In a perfect world, my children would never have learned about the wonders of breakfast cereal, especially the ones that are more sugar than anything else. But alas, their dad is totally enamored of it. He loves it so much, and they love it so much, that he gives them their favorites most every year for Christmas. He loves having loads of presents under the tree. In every other respect, he's pretty wonderful, so I have to let the breakfast cereal issue slide. Especially since I'm not a morning person.
When we started expanding our food storage horizons back in early 2008,
and moved beyond the theoretical "it's good to be prepared for whatever"
to "history is going to repeat and we are really going to have to live
off what we store someday," we considered the importance of having
comfort foods. And like it or not, breakfast cereal was one of those
comfort foods for our children, who at the time ranged from in age from 3
to 19. No amount of reasoning could have made them happy with simple
corn flakes. Their dad had totally and completely corrupted them.
So a few times during that year, we borrowed a canner from the Home
Storage Center for vacuum sealing some #10 cans of sugary cereal.
Unfortunately, the canners are no longer available, but you can do the
same with a vacuum sealer or mylar bags at home. And actually, the cost
for mylar bags is less than for the cans (and they can be reused), so
we're ahead of the game in that respect.
The closer the election came, the more we canned. We had several cases
of cereal, and I suspect there is still a case or two hiding under one
of the beds. We've gradually gone through them over the years, and
we've added more to our stash as tastes changed and killer deals were
found.
Cereal Date canned Date opened Comments
Captain Crunch as the kids recall, it was good for a few years
Cheerios, honey-nut nasty
Cocoa Puffs as the kids recall, it was good for a few years
Corn flakes March 2012 March 2019 Perfectly fine
Froot Loops the kids said it was good to about three years past packaging
Frosted Flakes Perfectly fine
Golden Puffs nasty by two and a half years after packaging
Granola 2016 February 2019 Dried cherries got harder
Raisin Bran 2011 April 2019 Flakes stale, bit of off odor
Rice Chex 2011 January 2019 Little bit of off odor, taste just fine
Rice Krispies 2008 April 2019 Just like fresh
Froot Loops, in my children's experience, are good for about three years, then they start to take on a nasty flavor.
Frosted Flakes. You can't go wrong with corn flakes and lots of sugar. They were perfectly fine for at least five years.
Golden Puffs have the shortest shelf life of anything we've tried. In two years, they're pretty nasty.
Granola is something I never stored in the past; it can be made from
basic food storage ingredients. However, my husband happened upon a
clearance at Smith's a few years back. I think it was $5 for 25 lbs.
So he came home with 50 lbs of French vanilla and cherry granola. Very
tasty stuff, but pretty sweet, and I could only eat so much before
getting tired of it. I wasn't sure how well it would hold up to longer
term storage and feared that it would go rancid before we ate it all. I
opened one jar in February, three years after storing it, and it was
great. We still have four jars of it left. Of course, when it comes to
granola, a whole lot is going to depend on the various ingredients
used.
Corn flakes. Just after Christmas, I was cleaning out some deep
cabinets and came across two jars of corn flakes. I brought them
forward to remind me to eat them. But you know, they were seven years
old. I wasn't confident that they would be very good. So they
continued to sit on the shelf. However, I wanted to be able to share my
review with you. I got the can opener and popped the lid off.
Perfectly fine. Just like fresh.
Raisin Bran. I came across two quarts of this that had been packed in
with jars of popcorn for some reason in the move from Missouri to
Nevada. Both were dated March 2011. One seal had failed, but the other
was still intact, and so I opened it just now to compare. I really
don't like Raisin Bran at all, probably because of the raisins. The
raisins and the cereal both tasted about as good as Raisin Bran can
taste, I guess. I'll have to ask the kids. Hmmm .... According to KOTPE, the flakes are a bit stale, probably due to the raisins. And
there is a little bit of an off odor. But even as King of the Picky
Eaters, he would eat it in a crisis. I'm sure I would, too, if I were really hungry.
Rice Chex. I couldn't tell any difference. QOTPE said there was a
bit an off odor. She used them to make Muddy Buddies, which were
inhaled or eaten pretty quickly.
Rice Krispies. Last week I opened a can of Rice Krispies, which I left
undated at the time, because I figured it didn't matter. Collapse was
just around the corner. Fortunately, I was wrong. I will happily
continue taking hot showers every day. Anyway, because it is in a #10
can, and the last time we used the canner was 2011 at the latest, those
Rice Krispies have to be at least 7-8 years old. I'm happy to report,
they taste just like fresh. The next time they're on sale at Grocery
Outlet, I'll be buying a few gallons' worth. DIYing Rice Krispies
doesn't work (see link below), and you can't make Rice Krispie treats
without them, so in our house they're a must-have.
[UPDATES: In the course of our move, we unearthed a couple of more cases of breakfast cereal. The good stuff. Knowing that they are now at least nine years old and contained cereals we hadn't tested yet, we figured we better open them up.
Blueberry Morning. Man, is this stuff really good. Unfortunately, I don't think they make it anymore. At least they don't sell it at my grocery stores. It was perfect. Like I'd just bought it that day.
Honey Bunches of Oats. I really feared this would have some nasty taste to it like the Honey Nut Cheerios and Golden Puffs did. But everything about this cereal was perfect as well. As fresh as could be. We'll be storing more of it as well.]Take away lessons in general. Everything in our observation will last at least six months if vacuum sealed. Don't store anything with dried fruits--moisture will go into the cereal. No whole grains--they go rancid too quickly. No oils--these also go rancid too quickly. No honey flavoring--I'm not sure what's up with that. Your best bets for longer term storage are Rice Chex, Rice Krispies, corn flakes, Frosted Flakes, and similar items.
Links to related posts:
Homemade Rice Krispies
6 july 2019
