Shelf life

Pinecone · Mar 14, 2020

bigmanindc said:
I was always under the impression that they lasted forever under any circumstances but these new MRE have expiration dates!!!!!!

Because MREs are not canned.

In canning, the contents are cooked in the can and it is sealed. So the cooking kills the bacteria, and the sealed can prevents any more from getting in.

And the lack of oxygen prevents more spoilage bacteria from growing if they are in there.

Botulism actually needs a total lack of oxygen to grow. And that is the one worry of canned goods. But it is the reason you pressure cook in home canning, to get the temperature high enough to kill botulism.

PowPow · Mar 15, 2020

I've got a couple gravity can racks in the basement. While the contents should be good well beyond their stamped dates, it sucks when a can goes bad and starts leaking. We've had a couple incidents like this over the years. The worst was a batch of cans holding fruit that seemed to start leaking at the same time. Took me a couple hours to clean that up. Luckily, we use this in our daily routine, so the leak didn't go unnoticed for long. Thankfully we found it before any searching ants did!

If you do stock up, take some time to inspect your stash from time to time. Otherwise, you may be in for a messy surprise.

mac1_131 · Mar 15, 2020

I've had bad luck with canned food, so it's not my favorite. The acid in the food deteriorates some cans. I would give them 2-3 years at best, but that's just my personal experience. I have MREs several years past their inspect by date that still seem OK. I think freeze-dried wins in the long run with 20-25 year shelf life.

Silverlode · Mar 15, 2020

teratos said:
Canned food is good indefinitely. If the ends of the cans bulge or it smells rancid it’s a no go. Otherwise, it will be good in 100 years.

That pretty well sums it up. Store in a cool dry place.

Melnic · Mar 15, 2020

The "25 year" food I got from a gun show a few years back is no canned.
I can see how an MRE won't last more than a couple years as they can't guarantee how its stored and its not designed as Prepper food really. More just for "boil in bag" I think.

Threeband · Mar 15, 2020

I have 8 or 10 cans of bully beef (corned) that I salvaged from my parents house 15 years ago. No dates on the cans. I'm guessing it's between 25 and 35 years old. Some of the cans are still shrink wrapped in plastic. No rust, no bulges.

I've been saving it for TEOTWAWKI alongside my c. 35,000 rounds of assorted small arms ammo.

I may try a can soon.

Muleskinner · Mar 15, 2020

Trust me. If you open a bad can you will know it. If it smells ok it's ok to eat

OLM-Medic · Mar 17, 2020

teratos said:
Canned food is good indefinitely. If the ends of the cans bulge or it smells rancid it’s a no go. Otherwise, it will be good in 100 years.

This.

And if you are paranoid I THINK that boiling would deactivate any botulism toxins.

OLM-Medic · Mar 17, 2020

Threeband said:
I have 8 or 10 cans of bully beef (corned) that I salvaged from my parents house 15 years ago. No dates on the cans. I'm guessing it's between 25 and 35 years old. Some of the cans are still shrink wrapped in plastic. No rust, no bulges.

I've been saving it for TEOTWAWKI alongside my c. 35,000 rounds of assorted small arms ammo.

I may try a can soon.

If you try one please report back. I want to hear how it tastes.

smkranz · Mar 19, 2020

I put up 8 new jars of canned pickled eggs and veggies a couple weeks ago, to add to a small stash of what we already had. Eggs, pickles, carrots, corn, beans and strips of daikon radish. Until now, it was just a hobby.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

PowPow · Mar 19, 2020

smkranz said:
I put up 8 new jars of canned pickled eggs and veggies a couple weeks ago, to add to a small stash of what we already had. Eggs, pickles, carrots, corn, beans and strips of daikon radish. Until now, it was just a hobby.

For my grandparents (on both sides of my family) it was a tradition and necessity. I remember touring their stashes when visiting. My dad's side probably maintained the largest.

Shelf life

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