Where do you buy your SHTF long term food

[Taz Baby]

I thought this might be a good thread for people who are just starting to buy their long term foods. Where to get them. With all the companies out there that sell survival long term and short term emergency foods, how do you know which one's are good to buy from? If you could tell us where you buy yours, what you have bought, and the pro's and con's about it, it could help people who are looking for a reasonable good place to buy from. I have seen people say they buy can bacon, cheese, butter, freeze dried food, #10 can food but never say from where. I am one of those people who want to know where. I stock up what I can at the grocery store but I would like to get butter , cheese, and big bulk items to stock too. Thanks

[Willie51]

Great thread TAZ!

This is where we have purchased our "long term" only foods from:

Gander Mtn (Mountain House bags and #10 cans), Emergency Essentials (EE), Efoods Direct, Efoods Global, Sam's Wholesale, Costco, Walmart (Wyoming & Idaho while traveling), Cheaper Than Dirt (CTD).

MREs, bagged and boxed waters came from EE and CTD.

Long term freeze dry in #10 cans came from EE, Sam's, Costco, Walmart (out west while traveling), and Gander Mountain.

Long term Dehydrated meals in 2 to 4 serving bags came from Efoods Direct and Efoods Global. These are delicious by the way.

We are on the Emergency Essentials mailing list and try to take advantage of their sales each month. Shipping is usually free or very cheap. For example, one month they had canned butter on sale, so we picked up a case.

[ladyhk13]

Big items I get at Sam's, Coscto, the LDS distributions center and we did get a few buckets of meals from someplace like emergency essentions a couple of years ago but I don't think that was the name of the company. I think it started with a W?

[Echo2]

The bulk.....from EE.

But the real answer is anywhere you can find it as a deal.

We got a lot of stuff from EE....just because it is "fire and forget".....when it's delivered....you put it in to stores.....done.

Some of the other food you have to prep for LTS.

[Sniper-T]

Whereever I happen to find something at a good price!

I've found that asian grocery stores tend to have better prices (and selection) of rice than even Costco, as well as dried and freeze dried hebs. They are also the best place to buy good quality pots for cheap.

Costco wanted $60 for a 21" steel wok, they had an equal qual one there for $18.

[idahobob]

Price has a lot to do with where I purchase from.

Lets see.....COSTCO, Azure Standard, Freeze Dry Guy, Keystone Meats, Wheat Montana, Honeyville Grain.

We do not have any MRE's.......3 lies wrapped up in one package, and IMHO they are just plain nasty. We store MH 2 person meals for the day trips and longer.

We do not purchase the LTS packages. They have stuff that we do not use, i.e., TVP, flavored drinks, etc.

Oh yeah, we home can quite a bit, including meat, butter and cheese.

And of course, let us not forget large bundles of Charmin! :cool:

Bob
III

[Sniper-T]

Hey Bob... how about sharing your techniques for canning butter and cheese??

[Echo2]

Hey Bob... how about sharing your techniques for canning butter and cheese??

This....

[slowz1k]

LTS Dry goods I get from the local Mormon Cannery. (Beans, Rice, carrots, Onions, Potatos, Apples, Pasta, Milk)
Most everything else I get from warehouse stores (Costco, BJ's, Sams) and local Grocery Stores.

[idahobob]

OK....here goes:

Butter

Heat butter in pan until almost boiling.
Fill jars to head space line.
Put on warmed lids and rings.
Shake each jar vigorously, about every minute or so.
As the butter cools, it will start to solidify.
When it completely cools the jars will self seal.
Store in a cool dark place, preferably in a basement, root cellar or cold room.
Yield: one pound of butter per pint jar.

We tried some that we canned 3 years ago, and it was just fine.

Cheese

Cut your cheese up into chunks, about 1 inch square.
We have used Medium Cheddar, it seems to get sharper with age.
Put jars (we use 1 pint size) into pan of water. You want the water to come up to the head space line.
Slowly heat up the water, with the jars in it.
Start adding cheese into the jars, letting what you have in it melt, and then adding more on top of it.
When you have melted cheese up to the head space line, remove the jars from the pan of water.
Put on warmed lids and screw down the rings fairly tight.
Put your jars on a rack and as they cool, they will self seal.
Store the same way as the butter.
Yield: about one pound per pint jar.

It is a bit of a tedious process, but if you are like I am, you will get a lot of self satisfaction out of putting butter and cheese up by yourself and not paying exorbitant price for already canned butter and cheese.

Bob
III

[Sniper-T]

back to costco I go... going to try that on the weekend!

awesome bob, Thanks!!!!!

[Sniper-T]

byw, how do you keep the empty jars from floating up in a waterbath up to their necks? Something heavy across the tops?

[Echo2]

What temp do you bring it up to to kill bacteria?

How are you keeping it from separating at higher temps?

I was under the impression that you had to pressure can both due to the fat content and the possibility of it going rancid.

What is the typical lifespan of the ones that you have canned in this way?

[4suchatimeasthis]

I buy the bulk/restaurant sized stuff at Sams Club.

We have a great "Amish Pantry" locally, you can buy stuff there 100's of lbs at a time. They have a huge variety of herbs and such, all kinds of non-electric gadgets and gizmos, plus they sell meats and cheeses and baked goods and preserves prepared on site. Plus they are just the sweetest people to do business with! I was browsing one day, the pre-packaged dry lentil soups, and the Amish owner was asking a guy about why so many people like him ("English") come in and buy hundreds of pounds of wheat berries (whole, unground wheat kernals). Boy, did my ears perk up! It was apparently another prepper, and the guy told the owner that a lot of people think things could get real ugly, the govt, the economy, etc. The Amish guy seemed to be mildly amused. No doubt, it benefits his little store!

