Stockpiling and Preserving Foods

Stockpiling is a concept not many people get quite right. Often, people will buy something up just because it's on sale, and then it goes bad or unused. When done right, however, stockpiling can save your family a lot of money AND help you get through a lean time.

Think about your grocery list. What's always on it? Some people use a lot of cooking soups like Cream of Chicken or Mushroom. These cans cost more than $1 each, which is still economical for a quick casserole. However, if you had taken advantage of the Campbell's soup deal that I posted last week, you could have gotten 4 cans for that $1. Canned goods last for a year or more, so they would most likely get used before the expiration. Once you have that stockpile, you can replenish when the sales come and make sure that you never run out.

Some items work better for stockpiling than others. You'll have to be sure to check expiration dates and rotate items through, using the ones that expire first and replacing your stockpile with the new items. Obviously, canned items are preserved well and will last several months or even years in your pantry.

Everything can be stockpiled, however. Fresh fruits and vegetables can be canned or frozen or cooked into recipes. Even dairy products can be frozen to be used later.

The USDA has recommendations on freezing meats and eggs. You can click HERE to read the pdf file that they created on the topic.

This page contains many links on preserving specific food items.

I will do an overview of information I've gleaned through my reading on the topic:

• Fruits do not generally freeze well to be eaten later unless they are in a syrup or some sort of juice. It's not recommended to freeze fruits to be eaten later unless you are cooking them in a recipe. The texture will be mushy when they thaw. Grapes are good to eat frozen, and brown bananas can be frozen for later use in smoothies or breads.
  
• Vegetables should be blanched by dunking in boiling water for a period of 1-4 minutes, depending on the vegetable you are using. You can then spread them on a cookie sheet and freeze in a single layer. Once they are frozen, package them in freezer bags, and the pieces will be separated like frozen vegetables that you buy in the store.
• Some dairy products that freeze well include butter (in the package is fine) and cheese (though due to the texture once it's thawed I usually only freeze shredded cheese for later use in recipes). Milk can be frozen in the plastic milk jug, though you should first pour out 1 cup to make room for expansion.
• Eggs can be frozen, but not in the shell. You can break the egg, then drop raw eggs into a bag (break yolk first) for later use.
  
• Meats should be wrapped well to avoid freezer burn.
• Precooked or even uncooked prepared meals freeze well, again as long as they are wrapped securely or in a freezable container. If you are pre-cooking the meal, don't cook it quite as long as you would normally. Since it will be reheated in the oven, it will finish cooking then.

Here is a great chart I found that lists freezing times of common items. The link to the chart is HERE if you would like it for printing to use later.

Table 3. Storage Times for Home-Frozen Foods

Products	Storage Period
Bacon	1 month
Butter or Margarine	9 months
Cheese, Dry-cured Cottage Cheese or Ricotta	2 weeks
Cheese, Natural process	3 months
Cream (all kinds)	2 months
Cream, Whipped	1 month
Egg Whites or Yolks	12 months
Frankfurters	2 months
Fish, "Fatty"	3 months
Fish, "Lean"	6 months
Fish, Shellfish	3 months
Fruits (except Citrus)	8-12 months
Fruits, Citrus Fruits & Juices	4-6 months
Ham	2 months
Ice Cream or Sherbet	1 month
Meat, Ground or Stew	3 months
Meat, Cooked or Leftover	2-3 months
Milk, Fresh Fluid	1-3 months
Poultry, Cooked with gravy	6 months
Poultry, Cooked without gravy	1 month
Poultry, Duck or Goose	6 months
Poultry, Uncooked (whole) Chicken or Turkey	1 year
Poultry, Uncooked Chicken parts	9 months
Poultry, Uncooked Turkey parts	6 months
Roasts, Fresh Beef or Lamb	12 months
Roasts, Fresh Pork or Veal	8 months
Steak or Chops, Fresh Beef	12 months
Steak or Chops, Fresh Lamb or Veal	9 months
Steak or Chops, Fresh Pork	4 months
Variety Meats, Fresh	4 months
Vegetables	8-12 months
Yogurt (regular), Plain	1 month
Yogurt (regular), Flavored	5 months

I will continue this series with non food items in a later post.