Category: Food Storage & Cooking

Letter Re: Long-Term Food Storage

Hugh, Everything I read says to store food that is prepared and packaged for long-term storage in a cool, dry location. I have not, however, been able to find guidelines for keeping this food in a hot, humid climate if the SHTF. For example, if I have eight months of food stored and the SHFT so I lose air conditioning and refrigeration, will this food still be good eight months down the road? – T.T. HJL Comments: Prepared long term foods will decline in nutritional value, flavor and possibly texture over time. If the food is packaged in water tight …


How To Find Food in Your Own Backyard, by Z.M.

If it ever really comes down to it, you can easily find food in your backyard. I remember reading a survival book when I was younger that mentioned how absolutely ludicrous it is to die of starvation in the wild. The book mentioned the sheer number of times that starved lost hikers’ bodies are found lying in a patch of edible plant life. After reading that, I agreed with the author and set out to educate myself on the edible plants I walk by every day. The end result is that I can now take a hike through the woods …


Lay The Groundwork for the Future- Part 2, by Sarah Latimer

Building Your Garden’s Foundation Are you ready? Do you even know where you’d put a garden on your property so that it gets optimum light, water, and wind protection? Have you begun clearing and tilling the land so that it is free from rocks, debris, pests, and unwanted vegetation? Have you amended the soil so that it is not too dense with clay or too sandy, too acidic or too alkaline, too wet or too dry? If you haven’t even begun to work on a garden, the fall is the time to do it. Actually, now is a good time, …


Lay The Groundwork for the Future- Part 1, by Sarah Latimer

I really feel like a farmer’s wife this week. We’ve been busy up to our eyebrows harvesting, processing the harvest, canning, freeze drying, dehydrating, and even butchering as well as doing some welding and other structural homesteading chores. Whew! It’s been a hard but productive week. I am exhausted and thankful that Sabbath is almost here so we can rest, and even before it arrives I give God great thanks for His goodness and provision and for the knowledge to participate in the cycle of life! It’s Hard Work, But It’s For Their Future There are mornings when I wake …


Letter Re: Dehydrator Screens

Hugh, I’m not sure how I came across SurvivalBlog, but I’ve been reading it for a while now and really like it. I’m glad to see someone “telling it like it is”. Anyway, the post about dehydrator screens caught my eye, ’cause I’ve been thinking about that very topic lately. And wouldn’t you know it, I got my dehydrator from Aldi (my default grocery store) and it has (just as I wanted) round trays. Yesterday, I went into Dollar Tree (another favorite) for something entirely unrelated and came across some splatter guards for skillets. (I should probably get one for …


Letter: Tip for Oxygen Absorbers

Dear HJL, Here is a tip for those who will use oxygen absorbers for storage but will not use the whole lot. So you have your bulk grains and what not in mylar bags and buckets ready to close off. You bought a package of oxygen absorbers and you will not need all of them this time. What’s to be done? Quickly open the package and place the absorbers in zip lock bags, being careful to flush the oxygen out of each when you close it up. Put just what you need for each bucket in each zip lock. (Snack …


Letter Re: Dehydrator Screens

Greetings. I come across a lot of people who are looking for a solution to drying smaller items in their dehydrator. Over the years I have tried various solutions over the years while prepping and doing backpacking meals. The solution I finally came up with was to go to the hardware store and buy a roll of stainless steel screen door mesh. I cut it to the size of my trays. The mesh lets the air flow and the little pieces stay on the tray. – Crazyman o o o Hugh, I bought some pieces of this stainless steel fabric …


Letter Re: Dehydrating Tray Solution

Hugh, I’ve noticed a couple of letters from people writing in and asking about the problem of smaller veggies falling through the trays with the tier-style hydrators. I wrestled with the same issue in the beginning and started out by using aluminum foil stretched across the racks. That proved to be impractical for long-term usage because each time you moved the rack in or out of the dryer the edges of the foil would catch on the sides and tear, not to mention the trick of getting them into the dryer without everything falling all over the floor. Additionally the …


My Tomato Process- Part 3, by Sarah Latimer

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Freeze Drying Tomato Sauce I am absolutely thrilled with the results from our Harvest Right Freeze Dryer! I can not only dry fruits, vegetables, meats, and herbs, but I can freeze dry meals. With that accomplished, I began to think about sauces. Sometimes a recipe will call for just a tablespoon of tomato paste. Who wants to open a whole home-canned jar or even a store-bought can of tomato paste just to extract one tablespoon? Then, you have to figure out what to do with the rest before it spoils and (I almost can’t tolerate thinking of it) it has …


Two Letters Re: Dehydrators

Hugh, The article about dehydrating foods was very well written, thanks. Subsequent comments about preventing small foods from falling through the trays prompts me to offer my solution. I use an ordinary American Harvest dehydrator with stacking trays. I line the trays with parchment paper that I have ventilated by punching holes through the paper, using an ordinary hole punch with the paper folded prior to punching, like making paper “snowflakes.” I lightly oil the paper with coconut oil, and find I can reuse them many times before they need to be replaced. Thanks for all the very informative articles. …


Letter Re: Dehydrating Food – A Low Tech Method

Hugh, Just wanted to mention that in the absence of electric power to run dehydrators, you can also dehydrate leafy greens and salted tomatoes in the back seat of a closed car on a hot day. I have had good success using a muslin dishtowel placed on a cookie sheet (do not allow greens and tomatoes to touch metal during the drying process as this will turn them brown and icky) and just place the washed and patted dry greens (preferably not touching each other, place each leaf or slice singly not overlapping) and put the tray(s) on the back …


Letter Re: Dehydrating Foods

Hugh, In regards to what to use to keep your small foods from falling through the cracks of the screens, I have an answer that may or may not be safe, but I’ve have years of good luck. I put tin foil on the screen, then put a spritz of Pam cooking spray, then use a bit of paper towel to make sure the foil gets covered. I don’t spray the foil completely because I don’t care for the oily texture that remains after dehydration. When I use foil, I only use every other tray giving my machine ample air …


My Tomato Process – Part 2, by Sarah Latimer

Making and Storing Tomato Sauce for the Long Haul Crushing, Peeling, Seeding There are a number of ways to do this, but I am one who likes efficiency. I just have too much to do to take time to do things the “hard” way. Of course, I like to do things myself, but why make it more difficult than it has to be, right? At some point, if the grid goes down and the solar power system fails, I may be forced to boil and peel tomatoes and hand crush them or use a hand-cranked crusher/separator, but until that happens …


Letter Re: Dehydrating Food

Hugh, Thanks to the author for a very informative article on food dehydrating. Dehydrating frozen vegetables from the grocery store is a very easy way for the beginner to start; however, as these small particles of food shrink they will fall between the openings of the trays. Don’t use cheesecloth unless you want to spend an hour with tweezers picking them free. Try to find a fiber-free porous inert material and then let me know what that is. A pulverized mixture of various dried vegetables makes a great soup additive or a table seasoning. I’ve made dried soup mixes from …


My Tomato Process- Part 1, by Sarah Latimer

It is that time of year when the garden is bursting with its bounty, and I am regularly giving thanks to our Creator for His provision and kindness in giving us a diverse and pleasurable taste and texture smorgasbord for our palates as well as the necessities of nature, mind, and body to work the land and see its fruit come forth. He created the very earth from which they came and provides the balance of nature– the appropriate amount of sun so that the plants don’t freeze or burn, have enough oxygen, and have water and nourishment from the …