your research.