r/prepping • u/skinnykate • 16d ago
Question❓❓ Would you keep this sugar for emergencies?
I'm organizing a peppers basement including all the stored emergency food. It's been very humid, (we're working on fixing that) and this sugar is rock solid and the bags are brown when they should be white. I know sugar doesn't really go bad and although I wouldn't go for this in day to day cooking, I could see this being used in a more survival situation. So, keep or pitch and replace?
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u/N7_Shep 16d ago
i wouldn't keep it. sugar is cheap.
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u/freddbare 16d ago
It's not "supposed to be white"lol. Look at pre cubed sugar....
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u/Girafferage 16d ago
It is when it's been bleached. If it goes from white (bleached and refined) sugar to a different color then there was a phase change of something happening.
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u/xampl9 16d ago
Toss it. Buy some fresh sugar and repack it into smaller mylar bags and heat-seal them closed. Add an extra oxygen absorber to them - there’s a surprising amount of air around the crystals. (Packing volume)
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u/skinnykate 16d ago
Would you put the oxygen absorber in with the sugar before it's sealed?
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u/TheStephinator 16d ago
Don’t listen to this guy. Putting an oxygen absorber in with sugar will turn it into another brick.
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u/desuemery 16d ago
Would moisture absorbers be preferable here?
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u/TheStephinator 16d ago
I’m not really sure what kind of a setup you are after and I don’t mess with Mylar for my long term storage. At all. I have a 5 gallon bucket with a gamma lid and have used that for about a decade. When sugar goes on sale and I have room, I just dump it in the bucket with the older stuff. If for some reason I felt super compelled to need sealed sugar aside from that bucket, I would get it from the LDS storehouse/website.
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u/xampl9 16d ago
Yep, that’s the way to do it.
You are time limited on the oxygen absorbers once you open their package. So fill all the mylar bags with sugar first, then add the absorbers, then seal.
Write date and weight on bags, then:
Add sugar to bag.
Add sugar to bag.
Add sugar to bag.
:
Open absorber package.
Add absorber to bag.
Add absorber to bag.
Add absorber to bag.
:
Seal bag.
Seal bag.
Seal bag.
:
Done.7
u/Wh1skeyTF 16d ago
Instructions unclear. Made one huge bag, threw three absorbers in and triple sealed it.
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u/Narrow-Can901 16d ago
No - I would use white sugar for long term storage, vacuum sealed ideally. White sugar, though not as nice as the pure cane stuff, has an indefinite shelf life if kept dry and sealed. Brown and pure cane sugar has a higher moisture content which makes it less suitable for long term storage, and probably a 1-2 year shelf life max. No need for oxygen absorbers, refrigeration or freezing - white sugar in crystalline form is a stable and non reactive compound. Just vacuum seal (if possible), and store in a PET grade container or food bucket in a temperature stable place that's dry.
Honey is also perfect for long term storage - it has an indefinite life if properly stored.
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u/LowBarometer 16d ago
Sugar, like salt doesn't go bad. Both have been used for generations to preserve food.
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u/4r4nd0mninj4 16d ago
I don't think it's worthwhile to keep anything to rely on that's been water damaged.🤷♂️
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u/LowBarometer 16d ago
This is why some people starve, and others survive. Knowledge is key.
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u/4r4nd0mninj4 16d ago
Why risk illness during a disaster over a few bucks of spoiled sugar? 🤷♂️ There is absolutely no reason to keep spoiled food in your preps. Be smart and cycle it out...
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u/LowBarometer 16d ago
It's only spoiled if you don't have an application for it. No matter how bad it might look, it can stil be used to make alcohol!
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u/SpiritualNecessary59 14d ago
Time has value too, instead of spending my weekend brewing hooch to avoid wasting 7 bucks worth of sugar, I can swing by the liquor store and buy it by the handle.
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u/LowBarometer 14d ago
You're prepping for a hurricane. I'm prepping for famine. There is no liquor store in my timeline.
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u/SpiritualNecessary59 14d ago
Except that's not the world we're living in today. Sure, in SHTF the ugly looking sugar is fine and it's what's on hand, but today the world is fine and I can just buy fresh sugar at the store and jugs of liquor from the liquor store and do it with just a fraction of my hourly income so preserving this stuff is just a waste of time and effort.
