Besides water, what liquids do you store?

[Noahs ARK]

I have cases of Gatorade, bottles of different fruit juices & nectars, SunnyD and the juice in my canned fruit/veggies.

I stock up during sales and I know the shelf-life isn't years, but in an emergency it'll be nice to have it.

When I had my juicer, I used to can fruit juices - then would drink some and make jams/jellies with the rest. I need a new juicer.

Do you think home canned juices will last longer than store bought juices?

[LarnaE]

I don't know what stores longer, but in my opinion the homemade stuff taste a whole lot better.

[signseeker]

We don't have much juice stored. Maybe storing cans of powdered lemonade or drink mixes might stay better longer than storing the stuff already mixed...???

I've got concord and white grape juice stored (home-made) and I think it'll stay good for decades. Maybe even get better with age. :001_ssmile:

[Noahs ARK]

I have tons of the powdered stuff, but I want some liquids on hand in case of a water shortage or emergency. Last year we had a water issue for 3 days during construction, so I started thinking I probably needed to have liquids (besides just water) on hand.

Home-made grape juice is delicious. Will you make jam or jelly from it?

Yes - by the time you open that juice, you may have to let it "breathe" for awhile (not that I know anything about wine). :l0 (7):

[4evermama]

My family loves soup, so I have a large amount of broth in our store.
Grains and pastas hydrate well with it and it's great to have on hand when people are ill.

Gingerale and Club Soda are in our supply as well. These are great for upset tummies as well as making last minute punch for get-togethers.

Does gravy count? I keep a couple of cases of it to liven up rice and beans.

Lemon Juice. I use it in so many things. I've tested it with stored barrel water and it really helps the taste.

My main thoughts fall to "how will I hydrate my beans and grains"
and "how will I help people recover from illness and dehydration".

Well, technically speaking, vinegar is a liquid and I keep a lot of that.

[signseeker]

Depends on the crop of grapes this year. If we get a bumper crop, I'll probably make some into jelly. If not, I'll probably keep letting it sit.

I don't know anything about letting it breathe... sounds fun, though. :l0 (30):

[Noahs ARK]

My main thoughts fall to "how will I hydrate my beans and grains"
and "how will I help people recover from illness and dehydration".

I worry about hydrating my beans and grains, too.

You had some great suggestions - thank you.

Broth! I always have some in my cupboard for when hubby gets sick or for when I make soup, but hadn't thought about storing large quantities. Don't know why. :blushing:

[Noahs ARK]

I don't know anything about letting it breathe... sounds fun, though. :l0 (30):

We had a friend in California that made his own wine. Whoa - you could smell that stuff before you even got to his front door!

[phylm]

Storing vinegar, both white and apple cider type, lemon juice, plus Tang and fruit drink mix. I don't have too much broth on hand, but am storing Kitchen Bouquet and Gravy Master to add to canned or dried beef to make gravy. A pint of canned hamburg, simmered with a little water, a handful of dried minced onion, a dash of minced garlic, and a teaspoon of Gravy Master makes a great hamburg. Pour over potato pearls, and add some rehydrated or canned vegetables, and you have a 15 minute fast meal when you get home from church.

By the way, the home-canned beef, chicken and pork makes its own broth.

[LoudmouthMormon]

The Arvada cannery is a wonderful place. I picked up my year's supply of mis-labeled Sierra Mist once. Another time, it was a year's supply of some grapefruit soda stuff that caters to the mexican market. Blew through both in 6 months.

We have apple juice in our 3-mo rotation, and lots of dairyshakes.

[4evermama]

I also keep a fair amount of distilled water on hand. It's good for starts and sprouting. Also, it can be used in cooking for people who need a low sodium option. With kids, I use a fair amount in humidifiers...not really a TEOTWAWKI item, but nice to have around.

The broth from home-canned meat should have been targeted during prohibition. Seriously, it's that fantastic. I could barter ANYTHING with that stuff. MWAH HAH HAH!

On a funny note, we had an Elder over the other day who could smell that I had been canning meat. He saw my jars cooling on the counter. "Is that chicken?" he asked.

Chicken, ground and chunk beef...

