Category: Food Storage & Cooking

Letter Re: Why Store Wheat?

Sir: In response to the “Why Store Wheat?” letter, most people don’t realize that you can easily make your own sourdough culture, from scratch. The air is full of yeasts (most not as quick-acting as the brewer’s yeast used in most bread), and it’s easily captured. Make a ball of wet flour, and leave it on the counter. Better, leave it in a clean bowl with a mesh cloth or something on top to keep insects out, sitting in a warm place. The next day, add more flour and water and make a bigger ball. Do that for a few …


Letter Re: Making Wheat Jerkey

Jim: Here’s a wonderful wheat recipe that can be tailored to your own taste buds. Enjoy! Wheat Jerky Makes two dozen strips. Recipe can be doubled. 1 c raw gluten,  made from washed wheat flour. 14 oz. of liquid bouillon, using beef soup base, or ham, or chicken, or 1/2 beef and 1/2 ham, or bacon  flavor 6 oz. water 1 tbsp. Maggi or Kitchen bouquet (natural coloring) 1 tbsp. liquid smoke 1/4 tsp. garlic powder pinch of sea salt Optionals: add 2 tbsp. honey (for a touch of sweetness)                  1/4 tsp. tabasco sauce or cayenne pepper (for a …


Four Letters Re: Why Store Wheat?

James Wesley: According to the folks at aaoobfoods.com they have a “recipe” to grow yeast on potato granules/flakes. They are out of Amite, Louisiana. They are great! Thank you, James Wesley. Sincerely, – Ron M.   Jim: Yeast can be cultured at home to prolong its use indefinitely http://www.wikihow.com/Culture-Yeast That aside people have eaten flat bread like matzoh for centuries. Of course that pasta he spoke of is also typically fashioned from wheat. Not that everyone can make their own homemade pasta but yes it can be done by those who really wish to. Cheers, Rich F. Mr. Rawles, I …


Letter Re: Why Store Wheat?

Mr. Rawles: I’ve been reading SurvivalBlog exhaustively for several days, and I don’t understand why people store wheat as part of a long term food storage plan. Since yeast is not a long term storable commodity, it will not be available to make bread.  That means that the buckets of stored wheat can be used only for sprouts or as a cereal dish, which is rather unpalatable.  Our food storage plan is centered on rice, pasta, and beans instead of wheat.  Am I missing something? Why store hard wheat?   Thanks for your help,  Michael  JWR Replies: Yeast can be stored for up to four …


Stocking up on Grains and Legumes (Part 1), by Sky Watcher

As I write this I am currently awaiting arrival of my 6,711 pound order that I placed with Bob’s Red Mill.  Crazy?  Maybe, maybe not.  This is not something I entered into quickly or lightly.  Please let me explain my reasoning and methods of madness to you in the hope it may strike a chord with you in your own preparations. Recent national and international events have spurred my husband and I into kicking our preparations up several notches.  We have only been seriously preparing for TEOTWAWKI for a few months.  After reading “Patriots” by James Rawles and “One Second …


Survival Preparation in Small Spaces: How to Grow and Store in the Space You Have, by L.N. in Texas

I live in the country and so I am used to gardening, canning, saving and preparing.  However, when I talk to many people who live in the city and live either with minimal land and perhaps apartments, they do not seem prepared or not as prepared as they could be.  When I ask if they store or grow any food, they just sort of look at me.  When I tell them they should either grow some food or store food not only in case of natural disaster, but even due to inflation and rising prices, the looks become bewildered.  They’ll …


Letter Re: Storing Uncooked Country Hams

Dear Editor: I recommend Gatton Farms, Fathers’ Country Hams.   These are the best hams I have ever tasted.  If you have never had one, you are missing out , it is not like any other ham in the world. The hams that store are the Uncooked variety. I would inquire of them about storage temp and humidity requirements as well as aging out time.  The mold continues to grow on the exterior on the rind as part of the aging process and may have to be arrested at some point before it detracts from the meat quality. Additionally you …


