PREP Y2K Stored Food

[Raffy]

So we have a fair amount of dehydrated #10 cans of vegetables and other food from when we prepped for Y2K, all about 20 or 21 years old, purchased from Yellowstone Trading. The cans we have seem OK, no bulges or compromise visible from the outside. This stuff has been stored in an air conditioned environment the entire time, with temperatures ranging from 65 F in the winter to 78 F in the summer, at reasonably low humidity (though that really shoudn’t matter).

I was thinking of opening some of these and consuming them, especially if there are more shortages at the grocery store than just milk, bread and toilet paper. What are your experiences with this sort of food?? Is it typically still good after 20+ years of storage? We are talking here the dehydrated sort of canned food, not the standard wet canned food from the grocery store. We have eaten some of the bucket nitrogen packed grains, particularly the red wheat, which makes delicious bread in a bread maker! But we haven’t used any of the #10 cans.

Interested to know your experiences, good or bad...

 

[Dozdoats]

Open some to inspect and use as needed if it's good. Got a stack in the root cellar here too … brought up a can of white rice the other day and will open it next time we need rice to make sure the rest is OK.

 

[mechanic 217]

Personally, I am not touching the freeze dried supplies until absolutely necessary and yes some date to pre 2000. The grocery stores in my area are doing ok so far with restocking .

 

[Jeep]

I have eaten Mountain House FD food that was in a #10 can that was over 30 years old with no problems.

 

[Squib]

As I said on another, similar thread, we’ve eaten and continue to eat wheat, beans, and rice from 1999 stores. All fine...

That said, I was just downstairs and we still have 4 #10 cans of dehydrated eggs. I’ll tell you this...we‘ll have to very hungry to eat them! We opened one of cans about 5-6 years ago...and I don’t know what they usually taste like but...wasn’t very good.

OTOH, Id be willing to barter them if need be!

 

[Dennis Olson]

JMHO - Anything over 70 deg is too warm.

 

[imminence]

So we have a fair amount of dehydrated #10 cans of vegetables and other food from when we prepped for Y2K, all about 20 or 21 years old, purchased from Yellowstone Trading. The cans we have seem OK, no bulges or compromise visible from the outside. This stuff has been stored in an air conditioned environment the entire time, with temperatures ranging from 65 F in the winter to 78 F in the summer, at reasonably low humidity (though that really shoudn’t matter).

I was thinking of opening some of these and consuming them, especially if there are more shortages at the grocery store than just milk, bread and toilet paper. What are your experiences with this sort of food?? Is it typically still good after 20+ years of storage? We are talking here the dehydrated sort of canned food, not the standard wet canned food from the grocery store. We have eaten some of the bucket nitrogen packed grains, particularly the red wheat, which makes delicious bread in a bread maker! But we haven’t used any of the #10 cans.

Interested to know your experiences, good or bad...

Good luck on that. Prepping is good, however if you are not rotating the stock, this is what you get. If you get severe food poisoning, and or botulism, the local hospitals are kinda busy right now. Id be real careful!

 

[coloradohermit]

I opened a Y2K #10 can of scrambled eggs and bacon. It wasn't bad at all - clearly not like fresh eggs but OK. I vacuum sealed most of it in quart mason jars after trying it so it'll still be available if TS really does HTF.

 

[summerthyme]

Good luck on that. Prepping is good, however if you are not rotating the stock, this is what you get. If you get severe food poisoning, and or botulism, the local hospitals are kinda busy right now. Id be real careful!

You aren't going to get botulism from dehydrated food, or, for that matter, ANY food that was properly canned and which remains sealed. Can't happen.

Food poisoning of another variety is marginally possible, but only if the can or jar seal has been compromised somehow. Age of products except as it is related to potential failure of integrity of the packaging, is irrelevant.

That said... plain dehydrated foods (NOT freeze dried) take some getting used to, in terms of flavor and texture.

And, yes, 70 degrees is the standard. For every 10 degrees below 70, shelf live is doubled. For every 10 degrees above 70, it's halved. So "30 year shelf life" cans, if stored where it gets close to 80, and more lije "15 year shelf life". But even then you are mostly just losing taste, color and vitamins. Protein (if applicable) and calories are mostly stable.

Summerthyme

 

[BluBloc]

I build my own buckets of staple items to ensure long life.

