Temperature Versus Food Storage Shelf Life
Temperature is the most important factor having to do with general food storage shelf life. The following chart shows the correlation between temperature and storage life. Not to be confused with actual rated shelf life, the chart simply shows the relationship…
(numbers are rounded)
40 degrees F – 40 years
50 degrees F – 30 years
60 degrees F – 20 years
70 degrees F – 10 years
80 degrees F – 5 years
90 degrees F – 3 years
100 degrees F – 1 year
As you can clearly see, the storage temperature of food is extremely proportional to the shelf life. While you are choosing a location for your food storage preps, be very aware that heat will drastically reduce shelf life. Avoid storing in a garage or shed, where summer-time outdoor temperatures WILL affect shelf life.
While most of us understand the common-sense notion of heat vs. food storage, it is interesting to note that you may achieve DOUBLE the shelf life by storing at 70 degrees compared with 80 degrees, or FOUR TIMES the shelf life in a 60 degree basement compared to 80 degrees, etc!
Here is an example.
If a food is said to have a shelf life of 3 years, it is probably rated based on a typical ‘room temperature’ of 70 degrees. If the same food is then stored at 60 degrees, you ‘might’ get 6 years (within reason). If you store the same food at a higher temperature, say, 80 degrees, then you will definitely ‘halve’ the shelf life to 1.5 years.
The lesson is that you may squeeze a longer shelf life out of foods by storing them at cooler temperatures, while you will definitely lose shelf life by storing at higher temperatures.
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The best place to store food that I have found is in the basement in a north corner. I sealed it off from the rest of the basement using cinderblocks and insulated those two walls. (The walls on the foundation should not be insulated.) Additional insulation can be installed between the joists in the ceiling and covered with dry wall or other material. Any windows in that corner should be sealed off, filled in with concrete or otherwise insulated. Concrete offers additional security and contributes to the room being used as a storm shelter or safe room.
In the northern states the temperature of a storage room like this rarely goes over 70 degees at the height of a long, hot summer and, in the winter, rarely goes below 40 degrees. For me, the humidity in this room has never gone over 60 percent, which is acceptable. A few years ago I tried to use a dehumidifier to bring it down to 50 percent, but it brought the temperature up too much so I abandoned the idea.
@GrnMtnBoy; Good suggestions, but you need to have a basement to begin with. Survive well. Enjoy.
And if you do not have a basement,
One should have a root cellar,
And if one does not have a root cellar one should have a storm shelter,
And if one does not have a storm shelter –
then I guess you live below the water line –
Which in any case you are screwed!
Underground is the way to go for cool temperatures!
In our area of Texas, not many people have root cellars or basements. Our land is always settling do to the extreme dry conditons, so it would crack and leak. So I guess for now, my closet is the only way to go. If the electricity goes out..well, I guess we are screwed then.
No, your not that bad off…
You will just need to keep in mind the fact that shelf life is reduced by half for every approximate 10 degree increase in temperature. Where we used to live in California we did not have a basement. We added a nice size pantry which was kept pretty cool simply because we insulated it and it was on the concrete slab.
Awww….insulation! I should do that. And we are on concrete so that should help. Now to keep out ants looking water….lol
We originally had a slight ant problem (the occasional scout looking for a scrap or moisture), but that ended when I sealed all the edges and corners of the room with a bead of silicone.
How is vacuum packed freeze dried food that lists a 30 year shelf life affected by this?
I would think that if you kept it stored in a 100 degree environment, the shelf life may be reduced to 3 years.
Where did you get this information? I can’t even find canned food temp charts for the U.S. Army or USDA.
Nancy
“Not to be confused with actual rated shelf life, the chart simply shows the relationship…”
There is a definitive relationship between the effect of temperature versus shelf life. The USDA states, “Each 5.6°C (10°F) drop in temperature doubles the storage life”. When I originally wrote an article on the subject back in 2011 (Four Factors That Affect Food Storage), I had done due-diligence online searching for legitimate information. I had come across that statement, but I do not recall exactly where at this time. I’m sure that you could also do some searching and discover it somewhere…