Letter Re: Controlling Post-TEOTWAWKI Food Odors

Sir, A point I would like to make to those that are living in a city, suburb or rural setting: If you are in a TEOTWAWKI scenario, then I am guessing you have read much of what is here and hopefully feel somewhat ready to take care of you and yours. I would suggest that unless you are able and willing to feed a whole neighborhood–I for one, am not–then please realize what smells have to do with your survival. If you go out your door on any given day you will note what is cooking or burning within a …


Two Letters Re: Small Campstove Cooking

Sir, I read R.E.’s article on Small Campstove Cooking with interest. Thank you. I’ve tried a few as well varieties of stoves as well and to date my favorite is the Littlbug. It’s sturdy, stainless steel, comes in two sizes, folds up, it has some adjustments, and can burn solid fuels or twigs very efficiently. Twigs removing the need to carry fuel. Blessings, – Steve B. Jim,   Just a quick note about a comment R.E. made in his article: “Whether a stove unsafe for a small tent would be safe in a home is uncertain. Just remember that carbon monoxide (CO) is lighter …


Letter Re: Bacteria-Infected Meat in U.S. Supermarkets

JWR,   I thought I’d pass this along for your consideration to publish this link: Quarter of Meat Supply Contaminated With Drug-Resistant Bacteria. This article may be alarming to some of our population, but to most of your readers I suspect it is not a surprise and many have even known or anticipated such an anecdotal report as we’ve been observing an increase in drug resistant bacteria for some time.    What I took away from this article is the benefit of the extreme care it takes to not only raise animals for consumption (apparent source of pathogens) but thoroughness …


How Long Will Your Provisions Last?, by D.G.

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Growing up on a farm in the Midwest I was exposed to the “self-sufficiency” mindset early on, even though I probably didn’t fully appreciate it at the time.  I can remember my grandmother keeping a large kitchen drawer nearly stuffed full of aluminum foil scraps, string, and assorted sacks and bags, all to be reused and never thrown away until completely used up.  Being snowed in for a few days each winter was never a big concern.  When the electricity was out we had propane and firewood to heat the house, plenty of food had been canned in the summer, …


Letter Re: Coffee in a Post-Collapse Society

Dear Mr. Rawles,   I would like to add one more consideration to the post-collapse coffee junkie.  My fellow caffeine addicts may be under the misperception that their fix has to come from Java, Columbia or China.  Not strictly true.  Although it is not “coffee” per se, there is a native plant which can provide a caffeine jolt, hold off that dreaded withdrawal headache for you or be used to treat asthma attacks.  Ilex vomitoria var pendula, a.k.a. “Weeping Holly“, is the only native caffeine producing plant, and grows very well anywhere other hollies grow.  The preparation is a little …


Letter Re: Coffee in a Post-Collapse Society

Jim, I’d like to put my two cents in the coffee discussion. I work with a major coffee roaster and I know we and probably no other roaster in the country packages stale coffee. When beans are roasted they can be exposed to oxygen for a long time with out going stale. However, when the beans are ground they do have to be packaged quickly or they will go stale. If our ground coffee is not packed within 28 hours it is sent to the compost center. The comment about the coffee being packed stale because other wise the bags …


Prepping for Apartment Dwellers, by Anthony S.

Preparing for an uncertain future when living in an apartment or a condominium (“condo”) can be a struggle.  When the Lord has not chosen to give you land to work with, you work with what he has given you, knowing first and foremost that he is your first retreat, and no matter what happens, “All things work together for the Glory of the Lord…”.  There are many limiting factors when you do not have the smallest amount of land.  And if you are reading this, you probably agree that our future has many uncertainties from economic, to natural, to spiritual.  I would like to share a bit …


Four Letters Re: Coffee in a Post-Collapse Society

Sir: In the recent article Coffee in a Post-Collapse Society, the author is talking about Arabica coffee being only cultivated near the equator. Robusto green coffee can be grown in the southern states like Florida, south Texas (same latitude as Cuba, a coffee producing country) basically any place that citrus can grow, Robusto coffee can grow. Robusto coffee can grow at low altitudes although it is not know for it’s high quality taste. Robusto coffee beans that are used mostly for instant coffee and a blend with Arabica beans in espresso for a creamier foam. Yields for Robusto coffee are …