Stockpile Expiration Dates

[My2Miracles]

I did that with the 12-pks of soda, but it's kind of hard to mark smaller things with sharpie....but I think I'll have to start. Rotating is a great idea, too. Do you know how long is "safe" after a *use by* date? I have a plastic bottle of Dole fruit that I just found tonight that was good til 11/4/06. :Shocked: I don't know whether to keep it or chuck it...

[Bargainacious]

If it is hard to see the sharpie on a package, you can always use a sticky white label instead. If you are feeling frugal, RX info sheets sometimes have extra stickers as do video label sheets.

I am reorganizing my stockpile right now. The "pantry" is actually in the dining room, since the room we want to use as a pantry is in no fit state to store food. I write dates in bold pen on my stockpile and arrange it so the oldest items are most easily reached. This is esp. important, since DH never checks dates, he just grabs the nearest box .

I only keep open boxes, jars etc. in the kitchen. The rest is on the stockpile shelves. I find it is easier to keep track of that way.

[powerplay]

The expiration date issue is a problem for me also. I go through the cupboards and find things that are way out of date and then just toss them.

[JANE4girls]

I use the FIFO method...First In First Out....

keep rotating when you get stuff so the old stuff doesn't always end up in the back.

I want to look into getting the soup can storage things that the stores have. You drop the soup in and it rolls down to the bottom to dispence. So the newest stuff is always on top of the rack and you can't get to it...unless you sit there and empty the entire rack, LOL.

[BzyBee DH]

I think Bzybee has a different method...

She asks me to try tasting something....then waits a couple days to sit if I get sick...

In the meantime, she asks where all the life insurance paperwork is, and how to increase it, and tells me I don't have enough....




Just joking!

[computerguy923]

You could create a spreadsheet and hang it up and update as you pull stuff, add stuff etc... Might be an option, but rotating stuff might be the easiest short of marking your date you bought stuff with a sticker or something.

[amti]

I used to use a dry erase board for my frozen foods placed on my stand alone freezer. I would have different items on it: chicken breasts 11, pork chops 5, brocolli 5lbs, ice cream 3, etc...

I would separate the big packages of food into family meal sizes and write with sharpie the item and date on the wrapper. My meats would go into the bottom two shelves (in case the freezer died the liquids from the meat wouldn't mess up other foods that were still edible). Breads would be the top shelf, and all the other shelves were misc.

This was a really good system until dh decided he didn't like the look of the dry erase board and got rid of it. Now I just sort of "wing" it on the freezer. I keep all my chicken breasts in one bag, etc...

As far as the pantry, I try to rotate. Most dry foods don't go bad right away. Usually their taste gets bland, but slowly. I would be more cautious about the fruit though. When I was a little girl, most foods didn't have expiration dates, especailly items in cans. Mom told me if the can top was budging, then it was bad, but otherwise, it was good to go. That makes me wonder if the expiration dates on canned foods is sort of a bogus attempt to make us buy more and throw stuff out if it isn't consumed by a certain date.

My parents live in a military base in Japan. The commissary there sells expired foods all the time. They have a nutritionist evaluate the food to see if it is safe to consume, and for how long. I was told that the frozen turkey bacon was good a year after the expiration date!

[kurlisola]

Originally Posted by MrsPinecone I rotate the old stuff to the front of the shelf when I get new stuff. Just like a grocery store. If you don't pay attention to the tiny little dates on the packages, you can always write it in big, black Sharpie on the top/front where you will see it.

I do both of these!

[kurlisola]

I'd suggest that you be a bit careful with what you stockpile. What I mean by this is that I know that the most baked beans a year we will use is 104 cans. And the shelf life is about 2 years. So, the most I might stockile is a year and a half's worth. After I reach the amount that I feel I will use before it expires, then any extras I get for free, don't even make it into my pantry. They go to the food bank.

Same with spices. If you only go through 1 bottle of basil a year, then don't stockpile 5.

So, maybe the key for you would be to stop extra stuff coming into your pantry area?

Also, if you have the space, you might reorganize & keep all food/stockpile items together? I have everything in my pantry...don't even have a single shelf in the kitchen for odds & ends (spices & whatknot). That way I don't get unexpected surprises in the back of a cupboard, kwim?

[PMFan]

perhaps rotate the duplicate free stuff to back of pantry and give the oldest stuff in front of panty to the food bank. that would extend the 'life' of your stockpile?

Originally Posted by kurlisola any extras I get for free, don't even make it into my pantry. They go to the food bank