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Prepping/stacking / Longest lasting tinned meat/foods?

DaveTheGeordie
DaveTheGeordie Posts: 222 Forumite
Tenth Anniversary 100 Posts Combo Breaker
edited 15 November 2020 am30 7:30AM in Old style MoneySaving
I began prepping because this year made me think about food security, and hobby. I've started stacking tinned goods with what seem to be the longest lasting meats. I've noticed Princes Hot Dogs and Tulip bacon grill get 5 years. Most the Tuna's and corned beef get 4 years. What else gets 4 - 5+ years? Doesn't have to be meat.

I really don't want to get into an ethics/hording argument. I'm spending like an extra fiver a week doing it. I'm not buying the last on the shelf or more than a couple at once. I buy things I like and will eat.  I'm not harming anyone.
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Comments

  • pelirocco
    pelirocco Posts: 8,275 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    This isn't meant to be an attack on you ,but if we are in a situation that requires  5 years supply of food  food may be the least of your worries
    However rotating your supplies is the way to go .Only buy what  you would eat  ,have enough stored for however long  you feel happy with ,eat from your stock pile and then replace it
    5 years worth of supplies is a lot
    Vuja De - the feeling you'll be here later
  • joedenise said:
    I don't even worry about dates on tinned foods.  Tinned foods will last for however long you are likely to have them!  I just keep enough to ensure I've got enough food in for a couple of weeks if needed and replace and rotate it whenever I use things.

    Ditto with dried goods (pasta, lentils, rice).  The best-before-date is often an indicator of how long the packaging will last, not the item inside it.

    How you store tinned and dried goods is more important than dates, particularly once it’s opened since you don’t want bugs or moisture to ruin your stash.  Airtight containers are important.  I buy my rice and flour in 10kg sacks and store them in the largest sized Lock-n-Lock boxes (the 9L “bread” box will take 5kg of rice or 6kg flour).  Nothing gets inside. 

    HTH

    - Pip
    "Be the type of woman that when you get out of bed in the morning, the devil says 'Oh crap. She's up.' "

    It ain’t what you do, it’s the way that you do it - that’s what gets results!

    2025 Fashion on the Ration Challenge 66 coupons - 8 spent.

    4 - Thermal Socks from L!dl
    4 - 1 pair of "combinations" (Merino wool thermal top & leggings)
  • Farway
    Farway Posts: 14,168 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Homepage Hero Name Dropper
    I'm another not worrying about tinned food dates, but it does depend how they are stored to some extent
    A cool dry room / cupboard or a damp garage for instance
    Some acidic items, say tinned grapefruit, may not last as long due to the inherent acids eating into the inner coating
    I have no proof of this, just seems likely to me
    Eight out of ten owners who expressed a preference said their cats preferred other peoples gardens
  • maman
    maman Posts: 29,353 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    I'm not exactly sure why you're doing this. Is it to buy at current prices or in case of bad weather/Brexit problems? I'm asking because I only stock up when things are on offer and/or when they're in a shop I don't go to regularly.

    As these meats are the sort of things you eat regularly then just do a stock rotation. How you do that will depend on the quantity you plan to buy. It could be you store away a box at a time or just a few tins. I keep one of each tin in the kitchen cupboard and some spares in a store cupboard upstairs. When the kitchen one is used I 'shop' from the store making sure the store never runs out. 

    I wouldn't worry about dates but I don't keep things that long so it's not an issue. 
  • I have focused on buying canned/bottled Italian tomatoes and passata, olive oil, bottled water, wild salmon and other fish. In Kent we will see the worst of any disruptions and I'm not intending to brave the supermarkets or go out. Husband is working from home most of the time, anyway. 

    If we get to within three months of the use by date, then husband will take stuff to food bank. I'm more worried about power cuts and the freezer.

    Don't take any notice of trolls whining about hoarders. Do what you need to for your peace of mind and just donate some to a food bank if you can afford it. 
  • -taff
    -taff Posts: 15,065 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Maybe you should have alook at the prepping thread? No arguments for stocking up there :)
    I wouldn't be worried about the dates on tinned foods particularly, just keep them somewhere dry and cool. Unless the tin is blown/rusty, it's probably good to eat.
    Non me fac calcitrare tuum culi
  • PipneyJane
    PipneyJane Posts: 4,477 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper I've been Money Tipped!
    edited 29 November 2020 pm30 1:02PM
    maman said:
    I'm not exactly sure why you're doing this. Is it to buy at current prices or in case of bad weather/Brexit problems? I'm asking because I only stock up when things are on offer and/or when they're in a shop I don't go to regularly.

