Category: Food Storage & Cooking

Letter Re: Do It Yourself Meat Preservation Methods

Jim: For years, "Abigail" and I have been canning vegetables from the garden along with beef, fish, venison and bear. Friends or ours were wanting to learn how to can themselves. Last week Kathy and Jeff came over and we processed a bushel of Roma tomatoes into spaghetti sauce. The next evening we canned up the sauce. Since then Kathy on her own has canned up 10 lbs (dry weight) of navy beans and is getting ready to do some hamburger noodle soup. She told me that she had no idea how easy it is to use a pressure cooker …


Letter Re: Canned Coffee Beans

Mr. Rawles: The way to store coffee long-term is by purchasing green beans and roasting them yourself as you need them. Green beans (whole beans) stay “fresh” for up to a year in a normal container, like a tin or glass jar or foil lined bag. If you completely seal them off from light and oxygen and maybe even nitrogen purge them then they should stay “fresh” indefinitely, well for several years anyway. See the Terroir site below for how they store their green beans. The thing about roasting coffee beans is that they go stale within two weeks after …


Letter Re: Do It Yourself Meat Preservation Methods

Jim, Have there been any writings different methods of preserving meats, such as canning, drying, smoking or any other methods? I was going to try canning. Is that what you’d recommend? Any other instructions on safe methods? Thanks, – Greg in Michigan JWR Replies: The topic has been briefly discussed in SurvivalBlog, but we ought to encourage more extensive discussion. The Memsahib and I have made lots of jerky over the years, but have never tried canning meats. Canning meat makes sense for a fixed location retreat. But for “Get out of Dodge” use, jerky is preferable. (Less weight and …


Letter Re: Canned Coffee Beans

Hi Jim I have gone through the “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course twice now and find it to be very good data and will be using it extensively in my preps. Since I am a coffee drinker, I started thinking about how I could store coffee and where I could purchase whole beans in cans. I then thought of a friend of mine that owns a espresso cafe that I go to daily and it turns out that for her espresso and espresso drinks, she uses Illy coffee from Italy. Illy is about as good as it gets and …


Letter Re: The “GM” Diet

Dear Jim: Whether you might need or want to lose some weight, I find the logic behind the “General Motors Diet” (which GM reportedly had a nutritionist develop) absolutely fascinating. I think this understanding could have beneficial survival advantages to your readers. It’s the HOW and WHY it works which is so interesting, and I’ll tell you, it does work. Here are the two versions of it I am aware of: Version 1 (With meat) Version 2 (No meat) Most readers here have probably heard the adage: “Store what you eat and eat what you store.” I think we all …


Three Letters Re: Clarification on Calcium Hypochlorite for Water Purification

Jim, It has been almost 20 years since I had a chemistry class, so you may want to check this with a chemist. Wanderer posted the following comment: “I stopped at the local Big Box lumber yard and they had Calcium Hypochlorite, (a.k.a. Pool Shock) it was concerning as it states 50% Calcium Hypochlorite and 50% Other Ingredients. Making it a 50% available Chlorine. In common language, … is this adequate? It does not seem to be of the 70% goal you mentioned on your earlier post.” He was referring to the EPA web site comment: “… since the calcium …


Letter Re: Long Term Storage Survival Food Buckets at Costco

Jim: I just came from a Costco in Coeur d’Alene Idaho. I spotted an interesting item on the end cap near the bread isle, 275 servings of individual food packs in a white plastic bucket. 20 year shelf life. Just boil in water for 20 minute. It has the same packaging that you’d expect from a vendor like Ready Made Resources. This from a food packaging company out of Orem, Utah. The price for 275 servings is $109.99. It is labeled ‘Survival Food’, item #104893 so you may want to inquire at your Costco. In each bucket there are 55 …



Two Letters Re: Preparedness Course Errata: Vitamin B Versus Vitamin D

Jim: Just wanted to give you a little clarification on vitamins and livers. It’s not Vitamin D that has the problem with overdosing by eating livers. It’s Vitamin A, which builds up primarily in polar animal livers (not just Polar Bears- there was even a case of people overdosing from eating their sled dogs) because animals in polar regions tend to eat a lot of high fat fish. Most bear livers won’t be a problem. I imagine that if you get a black/brown bear liver at the end of the Salmon run, and eat a lot of the liver that …


Preparedness Course Errata: Vitamin B Versus Vitamin D

My apologies for not catching an error in the “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course. On page 14, there were references to Vitamin B being fat soluble. Either I mis-spoke, or the transcriber misheard me. Either way, my apologies! To clarify: Vitamin B and Vitamin C are water soluble, so they cannot be over-dosed. The human body just sheds what is not needed, through urination. In contrast, Vitamins A,D, E, and K are fat soluble. The greatest risk of overdosing is with Vitamin D-3. Vitamin D over-dosing happens most often with over-anxious young mothers that mistakenly assume that if one …


Letter Re: The Importance of Storing Salt for Preparedness

Hello, I noticed folks talking a bit about salt lately…what I didn’t notice is whether or not anyone has talked about mineral needs? If folks are going to buy a bunch of salt, they might want to remember that iodized salt would be a good idea. Iodine is one of those necessary minerals, that has become deficient in our soils across the nation. Normally, we could get it through the plants we eat. However, if it’s deficient in the soil were you live, you won’t get enough. Yes, you can also get it from seafood. However, if your retreat is …


Letter Re: A Special Cast Iron Cookware and Soap Combo Pack Offer

for SurvivalBlog Readers Jim, As I read the blog, I note that little is being said regarding cooking and hygiene. Both are essential for survival I would to make a special offer to SurvivalBlog readers:. Our huge PLP-1 package of soap products and our LCC3 cast iron Combo Cooker, all for $200 plus shipping. The shipping cost is an extra $100, since the combined weight is 97 pounds. Cast iron cookware is heavy, but it cleans with ONLY water, which makes it ideal for an emergency. Soap last a long time, so stock up. It will be good for barter …


Letter Re: Hillbilly Housewife–A Cost-Saving Home Cooking Web Site

Jim- You absolutely must alert your readers to Hillbilly Housewife. Be sure the Memsahib reads “Apron Evangelism.” Hey, I read it, so you can read it too–it’s a wonderful observation on housewifery. I guarantee you and your readers will be hooked on this clever woman’s ideas. ‘Nuff said; I’m going back to her web site for more reading! – B.B. JWR Replies: Great stuff! Thanks for the recommendation. I’ve just added her site and her blog to our Links page. OBTW, the site also has instructions on making do-it-yourself ladies supplies.


Letter Re: The Importance of Storing Salt for Preparedness

Jim: I asked about this a long time ago and no one knew what I was talking about they thought I was talking about those salt blocks you buy for cattle and stuff: so I tried to find myself where the old “salt licks” were in those old westerns we always read. Here was what I found after three hours of research. There is an Internet resource that says there are over 1,400 [“Lick” or “Saline” locales] all over the USA. But they don’t list individual ones just how many per state. For those places I can’t find [listed licks], …


Letter Re: The Importance of Storing Salt for Preparedness

Jim, Here is an absolutely fascinating article about gorillas and salt that I came upon whilst browsing the Foxnews.com site. I seem to remember an article on your blog, not too long ago, discussing pretty-much the same thing. This is something which might prod your readers all-the-more to stock-up on [blocks, bags, and boxes of] salt. – Ben L. JWR Replies: Unless you literally live next to a salt marsh, I cannot overemphasize the importance of storing salt. The Memsahib and I formerly lived in the Upper Clearwater River Valley of Idaho. In that region, deer and elk would walk …