So, we like 'em

[hubste5]

Yea, the cheapo noodles, used to get 'em on sale for $.05-.07 each. The kids enjoy fixing them for lunches/after school... etc.
So it is a win/win -- cheapo and well liked.

Soooo... If I buy a pallet of these, how long you think they would last, as is? sealed in large zip locks? other ideas?

Are any of you guys stacking these little packets of love?

And by "pallet" I mean a whole bunch:p!

[slowz1k]

Love 'em!!! My wife doesn't like me eating them due to high sodium... something about blood pressure, ticking time bomb, death wish, and good life insurance... I don't know, never really listened. I always keep 20 or 30 in the pantry. Never thought to bag'em up for long term though. Good idea.

[prkchp76]

i have three cases that i rotate regularly i think they cant go bad if they do just add water heheheh

[paintball]

I think they are a good thing to keep around in bulk for a hot meal but the only downfall that I can think of is the use of water from the water storage in a survivl situation. just my 2 cents

[hubste5]

I think they are a good thing to keep around in bulk for a hot meal but the only downfall that I can think of is the use of water from the water storage in a survivl situation. just my 2 cents

Good point, but any bulk dry/long term item, such as rice/beans will require hydration, and that is the usage I am curious about, plus water is not an issue for me, so I can store dry foods with confidence.

[avking]

The shelf life is not very good. They are all printed with an expiration date and they don't last long. How long they would survive past the expiration date is anyone's guess. While not as cheap, mountain house will serve you much better.

I see this a lot here and on other forums. Trying to prep on the cheap. IMHO, it simply does not work that way. I understand that everyone has a budget and some of them are very low, but buying the cheapest stuff you can find, so you can have large quantities of it, will probably not help much when it is needed. Use that money to buy higher quality food stuffs, or spend the extra time and can your own food stuffs. Canning will let you buy inexpensive and bulk, but still have something of high quality that will last as long as you need it. If you have a small budget, you can't expect to be able to buy items that require zero work on your part.

[Omega Sigma]

You're misinformed, avking.

Dried noodles, when kept dry, out of the sun, and free of pests have a shelf-life approaching that of the cockroach.

Not all things cheap are worthless.

Most expensive things are of very low value.

Nice, fancy-sounding reply, though.

[rsanders]

I can understand buying the less expensive food prep and maybe putting the money saved toward more critical preps . Every individual has to decide what their priorities are and go from there,and most food preps will be rotated out while waiting for the STHTF. Canning your own foods is a good way to prep but,it's not really that inexpensive if you have to go to a farmer's market to get the vegetables to can. Most around here charge premium prices because it's "home grown" or "farm fresh ", then if you have to buy jars , lids, a canner or pressure canner it all adds up to a pretty tidy amount of cash.And it too will sooner or later go bad on you just like anything purchased at a grocery store , it wont "last as long as you need it". Also you have to consider that canning is pretty time consuming and these days lots of folks just don't have the extra time needed to can. I personally raise a large garden and have had everything needed to can and preserve fresh fruits and vegetables for quite some time now, but I'd hate to have to go out and buy it all at once to get started canning.

[cbprice797]

The only problem I see is the simple fact the it has little nutritional value,ee as using Ramen noodles for your main, or even a large percentage of proep food, is that it has littel nutritional value.

[avking]

I do not think everything cheap is worthless, but some of it is and a lot of it is inferior. Sportsmans guide red dot vs Eotech. Rock Island 1911 vs Les Baer. Olympic Arms AR vs Wilson Combat. None of them are worthless, but the Eotech, Les Baer & Wilson Combat are going to perform better, last longer and be more reliable. The bottom line as I see it, is that if you want quality, then you have to pay for it. Not that you have to buy the most expensive, you just can not buy the cheapest. Of course, exceptions exist. Plus, expensive and cheap are very different, depending on an individuals situation.

