Category: Food Storage & Cooking

Valley Food Storage, by Pat Cascio

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While there are many different types of “survival foods” on the market, ranging from military MREs to freeze-dried and dehydrated plus any number of types of off-the-shelf foods that last a long time, today we are looking at dehydrated foods from Valley Food Storage. Survival Foods Having been a Prepper since I was a little tyke, I’ve tasted all manner of “survival foods” over the years. Some were better than others and some much, much better that others. Then we have some that aren’t very tasty, but they will keep you alive. My family and I are always on the …


JWR’s Recommendations of the Week

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Here are JWR’s Recommendations of the Week for various media and tools of interest to SurvivalBlog readers. This week the focus is on can sealers. Books: Raven Rock: The Story of the U.S. Government’s Secret Plan to Save Itself–While the Rest of Us Die o o o The Strange Death of Europe: Immigration, Identity, Islam   Movies: Dunkirk (now in theaters)   Music: Ricky Skaggs: Soldier Of The Cross o o o The Best of Mary McCaslin: Things We Said Today


Letter: Sealing a #10 Can

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Hugh, A friend recently acquired the capability to seal #10 cans. He’s bought a supply of new cans and is still playing around with the concept. He offered me the opportunity to do a few cans of my own. The concept has intrigued me. What would you pack in a #10 can if you could choose the contents? My preliminary thoughts My thoughts are a #10 can would be good for stuff that must stay one or more of these: Oxygen free Dry Sterile Clean


Recognizing and Resolving Common Vitamin Deficiencies, by J.F. Texas

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Ideally every person from birth through old age would get all the nutrients they need from the food they consume, but deficiencies occur. There are times when the optimal amount of nutrients from food intake are not possible. People who consume energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods can develop a marginal micronutrient intake and low serum concentrations of vitamins. In times of food shortages or limited access to fresh foods, nutrient deficiencies can become even more common, especially vitamin deficiencies. What are vitamins? Vitamins are organic molecules required in small amounts to prevent deficiency signs and symptoms. The most concern is for water-soluble …


Freeze Dried Friday

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Welcome to Freeze Dried Friday on SurvivalBlog! We’ve been making so many things in the Harvest Right Freeze Dryer that we want to share some of them with you. If you have something wonderful you’ve prepared in your freeze dryer that you would like to share with SurvivalBlog readers, take a photo of it and send it in along with a description. We might just feature you here! Today we’ll have a quick note about a shaft seal failure. But first: Keeping the Freeze Dryer Filled Harvest season is getting close here. Some herbs are just about ready to be …


Freeze Dried Friday

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Welcome to a new column on SurvivalBlog! We’ve been making so many things in the Harvest Right Freeze Drier that we want to share some of them with you. If you have something wonderful you’ve prepared in your freeze dryer that you would like to share with SurvivalBlog readers, take a photo of it and send it in along with a description. We might just feature you here! A Halting Start This week with the garden harvest starting to ramp up, the freeze dryers are getting ready for their workout. Freeze Dryer number one is back up and running after …


Request for Information on Dehydrating Fruit

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Sweetened Dried Fruit My dehydrator has failed me. Well, not really, but I can’t seem to create what I want so I’m asking for help from the SurvivalBlog readership. I love the sweetened dehydrated fruit that you can buy in stores, but I am unable to recreate this yummy snack. While I can successfully dehydrate fruit for storage, it has a tendency to look like leather rather than the colorful, tasty treat that you see in this picture. If you can tell me how to re-create this, you will make me a hero to my grand-kids! Leave your ideas in …


Harvest Right: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly – Part 2, by HJL

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The Ugly Yesterday, I talked about the changes that have been made to the Harvest Right Freeze Dryer in their new model that made it worthwhile to upgrade. We also reviewed some of the annoying things about the unit that make it difficult. Today, I’m going to review some of the “uglier” aspects of this unit. SurvivalBlog holds a high standard when it comes to product reviews. You’re going to get the bad with the good here. If you purchase this unit based upon our reviews, you’re going to know what to expect. I already covered the major changes that …


