Canned food

Joined
Oct 26, 2013
Messages
1,254
I'm into urban survival as well as other types , so I've been building up a bit of canned food around the house , and a few portable ways to cook it. I have a a portable gas stove that runs off those 220g butane cylinders , ( only good for car camping or a power outage due to it size) a trangia setup as mentioned in previous threads , and a pocket solid fuel stove plus extra esbit fuel tabs on hand. I've got six various cans of spam , plus baked beans , beans and sausages , cans of spaghetti and meatballs , cans of spaghetti and sausages , cans of soup , beans and bacon , beans and sausages . Cans of Harvest brand braised steak and onion, plus harvest brand Irish stew. I got a FRED opening device , plus a p38 can opener , plus a magican sitting next to my tinned goods. I need to buy a few tins of veggies . What's your favourite canned food to buy ? Any recipes ? I keep extra fuel near all my stoves. I realise I won't be able to carry all if I have to bug out but I think it's good to have if I have to bug in.
 
Well I have a lot of soup and baked beans. I tend to stock up on the stuff I eat so I can cycle through it... rice, pasta, coffee. I don't think it would last long in a disaster though because everyone else would come over and eat it.
 
My favorite canned vegetable is the String Beans/Green Beans. I also have some asparagus (better like it overcooked) which are usually very mushy. I have a bunch of vegetable soups which have a lot of different veggies in a tomato broth.
In a clutch most canned food can be eaten without any heating. I also look for pull tab open cans just to make things easier.
What I do need is some canned fruit but so much is packaged in sugary syrup or it costs a lot per can (think Whole Foods Market).
If you have pets don't forget to stock up for them as well.
 
We always have the basics on hand. Canned tuna, chicken, ham, and others. One thing I would recommend is either canned broth or bulion cubes.

We bake all of our bread products from scratch. It is nice to know you can whip up chicken, biscuits, and gravy just from stuff in your pantry.

You guys down under have a good supply of canned butter. I wish we had more here. We keep olive oil stored.

Also honey, peanut butter, and fruit preserves. Honey and PB need no refrigeration, and last a long time. Also maple syrup and black strap.

Up here we can get steel cut oatmeal in metal cans, long shelf life, rodent proof.

I think you are on the right track storing items that need no refrigeration.
 
Don't get me wrong, I applaud your attention to current times and forward thinking....but my personal opinion is that "canned" foods is wasted weight. By that I mean, the containers used for the foods is weight that could be used for something else.....especially in a BoB/Urban survival situation. If you plan on bugging IN, that's one thing - collect as much as you can. Use a Sharpie to mark the dates you made the purchases right on the can and rotate them out as needed.

For me, bugging IN is not that great an option. Too many windows to board up, too many entry/exit points to defend. I have 3 locations to get to, any one of them suitable for bugging in for extended periods of time.

For Urban/Bug Out though, you want as much as you can carry but as light as possible. That means packing more dry goods than canned. I personally pack Ramen noodles, rice and instant oatmeal. I do have some protein bars I get from the local 7-11. I also keep 32 oz of water in the bags.

To give you a good idea of what I mean, watch this:

[video=youtube;8ZX9o5mKRtU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZX9o5mKRtU[/video]

As far as recipes go, that's dependent on what you have to eat. With my food, I only pack salt and pepper in my BoBs and that's pretty much it.
 
Last edited:
Lostviking , home baked bread is always awesome :) I'll look into that canned butter too. Chicken in a can is nice to make toasted sammiches with too. I buy sweet chilli chicken in a can , drain the water out and put it with cheese in a sandwhich , then toast it. Yum
 
Last edited:
Those MREs do require controlled storage over long periods and then need to be vet inspected 3 years after date packed/packaged and periodically thereafter. Stored at 80 degrees the shelf-life of MREs is three years hence the need for veterinary inspections. They can last much longer but require the inspections to know whether or not they remain safe. There are also occasional recalls on MREs that Joe Citizen won't be aware of. So unless you know precisely how they were stored before you got your hands on them, be careful and a bit wary of MREs.
 