As for Ramen, I am looking at a package right now, that was purchased less than a week ago. It is clearly marked with an expiration date of 07/11, so the statement that the shelf life per the manufactrurer is fairly short is totally correct. I also said that the actual shelf life may be differnet than the printed, but I am not aware of much emperical evidence of what that additional time might be. I am sorry, but there is no way in hell that you can say Ramen is as good as Mountain House freeze dried meals, hence my reference to cheap vs expensive (or at least not cheap).

As for the "fancy-sounding," I think you are confusing that with good grammar.

You're misinformed, avking.

Dried noodles, when kept dry, out of the sun, and free of pests have a shelf-life approaching that of the cockroach.

Not all things cheap are worthless.

Most expensive things are of very low value.

Nice, fancy-sounding reply, though.

[Omega Sigma]

Yet another nice, fancy reply.

Anyway, pasta may be low cal, low nutro and low fat, but the ramen style noodles are high in two very important survival staples:

-salt.
-carbohydrates.

They're not meant to be an everyday main course, but are ecxellent food for storage on-the-cheap.

They have also been proven to remain edible beyond 14 years in the original packaging, even without further vacuum, dessicants, etc.

Those are the facts. They are not in dispute. Therefore, ramen noodles are an excellent choice for bulk food stores.

Cheers.

[hubste5]

Thanks for the opinions guys... didn't mean to start a debate here, and Omega, I think you mis-characterized AVking, he was calling it as he sees it, which is what I asked for. I do believe you can get more mileage out of many things than the "good by" date, including the noodles... plus the recipe calls for boiling, which might kill any boogers that snuck in... No, I couldn't begin to stockpile $5 per meal entree's like mtn house, although the day might come that I can put back some of the good stuff (I hope).

I plan on doing some canning this year, as I will have a pretty good garden, and I stock up on grocery store canned food weekly. I was looking at the noodles specifically because it is one of the few items that the entire family seems to like/eat regularly, so, in that regard, it's a no brainer... but I agree, probably not a lot of nutritional value... they are cheap, quick and easy.

Prepping means different things for different people, and unfortunately, my prepping is done on a small budget, but I am living at my BOL, have very fertile land, all the fresh drinking water I'll ever need, and plenty of old-timers that know how to get it done... so I guess I'm in pretty good shape, considering...

[avking]

Sounds like you have a good setup going already. Since you already live at your BOL, you might want to consider bulk rice and flour as well. It can be had for very cheap and is not to difficult to store. They are very versatile and combined with food you can or grow, would make for good eating.

Thanks for the opinions guys... didn't mean to start a debate here, and Omega, I think you mis-characterized AVking, he was calling it as he sees it, which is what I asked for. I do believe you can get more mileage out of many things than the "good by" date, including the noodles... plus the recipe calls for boiling, which might kill any boogers that snuck in... No, I couldn't begin to stockpile $5 per meal entree's like mtn house, although the day might come that I can put back some of the good stuff (I hope).

I plan on doing some canning this year, as I will have a pretty good garden, and I stock up on grocery store canned food weekly. I was looking at the noodles specifically because it is one of the few items that the entire family seems to like/eat regularly, so, in that regard, it's a no brainer... but I agree, probably not a lot of nutritional value... they are cheap, quick and easy.

Prepping means different things for different people, and unfortunately, my prepping is done on a small budget, but I am living at my BOL, have very fertile land, all the fresh drinking water I'll ever need, and plenty of old-timers that know how to get it done... so I guess I'm in pretty good shape, considering...

[rsanders]

I personally would rather have 100 Ramen Noodles @ five cents each than 1 Mtn House five bucks each. I used to have them for lunch quite often, they're rather tasty and pretty filling. And I believe that a few weeks after the SHTF a lot of folks will be wishing they had a pack of them at any price, and that "sell by date", "best if used by" wont matter to anyone ............. if they're hungry. hubste5 I'm glad you brought Ramen noodles up , I'm going to buy some tomorrow ,it's been too long since I've had those ,also going to get some extras to leave down at the camp to take out on the lake while fishing.

[BMERTA]

Does the product actually have an "expiration date" or best used by, or sell before date? or just a date? These kind of dates are meant to protect the seller.. not the buyer.