FOOD For the record... Storage Test Results- Ritz Crackers

[DannyBoy]

Just for the record: I have been storing both Ritz Crackers and Aldi's Savoritz Crackers in my basement for a while... I wanted to determine when to throw them out, if they had not been cycled through. These packages are stored within a foot of each other near the concrete foundation wall, on a shelf 5 feet off the floor. I just realized tonight that they are both close to a heating/cooling register pipe, that leaks a bit.

The Ritz Crackers are in individual boxes inside a larger case size box (4, 12 oz boxes) The Aldi's Savoritz boxes (16 oz) are in a case without a top (as they do at Aldi's) but surrounded by a total of 12 boxes in the case. Each box of crackers I opened contains single, individually wrapped stacks of crackers. Some 3 in a box, some 4 (the Aldis) and some (see below) 8 in a box.

The Aldi's crackers use by date was Sept 13 2011. They are edible, but not at all appetizing. Kind of mushy and taste a bit like the basement smells... I sampled three different boxes just in case they were not consistent, they are.

Meanwhile, the Ritz are dated 04, July 2011. Opened one of the stacks... They are completely acceptable, not mushy and actually taste relatively fresh. I am putting them back. I broke into another Ritz box dated early 2012, opened one stack... they were 'maybe' not quite as fresh as the 2011 box, but but were no where near as un-appetizing as the Aldis from 2011. That particular Ritz box was located under the leak in the heat register feed pipe, so that could have a bit to do with that data. Also, that particular package was not double boxed... it was one of those with a single box of about 8 individually wrapped stacks of crackers.

For what it is worth... thought someone might be interested...

 

[brudog]

Thank you.....
All knowledge is power..

 

[DannyBoy]

You are welcome brudog. I guess I should add that I will, probably from now on, pop for the extra cost of the original Ritz Crackers, if I think it will be for long term storage, hidden away in the basement.

 

[Illini Warrior]

almost all the various crackers have contents of fats & oil .... storage longevity will be limited .... go with hardtack or something like matzah bread ....

 

[sssarawolf]

good to know

 

[DannyBoy]

Addendum, also for the record...

I also broke into a case of 36 individually wrapped snack packs of CHEEZ-ITS... This box was dated May 2011. At first I thought that they were great, crispy and had no 'basement' flavor... however, they do have a bit of an aftertaste. Might be that the oil in them is going south. I am thinking I will toss them, can use the storage shelf space for something better.

Dan

 

[WalknTrot]

I finally broke down and bought a couple cases of Mountain House pilot crackers sealed in cans. Never had much luck with crackers any other way.

 

[DannyBoy]

I finally broke down and bought a couple cases of Mountain House pilot crackers sealed in cans. Never had much luck with crackers any other way.

Yeah, I have some also, but would like to keep something less expensive in a higher quantity. I'm trying to keep something around that would be "crispy/crunchy" during "the end of the world". All the soups and dehydrated/freeze dried foods are runny and gooey...

 

[kochevnik]

Danny - thanks for this, it is aways good to have real world testing of things I'd like to store.

 

[Publius]

almost all the various crackers have contents of fats & oil .... storage longevity will be limited .... go with hardtack or something like matzah bread ....

Yes, I caution on many of the pre packaged foods like various chips and cookies use oils that will go rancid in a few months and some will go bad in just two weeks. Foods like crackers may keep better if storied in a vacuum sealed tin and the crackers have to be made with long term storage in mind, many years ago our government had wheat germ crackers made for storage in bomb shelters and they were vacuumed sealed in tins and at first they did not seem all that bad but you have to live off these crackers for many weeks and eating 3 crackers per meal and 6 meals a day and they get really old fast and wishing for anything but a wheat germ cracker.

 

[Kathy in FL]

I started dry canning crackers. Works very well. Visual instructions easy to find on youtube.

 

[DannyBoy]

I started dry canning crackers. Works very well. Visual instructions easy to find on youtube.

Cool... will have to check that out.

I have vacuum packed some in a bag, but the problem is that crushes the crackers... (I did the same with some corn flakes also )

If I had a solid package of some kind to put them in, would be great... I always like to keep them in the original bag, and punch holes in it to let the air out when pulling the air out of the vacuum bag.

 

[night driver]

But, Publius, they're still EDIBLE.
My 2 yr old saltines are, well, not even the birds will eat them.

 

[cooter]

try this,

order those oxygen tablets that honeyville or others carry, and get some canning jars, heat up the jars and crackers so they are warm but not so hot you cannot handle the jar, then toss in a tablet and seal up the can, you will vacume pack your crackers,
if you have access to any industrial junk, you can make up a vacume chamber and do the same, you leave the lids slightly loose to allow the air out and when pulled under a vacume, then when its released the lid will seal, and normal snap like normal canning does,

warming the jars helps with the lid sealing better, fyi

have had cans at 5 yrs now, that taste fresh,

 

[Lori30]

I oven canned wheat thins and pretzel sticks (both Aldi brand) a year ago in Oct. Opened 1 of each to test. Wheat thins were good, but pretzels were bad. Smelled like paint thinner. This past Aug I oven canned saltines and honey roasted peanuts. Will open in Feb to test.