 

[subnet]

So we have a fair amount of dehydrated #10 cans of vegetables and other food from when we prepped for Y2K, all about 20 or 21 years old, purchased from Yellowstone Trading. The cans we have seem OK, no bulges or compromise visible from the outside. This stuff has been stored in an air conditioned environment the entire time, with temperatures ranging from 65 F in the winter to 78 F in the summer, at reasonably low humidity (though that really shoudn’t matter).

I was thinking of opening some of these and consuming them, especially if there are more shortages at the grocery store than just milk, bread and toilet paper. What are your experiences with this sort of food?? Is it typically still good after 20+ years of storage? We are talking here the dehydrated sort of canned food, not the standard wet canned food from the grocery store. We have eaten some of the bucket nitrogen packed grains, particularly the red wheat, which makes delicious bread in a bread maker! But we haven’t used any of the #10 cans.

Interested to know your experiences, good or bad...

My kid was on a vegetarian kick for a minute so I busted out some tvp from the y2k stash ....it was edible but slightly stale, compared to a new can I purchased.

 

[bluelady]

We have some wheat and other grains stored. Since I'm gluten free, and we're both low carb, my plan is to use them for greens. Hopefully that works! If not I'll barter them to someone for eggs.

 

[fish hook]

As I said on another, similar thread, we’ve eaten and continue to eat wheat, beans, and rice from 1999 stores. All fine...

That said, I was just downstairs and we still have 4 #10 cans of dehydrated eggs. I’ll tell you this...we‘ll have to very hungry to eat them! We opened one of cans about 5-6 years ago...and I don’t know what they usually taste like but...wasn’t very good.

OTOH, Id be willing to barter them if need be!

Hide them in cooking/baking.The protein is still good.

 

[Squib]

Hide them in cooking/baking.The protein is still good.

That’s a good idea...thank you!

 

[fish hook]

Welcome,the same goes for old milk.

 

[Sub-Zero]

Agree. Canned, freeze dried food should be good for decades.

As an aside, I made split pea soup with peas that were 12 years old. After the first hour, they hadn't softened much. So, a couple of pinches (1/2tsp) of baking soda an they softened right up. Another hour and it was good to go. Watch out, though. It foams up fiercely.

Also, you can't have any acid in the mix, such as tomatoes. Salt won't affect the peas; that's an old myth. Chlorinated water could, though.

I don't know if it would work with beans, but I'd sure try it.

I also have powdered milk (non fat) thats 20 years old. It's a little yellow, but it mixes up fine. I suppose it would be different if it was 2% or while milk (with fat).

 

[Skyraider]

All I can say is Thank God!!!! I have a large tribe.

Skyraider.

 

[Raffy]

Thanks for all the responses! I wonder how long the #10 canned stuff would last if we didn't touch it at all. Subent, one of our kids is also an almost vegetarian himself (he eats very little meat, just doesn't like it much), so maybe we should try the TVP on him as well! LOL!

 

[imminence]

You aren't going to get botulism from dehydrated food, or, for that matter, ANY food that was properly canned and which remains sealed. Can't happen.

Food poisoning of another variety is marginally possible, but only if the can or jar seal has been compromised somehow. Age of products except as it is related to potential failure of integrity of the packaging, is irrelevant.

That said... plain dehydrated foods (NOT freeze dried) take some getting used to, in terms of flavor and texture.

And, yes, 70 degrees is the standard. For every 10 degrees below 70, shelf live is doubled. For every 10 degrees above 70, it's halved. So "30 year shelf life" cans, if stored where it gets close to 80, and more lije "15 year shelf life". But even then you are mostly just losing taste, color and vitamins. Protein (if applicable) and calories are mostly stable.

Summerthyme

Bon Appitite, ill eat my freshly, rotated stock. TYVM

 

[summerthyme]

Bon Appitite, ill eat my freshly, rotated stock. TYVM

And good for you! But don't pass on misinformation and use scare tactics for those who may not be as fortunate... thousands of tons of perfectly edible, and still nutritious food is thrown away every day in this country, and much of it is due to those stupid "best by" dates which are wildly conservative and are there almost solely to keep the lawyers happy and to keep the money flowing to the manufacturer.

Summerthyme

 

[imminence]

N

And good for you! But don't pass on misinformation and use scare tactics for those who may not be as fortunate... thousands of tons of perfectly edible, and still nutritious food is thrown away every day in this country, and much of it is due to those stupid "best by" dates which are wildly conservative and are there almost solely to keep the lawyers happy and to keep the money flowing to the manufacturer.