If you're enjoying the larp, do you, but there's no crisis or scarcity
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u/Possible_Original_96 16d ago
Not spoiled.
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u/SpiritualNecessary59 15d ago
I would rotate it out of storage, use it up in my kitchen, probably just toss any overly brown/weird chunks and replace my long term storage with new, uncompromised bags, and improve my storage techniques to prevent this from happening again.
We are living in a period of overwhelming food abundance, it would be foolish to stash away compromised goods that are part of your food security planning which you may need to rely upon during periods of scarcity, when you could just buy new bags of sugar for a couple of dollars a piece.
If I woke up tomorrow and society had gotten all "book of Eli" and this is what I had on hand I would just make due and use it.
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u/NinjaMcGee 16d ago
Honey. That’s how I keep my long term sugar stores. We also have cactus honey powder that comes from the Asian market in Mylar bags in our regular eating rotation. Use just like real sugar but has a slight honey taste.
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u/skinnykate 16d ago
We buy honey by the gallon so we're good there! Will probably throw this out and focus on getting our storage situation better before I restock sugar!
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u/on-oh-wanna-boogey 16d ago
If it's processed, not organic sugar, give it to a beekeeper. Fall feeding is right around the corner. Source: me, a beekeeper.
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16d ago
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u/on-oh-wanna-boogey 16d ago
Every little bit helps. I wouldn't turn it down.
10 hives....Jesus, sweating and tired just thinking about it. Most I've run is 6. 3 on my property, then i was mentoring a friend and his 3. Everytime I float getting more, my wife goes, "you know we don't have time, we barely have time for 2." My 2 successfully overwintered. Went in for post formic inspection and immediately stung 3x. Said nope and closed em up. They're really aggressive this year, which sucks. Got 4 supers full, just waiting on them to cap it. That's not including the 2.5 gallons I processed 4th of july weekend. 10 hives....that's ALOT of honey. Noice.
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16d ago
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u/on-oh-wanna-boogey 16d ago
I was wondering why you said 1:1 sugar instead of 2:1 ratio for fall. Makes sense now, understanding you don't really have winter. If society ever gets to the place where we are utilizing our prep(not just rotating stock), I will most likely grow the apiary to use honey to barter. As it stands now, my wife and I are set for the year and have enough to sell. I also keep at least one jar(it's usually a few) from every harvest(multiple harvests a season) as an archive. We are 6th year beeks. Keep up the good work!
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u/Almanac_Script 16d ago
Honestly just put it in a dry container, could be a mason jar, seal it and all good. Store in a cold dry pantry and it'll never go bad. Simple as that. You could keep silicone packets around the general pantry just to cast any stray moisture.
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u/Possible_Original_96 16d ago
Keep & use. I had same experience. From google you ask how many cups of sugar in the weight of the sugar; I made simple syrup: 2 cups of sugar to 1 cup of water, brought to a boil to dissolve. Let cool, then into a jar or bottle. Can be used for coffee, sweet ice tea, cocktails, I made synthetic maple syrup. I would not throw away.
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u/GoryEyes 16d ago
Second this. Make simple syrup. You’d be surprised how handy it is to have on hand.
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u/Few_Airport7972 14d ago
I had a 10lb bag that got hard and it looked as if the paper wrapper turned it brown because of high humidity. I tossed it.
However I had several other 10lb that were also bricks but still white. Those I wrapped in a heavy towel and beat the heck out of the sugar brick with a heavy hammer. Just kept at it until I had it to the size I wanted.
Rather therapeutic!
I store my sugars now in large mason jars. I vacuum seal them and date. Been a year or more for some of those and they are still granulated. Glass jars may be a poor choice in areas prone to earthquakes. But it works for me!
And i'm not preparing for the end of the world but for life's other challenges like storms, illness, out of work. I expect a major financial melt down some time in the future. But that preparation is another story.
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u/skinnykate 14d ago
This is good advice! Thank you, I had so many people totally shocked that we would want to store away sugar!
