In this article, I will cover 11 food storage myths you should know ASAP.
There are several websites that provide information on survival issues, including food preservation. Most provide reliable facts, but there are a few food storage myths that many people believe without doubt.
It is obvious that the methods and guidelines for preserving food need to be clarified, so keep reading to learn how to conserve both food and money.
Here are 11 food myths that are wrong, and why.
In This Article
- 1. Believing Food Storage Labels
- 2. Alcohol Should Be Stored in the Cabinet
- 3. Beans Last Forever
- 4. Store Plenty of Wheat
- 5. Nuts Are Okay in the Pantry
- 6. Nut Oil Can Go on The Shelf
- 7. Stock Up On Mostly Canned Food
- 8. If They Are Hungry Enough, They'll Eat It
- 9. Add-Hot-Water Meals are All I Need
- 10. Potatoes Shouldn’t be Stored in the Fridge
- 11. Defrost Meat by Leaving it at Room Temperature
- Last Thought
1. Believing Food Storage Labels
The length of the shelf life offered by food storage firms is dictated by the food being processed in ideal conditions, such as a stable, cool temperature.
Over the years, I’ve bought a lot of food from trusted brands, with companies like Thrive Life. Most of these businesses do an excellent job of preparing food for storage and then packaging it in containers that further extend the shelf life.
However, once the food arrives at your home, you have said how it is stored. Yes, food will potentially have a shelf life of 20 years or more under proper conditions.
Still, it can deteriorate rapidly if it is kept in sunlight, fluctuating temperatures isn’t shielded from sun, oxygen, and pests, and isn’t rotated.
2. Alcohol Should Be Stored in the Cabinet
Many alcoholic beverages contain enough alcohol or sugar to keep their taste at room temperature, but those with lower alcohol content or that are wine-based can oxidize.
Simply placed, after the bottle is opened, the alcohol interacts with the oxygen in the air, dulling the taste over time. Cold temperatures slow the oxidation process.
Here’s a shortlist of what you can keep in your fridge after opening: wine (both red and white), fortified wines (such as vermouth, sherry, port, Marsala, and Madeira), beer, and wine-based aperitifs (like Campari and Lillet).
3. Beans Last Forever
Beans can become so dried out and hard over time that it is almost difficult to cook them to a soft consistency.
Although beans have a long shelf life, they have been known to become almost inedible over time. To soften the beans, old-timers have recorded using any cooking technique imaginable. Some have said that pressure cookers didn’t work on older beans.
Another choice is to grind the beans and use the ground beans in different recipes. They will also have some minerals and fiber in them.
Beans are one of my favorite foods. They maintain their nutrients during the canning process and are already canned, so there is no need to soak, simmer, pressure cook, or do something else.
You can still home can-dried beans, and if you have beans that have been sitting around for more than 10 years or so, canning them is a super quick procedure that means they won’t go bad.
4. Store Plenty of Wheat
The reliance on wheat, as well as the hundreds of pounds suggested by many food storage specialists, might not be suitable for all. It makes sense to stock up on wheat, which when pounded into flour is the main ingredient in any bread recipe.
Whether you or anyone in your family is allergic to wheat, it’s a cheap and flexible building block for your food storage pantry.
It’s not difficult to learn how to ground wheat into flour and then use the flour to produce pasta, crackers, tortillas, and so on, and it’s much easier to cook a cup or two of wheat in water, oatmeal-style, and end up with beautifully nutritious wheat berries.
It’s just because many novice preppers don’t consider how they can use that wheat before purchasing it, and based on their family’s dietary patterns and tastes, they may end up purchasing even more than they will actually eat.
I’m not saying you shouldn’t store wheat; in truth, I have dozens of pounds of it myself. The reliance on wheat, as well as the hundreds of pounds suggested by many food storage specialists, might not be suitable for all.
5. Nuts Are Okay in the Pantry
If you have nuts that you don’t want to use in the near future, store them in the refrigerator (or better yet, the freezer). Nuts contain oils that become rancid when exposed to heat; however, they can be stored in the refrigerator for a year or longer, and in the freezer for up to two years.
