Welcome to my little corner of culinary delights.

The fat that stores well in ambient temperatures is clarified butter (pure butter fat).  Another fat that stores well is lard.  Please do not cringe over lard until you compare the label with other fats.  The types and amounts of cholesterol producing fats is lower than you think.

Go to the grocery store and look on the bottles for the expiration dates on your various cooking oils.  This helps with your selection.  As pure olive oil ages, the taste gets sharper.  However, it remains good for cooking if you do not mind the slight rancid taste difference.  If you like sourdough bread, you might like this.

Containers best for storage use would be plastic netting, gunny sacks, air tight receptacles made of plastic and/or glass.  The best type of plastic containers are those made of Polycarbonate.  Next best would be of the high-density polyethylene family.  I prefer the colored translucent types.  Coloring, such as dark green or brown, blocks out harmful sunrays that can chemically change the food.  Being translucent allows you to see easily the type of food inside.  This helps if the label is missing.  It is best to break the seal only when the food inside is to be used.

If you wish to bag some foods yourself, use plastic bags labeled for freezer use.  Never use those marked as “storage bags.”  Freezer bags seal more securely using a double seal.  Once the bags are filled and sealed, pack them into a box.  To protect the bags from punctures, wooden crates are better than cardboard due to stability and endurance.  Stainless steel chest is your best but very expensive and heavy.  Do not forget that you might need to be mobile at a moment’s notice.  Next best would be aluminum outer containers for storing the plastic bags.  The outer containers, in which you put the bags, is purposed for conveniently storing, moving them from place to place, and primarily for protecting the bags.

Being a chef, naturally, I have many huge aluminum and stainless-steel stockpots with lids.  These would be ideal for the job.  They even have handles for carrying them.  The lid does not need to be sealed since the plastic bags are.  In this way, the bags are safe from punctures and rodents of the four-legged type.  To secure the lid, a simple cord or rope can go through the lid’s handle and each end tied to the pot’s handles.  A strap works better with end-clinches if you have that.  Army surplus or hardware stores should carry such items.

A great storage favorite of mine is wine bottles.  They have the necessary translucent coloring and made of glass.  The cap seals tightly.  They do not break easily.  But they can be heavy.  Fruit canning jars are great.  The big draw back with canning jars, besides the weight, is that they can break easily.

Until next time, peace to all.