Base cooking ingredients with a long shelf life: The following categories of food make up the foundation of most recipes, and are all things that store well. Hard Grains: Stored properly hard grains have a shelf life of around 10 – 12 years. 1.Buckwheat 2.Dry Corn 3.Kamut 4.Hard Red Wheat 5.Soft White Wheat 6.Millet 7.Durum wheat 8.Spelt Soft grains: These soft grains will last around 8 years at 70 degrees, sealed without oxygen. 1.Barley, 2.Oat Groats, 3.Quinoa 4.Rye Beans: Sealed and kept away from oxygen the following beans can last for around 8 – 10 years. 1.Pinto Beans 2.Kidney Beans 3.Lentils 4.Lima Beans 5.Adzuki Beans 6.Garbanzo Beans 7.Mung Beans 8.Black Turtle Beans 9.Blackeye Beans Flours and Mixes and Pastas: 5 – 8 years 1.All Purpose Flour 2.White Flour 3.Whole Wheat Flour 4.Cornmeal 5.Pasta 6.White Rice ( up to 10 years) These are troubling times indeed with economic, climatic, and social upheavals and wild gyrations of every type in every corner of our planet. Although I would not specifically ever rate myself as a "survivalist" I do believe in being prepared for any eventuality: One of the most important factors towards this type of preparation is to ensure that there is an adequate food supply to last out any emergency, whether short- or long-lived. Many foods simply cannot last without refrigeration, and one of the key aspects to being prepared is to acknowledge that electricity supply may be sporadic if it exists at all. Therefore, when all of the options of the various comestibles are carefully considered, it turns out that the only type of food product which can be safely and conveniently stored for prolonged periods of time is grain. Grains are extremely nutritious and if they are paired with sources of animal protein, can go a long way towards forming a properly balanced diet. At times of no refrigeration it is imperative that animal protein be secured fresh on an ongoing basis, and it is not my intention to delve into a fishing and hunting guide Hub. There are more than enough sources of that information readily available. If you're intending to store food for a prolonged period of time, buying grains locally is a great idea. There is one thing you definitely want to watch out for and that's that you most certainly don't want to store treated seed prepared for planting. It is always colored to warn you, usually with a pink or red dye. Depending on the kind of seed, that coloration indicates that it is covered with pesticides or fungicides. Don't ever try to eat this as it is extremely poisonous. If you live in wheat country and get wind of a neighbouring farmer who is going to plant some winter wheat, you might want to ask them if perhaps they would sell a bit to you in the spring. Keep in mind that wheat straight out of the combine still has a lot of chaff, foreign seeds, and even tiny rocks in it. In the spring before the farmer plants their wheat they get it cleaned and treated at a seed cleaning plant which takes all that foreign matter out so you don't have to. Ask your farmer friend if they will clean a couple of extra hundred pounds for you. Then get it before it's "treated" with those red chemicals and you'll have a supply of perfectly good, edible grain. You have heard "store foods in a cool, dry place" your whole life, and it's absolutely true. The best storage temperatures are below 10 degrees C (50 degrees F) and the optimum storage temperature is close to 4 degrees C (40 degrees F). It's also extremely important to make sure that the temperature is as constant as possible. Big swings in temperature can ruin stored foods in a very short time. According to The United States Department of Agriculture, (USDA): "Each 5.6 degrees Centigrade (10 degrees Fahrenheit) drop in temperature doubles the storage life of the seeds." Of course the bottom level of this scale is at the freezing point, at which level it is irrelevant to keep reducing the temperature. Another important aspect to maximize food storage times is to limit or outright eliminate the access to oxygen of the food product you're storing. I'll get into greater detail on how to accomplish that later in these Hubs. Part 2 Let's look at the different types of grains to consider storing, and how each one stacks up against the others: Hard Grains Kamut - wheat, an ancient and organic grain type produced and distributed by Kamut International Ltd. This grain is two times larger than modern day wheat and is known