[idahobob]

byw, how do you keep the empty jars from floating up in a waterbath up to their necks? Something heavy across the tops?

Naw, just start out with your jars about 1/2 full with the cubed cheese. They won't float away.

Bob
III

[idahobob]

What temp do you bring it up to to kill bacteria?

How are you keeping it from separating at higher temps?

I was under the impression that you had to pressure can both due to the fat content and the possibility of it going rancid.

What is the typical lifespan of the ones that you have canned in this way?

I take it that your questions are about butter.

We do not take to any particular temp, just almost boiling. It will start to separate, but stir it before you put it into the jars. That's one of the reasons you shake it frequently, you want it to stay together as it cools.

We do not pressure can it. From the hot temp that the butter is at to when it cools, it evacuates the air from the jars and seals them.

Life span....hmmmm....the oldest dates that we have are currently 4 years old, I do not expect any of them to go bad unless for some reason a jar becomes un-sealed. We keep all of our canned stuff in a cold room where the temp does not get over 70 degrees, even when the outside temp is over 100, and that does not happen very often or for very long here.

Bob
III

[msomnipotent]

I usually buy the larger cans from Costco or EE, and the 2 servings MH pouches from Walmart.

[Evolver]

Gains- http://local.honeyvillegrain.com/

Powdered Non-Fat Milk- http://www.grandmascountryfoods.com/

#10 cans Dehydrated- http://www.nitro-pak.com/ and http://local.honeyvillegrain.com/

Grain Mills- http://www.pleasanthillgrain.com/family_grain_mills.aspx

Odds and Ends- http://beprepared.com/ ,

[Taz Baby]

I hate MRE's. Had to eat them during hurricane Ivan when it hit Florida. Ever since then I call them MRI's because you will need a MRI after you eat them. Thanks for letting us know about these places. Some have mentioned "Where ever they are cheaper"? How do you know what a good price is and If their stuff is any good to the taste? That is why I put this here. I have never bought anything from EE, Gander Mountain, Ect, just grocery stores. Can you buy sample packs to try? Or do you have to buy in bulk from some stores?

[Echo2]

Yup...they offer trial sizes....and it is the same stuff....we tried the trial size...and the superpails.

[Willie51]

TAZ,
Efoods Direct offer sample packs to try. We ordered and they were delicious. They have no preservatives and are healthy, so we then ordered in bulk supplies. http://www.efoodsdirect.com/

But I still buy from the other sources I posted also. We have the MREs for BOB, GHB, barter, and SHTF giveaways if needed.

How do we know when they are good prices? When we see a sale, we shop the other vendors online to compare price.

[Gunfixr]

For a long time, we've mostly only stored canned goods, keeping what we already eat, so rotation wasn't an issue.
A couple months ago, the shop owners where I work told me they were getting some freeze-dried stuff. They've been getting into prepping as of late, from a lot of the talking we've been doing about "how things are." Seems one of our distributors carries some of the Wise line, selling the 5 gallon sized buckets of entrees, meats, etc.
Three times now we've ordered a "two set" of buckets, one with 60 entree servings, and one with 60 meat serving along with 20 rice servings. Once, they only had the meat one in stock, so that was all we got. I already have rice, but it came in the bucket. I cannot say what price I'm getting them at, but I'm getting the two buckets for not a lot over what one sells for on the 'net.
If it weren't for that, it'd be out of my budget.

[Echo2]

The FD meals are great....but one thing you really have to look at with them is the caloric count....some of them are only 200 to 300 calories.....which is a bit low for a "meal".

The best thing about them is they usually taste good....and are very quick....add hot water to pouch....done....no muss no fuss...:)

The sodium may be high in them....but in the event.....as active as you will have to be....it won't matter.

[ak474u]

The FD meals are great....but one thing you really have to look at with them is the caloric count....some of them are only 200 to 300 calories.....which is a bit low for a "meal".

The best thing about them is they usually taste good....and are very quick....add hot water to pouch....done....no muss no fuss...:)



The sodium may be high in them....but in the event.....as active as you will have to be....it won't matter.

Especially in TX summers, my body craves salty anything after a day outside.

[Grumpy Old Man]

MREs I have for EQ and WF rations in case of evacuation. I've heard them called Meals Refusing to Exit or Meals Refused by Ethiopians. I live between 29 Palms and Pendleton.

My freeze dried #10 cans I get at The Honeyville store in Rancho Cucamonga about 30 miles away. I usually try to combine that expedition with other tasks that require me to be up that way. I shop at the Asian market by my dentist when I have an appointment. I don't usually go to Costco or Sam's as my grocery sells in bulk. Out here the price per ounce isn't as important as the miles per gallon as everything out here is pretty spread out so driving 30 miles to save $0.02/ ounce doesn't make sense.

Sometimes if enough of us want to, we will order in bulk from Walton Feeds and split it up after shipping. Emergency Essentials, SafeCastle, Ready Reserve and Honeyville all have online stores.

As others have mentioned the LDS canneries and Bishop's Pantries are also a good source for LTS.

Right now Emergency Essentials has a wheat Grinding kit on sale for $49.99 that has a mill, yeast, dough enhancer and a Wheat Cooking Made Easy DVD, which is a bargain for sure. And they have monthly specials, as does SafeCastle.