Chicken comes in a variety of forms that are suitable for food storage. If you live in an area without a hen-pecking HOA, perhaps you raise your own chicken! Other folks I know stock up when it’s on sale for a good price and fill their freezer. If you’re freezing your supply, make sure you consider what you’ll do if the power goes out –unless you live in the Arctic, you ought to consider a generator and the gas to keep it running.
Pressure canning for later use is another option. I have several friends who do this regularly and insist that it’s the most delicious and economical way to store chicken. They say it’s easy, too, but I’m still learning about pressure canners, and to be honest, they scare me a little! There are multiple YouTube videos with instructions, if you’d like to see it done before you actually try it.
Emergency Essentials carries freeze-dried chicken, as well. After hydrating, you have chunks of cooked chicken that look, smell and taste just like the real thing. I found it a tad salty, but definitely a useable alternative. It retails for $42.95/can at Emergency Essentials, and the price drops to $41/can if you order 6 or more. Depending on who you ask, it should last 20-30 years stored at room temperature and even longer if stored at a cooler temperature. Remember to store extra water, though. When you’re using freeze-dried products, unless you plan to eat them in their “styrofoam” state, you’ll need to plan for extra water to rehydrate them!
Pleasant Hill Grain also carries a canned chicken that has phenomenal flavor, according to my friend, Carrie. (Sorry, trying it IS on my list, but these cross-country moves have been crimping my try-it-out plans!) Since it’s cold packed with only chicken and salt, it doesn’t have a lot of the additives found in other products, and it boasts a minimum shelf life of 5 years –with some testimonials claiming it’ll last nearly 20! It costs a little more than canned chicken you can purchase at a grocery store (currently around $5.40/can (if you buy enough to qualify for free shipping), but the longer shelf life and improved taste may be worth the extra cost.
Currently, I buy my food storage chicken at Costco. For a little more than $2/can, I have it cooked and ready when I need it. Do we eat canned chicken all the time? Nope. I rotate it by making the recipes I’ll share with you this week as my cans get close to expiration. The rest of the time I buy and use fresh or frozen.
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