 

[bobby.knight]

I started over canning about a year ago, the saltines after one year were fine, the oyster crackers were ok, the cheerios and grape nuts were fine same with flour and rice.

 

[Millwright]

All those Ritz, did you have the appropriate amount of cheese whiz stored?

 

[Illini Warrior]

order those oxygen tablets that honeyville or others carry, and get some canning jars, heat up the jars and crackers so they are warm but not so hot you cannot handle the jar, then toss in a tablet and seal up the can, you will vacume pack your crackers,
if you have access to any industrial junk, you can make up a vacume chamber and do the same, you leave the lids slightly loose to allow the air out and when pulled under a vacume, then when its released the lid will seal, and normal snap like normal canning does,

warming the jars helps with the lid sealing better, fyi

have had cans at 5 yrs now, that taste fresh,

you heat/sterilize the canning lids also .... best method around to heat pack dry food goods is by using your dishwasher .... stack your clean jars in the rack - opening up .... heat the jars with the "dry cycle" along with the jar lids (there's lid rack available) .... fill the jars as they sit .... toss in the 100cc 02 absorber .... screw on the lid & ring .... remove when cooled

 

[Bumblepuff]

All those Ritz, did you have the appropriate amount of cheese whiz stored?

"We're ritzy crackers who love extra cheese on our Ritz crackers!"

​

 

[TXKajun]

night driver, I found the same thing with some Saltines that were about a year past expiration. Smelled really funky, tasted even worse.....at least the teeny tiny nibble I had.

Kajun

 

[DannyBoy]

All those Ritz, did you have the appropriate amount of cheese whiz stored?

No!!!

Excellent solution!! I could plan to kill the bad taste with the whiz, and keep them for another couple years!

 

[DannyBoy]

you heat/sterilize the canning lids also .... best method around to heat pack dry food goods is by using your dishwasher .... stack your clean jars in the rack - opening up .... heat the jars with the "dry cycle" along with the jar lids (there's lid rack available) .... fill the jars as they sit .... toss in the 100cc 02 absorber .... screw on the lid & ring .... remove when cooled

i am just thinking canning Ritz crackers is not very "space effective"... that is, with a mason jar. Maybe I could find some really large jars? What size do you guys use?

 

[Norma]

DannyBoy, thanks for sharing! This is a very good thread we can learn from. Thanks for all that have posted points.


Norma

 

[Kathy in FL]

i am just thinking canning Ritz crackers is not very "space effective"... that is, with a mason jar. Maybe I could find some really large jars? What size do you guys use?

Use wide-mouth quart jars.

 

[BertaBurtonLake]

i am just thinking canning Ritz crackers is not very "space effective"... that is, with a mason jar. Maybe I could find some really large jars? What size do you guys use?

I use half gallon mason jars for noodles, pasta, crackers, and rice....basically, anything that will get crushed or poke holes in the plastic vacuum storage bags. You can't get many crackers in a quart jar.

 

[DannyBoy]

...You can't get many crackers in a quart jar.

LOL... That is what my wife said!

I am wondering if you put an O2 absorber in a mason jar with a wax lid, would you really need to heat it up? Seems like the vacuum created as the O2 goes away would pull it tight?

 

[Mushroom]

Yeah, I have some also, but would like to keep something less expensive in a higher quantity. I'm trying to keep something around that would be "crispy/crunchy" during "the end of the world". All the soups and dehydrated/freeze dried foods are runny and gooey...

I like to keep oyster crackers onhand. You can vacuum seal them in half gallon canning jars for long term storage and they should keep 5 years or so. I like them because you can measure them out by the handful for portion control. They taste like soda crackers and go well with soups.

 

[Old Gray Mare]

Yeah, I have some also, but would like to keep something less expensive in a higher quantity. I'm trying to keep something around that would be "crispy/crunchy" during "the end of the world". All the soups and dehydrated/freeze dried foods are runny and gooey...

This lookd like a good place to ask the question: does anyone have any experiences with Sailor Boy Pilot Bread (aka hard tack)? It is made in Virginia but most of the product produced is shipped to Alaska.

link for background info on Sailor Boy Pilot Bread.
http://arcticsid.blogspot.com/2010/03/sailor-boy-pilot-breadthe-cracker-that.html

 

[Kathy in FL]

This lookd like a good place to ask the question: does anyone have any experiences with Sailor Boy Pilot Bread (aka hard tack)? It is made in Virginia but most of the product produced is shipped to Alaska.

link for background info on Sailor Boy Pilot Bread.
http://arcticsid.blogspot.com/2010/03/sailor-boy-pilot-breadthe-cracker-that.html

Not with that particular brand as far as I recall but there are other pilot cracker brands out there. Reminds me a little of a really hard soda bread cracker.