Category: Food Storage & Cooking

Letter Re: How I Built My Own Rocket Stoves

James, I recently fabricated my first two rocket stoves using $25 in parts per stove, and gave one to my local volunteer fire department fundraising auction.  It takes just over an hour to make one and it works great.  The fuel/vent stand is key for ensuring air flows under the fuel for maximum combustion.  The pot grill is key for ensuring maximum heat transfer to your cooking pot without choking the fire.   It was pretty nice the other morning making scrambled eggs without having to use propane, electricity, or the fire pit.  The rocket stove is one of the …


Letter Re: U.S. Midwest Drought Continues

JWR: There was a very interesting article in my local newspaper yesterday regarding soil conditions here. We have had so little rain of and consequently that the soil here is turning to stone. Farmers are working at feverish pace to harvest this years crops that are yielding far less volume than normal and of poor quality. However they say that the ground is too hard to till and plant over the winter crops such as wheat. This sound pretty ominous to me If this condition is more widespread the impact on food availability that therefore prices could be very serious. I …


The Importance of Healthy Eating and a Readiness Lifestyle

Lately I have begun speaking, teaching, and writing on topics such as How To Eat An Acorn; Ancient Food Preservation Methods Today; Permaculture, How and Why; and Edible Common Landscape Plants. I have also been writing on Christian Culture, and various things concerning our time, from first-hand experience. In 1999, we suddenly became aware of Y2K.  We had a two-year old child, and were horrified [at the prospect of a power grid collapse.] I borrowed from my Dad to get out of bank debt, and sold antiques in order to stock up on foods and other items that made me …


Letter Re: Food Stockpiling is a Lifestyle

Dear JWR: Stockpiling food has been performed for centuries.  Our earliest ancestors were hunter gatherers.  If they didn’t save up food for the winter, their existence would most certainly be doomed.  It has been recorded that in hard times throughout history people have re-learned preservation techniques that would ensure their survival for the months and years ahead.  I believe we are in a similar trend at the moment. Most everyone has a reasonable supply of food in the pantry for convenience purposes.  On the other hand some people, like our neighbors who we have affectionately named the “Pod People”, exist …


Let’s Talk About Calories Per Dollar, by Mississippi Girl

With the current economic climate and the recent drought, there is a lot of concern about an impending increase in food prices.  As I browse through homesteading blogs and review comments from recent news articles, more and more people that have not been a part of the “prepper  movement” in the past are now starting to open their eyes and see a need to increase their food stores.  When you first begin to build your pantry, it is helpful to think about the purpose of food storage:  The true goal of storing food is to be able to provide enough …


Preserving The Harvest, by N.T.M. in Nevada

After you have spent the summer growing all of that fresh produce, it always seems like everything ripens all at the same time.  There are many ways that you can preserve those fruits and vegetables for the winter; canning, dehydrating, freezing, and root cellar.  I do not have a root cellar, so I rely completely on canning, freezing, and dehydrating.  To dehydrate your produce you will need a food dehydrator or you can simply use the sun and sundry them.  Some items such as apples, potatoes, pears, et cetera need to be pre-treated to prevent browning.  You have the choice …


Letter Re: Amish Bent, Dent & Expired Stores

Dear JWR; When visiting relatives in Ohio Amish country, we always stop by two or three Amish “bent & dent” stores.  These stores purchase truckloads of goods that have just expired, are about to expire or are in some other way slightly flawed at very, very, very low prices, and sell them at very, very low prices.  Some examples:  Starbucks coffee in sealed, non-expired bags for $2.50 (used to be 75 cents, the owners have been raising the prices over time), normally $12.50 at the grocer.  Swiss Toblerone chocolate bars, normally $4 for 50 cents.  Feminine hygiene products at 20% of the …


