The worst thing you can do is start throwing items in your food storage pantry or in buckets and not label or rotate appropriately. Most people continually add to their stock, but if new items are put in front of old, or things aren’t marked properly, you will end up wasting food. The whole purpose of storing food is to be prepared and ultimately save yourself money. If things are getting thrown away, it defeats the purpose. Not to mention, if disaster strikes, you don’t want to find out at the worst time ever that most of your food has expired. Rotation is a vital practice when it comes to storing food for emergency purposes.
When to Rotate
Rotation is an ongoing process. Every single time you add food to your stock, it should be placed in the appropriate location according to expiration date. Keep in mind that just because you buy a case of canned goods today does not guarantee that the expiration date is longer than the ones you purchased months ago. You need to look at the dates and put newly purchased items in the appropriate spot.
It is also important that you go through and check dates every two months, especially if you are not adding to the stock. You may find you have some items expiring soon that you will want to move to your kitchen to use, and then make a note to purchase more to add to your stock.
It should also be noted that canned food doesn’t necessarily go bad. Most items have an 18-month expiration date and then can still be consumed long after that. The texture will deteriorate, nutritional value drops and the food will significantly lose its taste, but the only way it will actually go bad is if the can is somehow punctured.
Labels
Do yourself a favor and either buy a label maker or simply get some plain stickers you can write on, and label everything. If expiration dates on pasta sauces or cans are difficult to read now, just imagine if you have limited light.
Everything in your food storage buckets should have labels, whether it is freeze-dried, dehydrated, pickled, and vacuum-packed or anything else. The only way you can properly keep track of and make the most of your inventory is to label it.
Write the date put in the bucket, the expiration date and what it is. Again, don’t take for granted you will be able to see what everything is. It only takes a second to add a label.
It is also recommended to keep your storage organized. Don’t have legumes in three different buckets, grains in two, etc. Designate one bucket to a certain category. This will also help you keep track of what you have a little easier, and find what you are looking for when you need it.