He got so excited. "Man, that's my favorite...just open up a jar and BLAM!...instant enchiladas. Now I REALLY miss my mom."

So if anyone knows a Missionary mom in Mapleton, let her know that her boy misses his mommy.

[Earthling]

Sign - don't count on that grape juice lasting "forever". The voice of experience here - I still have 4 cases of about 13 year old grape juice ( white & concord). It has a definite "cleansing" effect shall we say on the system in this last year. I am trying to bring myself to dump it - but it was so good and took so much time & effort . . . plus I don't have access to grapes any more.

[Lucy]

We don't have much juice stored. Maybe storing cans of powdered lemonade or drink mixes might stay better longer than storing the stuff already mixed...???

I've got concord and white grape juice stored (home-made) and I think it'll stay good for decades. Maybe even get better with age. :001_ssmile:

You really need to store that juice in a dark, warm room :l0 (55):

[prairiemom]

I have tons of apple juice, about a 2 yr supply, bottled from what we made last year with my (NEW!) cider press. And home-canned grape juice. And home-canned broth and soups. I also like Schwann's Juice concentrates: http://www.schwans.com/products/productDetail.aspx?id=54400&c1=9404&c2=9424 They come in little boxes about the size of a juice box and make 1/2 gal of juice. They coast about $1.25 for 1/2 gallon of juice when you buy a case of 6. I usually by 3-4 cases every year of a variety of flavors and mix it with the apple juice (which, because we have so much apple juice, dc really don't like it unless it's mixed with something. :sneaky2: )

[Noahs ARK]

Sign - don't count on that grape juice lasting "forever". The voice of experience here - I still have 4 cases of about 13 year old grape juice ( white & concord). It has a definite "cleansing" effect shall we say on the system in this last year. I am trying to bring myself to dump it - but it was so good and took so much time & effort . . . plus I don't have access to grapes any more.

Could you make some jelly out of it? I had some apricot nectar that I'd canned and kept too long. It tasted fine, so I made apricot jam out of it. It was delicious.

But I didn't have 4 cases. Yikes!

I wonder if you could re-boil the juice and then re-can it? Anyone know if that would work?

[WolfBrother]

Storing vinegar, both white and apple cider type, lemon juice, plus Tang and fruit drink mix.

I also keep chicken and beef broths.


As you folks might suspect, I'm a heathen (Not a member of the LDS church):seeya:

I am a Christian and believe that the various flavours are needed. Some folks like the Southern Baptist flavour, some folks like the Methodist flavour......... you get the idea.

So - getting back to the subject - liquids kept:

In addition to the liquids mentioned in this post string, I also keep several cases of soft drinks and a fairly broad selection of alcohols. As a former Medic and having kept up with my training, I've found that sometimes a shot of the "good stuff" helps. In a long term SHTF or the actual TEOTWAWKI - the effects of a moderate amount of alcohol can be a SHORT term help.

Not wanting to start any sort of war here, just listing the liquids my wife and I keep.

[LoudmouthMormon]

I can see alcohol being incredibly useful. Hydrogen peroxide too.

[Noahs ARK]

Not wanting to start any sort of war here, just listing the liquids my wife and I keep.

You won't start a war with me - I have a bottle of whiskey up in the cabinet above my frig and won't hesitate to use it in an emergency.

[phylm]

Well, as long as we're confessing, I'll repeat that I have a bottle of 100 proof vodka in the closet. Plan to make echinacea tincture with it as soon as the first round of cone flower blooming quits. If you're counting inedible liquids, I have liquid laundry detergent, choloring bleach, hydrogen peroxide, rubbing alcohol, and lots of store-brand Listerine antiseptic!

[Noahs ARK]

Well, as long as we're confessing, I'll repeat that I have a bottle of 100 proof vodka in the closet. Plan to make echinacea tincture with it as soon as the first round of cone flower blooming quits.

You're constantly teaching me things, phylm. Please tell me about this echinacea tincture. I have a ton of cone flowers and I don't use pesticides.

[JayE]

Besides water, what liquids do you store?


Kerosene, Coleman fuel, propane.

[signseeker]

We'd give the horses some apricot brandy if they were having difficulty with a birth... worked great. Calmed them down and baby was on its way.