Ideas for Storing Grains

Grains are the foundation of a wide variety of menus and recipes that you feed your family on a daily basis and should be a staple in your long term food storage plan.

Whole wheat is usually the primary grain most associated with food storage supplies.

But to prevent your family from getting bored eating wheat in every possible recipe, try storing grains of other varieties such as oats, brown and white rice, pearled barley, amaranth (an herb often used as a grain), flaxseed, corn, popcorn, buckwheat, millet, quinoa, rye, sorghum, spelt, and triticale.

Grains are an excellent food storage product for several reasons:

They have high nutritional value and protein levels.

Most varieties can be stored for 25+ years if packaged properly and kept in a cool environment.

Why rotate grains?

The best reason is to accustom your family to eating them. A sudden change in diet which includes mostly grains will upset their digestive systems. Gather recipes that include grains such as breads, cereals, and muffins.

If you do plan on storing grains to use in your daily or weekly menus, it's best to purchase them in #10 sealed cans. But if you choose to store them in 5-6 gallon buckets, an opened bucket will not store long term. Plan to use it within 6 months to a year and keep it closed tightly in a cool dark place, such as the pantry or the basement.

Uses, Types and Storage Length of Some Common Grains

Rolled Oats:

Uses - Breakfast cereal, granola, cookies, filler in meat loafs or casseroles, thickener for soups/stews.

Types - Quick rolled oats or regular rolled oats. Quick oats cook faster but regular oats or steel cut retain flavor and nutrition better.

Storage - If unopened, optimum shelf life is up to 30 years. If opened should be used within 1 year.

Wheat:

Uses - Wheat grass (sprouting), appetizers, desserts, breakfast cereals, crackers, brownies, tortillas, breads, pancakes, muffins, cakes, snacks, in salads, to make vegetarian meat/protein, and any other baking item you would use flour for.

Types - Spring or winter, hard or soft, red or white. Hard varieties have higher gluten (protein) and are better for making breads. Soft varieties have lower protein and nutrients but are better for pastries, pastas, and breakfast cereals. Experiment with different varieties in your recipes to find out what works best for you.

Storage - If unopened, optimum shelf life is 30 years or more. If opened will last about 3 years.  You can add oxygen absorbers, bay leaves, or dry ice to help keep critters out of your wheat.

Cornmeal or corn:

Uses - Grits, cornbread/muffins, mush, johnnycake, hush puppies, breading on fried items.

Types - Steel ground or stone ground. Most common is steel ground which  has husk and germ almost all removed. It loses flavor and nutrients but has a long shelf life. This is what you will find at the grocery store. Stone ground retains more of the husk and germ but is more perishable. Cornmeal can be found in white, yellow, red, and blue varieties. Yellow and white are the most common.

Storage - If unopened, optimum shelf life is 5 years. If opened cornmeal will last about 1 year. Whole corn, either freeze-dried or dehydrated, will last as long as wheat - about 25 years.

Enriched White Rice:

Uses - Rice pudding, cereal, casseroles, side dishes.

Types - Bleached or unbleached. Both have had their bran and germ portions removed and are “enriched” by adding back some of the lost nutrients. Bleached has been chemically bleached while unbleached goes through a natural bleaching process.

Storage - If unopened, optimum shelf life is 30 years. If opened, about the same.

Brown Rice:

Uses - Brown rice can be used for any dish in which you would use white rice. The advantage to brown rice is that it has more flavor (even without adding anything to it), and it's definitely more nutritious.

The bran layer contains a small amount of oil, so brown rice has a shorter shelf-life than

white rice.

Storage - Store uncooked brown rice at room temperature up to 6 months, or refrigerate or freeze for

longer shelf life.

Pearled Barley:

Uses - Thickener in soups and stews, in sides or casseroles similar to how you would use rice.

Types - You can buy pot barley which retains more of the nutritious germ and bran, but it has a shorter shelf life. Pearled barley is recommended for long-term food storage.

Storage - If unopened, optimum shelf life is about 10-15 years. If opened, it's good for about 18 months.

Sources:  www.family-survival-planning.com and www.usarice.com