Category: Food Storage & Cooking

Preserving Chicken Eggs, by Mrs. Alaska

Egg laying is partially predicated on the season. Our hens, of various breeds, are always most prolific layers in the summer months. In the autumn, when they molt (shed their feathers and grow new ones) they do not lay at all for 6 to 8 weeks. During the cold winter months in Alaska, they shiver in the chilly coop, laying maybe half as often as in the summer. It is only in March, when we have 12 hours of daylight, that they venture out into the snow and start to lay regularly again. Therefore, I learned various ways to save …


Editors’ Prepping Progress

To be prepared for a crisis, every Prepper must establish goals and make both long-term and short-term plans. In this column, the SurvivalBlog editors review their week’s prep activities and planned prep activities for the coming week. These range from healthcare and gear purchases to gardening, ranch improvements, bug-out bag fine-tuning, and food storage. This is something akin to our Retreat Owner Profiles, but written incrementally and in detail, throughout the year.  We always welcome you to share your own successes and wisdom in your e-mailed letters. We post many of those — or excerpts thereof — in the Odds …


Comparison of Sunflair and All-American Sun Ovens, by M.J.

I’ve had a Sunflair Deluxe solar oven for a few years now. I recently purchased an All-American Sun Oven. I cooked with both of them recently. The Sunflair Deluxe is made of fabric and flexible plastic (to let the sun in), whereas the Sun Oven is a large box that does not fold, but the panels that reflect the sun into the oven that do fold. I don’t recommend cooking on a windy day with the Sun Oven. The sun-reflecting panels are too fragile. That’s not a problem with the Sunflair Deluxe, but one time the wind came up and …


Rethinking Food Storage – Part 2, by Anita Bailey

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) Although these genetic modifications are generally considered safe to consume, there is scant long-term research on the effects on human digestive function or other bodily processes. We just don’t know. People who consume them may be unwitting testers. However, there are indications that some herbicides remain in grains, even those labeled as organic. One of these that is increasingly concerning, is glyphosate which has been linked to non-Hodgkins-lymphoma, and other inflammation-related diseases and disorders such as diabetes, gut disorders, and autism. This chemical is used to kill unwanted grasses and other weeds …


Rethinking Food Storage – Part 1, by Anita Bailey

Most of us who read SurvivalBlog likely have some food – maybe a lot of food – stored up for the proverbial “rainy day” or other possible situations. Storing food has increased in public interest over the last few years. An internet search on “food storage” produces 1.6 billion hits at this writing, averaging about 1 search per minute all day and night. That’s a lot of interest. It’s not slowing down, either. I’ve been storing up for well over five decades. When I started, I lived in a major city. Now I’m rural on a farm. I continue the …


A Well-Stocked Pantry, by Hollyberry

The crazy Covid lock downs taught us many lessons. One of the biggest take a ways was just how fragile the supply chain is. Most people I know are somewhat prepared with basics as our nearest grocery store is 20 minutes away. The big box stores are an hour away. When the covid lock down was announced, our little grocery store had it’s shelves stripped in hours, followed by the dollar stores. We are stocked up but were still surprised at how fast this occurred. As we are rural, we learned years ago that our stores get whatever is left …


Making Wine At Home – Part 2, by H.F.K.

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) Some winemakers recommend dissolving the yeast in water first (called “proofing”). I’ve done it both ways, and adding the yeast directly seems to work best for me. There are many different kinds of yeast for winemaking. (If you want to keep a bunch of oenophiles busy for days, ask them what the best yeast is, and then scurry away while they argue over it.) I use one of four kinds that I keep on hand, depending on what kind of wine I’m making. Yeasts vary in how well they tolerate alcohol. If …


Making Wine At Home – Part 1, by H.F.K.

People have been making wine for almost as long as there have been people. In the Bible, we’re told that Noah, after disembarking from the ark, “was the first to plant a vineyard.” (Genesis 9:21) This article will give you some how-tos, whats, and whsy on making wine at home, as well as a brief description of how I got into it. How I got started on making wine at home The first time a friend of mine, Pastor B., visited our home, he gave us a bottle of homemade apricot wine. It was incredible. I picked his brain on …


Homebrewing Benefits for a Prepper – Part 2, by Joseph R.