Summerthyme

No fear here as I’ve stated I rotate and eat fresh. Just do the minimum google search on canned foods / botulism and enjoy the reading , while your on “lockdown”

 

[Hfcomms]

My kid was on a vegetarian kick for a minute so I busted out some tvp from the y2k stash ....it was edible but slightly stale, compared to a new can I purchased.

Old TVP kind of sucks at least by my standards. I have cases of the canned stuff in #10 cans and vacuum packed. After about four to five years the taste is definitely stale for sure. Wouldn't put it on salads or anything but works o.k. in casserole's as the other ingredients tend to make up for it so you don't notice it so much. No way would I make a veggie burger out of the old stuff.

 

[Hfcomms]

And good for you! But don't pass on misinformation and use scare tactics for those who may not be as fortunate... thousands of tons of perfectly edible, and still nutritious food is thrown away every day in this country, and much of it is due to those stupid "best by" dates which are wildly conservative and are there almost solely to keep the lawyers happy and to keep the money flowing to the manufacturer.

Summerthyme

Quoted for truth. A few years ago I still had some mac/cheese boxes from 1994 that mixed up just fine. The cheese powder was hard as a brick and I had to soften it up with a hammer! And I had some 12 year old tuna fish as well so threw a can of that into the pot along with a can of 10 year old peas and added some more cheese and milk and it was just fine. Pretty amazing actually how long some stuff even if not vacuum packed or dehydrated lasts.

 

[summerthyme]

N

No fear here as I’ve stated I rotate and eat fresh. Just do the minimum google search on canned foods / botulism and enjoy the reading , while your on “lockdown”

Really? I've done the research... I've been canning food for 45 years. Believe me, I understand the pH factor, the temps required to kill the spores, and the definition of "anerobic", which you apparently don't!

NO CAN OF FOOD which didn't have botulism inside before it's expiration date is going to magically develop it as it ages!

And as far as my free time goes, this morning started early, with two new heifer calves. The beginning of a *very* busy few weeks. I delivered elderberry syrup to three Amish houses, started another big batch to bottle tomorrow, and dropped off some staples to an older friend who is finding it difficult to shop. I don't really have time to reaearch a subject I'm very familiar with.

Summerthyme

 

[Doc1]

And good for you! But don't pass on misinformation and use scare tactics for those who may not be as fortunate... thousands of tons of perfectly edible, and still nutritious food is thrown away every day in this country, and much of it is due to those stupid "best by" dates which are wildly conservative and are there almost solely to keep the lawyers happy and to keep the money flowing to the manufacturer.

Summerthyme

I've told this story here previously, but it bears repeating. Many years ago one of my sisters visited our (now departed) mother's house and decided - for whatever reason - to clean out her pantry. Mom had a fairly large pantry and was also moderately well off. As is fairly typical with a lot of older people, she'd buy new canned goods and put them in front of everything else. The older cans were pushed further to the rear and basically forgotten.

My sister saw all of these 'old' cans with expired - or nearly so - best by dates and decided to throw it all away! Fortunately, I'd just happened to call Mom and she told me what was going on. I told Mom that it wasn't necessary to throw that food away, but by this time my sister had put the fear of God in her so she wasn't going to keep it. I asked her if I could have it instead and she said "no" fearing that she'd poison me! I stretched the truth a little, a little, saying that I might be able to give it to my dogs and she relented.

I arrived the next day (with my truck) to find her garage filled with a lot of half-full, large, plastic garbage bags filled with canned goods. There were literally hundreds and hundreds of cans! I took it all home and needless to say there wasn't a single bad can in the lot.

I've shared this before as well, but it also bears repeating: I developed my own field expedient test for canned goods years ago. I say I invented it because I'd never seen reference to it before, but whether I actually invented it or not isn't important. What's important is that it works! Canned goods are cooked in the can during processing and canning. As the cans cool, this results in a partial vacuum in the can. Cans that are bulged or leaking are obviously bad and their contents shouldn't be consumed. My test helps to check cans that you are unsure of. I clean the test can and put a couple of drops of water on the top, so that the water forms a little pool, trapped by the can's rim. I tilt the can slightly so the water pools on one side and then open it with a P-38 type military can opener. The technique is important. Pierce the can with the point of the can opener going through the little pool of water, not off to one side. If the water is sucked into the can as the can opener pierces it, the vacuum was intact and the can is good. If the water is sprayed away, the can is bad and its contents should be discarded.

I hope this helps some of you.

