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!

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