Letter Re: Thrive Foods Available From COSTCO

Mr. Rawles, I just discovered emergency storage food is sold at Costco.com. They have a sale going on right now that bears mentioning in your blog. A year’s supply package of THRIVE food from Shelf Reliance for $1,199.99 including shipping and tax-free. No additional cost for existing Costco members. Non-members can also purchase this but must pay a small surcharge. They quote shipping as 5 to 7 days.  This is the best deal on emergency storage food I’ve found after quite a long search and was the first deal that prompted me to pull the trigger and stock up. Thanks …


Letter Re: Scouts and Food Storage Quantities

Sir: Thank you Mr. Rawles for your blog. The recent post about scouting from Louie in Ohio brought back a flood of memories for me and the scouting program of so many decades past. One such memory was from a wise Scoutmaster at the beginning of a 50 mile 6-day hike through Alpine wilderness . He stated that in 6 days we would walk out of these woods a different person than had walked in. Most of the twenty or so young men scoffed at hearing such counsel. Of course we ran out food on day four, we were responsible …


Prepping is Investing, by Michael W.

Preppers get painted is crazy doomsday people, sitting around waiting for the world to end, disappointed when it doesn’t.  I think National Geographic has done a disservice to prepping with their show.  The people on the show explain “what” they are preparing for.  To many, their reasons are crazy.  To me, some of the reasons are crazy.  I think it’s important to make it clear that it’s not about a specific event or cause.  It’s about planning for the future and protecting yourself.  Does it really matter if an EMP, financial collapse, or natural disaster disrupts your basic necessities?  What it comes …


Letter Re: Learning About Food Safety

Jim, That was a nice submission by Tom T., but with a couple of items that aren’t completely wrong but aren’t entirely correct – or that can at least be interpreted incorrectly.  First,  he said, “The last way to prevent food borne illness is to cook the food to the proper temp.  Cooking to proper temperatures eliminates the threat of these harmful pathogens… Reheating to 165 degrees ensures that the bacteria are killed and the food has become safe to eat.”  Cooking food may eliminate bacteria but it doesn’t destroy all bacterial toxins (the stuff that  actually makes you sick). …


Learning About Food Safety, by Tom T.

I have heard many preppers talk of the massive food supply that they have.  Some have months supply.  While others have a year plus of food.  All of this food will do no good if it isn’t prepared safely.  I have been in the food industry for twenty plus years.  In that time we have all seen the news of the mass explosion of food borne illnesses.  We have seen the recalls of thousands of pounds of beef and the closure of several chains of restaurants.  In a SHTF scenario I doubt we will be living in the best of …


Letter Re: Lentils: The Super Food of the Prepper

Dear Mr. Rawles, I’m a fan of lentils from way back.  Some things I didn’t see in the article and the follow-up letters are: 1. Lentils can indeed produce intestinal gas like beans or most other legumes. However this can be significantly reduced by introducing a single peeled whole carrot into the lentil dish when cooking.  Remove the carrot before serving the lentils.  No, I do not know why it works.  I just know that it does. 2. Brown/Green lentils have the same cooking time and temp as brown rice. 3. Red lentils have the same cooking time and temp …


Three Letters Re: Lentils: The Super Food of the Prepper

JWR: I have a couple of comments on the recent lentil article. Brad mentioned: “Mannaharvest.net sells 25 lb. for $24.70” Restaurant Depot (which I learned about on SurvivalBlog) sells 25 lb bags for about $13. They also have 25 lb bags of many other beans for similar prices. JWR mentioned: “Lentils can harden in long term storage, just like beans. This limits their practical shelf life to about eight years.” Since we store what we eat and eat what we store, using up lentils before they harden is not a problem. We empty the large bags into quart canning jars …


Lentils: The Super Food of the Prepper, by Brad H.

This article is about a food that I have become familiar with just recently.  The nutritionist at my chiropractor’s office has me on a detoxification program.  One of the things I am “allowed” to eat during this detox is a portion of lentils each day.  I had never had lentils before this detox, but became a fan rather quickly.  The more I looked into the details of this small but mighty food, the more impressed I became that it would be a great addition to my emergency stockpile.  The lentil is a cousin of the bean, and both are in …