6. Nut Oil Can Go on The Shelf
Nut oils, like the stuff they’re made of (see above), will go rancid easily until opened—and if you’ve ever had a rancid nut, you know it doesn’t taste nice. To be dry, store toasted sesame, walnut, hazelnut, and pumpkin seed oils in the refrigerator.
Although these may thicken slightly when cold, they will rapidly become less viscous at room temperature. Simply take them out a few minutes before you want to serve.
7. Stock Up On Mostly Canned Food
Canned food has a long shelf life and is a popular food storage item. However, the food’s nutrients, taste, and color will deteriorate over time. It is preferable to keep a range of food types in preparation, including freeze-dried foods.
There is nothing inherently wrong with frozen food. In reality, that is how I first became interested in food storage. Canning fruit, on the other hand, has its limitations. A ravioli is a ravioli is a ravioli is a ravioli. It’s not entirely possible to transform it into a whole new dish.
Furthermore, packaged food may contain chemicals that you do not want to consume, and, in the case of my own children, tastes alter over time.
Be sure to rotate all canned food you have because aging affects all foods, especially, as I’ve found, some canned products in particular.
My history with old canned tuna hasn’t been great, and some high-acid foods, such as canned tomato products, are considered to have can corrosion problems. Examine the seams of canned foods for any signs of bulging, leaks, or corrosion.
Lightly rusted cans are safe to store because the rust can be rubbed off with a cloth or your fingertip. However, if a can is heavily rusted, the rust has most likely corroded the can, allowing bacteria to penetrate. Those cans can be discarded.
Learn how long canned food lasts and how to store it the right way here.
8. If They Are Hungry Enough, They'll Eat It
Don’t believe that someone would eat something they currently despise just because they are hungry. Prepare for food exhaustion by stockpiling foods and ingredients that can bring versatility to your meals and snacks.
Have you ever been in love with a meal that was easy to prepare, cheap, and well-liked by your family? You probably believed you’d discovered
The Dream Recipe. And then you did it again, and again, and again, and again. However, by the eighth or ninth time, you might have learned that you had acquired a moderate case of food exhaustion. It suddenly didn’t taste all that amazing, and your family was no longer raving about it.
The key to a well-balanced food storage pantry is providing flexible ingredients that can be mixed in thousands, if not hundreds, of different ways in basic recipes. Food fatigue will never be a problem.
9. Add-Hot-Water Meals are All I Need
These meals are perfect for some emergencies, but they can become bland over time and don’t really allow for much change by spices and other additions. Many businesses only produce and sell meals that require only the addition of hot water. I’m not a great fan of these in general.
They have a lot of ingredients that I don’t like, and the flavors and textures in some cases are absolutely horrible, but the biggest reason I don’t store a lot of these meals is that they get repetitive.
Few people don’t like a lot of variation in their diet, but most of us get tired of eating the same foods over and over.
10. Potatoes Shouldn’t be Stored in the Fridge
This has the potential to be harmful to one’s health. When potatoes are refrigerated, their sugars turn into acrylamide, a dangerous carcinogen (a compound that has the ability to cause cancer).
11. Defrost Meat by Leaving it at Room Temperature
More than half of people defrost meat and fish at room temperature, which is something you can never do. If you thaw it this way, bacteria will develop in the food if it gets too warm.
Instead, defrost the meat or fish overnight in the refrigerator, or just zap in the microwave if time is of the essence.
Never keep your food out for more than two hours. Make sure to use the defrost feature on your microwave and check the meat every minute to see if it has defrosted.
Last Thought
My final word is that there are a lot of food storage myths out there and these are some of the more common ones. I recommend you do your own research on each food item you stockpile.
Thanks for reading this simple, short food storage myths article. I hope you build an amazing pantry and keep prepping.
Here are some more resources you may want.
- Food Storage For Beginners (Simple Guide)
- Survival Food List: Essential Foods to Hoard
- 1800s Meat Preservation Methods for Off-Grid Prepping
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I think I should mention that if you have wheat that has been preserved without oxygen absorbers, you should not forget to sprout it. You can also grow beans — it’s a highly flexible food. Overall, it’s a good read on the food storage myth!
I have always loved your site appreciate your work. I know it’s a lot of work but there’s a lot of us out there thank you very much!