for its rich nutty flavor. Dry Corn Buckwheat- The fruit is an achene, similar to sunflower seed, with a single seed inside a hard outer hull. The starchy endosperm is white and makes up most or all of buckwheat flour. The seed coat is green or tan, which darkens buckwheat flour. The hull is dark brown or black, and some may be included in buckwheat flour as dark specks. The dark flour is known as 'blé noir' ('black wheat') in French, along with the name sarrasin ('saracen'). Buckwheat noodle has been eaten by people from Tibet and northern China for a long time as wheat can not be grown in the mountain regions. A special press made of wood log was built to press the dough into hot boiling water when making buckwheat noodle. Old presses found in Tibet and Shansi share the same basic design features. The Japanese and Koreans might have learnt the making of buckwheat noodles from them. Common Buckwheat in flower Soba noodles, made from buckwheat flour Flax - Flax seeds come in two basic varieties: (1) brown; and (2) yellow or golden. Most types have similar nutritional characteristics and equal amounts of short-chain omega-3 fatty acids. The exception is a type of yellow flax called solin (trade name Linola), which has a completely different oil profile and is very low in omega-3 FAs. Although brown flax can be consumed as readily as yellow, and has been for thousands of years, it is better known as an ingredient in paints, fiber and cattle feed. Flax seeds produce a vegetable oil known as flaxseed or linseed oil, which is one of the oldest commercial oils, and solvent-processed flax seed oil has been used for centuries as a drying oil in painting and varnishing. Brown Flax Seeds Golden Flax seed Durum Wheat Millet Hard White Wheat Hard Red Wheat Soft Wheat Triticale Spelt Hard grains are the longest lasting of all the food products, as their outer shell acts as a natural hermetically sealed container. Under optimal oxygen free conditions at a stable, constant, cool room temperature expect up to twenty-five years of storage. Soft Grains Groats Hulled or Pearled Oat Barley Quinoa Rolled Oats These have relatively soft outer shells which fail to protect the delicate and fragile seed interior to the same degree as the seeds which have harder shells. These soft grains will not store for as long a period as the hard grains. Under optimal oxygen free conditions at a stable, constant, cool room temperature expect up to fifteen years of storage. Beans Garbanzo Beans Blackeye Beans Adzuki Beans Black Turtle Beans Kidney Beans Great Northern Lima Beans Lentils Pink Beans Mung Beans Small Red Beans Pinto Beans Soy Beans Beans lose their internal oils as they age and then will resist absorbing water and swelling to make them easily edible. Under optimal oxygen free conditions at a stable, constant, cool room temperature expect up to twenty years of storage. Pasta Spaghetti Noodles Macaroni Rigatoni Penne Elbows Shells Fusilli Fettucine Vermicelli Orzo Linguine Pasta tends to last longer than flour in storage, of course it must be kept meticulously dry. Under optimal oxygen free conditions at a stable, constant, cool room temperature expect up to eighteen years of storage. Dehydrated Vegetables Celery Cabbage Broccoli Carrots Peppers Onions Green Beans Potatoes Mushrooms Corn Tomatoes Peas Parsnips Fully dehydrated vegetables are excellent candidates for long term storage. Under optimal oxygen free conditions at a stable, constant, cool room temperature expect up to eighteen years of storage. Dehydrated Fruits Strawberries Cherries Bananas Apples Pineapples Pears Peaches Apricots Fruits can last a surprisingly long time in dehydrated storage conditions. Under optimal oxygen free conditions at a stable, constant, cool room temperature expect up to twenty years of storage. 7 Ways To Prepare Wheat Without a Grinder SHARE ? ? ? ? Survival Based , / ?1298 ?0 A lot of times people just getting started with their food storage have a big hang-up about wheat and how to use it. We are told to store hundreds of pounds of this food that we actually NEVER cook with in our daily cooking. For a long time we decided we wouldn’t store any wheat until we had a wheat grinder so that we could “use it”. We didn’t realize how many wonderful things you can do with simple wheat berries. If you already have a wheat grinder, we highly recommend you check out our recent newsletter on 17 Ways to Use a Wheat Grinder for lots of ideas on how to use wheat and other grains and legumes (you can subscribe to receive future newsletters at that link as well). If you don’t have a wheat grinder, read on for 7 great ways you can use wheat WITHOUT a wheat grinder! 