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) After this, you will “pitch” your yeast into the wort. Pitching the yeast involves pouring it into the wort and shaking the bucket or carboy gently, swishing the wort with the air and activating the yeast. You then seal the bucket or carboy airtight, fill the airlock with sanitizer, attach it to the container, and let it sit. I cleaned and sanitized my equipment a second time, so that no bacteria would form in the sediment. I laid out a rag on top of the dresser in my room, brought the bucket …


Homebrewing Benefits for a Prepper – Part 1, by Joseph R.

I’m a young man who considers himself a prepper. I love to pore over survival manuals and guides, stock up on resources, and prepare for an apocalypse. It grants me peace of mind in a crazy world. One day while reading a book on self-reliance, I came across a recipe for brewing amber American ale. I thought it would be a fun and simple thing to try, and when finished I could store some for an emergency and give some away to family and neighbors, potentially earning goodwill. When I did a bit of research however, I ended up going …


Ghillie Kettle Maverick, by Thomas Christianson

The Bottom Line, Up Front If you want to boil enough water to make a cup or more of tea or other hot beverage as quickly and efficiently as possible using a handful of twigs, pine cones, or other dry biomass, a Ghillie Kettle may be the ideal tool for the job. It can have your water boiling in about 3 minutes or so. That gives almost-microwave-like preparation times in the field for just-add-boiling-water food and beverage options. Ghillie Kettles are handmade in the UK and come in three sizes. The Maverick can boil up to 2 cups of water …


Day One of TEOTWAWKI: A Written Plan – Part 3, by St. Funogas

(Continued from Part 2.) 5. Meals and Menus for Day One and First Week This may seem like a silly priority item but read on. There term “menu” is being used very loosely. My DOM Action List 1. Keep freeze-dried foods in plain sight on the table. 2. Check cabinets for other easily-prepared foods and put on the table. First and foremost: Do NOT open the fridge/freezer to get food for meals! During my 10-day preps test I lost 6 lbs (and I’m not overweight to begin with) mostly because I was so busy and didn’t want to have to …


Day One of TEOTWAWKI: A Written Plan – Part 2, by St. Funogas

(Continued from Part 1.) Now, let’s dive in. My Day One TEOTWAWKI Manual Table of Contents 1. Do This First! 2. Don’t Do This! 3. Round Up the Group 4. Freezer and Refrigerator Contents 5. Meals and Menus 6. Fuel 7. Electricity: Generator 8. Lighting 9. Electricity: Using Car Batteries 10. Electricity: Whole-house Solar Panels 11. Inventory 12. Water 13. Sanitation 14. Garbage Management 15. DOM Copies for Neighbors 16. Defense 17. Nuclear war preps Points 1-4 are ultra critical for any prepper’s manual and must have the highest priority in order to prevent wasting important and/or irreplaceable resources as …


Easy Home Cheese Making, by Tractorguy

Some of our biggest concerns at a Bug Out Location (BOL) will be food and food storage. Dairy products are an important part of a balanced diet, but they are the most difficult to store, both short and long-term. Our ancestors stored milk over the long-term by turning it into cheese, and you can too. It is not difficult. We’ll explore a couple of different simple homemade cheeses and how to make them. Cheese is simply the solid part of milk that is separated out and dried. Cheeses fall basically into two groups – soft and hard. Soft cheeses, such …


Readying For Spring, by Hollyberry

As the saying goes, “spring is just around the corner” but it’s going to be a real, long corner. Winter in Maine can be really long and dark. So far this year the temperatures have been above normal and it’s one week before Christmas and there is hardly any snow on the ground. We had two days of heavy rain and wind which caused great damage to the state. Our bridge partially washed out and we live on a road that ends on a snowmobile trail that was also underwater. Days are short and it can be cloudy for two …