Sunday, May 11, 2008

What Are You Going To Do With 20 Pounds Of Flour?

Or twenty pounds of rice?

Let's face it, the latest "craze" in the form of the current popular mania is hording of rice and flour and other stuff, because "there's a shortage and if we don't collect and get our stuff now, we'll be all out!".

I remember the Cabbage Patch Kids riots, my friends. And, I knew a friend that paid her rent for about two months just on Furbies alone. Human frenzies are nothing new. Still, that leads to the whole issue of "what the frell am I going to do with twenty pounds of rice and flour? Oh, and twenty pounds of beans, too."

Well, eat it, of course.

Besides, you should be doing it anyways-the usual recommended storage time for bulk foods is about six to eight months, tho with some techniques you might be able to extend it out to sixteen to eighteen months. A rotation plan should be a part of any bulk storage plan-older stuff on the top, newer stuff on the bottom.

And, until the disaster hits, you really need to pick up some very useful items.
  • Food storage containers smaller than 20 pound sizes. It's easier to get to flour and rice when you don't have to heft and carry and toss twenty pound bags. And, the containers are air and vermin tight, so you can store them and use them for a good, long time.
  • Rice cookers and bread makers. A really good rice cooker also includes a steaming tray for things like vegetables and potatoes, so it's a multi-purpose item. And, let us not forget that in some ways, it's better to have homemade bread. And, I defy any family of four to go through a two pound loaf of bread in less than two days, three at the most.
  • Cookbooks. Let's face it, you'll have a lot of stuff...and learning how to do new things with it is never a bad idea. And, it never hurts to have a copy of Apocalypse Chow on your bookshelf-it has a lot of very good recipes that might come in handy one day.
And, at worse...you have plenty of stuff to make use of, one day.

1 comment:

Ravan Asteris said...

1) The dollar stores tend to have cheap plastic screwtop containers in the gallon sizes. These are great for rice, pasta, beans, flour, etc.

2) In general, anything you get in a large bag (10 pound plus) needs to be put in a hard container that seals. Flour is best in a lined 5 gallon bucket with a removable lid. Then you can scoop it.

3) California is earthquake country. Make sure you have a camp stove, fuel, and a lot of bottled water in an accessible place. Remember Katrina.

4) If you buy food in bulk, which we do, label the containers with what it is and when you bought it. If you buy caes of canned goods (tuna, etc) date them too.

5) When you shop in bulk, especially for baking, you may want to get a stock of things like dried eggs, sugars and yeast. Honey is good too, if you like honey wheat bread.

6) Homemade pasta is yummy, but time consuming. Still, garlic egg noodles are the bomb.

7) If you like making batches of split pea soup with ham, try stocking canned 1 pound hams. They are perfect for a couple gallons of split pea.