Best
Doc

 

[Delta_Force]

We opened a #10 can of chocolate pudding powder, egg powder and butter powder. They were all 22 years old. The pudding, we made some, and it is fine. Didn't try the egg, but is looks and smells fine. The butter seems rancid to me.....an almost dried mustard color, and doesn't smell right either. We won't be eating that!!

 

[Doc1]

Another note about old food: After Hurricane Katrina, the National Guard was giving away MREs. Everyone in the area had as many as they wanted and more. Being a prepper and not being one to slap a gift horse in the face, I collected as many as I could. I went through the distribution lines and collected extras from people who were sick of MREs after regular food delivery was re-established. At one point, I probably had thirty of forty of the darned things. We ate some, but kept most of them for future emergencies and even used some of them to feed the dogs. I still have ten or twelve of them now.

When we moved from Waveland to Poplarville, I left a couple of cases out in our barn and they've been out there in the Mississippi heat and freezing winters with no climate control (other than being out of direct sun) for over a decade. I recently opened one of them and the contents were still good. Things like the peanut butter had separated, but were still good after kneading them.

Also, immediately after Katrina, several charities had established free grocery distribution points. One of the items offered were #10 cans of Perma-Pak dehydrated foods. These had been donated because they were at or near their best by dates. The charity had a small mountain of these things and hardly anyone wanted them, so naturally I asked if I could have them and they said I could take as many as I wanted. Needless to say, the next day I returned with my truck and loaded up! I still have several of those cans and the contents are still good and perfectly edible.

Don't throw processed and sealed food away merely because it's old. It may well still be perfectly good.

Best
Doc

 

[tno5]

We opened a #10 can of chocolate pudding powder, egg powder and butter powder. They were all 22 years old. The pudding, we made some, and it is fine. Didn't try the egg, but is looks and smells fine. The butter seems rancid to me.....an almost dried mustard color, and doesn't smell right either. We won't be eating that!!

i had a whole case each of canned cheese and butter - opened some last year when we were out and both had turned terribly - yuck. i had them stored in correct conditions. i would never buy either again.

 

[Laurane]

I regularly use our Y2k #10 cans - carrots, oatmeal, onions, rice, macaroni, potato flakes/pearls, sugar, chocolate pudding, hot chocolate, soup mix with lentils/peas, and milk in foil packs - the one can we opened was a bit off but drinkable.

Haven't tried the flour at all as I keep lots around.

 

[mikeabn]

Another note about old food: After Hurricane Katrina, the National Guard was giving away MREs. Everyone in the area had as many as they wanted and more. Being a prepper and not being one to slap a gift horse in the face, I collected as many as I could. I went through the distribution lines and collected extras from people who were sick of MREs after regular food delivery was re-established. At one point, I probably had thirty of forty of the darned things. We ate some, but kept most of them for future emergencies and even used some of them to feed the dogs. I still have ten or twelve of them now.

When we moved from Waveland to Poplarville, I left a couple of cases out in our barn and they've been out there in the Mississippi heat and freezing winters with no climate control (other than being out of direct sun) for over a decade. I recently opened one of them and the contents were still good. Things like the peanut butter had separated, but were still good after kneading them.

Also, immediately after Katrina, several charities had established free grocery distribution points. One of the items offered were #10 cans of Perma-Pak dehydrated foods. These had been donated because they were at or near their best by dates. The charity had a small mountain of these things and hardly anyone wanted them, so naturally I asked if I could have them and they said I could take as many as I wanted. Needless to say, the next day I returned with my truck and loaded up! I still have several of those cans and the contents are still good and perfectly edible.

Don't throw processed and sealed food away merely because it's old. It may well still be perfectly good.

Best
Doc

 

[mikeabn]

It's been my experience that MRE crackers don't last well at all, unlike the canned crackers in C rats. The new stuff develops a nasty, musty, moldy taste after just a couple of years.

 

[Sub-Zero]

Just tested some 21 year old instant yeast (been in the freezer that long)

and


it's still good.

Fleischman's in the extra-large vacuum packed, white bag.

 

[WalknTrot]

N

No fear here as I’ve stated I rotate and eat fresh. Just do the minimum google search on canned foods / botulism and enjoy the reading , while your on “lockdown”

"Canned" is not the same as dehydrated or freeze dried in cans. Maybe you need to do some research yourself.

