Hi,
As it says for a while ive been putting stuff into a large metal cupboard in an outhouse.
Tell me if ime doing anything wrong.
Ive 2 gas stoves and 12 canisters
Wind up radio
Matches candles and rechargeable lights
50 litres of bottled water
Tinned food
60 25 year life survival meals
Dried milk
Pasta
Cooking oil.
In another place i have a generator and 2000w power pack.
My main concern is no electricity. It feeds everything that we touch. Petrol stations, supermarkets and above all water supplies, especially here in east Anglia where its flat. Water and sewage all pumped.
Ive started rotating the tinned foods into the house for daily use. Chat gpt says ignore the bb dates and as long as the tin is as new its ok. Is that true?
Been doing a bit but now more serious.
Re: Been doing a bit but now more serious.
Hello and welcome to the Forum. 
Looks like a good start, I'd add things you use daily to that list i.e coffee/tea/ sugar,milk, toilet roll, soap, medications etc. You get the idea.
BBE is best before. The quality starts to reduce after this date
Use by is exactly that. One day past is probably ok but use your sense of smell and taste to check. Also have extra bog roll on hand just in case
Looks like a good start, I'd add things you use daily to that list i.e coffee/tea/ sugar,milk, toilet roll, soap, medications etc. You get the idea.
BBE is best before. The quality starts to reduce after this date
Use by is exactly that. One day past is probably ok but use your sense of smell and taste to check. Also have extra bog roll on hand just in case
Two is one and one is none, but three is even better.
Re: Been doing a bit but now more serious.
Good start. Try to rotate pretty much everything. Stash lots of tea, coffee and dried milk and Treats. Bbe on tins can usually be exceeded. By 5 years. But you will get separation of ingredients and some corrosion in the tins. I've had tomato soup tins virtually dissolve.
Graceful Degradation! Prepping's objective summed up in two words. Turning Disaster into Mild Inconvenience by the power of fore-thought
Not Feeling Optimistic. Let me be wrong
Not Feeling Optimistic. Let me be wrong
Re: Been doing a bit but now more serious.
BBE dates are more advisory to encourage you to use the product and replace it.
Salt can be millions of years old with a bbe date maybe three years.
I take bbe dates with a pinch of you on what.
Use common sense.......Just reject rusty or blown tins.
Salt can be millions of years old with a bbe date maybe three years.
I take bbe dates with a pinch of you on what.
Use common sense.......Just reject rusty or blown tins.
Re: Been doing a bit but now more serious.
I would just try to eat stored food before the date. You normally get 2 year approx. It's one reason I don't keep vast amounts. I don't like to waste.RobNfk wrote: ↑Mon Oct 26, 2026 10:58 am Hi,
As it says for a while ive been putting stuff into a large metal cupboard in an outhouse.
Tell me if ime doing anything wrong.
Ive 2 gas stoves and 12 canisters
Wind up radio
Matches candles and rechargeable lights
50 litres of bottled water
Tinned food
60 25 year life survival meals
Dried milk
Pasta
Cooking oil.
In another place i have a generator and 2000w power pack.
My main concern is no electricity. It feeds everything that we touch. Petrol stations, supermarkets and above all water supplies, especially here in east Anglia where its flat. Water and sewage all pumped.
Ive started rotating the tinned foods into the house for daily use. Chat gpt says ignore the bb dates and as long as the tin is as new its ok. Is that true?
Regarding other stuff, I dunno. I presume you thought of obvious stuff like first aid, torches and so on. Think about every thing you do in a day, and every high impact think that could happen. So if the first thing you do is clean your teeth, make sure you have an extra tube of toothpaste. And so on. First aid kit covers a lot of high impact scenarios. If the bottled water has a date on it, make sure to rotate that as well.
Re: Been doing a bit but now more serious.
Thanks everyone for looking at the post and comments.
I need to rotate the stock more often.
What about flour? Is there a storage solution for food in paper bags.
TIA
I need to rotate the stock more often.
What about flour? Is there a storage solution for food in paper bags.
TIA
Re: Been doing a bit but now more serious.
Decant into Glass jars.
I prefer Kilner either the clip top or scewtop for preserving.
Two is one and one is none, but three is even better.