How to store...

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Thought it might be helpful to have a how to store various food items thread. I know that questions often pop up in the middle of other threads.

Happy to start

Flour - freeze for 72 hours to kill off any weevil eggs and then store in an airtight container. White flour will last for a long time if stored properly (well over a year) Wholemeal flour is likely to go rancid far more quickly than white flour and typically will only be good for 4-6 months max (you might be lucky and get longer out of it but its not guaranteed unless you're vacuum packing it in mylar bags with oxygen absorbers).

Pasta - bog standard dried pasta is bomb proof as long as it doesn't get wet. Wholemeal pasta is not bombproof and will go rancid as per flour above.

Sugar - again will last for ever if stored in a container so that it doesn't get wet.

Honey - will literally last for centuries. Honey has been found in Egyptian tombs which is still edible.

Please add your knowledge everyone!

As I mentioned on another thread, for long term prepper thinking, get buckets of whole wheat grain and a grinding mill or Kitchen Aid attachment. It's much cheaper and it lasts for years. Just be mindful of mouse control, the determined ones can get through plastic containers.

Anyone have a fool proof method for potatoes? However I store mine they end up sprouting sooner than I would have liked.

Honestly tinned potatoes are cheap and last for years. They're good in a curry or frittata but are also OK cold.

Store your potatoes in buckets of sand, in the coolest darkest spot you have
As long as they stay dry dark and cool they can last 6 to 7 months

Eggs. Crack egg into jug and pierce yolk. Add a bit of salt if using for savory or sugar for baking. Pour into tub/freezer bags and freeze. Good for a year in freezer I think.

I just get tinned potatoes as well.

You could always get a growbag and grow your own. Just slit the bottom when the flowers appear if I remember right. Happy to be corrected.

You can grow potatoes in a stack of old car tyres. Put one tyre on the ground, fill with soil, plant potatoes. As they grow, keep adding another tyre and more soil. You can get a good crop out of them. That's the basic idea anyway, read up or watch tutorials for a better explanation.

I do grow my own but then end up with hundreds which seem to want to keep growing! I still have some in the ground (raised beds) from the summer which are actually keeping well but I'd rather not leave them there - partly because its too cold to go and dig them up when needed. Sand sounds like a good idea. I'll try that one.

How long do people manage to keep apples for? I've read that they will also last for months if you wrap them in newspaper and put them somewhere cool.

Butternut squash will last for at least 3 months if stored somewhere cool. It also freezes well chopped into cubes.

Apple's still fine in the bottom of the fridge, picked in late September. Store bought do not last as long.

Conference pears store in the bottom of the fridge until early December. Picked early sept or late aug.

Potatoes have kept in the fridge from August. They were bought on holiday and did not quite get used up.

Apple's and pears need to be checked often. Take out the ones turning as they will send the rest rotten.. that is not fun to clear up.

Mum used to store onions in the garage after picking.

I grew my own onions this year and have actually plaited them and hung them in the garage. Looking pretty good, I must say.