Letter Re: Food Storage Expiration

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Hugh, First, let me share a little background. I spent 20 years in the industrial labeling area, putting labels on everything from small engines to processed food. This experience has given me a critical eye on the expiration dates printed on consumer packaging. I can tell you that the production people, the ones sweating on the packaging lines, are very concerned about the safety of what they are working on. Most of them consider the dates they have to put on the cans, jars, boxes, et cetera as a joke. They know that the packaging they are sending down the …


Harvest Right: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly – Part 1, by HJL

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Intro Three years ago I reviewed Harvest Right’s Freeze Dryer (Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3). Since then, Harvest Right has updated their freeze dryer with many improvements and new features. SurvivalBlog felt is was time to re-visit this subject and update the review based upon these new and improved features. We’ll also include many of the operating tips that we have learned along the way. We’ve been running the new model of the freeze dryer (FD) for almost a year now, right along side the old model. It made the comparison very easy on the new features. The …


Letter Re: Food Storage Expiration

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I have always wondered about food storage manufacturers’ claims about the shelf life of their products. Many claim 30 years shelf life for what they sell. Of course, the question is how can the consumer ever know that this is true? Many purchasers are dead and buried by the time 30 years pass. Who could ever go back and demand that their money be returned if it did turnout that the product had gone bad? I know one fellow who obtained No. 10 cans of wheat from a small survival food manufacturer. When he opened a can several years later, …


Letter Re: Storage Food

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Just this past year, I’ve discovered what a good storage candidate sweet potatoes are. I’m in the south, near Austin Texas and find that “Irish” potatoes do not keep well, a few months, and can not be reliably used as seed stock. Sweet potatoes seem much better. They will keep at least 8 months, probably much longer. And they reliably produce plantable “slips”. Nutrition is said to be very good, probably better than white potatoes. Up in Idaho, your mileage will almost certainly vary. I offer this as a suggestion to whoever wants to do a more extensive write up. …


Letter: Gaining Familiarity With Your Prepping Equipment

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Having basic camping supplies is a great insurance to have, just in case. It can be both camping and prepping equipment. Your tent, sleeping bag, outdoor cooking supplies, and forms of electricity-free entertainment, are all ripe for testing, as well. The last thing you want to do, in an emergency, is realize that there’s something you need and/or have overlooked. And testing your equipment doesn’t have to be a complicated ordeal. In my case, I had a friend invite me over for backyard camping, for their birthday. Great! So I brought my camping equipment in order to test it out. …


Debunking the Myth of Canned Food Expiration Dates, by T.L.

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Canned Goods Even if you’re not yet a prepper, you likely have at least some canned food goods on your shelf with an expiration date on them. Perhaps you have even taken up canning your own food. Either way, canned goods are a common staple. That is the case for good reason. However, do you really know the truth about canned food shelf life? I’m surprised by how many people seem to have a deep trust of those “magical dates” on canned foods. But what are those dates anyway? What do they mean? Myths to Debunk Various Types of Canned Food Dates …


Planning For Better Nutrition During TEOTWAWKI To Ward Off Grim Reaper- Part 2, by A.R.223

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You must plan nutrition concerns  before TEOTWAWKI. We’ve begun to look at myths, including that TEOTWAWKI will be a good time to diet. We left off right in the middle of our examination of necessary vitamins and minerals, specifically looking at the B vitamins. Let’s continue. Vitamin B (continued) A wide variety of foods contain Biotin (vitamin B7); however, beef liver, soybeans, butter, split peas, lentils, peanuts, walnuts, pecans, sunflower seeds, and brewer’s yeast are especially rich sources of this nutrient. Symptoms of deficiency include brittle fingernails, hair loss, conjunctivitis, and dermatitis in the form of a scaly red rash …