i have spent a lot of time going through the posts here and I had a good Idea for a thread. Everyone talks about putting away food, ect. Does anyone have any methods/recipes reguarding food that they have actually tried? There are a lot of links given out, but I would like to know tried and true ways to can meat, what to do with a big bag of flour, beans and rice, and that sort of thing. Consider me young, ignorant and ready to learn at this point. I appreciate any responses.
Sean
Ha, just realized I posted this in the equiptment forum and not the discussion forum. Can someone move it or tell me how?
Thanks
My wife and I were both raised in homes where much of what was eaten was made from scratch. As a result, we can make up a variety of meals from basic ingredients, like those you'd find in basic food storage supplies.
On a regular basis, to be familiar with what we store and how to use it, my wife pulls items from the storage pantry and creates a new dish for us to enjoy. She doesn't use a recipe, just the skills she learned from years of scratch cooking in her youth. I'm really impressed with the delicious meals she comes up with, and hope she'll make those delicious and nutritious meals again. She makes a very good Mexican soup, which I could eat on a weekly basis.
As a note, since using whole wheat is much different than using processed flour, it's good to get your digestive system accustomed to processing it in your diet over a period of time...and become familiar with how to use it, before you actually need to use it. "...if a body has not been conditioned to eating whole grains and then, because of an emergency, is suddenly introduced to this way of eating, most likely the body will become ill and not be able to digest these types of foods. It is recommended that food storage foods be incorporated into daily living and rotated often." -Food Storage Recipe Collection
Bon Appétit
Last edited by LiveToShoot; 03-29-2008 at 10:31 AM.
Welcome to our lil group of enthusiasts Amarksman, Don't consider yourself ignorant, but simply uneducated about some subjects. As concerning long term storage of Bulk type of staples such as flour, rice, beans etc your first consideration should always be security from pests (mice/rats flour worms , weevils etc.
Next worry is humidity and then sealing out the air, even vacuum sealing if you are storing larger quantites. You should make a practice of making your packages no more than what you expect to consume in an average week or two. I have found the old metal ammo cans with the resealable lids (especially those made for .30cal/7.62 & .50 cal ) ideal for this purpose. You must also remember that besides the simple basic staples there are items you will need in order to actually use them at all or better still use them as if you were still right in a modern kitchen with all the lights on. Don't forget to store these items along with your base food supplies!
Salt (get kosher salt it tends to last longer, resist clumping better and doesn't have the sharp taste of granulated, don't skimp on the quantity either as it has a multitude of uses including as a cleaning and sterilizing agent)
Sugar
Baking powder
Baking Soda (don't confuse these, some recipes require both!)
pepper (you'll appreciate this after a few days of blase food)
Shortening (easier to store long term, and can be strained and filtered and reused several times)
A selection of spices (whatever your fond of)
Additionally while storing things such as flour, corn meal etc long term is possible you can greatly extend it's usable shelf life by storing the whole grains (whole dried corn, wheat, pumpkin seeds, sunflours seeds) and then produce your own flours as you need them with a small hand grinder.
Much of these resources and good storage techniques for canning, smoking, salting and brining meats, fish and fowl are readily available through many outdoor living resources such as the Foxfire series of books, Mother Earth News and others. For example you can carry fresh meats into a remote camp by a brining technique and have thier useable shelf life greatly extended. a small boneless cut of beef or pork (one solid piece of meat 2-4 lbs) making a salt bath with room temperature water, in the smallest container that will hold the meat and salt sufficient to make the meat float, I find usually 5-8 lbs of kosher salt is usually enough let the meat soak in the brine in a cool spot for 24-48 hours, remove from brine and pat dry wrap in heavy wax or butcher paper, When using the meat cut from one end only the amount needed trim off the salted rind and use as desired. When storing the left over cut rub a bit more salt in the cut end.
__________________ "You can have my Freedom when I'm done with it!"
Hope to hear back on how things go for you in getting items together.
Also, if you live near a LDS Cannery, they sell a wide variety of food storage items already sealed in #10 cans, with an oxygen removing packet inside.
Last edited by LiveToShoot; 03-29-2008 at 08:32 PM.
My kids were watching some cartoon, in it the old cook character kept his Bacon grease, he claimed it would keep and keep and keep
"in a pinch renderd Bacon grease is used to cure a carbon coating on gub barrels" like seasoning a skillet.
The Hudson Bay company used to put up Pemmican in hide bags that would keep up to 3 years or more
a documented case of 12 year old pemmican being eaten
Pemmican was used on SirJohn Franklin's first trip into the Northwest
a rescue mission I reccolect to save stranded explorrers
Very good calories and doesent require heating.
