Can you believe it’s been two years since we made these homemade survival bars? If you weren’t around for the homemade survival bar post, go ahead and check it out, I’ll wait. We checked on them last year here. Well, I had a sweet reader ask about their condition now, over two years later, so here’s the update.
The survival bricks have been in my car kits (one in each vehicle) for the majority of their lives. They are there through the horrible heat of summer and the freezing of winter. They’ve ridden to town about a hundred times and gone camping and even on our road trip vacation last summer. Heck, they’re practically part of the family now (except I don’t leave family members in the trunk).
I pulled one out to check on it and I’ll admit that after two years of bouncing around in the trunk the foil is looking a bit rough. I’ve wrapped this one in new foil. I’m actually thinking a nice Foodsaver bag would be better for it–might preserve some of the freshness.
This is the broken one, so it’s been broken for a while. It lost a few crumbs, but otherwise is still hard as a rock. Seriously amazing how hard these are. I would not make mine in a loaf shape again! Shape them in little cookies or something easier so you don’t have to break your survival brick with a rock (or a hammer if there’s one handy) when you need to eat it.
Still looks as good as the day it was made.
I did manage to chip off a few little pieces to see how the flavor was. Kind of strong in the powdered milk flavor. I don’t remember how they tasted fresh, but maybe the powdered milk part of it isn’t handling the long life all that well? Still edible for sure, but I’m in no hurry to eat it. We’ll just keep them around and do yearly updates on their condition. For reference, however, we did use the LDS cannery non-instant powdered milk to make them which scored very low on the powdered milk taste test, so maybe it’s just that the powdered milk we used had a strong flavor to begin with. Hard to say.
Also for reference, we live in a super dry climate. I would venture to say these would not last as long in a humid environment unless they were vacuum sealed to keep the moisture out. We’ll just keep checking on them and see how the “lasts indefinitely” claim on the recipe holds up.
Keep preparing! Angela
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Hooray! Thanks for the update. I stumbled onto this blog while researching commercial survival bars. Being the DIY type I decided that I have to try this. Just need to pick up some cookable jello, as all mine is instant. Will let you know how it turns out!
Thank you so much for your update! I hope you keep updating. I am curious as to how they will hold up to a ten year taste test. The suggestions are really great and your article has inspired me to make my own orange flavored brick survival cookies. (On a side note: You should publish a book. Your writing is humourous and engaging.)
I just left a comment on the original page for the Survival Bar. I forgot to mention that I left my bar mix in “crumbles.”
My son took them to scout meetings and on hikes….even to the movies. I had moms and scouts asking for the recipe.
We tried green jello…it looked sick. The orange looked much better. We’re not lemon fans. We also tried a red but I can’t remember what flavor it was. It was a long time ago……. about 30 years.
Crumbles would work great! And be much easier to eat. You’d have to pack them in a bag or something that sealed rather than just wrapping in foil (which I’m not so sure is the best way to keep them anyway). Thanks for your comments!
Just a thought…Have you ever tried mixing in some protein powder to up the protein content? Maybe instead of the powdered milk?
The only concerning thing to me about your experiment is that potentially the only way you’re going to know that these bars have gone bad is after you’ve eaten them! (Unless they mold or turn funky colors). You’ve proven that they can last 2 years, maybe its time for a new batch? I am, however, a newbie to storing food so please feel free to educate me! ;-)
EQ
made mine tonight. Put them in a muffin tin made “hockey puck” style. Made orange and ate what was stuck to my fingers…you’re right i had to give up on the spoon. It wasn’t bad at all! It’s drying in the oven now… No one has listed a time. I’m going with 40 minutes at 170 (my ovens lowest setting) to dry it…THANKS!!
LOveyoursite!!!
How about an update four, almost five years down the line? My family made these a little while back and the flavor was quite good.
I’m actually working on an update right now, but the short story is those bars are still with us! Might be a week or so before I get it posted, I’m experimenting with some things. :)
I’ve made a couple batches of these and used them when camping. they worked out well but they can be hard to eat. What I tried the second time that worked out really well was to smash the bars into small chunks and then I added a handful of mixed nuts and some dried fruit and it made an excellent trail mix. I would store the fruit and nuts separately from the bars if I plan to use them for long term storage but I was really happy how well the “trail mix” turned out.
oh I forgot to mention I divided my “loaf” up into bars using a musubi press.