Last edited:
Lostviking , home baked bread is always awesome :) I'll look into that canned butter too. Chicken in a can is nice to make toasted sammiches with too. I buy sweet chilli chicken in a can , drain the water out and put it with cheese in a sandwhich , then toast it. Yum
If you are in a survival, bug in, or bug out situation where the only food is what you have on hand, I'd not simply drain that packing water. I'd consume it for its nutritional value too. Waste nothing.
 
Canned Chinese food adds a little variety. Chop Suey, bean sprouts, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, crunchy noodles, mixed vegetables, etc.
 
If you are in a survival, bug in, or bug out situation where the only food is what you have on hand, I'd not simply drain that packing water. I'd consume it for its nutritional value too. Waste nothing.
Good suggestion. I drain it when I'm at work though.
 
We have a 50# bag of rice here. It is a good 'filler' and will last a long time. You can turn one of those soups into a pretty nice meal with adding a bit of rice. We also stocked assorted canned and dried beans. Another BOB item might be some protein powder. It is packed full of nutrition and low weight. It can be consumed alone or with water or milk- even added to your food.

I want to learn how to can my own food. Our conservation department has a class you can take to learn. I just don't trust myself. :o
 
Canned butter ? Right here in NY State !! www.campingsurvival.com has fine NZ butter , Red Feather brand ! Lots of other foods too.

Go back to the basics ! When I was a scout we carried flour and other things to make various breads. By the '70s the handbooks just said "take pancake mix " that just limits things a lot !
 
Freeze Dried is the way to go. I've used Mountain House Entrees for yrs. Just add boiling water, wait 10 min & eat. We take the pouches when tent camping, or on day hikes. I pack a MSR Wisper lite Stove. Also have stock piled some # 10 cans in case of EarthQuakes or Zombies and are forced to live off grid for more than a couple of days.

http://www.mountainhouse.com/M/category/entrees.html
 
Freeze Dried is the way to go. I've used Mountain House Entrees for yrs. Just add boiling water, wait 10 min & eat. We take the pouches when tent camping, or on day hikes. I pack a MSR Wisper lite Stove. Also have stock piled some # 10 cans in case of EarthQuakes or Zombies and are forced to live off grid for more than a couple of days.

http://www.mountainhouse.com/M/category/entrees.html
What I do for dried/freeze dried food is buy in-the-box off-the-shelf items at any grocery store (grocery stores have a ton of it by a gazillion food manufactures), pull the packaging bags out of the packaging boxes, cut the instructions off the box (let's you know what the product is), toss the box and put the packaged interior bag and instructions in a ziplock. Saves space getting rid of the box and saves much money buying it off-the-shelf at a grocer vs a specialty outdoors shop.
 
Absolute necessity:

http://www.amazon.com/CMMG-Tactical-Cooked-Bacon-9-Ounce/dp/B003RC5FQ2

10+ year shelf life advertised:

1zqynfc.jpg


[video=youtube;cHkM9uFMgtw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHkM9uFMgtw[/video]
 
I live in an Earthquake zone, and a rocket zone (double whammy?)

My canned food stock is Tuna in Oil

High protein so one can is good for one days rations
In oil as an open can with paper on top absorbs the oil and becomes a little cooker for heating water
(old Israeli Army trick)
 
Peanut butter is a big one for me.

I keep an assortment of canned goods at the house pretty much all the time. I like to keep about a month's supply on hand and include mostly vegetables, baked beans, and soups (like chunky type soup). I find when I buy canned meat, that it just sits and never gets used. Eventually, it gets tossed. But I do keep some spam available and have to remind myself to use it.
 
I live in an Earthquake zone, and a rocket zone (double whammy?)

My canned food stock is Tuna in Oil

High protein so one can is good for one days rations
In oil as an open can with paper on top absorbs the oil and becomes a little cooker for heating water
(old Israeli Army trick)

we used to use a similiar task to render anchovies for garum/bagna cauda in fine dining kitchens called a "cartouche". Works great for rendering sauces too.
 
Back
Top