    As these meats are the sort of things you eat regularly then just do a stock rotation. How you do that will depend on the quantity you plan to buy. It could be you store away a box at a time or just a few tins. I keep one of each tin in the kitchen cupboard and some spares in a store cupboard upstairs. When the kitchen one is used I 'shop' from the store making sure the store never runs out. 

    I wouldn't worry about dates but I don't keep things that long so it's not an issue. 

    I have a few reasons. I don't want to be overly dramatic or political but I watch a lot of media/research about economic and historical cycles, there's also a lot of political tensions this year. I also don't want to get into left / right stuff but the gap between both sides seems to be growing, I'm considering economic, social and political uncertainty. There's the whole covid-19 situation. A lot of money has been printed, and also (more so in the States for example probably) things like crops that should have been harvested have been left to rot in instances such as from farmers that couldn't hire the workers due to covid - not necessarily from people actually getting it but restraints by local States, councils due to the covid situation, 100'000's pigs have been slaughtered early, millions of chickens. Add to that supply chain disruptions, maybe factories have Covid cases and close. Etc

    I've heard about something called 'low solar minimum' where the theory is that the next 50 years may get less sunlight i.e. lower food yields.

    I don't want to be political like I say but I've watched a lot of documentaries on Venezuela, and seen empty shelves, then with random items sitting alone that no one can afford because they cost 2 weeks wages.

    I'm not saying I think these things will happen, or if they do that they'll become dystopian. It's a spectrum. We might see little to no more change, or random shortages and inflation, to worst case full blown scenario or hyperinflation, starvation situation. Etc

    I saved, invested for years. Started gardening/growing food this year, and heard the term 'food security' and it just got to me. Not terrible anxiety. More like, a precaution I should be taking.
    I completely understand where you are coming from @DaveTheGeordie.  Funnily enough, I became interested in food security after I became fascinated with the WW2 Home Front during the 1990’s.  Similar to the 1930’s, the majority of our fresh food now comes from Europe.  The moment I got a house and garden, I started to grow and preserve my own food.  I’ve had mixed success.  I still wonder how I’d have coped in WW2.

    My own personal philosophy is similar to @mamans’.   I aim to do one big shop a month, utilising freezer and cupboard space as much as possible.  (I will buy more fresh veg, milk and yoghurts, but that’s about it.) We have a store cupboard and a pantry.  As items in the pantry get used, they get replenished from stores and then put on the shopping list so that a replacement is bought for a good price.  That goes for dried pulses, pasta, most grains, tinned tomatoes, tinned sweetcorn and tins of tuna.

    For example, the pantry drawer holds 8 tins of chopped tomatoes.   I usually buy my chopped tomatoes in shrink-wrapped double layers - 24 cans - a pack when they’re on offer for 25p a can.  When the drawer looks empty, I’ll top it up from the store cupboard.  I’ll start looking for chopped tomatoes after starting the lower layer in the store cupboard, but replacing them won’t become critical until that lower layer is almost empty.  That double layer of cans lasts us between 4 and 6 months, depending on how well I’ve done growing tomatoes. 

    Rice and flour are slightly different because I buy them in the 10kg sack and decant them into airtight and watertight Lock-n-Lock boxes that take 5kg each.  I’ll start looking for a replacement sack after I’ve started on the second Lock-n-Lock box.   Price-wise, I usually pay £3.50 for 10kg of Chapatti flour and £10 for £10kg of Basmati rice.  I only ever have one type of flour in stock.  Chapatti flour is a semi-wholemeal flour, similar in gluten strength to what the Americans call “all purpose flour”.  It makes a good loaf of bread and perfectly fine cakes.

    HTH

    - Pip
    "Be the type of woman that when you get out of bed in the morning, the devil says 'Oh crap. She's up.' "

    It ain’t what you do, it’s the way that you do it - that’s what gets results!

    2025 Fashion on the Ration Challenge 66 coupons - 8 spent.

    4 - Thermal Socks from L!dl
    4 - 1 pair of "combinations" (Merino wool thermal top & leggings)
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