Storing Food in Storm Shelter

[JUSTIFIED]

My grandpa told me of using parafin wax in boiling water to coat tin cans back in the day to store them for a long time. Not sure if that would work with what we have 80 years later though..

Boyd, did they dip the cans in the boiling parafin?

[Boyd]

Boyd, did they dip the cans in the boiling parafin?

sounded like they got some water boiling first then dropped in the parafin. Not sure how that exactly worked though? Maybe a double boiler setup? I don't know, they didn't have a range back then though :)

eta: but yes, the cans were coated in a thin layer of wax.

[Swampwood]

My vote is buckets yes, cans no

[kappydell]

I tried the paraffin dip thing....dipped cans in melted paraffin, just the wax, no water. They coated nicely, but after a while (a year or two) in the root cellar the wax cracked from being jostled and the cans rusted beneath. Too bad, too, those were expensive preps. The mineral oil thing worked much better.

[JUSTIFIED]

I tried the paraffin dip thing....dipped cans in melted paraffin, just the wax, no water. They coated nicely, but after a while (a year or two) in the root cellar the wax cracked from being jostled and the cans rusted beneath. Too bad, too, those were expensive preps. The mineral oil thing worked much better.

Mineral oil. Hadn't thought about that. If you can coat a storebought egg with it and make it last almost a year then why not cans?

[NewHampshireLady]

Not to get off topic but have to ask. Coating a store bought egg with mineral oil will make it last almost a year? Is that refrigerated or just in a cool place?

[MustangGal]

Not to get off topic but have to ask. Coating a store bought egg with mineral oil will make it last almost a year? Is that refrigerated or just in a cool place?

Mother Earth News did a study on how to best store eggs. If I remember correctly, that was not one of the most successful methods. You might google it.

[JUSTIFIED]

Mother Earth News did a study on how to best store eggs. If I remember correctly, that was not one of the most successful methods. You might google it.

I watched Kellene Bishop (Preparedness Pro) do this with her store bought eggs. Among other foods, she served them 9 month old eggs and they tasted normal.

Having said that I read the same study MustangGal did and she's absolutely right. There were mixed results in the testing. I think one of the issues is making sure the eggs are completely coated and Kellene Bishop addressed that. She used rubber gloves and was very careful to generously coat each one.

Regarding storage, she left her eggs out at room temperature just like before refrigeration when folks had their own chickens, brought the eggs in and left them on the counter. Just to be safe I think I'd just raise chickens and do everything the old fashioned way. It would seem to be a much safer road to take.