Category: Food Storage & Cooking

I read with interest DDR’s article “The Joy of Canning”. Most of her advice is spot-on and an excellent primer for new canners. I commend her for such a comprehensive article for novice canners. However, she includes some potentially dangerous advice that can invite the risk of botulism. For example, she correctly writes, “Vegetables and meats are considered low-acid and should always be processed in your pressure canner. This is also true of your soups, chilis, and most sauces. I find that it’s a good idea, when in doubt, to pressure can just to be safe.” Then, she contradicts this …

Dear Editor, When I was in college we had a history class which we re-enacted the civil war battle at Pea Ridge, Arkansas. We actually dressed in period clothing and ate food the solders would eat. Hard tack was one on the meals we had. Another staple was beans, I found if you put the hard tack down and had the beans on top it was a little easier to eat. If this was all I had to eat I would go looking for something better for supper. FYI the hard tack works well as a hammer. – K. —– …

As desert-based urban preppers, my wife and I have invested a lot of research, time, and expenses building up a substantial supply of food, water, household supplies, medications, fuel, alternative power, and home defense resources. We’ve studied, we’ve trained, we’ve networked with like-minded families, and we’ve done our best to be ready for what increasingly seems to be the inevitable. And then things changed. Roughly four years ago I began experiencing unexplained episodes of debilitating vertigo, ear ringing, hyper sensitivity to sound, hearing loss, and fullness in my left ear, similar to that feeling you get when you’ve been swimming …

Hugh, Seasoned readers of Survivalblog may remember a letter on May 28, 2012 referring to “Optimized Corn” presented by ShepherdFarmerGeek. This is a very important article, since it discusses how to transform corn (generally regarded as nutritionally inferior) into a really great source of nutrients. This gringo had no clue what this was all about, but I did “know” corn was Baaaaaad. It is not so, however. The process is called nixtamalization (or liming) and was practiced by early Mexican cultures, but was omitted by Europeans in their preparation of the grain. This mistake was the root cause of Pellagra …

Welcome Hugh, Walmart is carrying Augason Farms in their store and has carried it in our local store for a couple of years. The excellent thing about Augason Farms is their large selection of Certified Gluten Free items, for those of us who need to look for those items. Walmart does not carry many of those in their stores, but they can be ordered through Walmart/Sams. Costco also offers some items online and in stores, often with free shipping. If you sign up at Augason Farm’s website or “friend” them on social media, you’ll see they have a lot of …

Dear HJL, Three quick comments about your cast iron seasoning techniques: 1. I don’t think you are abusing your pans. 2. I would suggest not using Canola Oil, since it is the result of genetic modification and “big food” marketing (Canada Oil Low Acid or “CanOLA“. 3. To re-season my cast iron, I generally just cook up a big batch of bacon. Thanks – Mike

With the changes at the LDS canneries, I wanted to share some other sources for bulk wheat and grains. For folks who live and around SW Montana don’t forget that Wheat Montana has it’s own retail store where one can buy 50lb bags or wheat berries and flour. It is located in Three Forks, MT which is in SW part of the state.. Wheat Montana is also the wheat berry supplier for WalMart if you’ve never heard of them. They also sell pre-package six-gallon buckets for long term storage, as well as the buckets, gamma lids, and oxygen absorbers for …

Food preservation through canning is a skill still practiced extensively in the rural areas of the United States, but people who live in the cities rarely consider canning because it is no longer a part of the urban culture. Most city dwellers wouldn’t have the first idea about how to start canning, much less how to develop a viable food storage program through processing their own food. Canning is a skill that is not only important to our lives right now, but it will become even more important in the event of TEOTWAWKI, because there will likely be no more …

Dear Editor, We are all aware of hard tack as a long term storage food supply. A pound of flour can make a large quantity of hard tack, which (correctly made and stored) can last for a decade if not more. I would think that whole wheat flour would improve the nutritional qualities of the hard tack, but there are some online references that state that the fat found more so in whole wheat flour may go rancid with time. It leads you to wonder if there was white flour in Civil War times or in sailing ships? Or if …

Dear Hugh, Hi – first off, I am in NO way an expert or even knowledgeable enough about this matter to offer advice. After reading Chemistry of Cast Iron Seasoning in Odds ‘n Sods,I became interested in the subject as I generally just use grapeseed oil to season my pans. The very first article I pulled up not only refuted the information in the article above, but it also suggested that taking the advice of the article above could be dangerous. Here is the relevant extract: ‘Perhaps no other related topic is so rife with garbage on the internet than …

Mr. Rawles, I don’t know if you know about this, I didn’t. I also don’t know if this is an online only type thing. But, I found Augason emergency food supplies online at walmart.com today. I live 2 hours from the nearest Wal-Mart and 3.5 hours away from the nearest Wal-Mart/Sams SuperCenter. So, maybe they sell these in the store, now. I don’t know. But, for those of us who rely on shipping supplies in, this is news of note. Orders of $50 or more ship free from walmart.com. – B.E.

Dear Hugh, My online purchases of canned food from the LDS typically arrive within a week via FedX. The most recent purchase this month for 2 cases, showed a shipping cost of $3, no tax. Before it was always free shipping. -J.S. — Dear SurvivalBlog, Regarding the local LDS store, as stated, they have stopped selling the large bulk items and no longer hold canning sessions. That being said, they do have a warehouse full of the prepackaged #10 cans/cases for purchase of pretty much all the items they used to carry in bulk. The prices can be found on …

I ordered 10 cases of hard red wheat in #10 cans from the LDS store online. The charge was authorized on the card, but the hold expired and the charge initially did not go through. I received a message telling me that item was back-ordered, I could cancel at any time,and that my card would be charged when the wheat was sent. The boxes came 5 months later, almost to the day. All was as advertised, and the card was charged at that time. The amount charged was $28/box, with no shipping added. I believe this is the best price …

Dear Jim, I just returned from COSTCO on big “stock up” trip for my retreat. (My family retreat/cabin is 155 miles away, and COSTCO is less than 20 miles away from my house.) Aside for maybe driving over 300 miles to Salt Lake City to buy from one of the big storage food companies, is there any better way to stock up, without my UPS driver knowing [what I’m getting]? Am I missing something, or is COSTCO the way to go? Thanks, – L.D.M. JWR Replies: As I mentioned in the Rawles Gets You Ready Preparedness Course, shopping at Big …