1. Thermos Wheat Bring 1 c. of wheat kernels, 2 c. water, and 1 t. salt to a boil in a medium saucepan. Pour into a heated stainless steel or glass-lined thermos bottle. Secure cap. Place bottle on side. In the morning, pour off any additional water, add butter and honey, and serve hot. 2. Cooked Wheat Berries Add some of your plain dry wheat kernels to a pot of water. Bring it to a boil and cook for a few minutes. Then let simmer for about 45 minutes. Drain the wheat berries and stick them in a tupperware container in the fridge. These are delicious to add to yogurt or to use to replace some meat in recipes. You can also use it in place of brown rice in a lot of recipes. 3. Popped Wheat Take 1 cup of your cooked wheat berries (see above) and add to a frying pan of pot with two tablespoons of oil in it. Cover with a lid and cook over a hot stove shaking the pan while it cooks. After about 4-5 minutes the kernels will be nice and toasted. Put the popped wheat on a paper towel to get the extra oil off, and sprinkle with your choice of seasonings. Try it with salt, seasoned salt, garlic, barbecue salt, onion salt, cinnamon and sugar or any combination you desire. These are delicious on salads as a topping, mixed with trail mix, or as toppings for a desserts or just as a healthy snack. 4. Wheat Grass Most people have heard how healthy wheat grass is for you, but most people DON’T know that you can make your own wheat grass at home for free with just a little bit of your food storage wheat. Check out this step by step tutorial on How to Grow Wheat Grass if you want to try it yourself! It is so easy and fun to do with the kids. Then you can snip bits off and add them to your fruit smoothies, or if you have a juicer you can use them in other healthy juice drinks. 5. Cracked Wheat You can crack wheat in a blender or a coffee grinder. To do it in a blender you simply put in about 1/4-1/3 cups of wheat and pulse it until it looks like little cracked kernels. These kernels will cook much faster than regular wheat, and cook up in the same way that you cook rice on the stove or in the microwave. You can use cracked wheat to make hot cereal, add it into bread, or cook it up and use as a meat filler. 6. Wheat Sprouts Making wheat sprouts is a different method than making wheat grass. You can sprout wheat just like any other vegetable seeds, legumes, or other grains. Make sure to review our tutorial on how to grow sprouts. Most people like wheat sprouts to be very small, just barely sprouted. These are delicious to throw on salads or to add into your whole wheat bread for a little extra texture and flavor. 7. Blender Wheat Flour If you are cooking a recipe for something like pancakes or waffles, you can EASILY use your whole wheat kernels, mix the whole recipe in your blender, and pour it straight from there onto a griddle or waffle-maker. Just make sure to add the liquid for your recipe into the blender, then add in your wheat kernels and blend for about 5 minutes. Then add the rest of the ingredients. Check out the recipe below: You can make hardtack almost identical to what sailors, troops, and pioneers have been eating (minus the weevils!) by following this simple recipe: 4-5 cups of flour 2 cups of water 3 tsp. of salt Mix the flour, water and salt together, and make sure the mixture is fairly dry. Then roll it out to about 1/2 inch thickness, and shape it into a rectangle. Cut it into 3×3 inch squares, and poke holes in both sides. Place on an un-greased cookie or baking sheet, and cook for 30 minutes per side at 375° As far as cooking goes, your done! the next step is just to walk away. You’ll want to let it dry and harden for a few days. When it has roughly the consistency of a brick, it’s fully cured. Then simply store it in an airtight container or bucket. To prepare for eating, soak it in water or milk for about 15 minutes, and then fry in a buttered skillet. You can eat it with cheese, soup or just plain with a dash of salt. This basic hardtack should keep for years as long as it is kept in an airtight container. If it ever gets soft I would recommend tossing it and making a new batch. Do you have any suggestions for hardtack or recipes for other lost or forgotten survival foods