Also...in general considering the jist of the conversation...if folks haven't tried dehydrated or freeze dried eggs, (milk, meat, veg, etc.) you may not know whether they have gone off or not. They aren't the same as fresh, for sure..even when newly packed. I can't speak for other's tastes, because I am not a picky eater, but that is why it's advised for people to TRY long term storage foods before you store them. NO sense in spending the money they cost, and the storage space they take, if you won't eat it when the chips are down.

 

[jward]

I've told this story here previously, but it bears repeating. Many years ago one of my sisters visited our (now departed) mother's house and decided - for whatever reason - to clean out her pantry. Mom had a fairly large pantry and was also moderately well off. As is fairly typical with a lot of older people, she'd buy new canned goods and put them in front of everything else. The older cans were pushed further to the rear and basically forgotten.

My sister saw all of these 'old' cans with expired - or nearly so - best by dates and decided to throw it all away! Fortunately, I'd just happened to call Mom and she told me what was going on. I told Mom that it wasn't necessary to throw that food away, but by this time my sister had put the fear of God in her so she wasn't going to keep it. I asked her if I could have it instead and she said "no" fearing that she'd poison me! I stretched the truth a little, a little, saying that I might be able to give it to my dogs and she relented.

I arrived the next day (with my truck) to find her garage filled with a lot of half-full, large, plastic garbage bags filled with canned goods. There were literally hundreds and hundreds of cans! I took it all home and needless to say there wasn't a single bad can in the lot.

I've shared this before as well, but it also bears repeating: I developed my own field expedient test for canned goods years ago. I say I invented it because I'd never seen reference to it before, but whether I actually invented it or not isn't important. What's important is that it works! Canned goods are cooked in the can during processing and canning. As the cans cool, this results in a partial vacuum in the can. Cans that are bulged or leaking are obviously bad and their contents shouldn't be consumed. My test helps to check cans that you are unsure of. I clean the test can and put a couple of drops of water on the top, so that the water forms a little pool, trapped by the can's rim. I tilt the can slightly so the water pools on one side and then open it with a P-38 type military can opener. The technique is important. Pierce the can with the point of the can opener going through the little pool of water, not off to one side. If the water is sucked into the can as the can opener pierces it, the vacuum was intact and the can is good. If the water is sprayed away, the can is bad and its contents should be discarded.

I hope this helps some of you.

Best
Doc

brilliant. Thanks for sharing, I'd never have thought of it.

 

[spinner]

I have been a vegetarian for almost 40 years and TVP isn't worth eating even if it is fresh! There are much better sources of protein. Most people consume way too much protein anyway.

 

[Silverfox]

It's been my experience that MRE crackers don't last well at all, unlike the canned crackers in C rats. The new stuff develops a nasty, musty, moldy taste after just a couple of years.

Picked up an MRE tin of peanut butter and jelly/crackers, from the early 40's, found it in a collectibles store. Actually it was just fine and the jelly was better than most today.

Surprised in Oregon.

 

[mikeabn]

Those were C-rations and yes the canned crackers did stay fresh.

 

[Donald Shimoda]

Sounds like it may be time to rotate out the old stuff onto the DGIs and get new ones from Shane. Be sure to disclose age and storage enviroment; Caveat Emptor.

 

[Coco82919]

My understanding is that as the food ages it loses some of its nutritional value. Vitamins and such are decayed but the calories are still the same. Fats may go rancid which is not healthy to consume.

I bought some number 10 cans of raw eggs. It said they were good for 7 years in climate controlled environment. It says after opening the can they are good for 2 days. I plan on freezing the eggs after opening them. Each can has 96 eggs. This is all from memory so my statement may be off slightly. Also the cans of milk that I bought said same thing that they were good for 7 years. Well it has been more then 7 years since I bought them. I still plan to use if needed. I have some old powdered milk that I use when ever I have oat meal. It is at least 10 years old, yellowish but still tastes good and has not made me sick.

I plan to use most of the freeze dried food that I bought for when the power goes out. I expect it will. I have been slowly clearing out my freezer and then can put yeast and opened freeze dried food in it as needed. I have some oxygen absorbers which I add to any freeze dried food once opened and put in Tupperware. I have my own freeze drier as so have a lot of canning jars full of freeze dried food. I use this food all the time. The number 10 cans I am saving for true emergency.

 

[oleglass]

Opened some of my Bega canned cheese earlier this week to see how it had held up in controlled storage.
Color had changed to a light brownish/Carmel look. Had gotten a lot firmer than original. Tried some on some saltine crackers, taste was fair, not like original. Didn’t get sick, so I would consume it if the situation required.
This was some cheese at least 15 years old.