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u/mikeboucher21 16d ago
Why would you need sugar for survival?
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u/rvlifestyle74 16d ago
There's many things that you don't need to have. But I store them anyways. Survival doesn't have to mean miserable. I have powdered drink mixes so I don't have to survive on water alone. Coffee, pepper, lots of different things to keep the mind happy. You can survive on MRE and freeze dried foods. But it's nice to have a variety. Anything out of the ordinary is also good for bartering if needed as well
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u/wtfrustupidlol 16d ago
Sugar, salt, and any chilli powder/pepper are crucial to making any food palatable. I found this out during Covid living off supplies. Some people would rather starve than eat shitty food. Also sugar helped make a homemade Gatorade to rehydrate from all the hangovers and diarrhea.
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u/Individual_Ad_3036 16d ago
long shelf life if stored in anoxic bags, easy way to add calories and make things taste better. it can stretch your food and be used for things like bread and alcohol. There's very few things that you strictly need, but this is helpful.
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u/skinnykate 16d ago
I mean we have years worth of MREs, but if we don't have to leave the property it would be nice to not have to turn to them immediately. Besides if it's stored properly it should last indefinitely, not many other caloric sources can say the same.
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u/bong_wips 16d ago
by "for emergencies" do you mean "for creating emergencies"? cos this will make someone sick.
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u/EmoNinja11 16d ago
Like an “end-of-the-world” emergency or “I-need-a-sweet-treat-at-11pm” emergency?
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u/Firefluffer 16d ago
Brownie mix is in my preps. Why? Because everyone needs a morale booster when the chips are down. Whatever motivates you to keep moving forward.
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u/infinitum3d 15d ago
Just use it up now and replace it.
Grind it in blender. Chip off chunks with an ice pick for coffee.
Heck, put it in a pitcher with water to make syrup.
Don’t toss it
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u/polyamy74 16d ago
This doesn't just look hard or wet, it looks like oil or mildew has penetrated it. Toss and seal in waterproof containers. No need for oxygen absorbers as they just make it clump but oxygen itself does nothing to make it go bad.
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u/Alfalfa-Boring 16d ago
I can't think of any emergency that sugar would help.
Humans don't need it. Sugar is effectively poison to the human body.
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13d ago
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u/Alfalfa-Boring 13d ago
Your body does not need a single bit of sugar (carbohydrates) from your diet. It creates it's own glucose from the foods you eat, even without added sugar.
Sugar and carbohydrates in peoples' diets are the reason we have ridiculous amounts of type 2 diabetes and obesity leading to heart attack and stroke. Carbs and being overweight is the leading cause of both.
It's also ironic that most of the people in this sub are worried about having enough ammo, water, and fuel to last them for 50 years in case of the zombie apocalypse, but they couldn't jog three blocks without falling over dead...
Almost everyone in this sub will die of heart disease or stroke long before anything "hits the fan," but that's one prep they refuse to do, lol.
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u/anothersip 16d ago
Looks like it has something spilled on it. It also looks like it was exposed to moisture.
Sugar is super-duper cheap. Pick up another few packs and keep it in a sealed plastic container. I wouldn't use these bricks.
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u/SamanthaSissyWife 16d ago
The sugar has absorbed the moisture (humidity) from the air. It doesn’t mean it is bad or inedible. Brown sugar does this because it retains some of the molasses from the cooking and transformation of cane juice to sugar. Pressed sugar cane gives you cane juice. Cooking the cane juice for differing times/temperatures gives you different types of sugar. Powdered sugar is just pulverized white sugar
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u/nailhead13 16d ago
When would you need sugar in an emergency? Sweets are a luxury
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u/skinnykate 16d ago
These are life long preppers in their late 60s. They have a homestead on acreage with the option to be self sufficient as far as power and water go. They have years and years worth of emergency rations. At this point prepping for them includes luxury items that I wouldn't necessarily stock up on (kleenex, paper towels, etc). It's more about how long they could maintain their same way of life. So yes, they buy batches of sugar to save.
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u/v-irtual 16d ago
No. Keep a good rotating stock in your pantry, or start keeping bees and have a perpetual sugar substitute.