Category: Food Storage & Cooking

Middle of the Road Family Embraces the Prepper Mindset by C.L.

So how does one start down this journey of becoming a prepper?  For me and eventually our family, it was a gradual transition, which included the convergence of medical, physical and political convictions.  This was not a planned journey but rather one, which we have come to embrace as our only path to survival. We are a typical family in one sense and atypical in another.  We have led a typical life of work, play and trying to get ahead.  Where our life has veered from this typical course is the support we must provide to one of our children …


Letter Re: Sugar and Salt Storage

Dear SurvivalBlog Editor: I’m running out of storage room for my food storage.  Would sugar or salt stored in mylar bags and food grade bucket with a gasket lid deteriorate if stored in a hot, humid environment, (such as garage)?  Thank you for any advice you could offer. Take care, – Stephanie K. JWR Replies: The beauty of salt and sugar is that they are “self-storing” and can have extremely long useful storage lives (potentially centuries) if they are protected from moisture. Just a bit of humid air and inadequate packaging will turn either of them into solid bricks, fairly …


Two Letters Re: A First-Timer’s Cider Making

Good Day Sir, I would like to add a few comments to that excellent primer on cider making. First, If you skip all of the picking and crushing to buy the fresh unpasteurized sweet cider, be aware that some places (companies and regular people) add potassium sorbate to the final product. This inhibits the growth of bacteria. On top of that, it keeps yeast from growing. The best way to overcome this is to starter. Add your yeast to a small container (with airlock) a cup of water and a half a cup of sugar. Let this ferment for a …


Letter Re: Celiac Disease: The Gluten-Free Prepping Challenge

We are a family of survivalists and almost all of us are gluten free, some out of necessity and some by choice.  Here are some thoughts and resources for gluten free food.   Later this year, there is a Gluten Free Expo convention in Sandy, Utah starting October 12.  If you can’t attend, check out the vendors page (there are many) to identify other resources for gluten free food.   Augason Farms has #10 cans of food that are certified gluten free, including oats.   It’s a great company and easy to talk to them on the phone.  If you want …


Four Letters Re: Celiac Disease: The Gluten-Free Prepping Challenge

Jim: I am also gluten intolerant and I found out much in the same way and the previous writer.  In addition the information provided I would like to point out potatoes.  They can be bought in 50 pounds bags and stored in a root cellar for most of the winter. We buy two 50 pound bags in the fall that last us until late spring.  We also grow 18 different varieties of potatoes and save and grow them from seed each spring.  That way we have the knowledge and ability to ramp up our own potato production in case we couldn’t buy them from the farm …


Picking the Imperfect Retreat Location, and Making the Best of It, by Michael C.

I think I’m the the position of many out in the real world. I’m strapped for cash. Feeling the time crunch that I must do something soon or be caught up with the unprepared masses and get overrun. I’m also feeling the responsibility for my immediate and extended family whether they are preparing or not. It’s a huge burden to bear when you have been raised to be the “man” of any situation that might affect you and your family. That being said, I’m also a logical, common sense person. I approach things like this: 1. Look at the situation …


Celiac Disease: The Gluten-Free Prepping Challenge, by Geoff in Kentucky

In mid-2010 I began to suffer from some relatively severe digestive problems. After several months of discomfort, and many rounds of expensive medical tests, I finally received a confirmed diagnosis. I had Celiac Disease. Celiac Disease is a digestive disorder that is greatly misunderstood. It is not a food allergy. It is an autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune system produces antibodies to a specific protein, gluten, that is found in the ordinary grains of wheat, rye, and barley. This protein adheres to the microscopic villi (fingerlike projections) in the small intestine. As the body’s immune system attacks the …


Salt for Food Preservation, by Chef N.D.

One survival item that I rarely see listed in any blogs or survival articles is salt. I know that many survival web sites and forums concentrate on the immediate survival needs of individuals and families, but what would a person do if there really was a long term necessity for survival? How would a father feed his family over an extended period of time? MRE’s last forever, but let’s face it, they are expensive and eventually will all be consumed. How will a mother feed her children when all of the canned goods and stores are finished? When you plant …


A Wannabe Homesteader, by Brenda K.

Some of my long-time friends can’t believe me now.  I was definitely a “city girl,” but now I’m a “wannabe homesteader.”  We’re living in the country now and I’m having fun learning to do a lot of “new” things.  Some of these things are just ordinary, every-day chores for people who grew up on farms, but for me, it’s a whole new way of life.  I’ve really enjoyed making butter and yogurt from the fresh milk we buy from the local Amish.  The first day I bought a gallon of milk from them, I told them I’d never had fresh …


Urban and Suburban Preparedness, by ChemEngineer

A recent conversation prompted this article. It seems that friends in urban and suburban homes feel that there may be little hope for them in case of disaster, since they have no “retreat” set up in a rural area as a destination. This article points out similarities in all disaster preparedness, as well as possible differences in strategies and tactics to make surviving in urban and suburban locations more likely. None of these are new ideas, just slanted toward those who are urban/ suburban dwellers and that do not have a rural retreat location. While not detailed in scope, below …


Canning Protein, by Taressa

Home food preservation is an important part of my food storage program.  I decided that if it can be sold in a can in the store, then I should be able to put it up myself, in jars.  I buy dry goods such as rice, pasta, potato flakes and dry beans and use a canner to store them in large #10 cans, as well as vacuum sealing with the “FoodSaver” jar lid port.  I’ve also hit a few sales after the holidays to buy a supply of candy to vacuum seal in jars for a time when a little comfort …


Prepping for Less and for the First Time Prepper, by Becky Bear

Recently, because of some significant financial changes in our life (including moving halfway across country, one of us unable to find work and the other getting laid off, and then getting a job at 50% of the previous salary) we are no longer able to invest as we done in the past. However, because we invested in prepping prior to our sudden reversal of fortune, what would normally happen in this type of financial emergency merely became a financial irritant. Even without 75% of our previous income, we are still able to live well and continue our prepping effort, if …


Three Letters Re: Canning Food in a Grid-Down World

Jim: In response to the question on wood stove canning. The short answer is ‘yes’. However, to can on a wood stove means being able to regulate the heat for extended periods. (Irregular temperatures, especially with the pressure canner, will cause your jars to siphon the juices.) This means a good assortment of dependable wood, a stove that will hold a steady heat and if you’re lucky enough, a separate summer kitchen. (The wood stove in summer will turn the kitchen into an unbearable sauna. That said, I have canned over wood heat for many years with excellent results. And, …


Letter Re: Canning Food in a Grid-Down World

Dear JWR, Regarding the article Canning Food in a Grid-Down World, by Christine C., I have a question for your readers. I have only pressure canned over bottled gas or electric heat. Is it possible to pressure can over wood heat? I have cooked over wood outdoors. My dad used to cook Christmas ham on a Buck stove in the family room.  I have never had a wood cook stove. Or, am I going to have to stock pile bottled gas for my camp stove? I want to thank Christine for the information about the gasket-less canner brand. I need …


Canning Food in a Grid-Down World, by Christine C.

We all know how possible a grid down scenario is.  While we have been stuffing our pantries and freezers with food to sustain us, what happens when there is no electricity to run that freezer?  If it is winter time in a northern place then it would be fine and we could use Mother Nature.  But what if you live in a southern area where the temperature does not remain below freezing? One solution would be to home-can your food. Also home canning is a very inexpensive and frugal way to add to your food stores.  Not to mention you …