Foods That Don’t Store Well For ‘Long Term’

ByKen J. Last Update
foods-not-for-long-term-storage

There are lots of foods that store quite well for a very long time under the right conditions. However there are foods that do NOT store well for the long term.

Here’s a list of some of the foods that you should not store for ‘long term’…

Note: I’m generally referring to food storage of 1 year or more. Basically I’m calling out a few food types that you wouldn’t want to put in the deep pantry for many, many years (like you might for other types).

Also, it is a subjective thing – as to when you detect that a given food is going bad or rancid. Your results may vary.

Foods That You Shouldn’t Keep For Long Term Storage

The big culprit here is oil. Oil content. Oil will go rancid after awhile.

Oily grains and nuts: They go rancid quickly and lose their nutrition.

Nuts in general. Generally speaking, I have found the taste begins to bitter from 6 months to a year. Especially when getting beyond 1 year or thereabouts.

Any milled / ground grain. Grinding or milling exposes the insides of the grains to oxygen. It will result eventually going rancid. Even after just several months, depending. So store your grains whole (as in “wheat berries” for example).

Whole Wheat Flour will go rancid faster (or develop some bitter taste) than White Flour.

Brown rice has lots of oil compared to white rice. It’s all about the oil content…and storage conditions! I strictly store white rice for my very long term bucket-storage.

Dehydrated vegetables and fruits. It largely depends on how dry they are after processing (moisture content). If they’re so dry that they snap when bent, it will last longer than rubbery.

Dried meat jerky. Though lean jerky will last a lot longer than fatty jerky. Lots depends on amount of fat! Depends on storage conditions too. Plus, it usually gets eaten before “long term” anyway… :)

Jugs/Jars of Oil will eventually go rancid (1 year or several, depending). Best to store in your chest freezer! That will solve your problem.

 Anyone else have experiences with foods that Do NOT store well for the long term?

[ Read: How Much Wheat in a 5 Gallon Bucket – Pounds, Calories, #Loaves Bread ]