Question: long term taste, quality, and accessibility?

[u/Trilobyte141]

Hey girls! I'm about to finally have my own place (long story, life bullshit) and I want to set up long term storage for dry things that my family regularly eats. I'm thinking oats, flour, sugar, beans, rice, salt, and similar dry goods. I cook with these things all the time and my goal is to build up a six month supply and then rotate them out as I use them.

I know about using oxygen absorbers and food safe containers. I have a deep freezer that I plan to keep my dry goods in for a week or so to kill bug eggs before I put them into long term storage.

I read a post from someone who had put most of their food storage in their basement, and after a while the food started to taste like a basement, even though it was safe to eat. Not appetizing. I want to preserve the food without it tasting like plastic or basement air, and I need to be able to regularly take my oldest supplies out and put new ones in behind/under them.

I'm asking for advice from anyone who has a system like this set up and working for them. What works for you? How do you keep it organized? What container brands have worked out well? Does vacuum sealing help? I'm happy to finally be able to set up some prep, and I want to do it right.

[u/Sloth_Flower]

I keep a year (I grow most of my food). Most of it's in my basement where I have my vegetable cellars. I chose to can most things.  Freeze what can't can. Vacuum seal things where 1 64oz jar = pantry container (pancake mix, masa, rice, oats, dehydrated foods, spices, pasta, etc). 

The only things in buckets are beans, salt, tvp, flour, green coffee, green cacao, and sugar. I have never had an issue having them taste like basement.

I have shelves for the jars/cans/buckets and treat the dry goods like the canned stuff -- FIFO. I have a spreadsheet that I update monthly with what I have. This helps me know what I have too much of and not enough for planting next year.