Bulk Food Storage Guidelines

While all of our bulk food storage items are packed to last years, it is always best to rotate your food supply.  This means that you use the food storage that you have on a regular basis.  Incorporate your food storage into some of your meals.  Not only will this teach you how to prepare certain meals using your food storage supply, it also ensures that your supply will be kept fresh if you use it on a regular basis and replace it as needed.

A common question people have is where to put their bulk food storage supply.  Don't worry, there are plenty of options for you to consider, even if you live in a small house or apartment!  Before we go any further here are a few things to keep in mind.  In order to keep your food fresh and nutritious, you should store your bulk food supply in  a place that is as cold and dark as possible.  Light and heat can not only damage the taste of your food, but also the nutritional content.   It's best temperature for your food suppy is between 50-60 degrees Fahrenheit.  This may seem difficult to manage, but in truth, if you get creative there are all sorts of options available.

 Our food storage generally comes in two different types of packages, either 10-pound cans and 6-gallon buckets.  The cans are relatively easy to keep fresh because the metal can protects from light damage and is impervious to rodents and bugs.  The most important thing to remember about the cans is to keep them cool.  If you do, the food in these cans will stay fresh for years.   The 6-gallon buckets are made of plastic, which means that they will still protect your food from bugs, but a determined rodent can gnaw its way through a bucket if it can smell that their is food inside.  That's why all of our 6-gallon buckets are lined with a special air-tight vacuum sealed mylar bag.  These are called "superpails."  This keeps the odor from escaping so rodents won't bother with the buckets.  It's important to check and make sure that there are no tears in the mylar lining.  You should check for tears when you receive your order and every couple of months just to make sure that the food supply and mylar lining are in good condition.

Once you receive your order, the next step is to find a location that will keep your bulk food storage cool.  Since heat rises, if you have a basement or cellar, this is generally an ideal place to store your food supply.    Your basement will keep your food supply much cooler than an attic would.  Also, make the most of the unused space beneath beds or on closet floors.  If you feel that your closet space is a limited,  have two children share a closet and devote the other to food storage.   A great way to add some extra storage space is to move a sofa away from the wall by about a foot and then stack 10 pound cans behind it.  This opens up a lot of storage space and you would be surprised how many 10 pound cans can fit behind a standard sofa.  

Many people try to store their food storage supply outside.  While this is possible, certain precautions need to be taken to ensure that the cans don't rust.  Rusty cans of food are worthless, so every step to prevent rust should be taken.  All of the 10 pound cans are double enamel-coated, which means that won't rust unless they are nicked or dented, so handle these cans with care.  If you have an dry crawl space, this can be a good spot to store your food outside.  Also, your garage is another great location, but be careful during the summer months.  If you have a garage that gets hot in the summertime, then it is strongly recommended that you move your food storage to a cooler location during these months.  One special note concerning moving your food supply.  Going from hot to cold climates back and forth can shorten freshness of your food.  Try to avoid moving from one extreme to another.  You also want to make sure that your bulk food storage isn't too close to any gasoline or pesticides.  The fumes from these may seep into your food supply.

Because the 6-gallon buckets are larger than the cans, they can be a little more difficult to store discreetly.  However, if we get creative there are plenty of solutions to storing these.  One method that I recommend is to hang a decorative curtain, or place an oriental folding screen a couple feet infront of a wall.  This will provide a beautiful accent to the room, and discreetly store your bulk food storage as well.    Another thing to remember, is that the 6-gallon buckets are perfect for storing on the floor, so they are perfect for closet floors.  Because they are so large, be careful if you decide to store them on shelves.  You want to make sure the shelf is strong enough to hold all of the weight.  In addition, if a disaster like an earthquake were to happen, having these large buckets fall can be dangerous.

 Perhaps the most creative storage idea I have heard is to use your  food storage as furniture!  Just stack 2 superpails on top of each other and place a round piece of plywood on top, throw a blanket on top and, voila, you've got your self a table stand that not only looks great, but will keep your family fed in times of emergency.

 The bottom line is that where ever you choose to store your bulk food storage, make sure that it is protected from excessive heat, light, and rodents/bugs.  Think outside of the box and you'll come up with storage room to spare.   The best part of it all, is when you do a good job storing your food supply, you literally get to taste the fruit of your labors!