Stocking the cupboards in the event of a pandemic in the USA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What do you all use shelfstable milk for? Drinking? Baking?

I used to use it in the same way as refrigerated milk. Got boxes of Parmalat at the store. It tastes the same. Drinking, cooking. If you want it cold, just pop it in the fridge, but at least you have the option of storing it in your pantry for long periods of time.

[Anonymous]

For those with young kids stressing about milk: it freezes very very well. Buy the plastic jugs, not the paperboard boxes, and pour out the top few inches into a different container to allow for expansion, then freeze.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you all use shelfstable milk for? Drinking? Baking?

I used to use it in the same way as refrigerated milk. Got boxes of Parmalat at the store. It tastes the same. Drinking, cooking. If you want it cold, just pop it in the fridge, but at least you have the option of storing it in your pantry for long periods of time.

And I would still use it but I just cannot find it here in the US very easily. Except for those expensive single serving boxes of kiddie organic milk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For those with young kids stressing about milk: it freezes very very well. Buy the plastic jugs, not the paperboard boxes, and pour out the top few inches into a different container to allow for expansion, then freeze.

Really? I'm going to look into this. Our deep freezer is currently full though. We purchased 1/4 cow recently. Sounds crazy, but we love the meat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For those with young kids stressing about milk: it freezes very very well. Buy the plastic jugs, not the paperboard boxes, and pour out the top few inches into a different container to allow for expansion, then freeze.

I respectfully disagree with your suggestion. There are plenty of milk options that don't require freezing and you will need all the freezer space you have for things that do, butter, meat, bread, fruit and veggies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those with young kids stressing about milk: it freezes very very well. Buy the plastic jugs, not the paperboard boxes, and pour out the top few inches into a different container to allow for expansion, then freeze.

I respectfully disagree with your suggestion. There are plenty of milk options that don't require freezing and you will need all the freezer space you have for things that do, butter, meat, bread, fruit and veggies.

Please share these suggestions. I have been having a hard time finding shelf stable milk that doesn't come in tiny boxes and doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those with young kids stressing about milk: it freezes very very well. Buy the plastic jugs, not the paperboard boxes, and pour out the top few inches into a different container to allow for expansion, then freeze.

I respectfully disagree with your suggestion. There are plenty of milk options that don't require freezing and you will need all the freezer space you have for things that do, butter, meat, bread, fruit and veggies.

Please share these suggestions. I have been having a hard time finding shelf stable milk that doesn't come in tiny boxes and doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

Maybe you aren't looking in the right spot? I just ordered some on peapod this weekend and they have it at my local grocery stores (usually in the baking section).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What do you all use shelfstable milk for? Drinking? Baking?

All of the above! It tastes pretty good - not exactly like fresh milk, but very drinkable. That said, it's still bulky and goes fast, so I'm planning to save it for drinking & cereal. For other uses, I have powdered buttermilk for baking, evaporated milk for cooking (sauces, soups, desserts), and condensed milk for coffee and treats.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have people been shopping lately (like today or yesterday - after the weekend which i suspect was nuts)? Can you say where you went (general location + store) and how did it look? Did it look like lots of things were sold out or did you feel you could get whatever you wanted food-wise even if they were out of wipes and Purell?

May not be directly helpful but I was in NJ this weekend (like 60 minutes from Philadelphia) and saw no shortages of anything. I heard at Giant that Purell was sold out, but they had plenty of cans of Lysol and were wipes and I saw a few extra pallets of wipes being brought in that their employees were getting ready to unload though shelves weren't empty of wipes yet. So if they still had Lysol and wipes, I have no reason to believe they didn't have pasta or cereal. I realize that doesn't mean that everyone can just head up to NJ to shop, but what I'm thinking is -- if I go to the stores around here and can't find what I need, I may drive up to Maryland (like the suburbs north of Baltimore) or drive 90 min south of here deeper into Virginia and do a grocery run there. I don't think it'll come to that, but I do think that the stock piling is different in places that are not in/right outside of major metro areas and in places where people aren't taking public transit etc. I do think people may be grabbing 2 boxes of pasta when they'd normally grab one but I also think they aren't as nervous about it -- aren't being told we could switch to telework any day now etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have people been shopping lately (like today or yesterday - after the weekend which i suspect was nuts)? Can you say where you went (general location + store) and how did it look? Did it look like lots of things were sold out or did you feel you could get whatever you wanted food-wise even if they were out of wipes and Purell?

I haven't been out yet -- wanted to give it a day or 2 post-weekend. With regular food, we have no reason to believe there is ANY supply shortage. Pasta is still being manufactured (at least the domestic brands), as is cereal, peanut butter etc. People cleaned out the shelves on the weekend, so Target or Safeway or whoever was likely able to turn to their distributors and up their orders to restock the shelves same way they do after snow storms etc. Distributors aren't waiting for the manufacturers to make 100 more jars of peanut butter and then deciding they'll send it to the Target in Atlanta instead of here; they already hold pallets and pallets of this and as they're sending it out to stores faster than normal, they are telling the manufacturers -- hey keep making more, we're upping our orders for next week. With ~100 cases in America, our food manufacturing is still going as normal and I have a feeling they are busy and working some overtime up there in Battlecreek Michigan to make more cereal.

We are stocking up not due to supply shortage, but in the not-so-crazy event that we should need to self-quarantine for a couple of weeks when the cases peak here. In such a case, I don't think we can rely on deliveries because they will be overwhelmed, delivery drivers may be out sick and quarantined, etc.

Got it. But still that doesn't mean everyone must stock up on the SAME day. Sure it's better to do it sooner rather than later but honestly is it a big deal if you do it today vs. tomorrow (assuming that you aren't sitting with an empty fridge today either - you just want MORE.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those with young kids stressing about milk: it freezes very very well. Buy the plastic jugs, not the paperboard boxes, and pour out the top few inches into a different container to allow for expansion, then freeze.

I respectfully disagree with your suggestion. There are plenty of milk options that don't require freezing and you will need all the freezer space you have for things that do, butter, meat, bread, fruit and veggies.

Please share these suggestions. I have been having a hard time finding shelf stable milk that doesn't come in tiny boxes and doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

Prices have probably higher these days but usually shelf-stable milk options are in the baking aisle. You have cans of evaporated milk and sweetened condensed milk, powdered milk, and 32floz parmalat uht boxes. You can also get 18-packs at Costco or 12-packs at the supermarket of the horizon kid size (8floz) boxes, but those have the shortest shelf life of the whole list, maybe 5 months from purchase.

[Anonymous]

The milk at my store has a sell by date of late April due to ultra Pasteurization. So just buy extra. That's what I did.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The milk at my store has a sell by date of late April due to ultra Pasteurization. So just buy extra. That's what I did.

I did the same thing.

[Anonymous]

Does anyone else remember the giant box of carnation powdered milk from the 70s. I hated that stuff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone else remember the giant box of carnation powdered milk from the 70s. I hated that stuff.

I've always kept powdered milk on hand because I loved it as a child. We bought Klim and I've been able to find it here. My daughter doesn't even notice the difference when I swap milks.