Okay you want a put together recipe for emergency stores heres one.
approx 4 oz chuck cut jerky
1 Pkg ramen noodles or equivilent
water
salt
pepper
Place jerky in simmering water for approx 15 minutes, add water (according to directions on pkg) and add ramen simmer till noodles are tender, you now have a rudimentary stew. Other combinations are better but this is a start .
__________________ "You can have my Freedom when I'm done with it!"
all a person really needs is some water, and salt and pepper. survival food (venison,rabbit,grouse,pheasant,ducks,geese) is best eaten shortly after being killed.
all a person really needs is some water, and salt and pepper. survival food (venison,rabbit,grouse,pheasant,ducks,geese) is best eaten shortly after being killed.
i have spent a lot of time going through the posts here and I had a good Idea for a thread. Everyone talks about putting away food, ect. Does anyone have any methods/recipes reguarding food that they have actually tried? There are a lot of links given out, but I would like to know tried and true ways to can meat, what to do with a big bag of flour, beans and rice, and that sort of thing. Consider me young, ignorant and ready to learn at this point. I appreciate any responses.
Sean
Ha, just realized I posted this in the equiptment forum and not the discussion forum. Can someone move it or tell me how?
Thanks
rice, beans, whole wheat, corn, salt, sugar all get stored in 5-6 gallon plastic buckets that are VERY clean.
Canned meat off the shelf will last five years. Get nitro packed canned milk.
You can get 5 gal buckets that are rated for food grade items from returants when they throw them out. just ask them to save them for you. I have a returant that has given me several so many now I use them to store non food items too. because my food stores are more than enough.
__________________
If total goverment control will make us all safer, then why are prisons so dangerous?
You can get 5 gal buckets that are rated for food grade items from returants when they throw them out. just ask them to save them for you. I have a returant that has given me several so many now I use them to store non food items too. because my food stores are more than enough.
Indeed. We got all we can haul for $1.00 each from Krispy Kream Dounuts, with lids.
I saw some news anchor ask that question once when they showed them unloading a ship with bags of flour for some third world starving country. The response was mix the flour with water and flatten it out and throw it in cooking pan of some type over a fire and you have fried bread. I suppose you cook drape it over a flat rock too and get the same result.
I do make my own fried bread at times mixing different things experimenting with baking powder, dehydrated potato flakes, and or dehydrated milk. You can fry it in any kind of oil (small amount).
As far as rice I buy the minute rice since I don't plan on having lots of gas or propane to waste cooking regular rice for 20 minutes in boiling water.
One thing I would like to add about canned goods. I keep a fair supply at my cabin year round (northern Minnesota) and it does NOT hurt them to freeze in any way shape or form. They have never burst on me and I have never gotten sick whatever from it. I'm talking cans of food with high water content too such as green beans.
The consistency does change somewhat and the water trends to go to the top but again...NONE of the cans ruptured. I would think frozen canned goods in a northern climate might even extend the shelf life six months or so. But I'm not an expert.
"My kids were watching some cartoon, in it the old cook character kept his Bacon grease, he claimed it would keep and keep and keep"
Yep, Disney's "Atlantis" - good flick!
I love Cookie's assertion - "I got yer four basic food groups! Bacon, beans, whiskey and lard!"
Minute rice may keep, but it isn't nearly as good as real natural rice. I've stored mostly Uncle Ben's, as I grew up with it, and it cooks up quickly and stays firm. Great for good old Southern Eggs & Rice!
Lately, I've been eating Jasmine Rice - the stuff from Thailand that is going scarce. Superb 'sweet' taste, though it gets stickier. Takes more time to cook though.
For basic long-grain (US-made) rice, just get the water boiling, pour in the rice, put on low simmer for five minutes covered, then turn heat off - it'll continue cooking from residual heat.
Or get a 'rice cooker' at any good department store - they cook more efficiently.
If you really want to save fuel, those "Ready to Eat" rice meals from Uncle Ben's, Zatarains, Rice-A-Roni, etc, are okay, and will store for about a year.
Great for camping. Add a little water to the pot to prevent burning, if you do heat it. It can be eaten cold from the bag, like a "poor man's MRE"!
It's a good idea to stick to the same stuff you normally eat. If the SHTF, you'll have plenty enough stress without giving yourself the 'runs' by switching over to a whole new diet. Young kids might not eat the 'new' food either.
I keep about one months stuff on the shelf, just store bought things, a garden and have access to places close by for hunting.
