Had 4 gallon-sized cans of freeze-dried red raspberries on the pantry shelf now for about a year. No sweat, shelf life 30 years! Part of the Mormon scheme of self-sufficiency. Very nutritious fruit, all the good stuff is retained, no preservatives or additives. Though they say 8 oz. net weight, each can when reconstituted yields 11 cups of berries! Warm water is added in ratio of 2 parts water to 1 part berries, after standing about five minutes, the berries are swollen to just-picked size. Nutrition label. Appearance upon opening can. Reconstituted, I diced them up in the blender, then poured the mash into 5-gallon bucket. At this point, sugar dissolved in water is added, then additional water to make up desired amount of product. I decided that two cans of berries would make a nice, not too watery mix, of 3 gallons total. Below, before adding water & sugar. 3-gallon batch, ready for yeast, tomorrow. 24 hours is allowed to assure the elimination of any unwanted yeast spores or bacteria. One packet is good for 5 gallons. I've used 1/2 packet per bucket when I ran out of yeast once, and it worked well with half as much, just took a day or two extra to reach fast fermentation rate. Separately, I'll post the write-up from Jack Keller's Wine site.
I can't believe that shelf life of 30 years for the canned raspberry. Does it mean to say the tin can will last for 30 years? When I was younger, my mother was fond of saving imported (from the US) canned goods in the cupboard such that some of them may have been expired as to develop some bulges. During that time, there was no expiration date on food items yet. I remember a can of fruit salad (I forgot the brand name) that was kept for maybe more than 5 years and although the can looked good but the content was not edible anymore. I'm curious with that line that says Mormon scheme of self-sufficiency. What is it all about? This is the first time I've heard of that, I have no associations with Mormons although I have some friends in Facebook.
Most canned foods will last 20 or 30 years. Freeze dried food as @Frank Sanoica has would likely last much longer. We have home canned food we still eat that is at least 15 years old. There is a winery, Mount Bethel Winery, about 15 miles from here that specializes in other than grape wines. Blackberry, elderberry, strawberry and wild plum are all good. I didn't know self sufficiency was a Mormon scheme either.
@Corie Henson Mormons believe in the idea of "putting up" supplies, foodstuffs, proper clothing, money, anything which might be needed during a serious social or climatological disruption. Quite a large number of companies specialize in offering complete kits of preserved foods and such. "EMERGENCY FOOD STORAGE PREPAREDNESS CENTER" See: http://www.augasonfarms.com/Food-Supply-Kits?gclid=CL39lpzCqM8CFYF8fgodr_kNEg Corie, the method of "freeze-drying" food then storing it in airless, sometimes controlled atmosphere (nitrogen or inert gas), cans, is entirely different from typically canned and cooked, or preserved by canning method. Frank
@Sheldon Scott Obviously, the concept behind long-term storage may not be a bad idea, but LDS doctrine surely does not intend it's use as I've "twisted" it! Alcohol is one of their "No-Noes". So is caffeine, aside from the fact that years ago some "church-bashers" went about pointing out that the Salt Lake City local Coca-Cola franchise was Mormon Church-owned. Claimed it was hypocritical. I remained neutral on that issue. Frank
Wonderful news that people have 30 yr. canned goods that last that long! It's great that food can last that long. It would be good for space travel too. Imagine having fresh fruit when traveling in space! I don't think I've ever seen the brand here in Hawaii on Oahu anywhere. You can make so many things with fruits. We love dried cranberries and raisins with oatmeal! I'm going to keep my eyes open for the brand on Oahu. Thanks for the info!