Category: Food Storage & Cooking

Time and Energy Efficient Cooking, by KBF

I wish to share some valuable information on my personal experiences with the use of two cooking devices which I incorporate into daily homemaking practice when I am attempting to conserve on water and on fuel usage. Both of them are extremely time and energy efficient. The two kitchen products which have earned their weight in silver in my home are my pressure cookers, and my newest kitchen toys, which come from an old Asian origin and cooking concept, the thermo cooker pot. I have and use several sizes of pressure cookers. I chose the pot size for use for …


Letter Re: Skills Versus Gear for Survival

Jim, After reading the Profiles you have posted. I have come to the conclusion I cannot hold a dime to these folks. Makes me wonder why should I bother. Hmmm, that thought lasts all of five seconds. A lot of the people for whom you profiled are in a much higher income bracket than the rest of us working folks. Personally, I have two jobs and work 12-14 hours a day. I was unlucky enough to be in a third rear end collision. In my life time this year, although instead of being rear ended by an illegal uninsured illegal …


Four Letters Re: A Twenty-Something EMT with Limited Preps Storage Space

Hello, The recently-posted letter “A Twenty-Something EMT with Limited Preps Storage Space” is something that a lot of us apartment dwellers struggle with all the time. I read and re-read the article several times. She never mentioned about space under the bed. I jacked my bed frame up, quietly mind you, with cinder blocks. Not only do I have a whole extra foot of height worth of space. I also have a bed where as I am not climbing out of but am sitting up and sliding off. Makes a big difference in the morning at least for me.. Between …


Letter Re: Home Canning Resources

Mr Rawles, I am a 10 Cent Challenge subscriber who has learned so much from your site since my brother, “Mike near Seattle” told me about it. One skill that my husband and I are trying to become proficient at is canning. Both of us came from homes where our mothers canned, but being a kid in the “production line” doesn’t mean you will remember how to can 30 years later as an adult. I found a great web site called CanningUSA.com that has free online videos for beginners to watch so you can learn how to start canning all …


Letter Re: Hunkering Down in an Urban Apartment in a Worst Case Societal Collapse

Hello, In the event of a disaster (I live in New York City) I intend to shelter in place until all the riotous mobs destroy each other or are starved out. I am preparing for up to six months. I have one liter of water stored for each day (180 liters) and about 50 pounds of rice to eat as well as various canned goods. I have not seen on your site anything about heat sources for urban dwellers who intend to shelter in place. I’m assuming that electricity would go first soon followed by [natural] gas and running water. …


Letter Re: A Twenty-Something EMT with Limited Preps Storage Space

Mr. Rawles, First off I would like to thank you for your profound impact on my life in the last four months. All of my life I grew up with a father and grandfather who were/are minor survivalist men. They believe that the end times are coming and we should prepare for them. They keep about three days of food and water at their homes and plenty of guns and ammo. For the longest time I always thought it was ridiculous and never understood it. Now my thinking has changed to the fact that they are under prepared. When I …


Letter Re: LDS Church Offers Food Storage Starter Kit

Jim, I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints [LDS or comminly called “The Mormons”]. I am also the Emergency Preparedness Coordinator for my ward. As you know the leaders of the church constantly speak of preparedness. In April 2007 a talk was offered by Keith B McMullin in the Saturday evening session of conference titled “Lay Up in Store”. This talk proclaimed again all the benefits of preparation. While not every Latter-day Saint is fully prepared, a percentage somewhere in the mid-teens have done at least a 72-Hour Kit (Bug-out Bag). The Church’s preparation …


Four Letters Re: Coping With Inflation–Some Strategies for Investing, Bartering, Dickering, and Survival

Jim: Great article. You say you have a stock of spices you bought in the 1980s, and this saves you money. As someone who gets a lot of pleasure from good food, I would caution that most spices lose much of their flavor in a short time, certainly within a few years, especially for typical herbs and powdered spices stored in jars as bought in supermarkets. Yours may be specially packed or stored, or selected long-life types. But for most people, as advised in the “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course, buying in moderate bulk makes more sense. A mail-order …


Letter Re: Preparedness on a Very Tight Budget

Mr. Rawles I could not agree more that water and lots of it is the place to start for preparedness on any budget. I purchased DOT/UN/FDA certified closed-top 55 gallon drums which are made of high density polyethylene (HDPE) from my local Pepsi Bottler for 15 dollars each. I try to buy the white ones that contained lemon lime flavoring syrup so my water doesn’t taste like Dr. Pepper etc. They also sold me 15 and 5 gallon containers which I use to store rice, beans and other dry goods. The best deal I have found for purchasing bulk rice …


Coping With Inflation–Some Strategies for Investing, Bartering, Dickering, and Survival

Statistics released by the Federal government claim that the current inflation rate is 4.3 percent. That is utter hogwash. Their statistics cunningly omit “volatile” food and energy prices. The statisticians admit that energy costs rose by more than 21% since last December. They also admit that Finished Goods rose 7.2%, and “Materials for Manufacturing” rose a whopping 42% , with a 8.7% jump in just the month of November. When commodities rise this quickly, it is apparent that something is seriously out of whack. Meanwhile, the buying power of the US Dollar is falling versus most other currencies. Not surprisingly, …


Letter Re: A Significant Wheat Shortage is Looming in the US

Mr. Rawles, I found an interesting and alarming article from CattleNetwork.com on grain supplies. Especially note these parts: “In fact, export sales of U.S. wheat are beginning to look like panic buying. Overseas buyers are purchasing ahead anticipating the U.S. will run out of wheat, which is exactly what may happen for hard red winter and white wheat. Wheat exports simply can not be sustained at current levels. Either price will have to increase more to ration the remaining supply or, as was rumored in grain markets this week, the U.S. government will step in to embargo further wheat exports.” …


Letter Re: Preparedness on a Very Tight Budget

Mr Rawles, Having read your reply to S.’s letter “Preparedness on a Very Tight Budget” I must say you made my day! It made me realize that I am much better off than I thought and on the right track. I am one of those weird (smart?) people who was raised in the city, but for some reason, never belonged. From earliest childhood, I was always “preparing” long before I really knew what for. In other words, I was not your typical “raised in captivity” child. I learned to sew at nine, and spent a lot of time making sleeping …


Letter Re: The Survivalist’s Coffee Cup

Dear James Rawles, I wanted to add some useful additional information on the use and storage of green coffee beans, home roasting and on the use of chicory. Canned vacuum packed ground coffee is horrible tasting after one year. Great for soil amendments at best. I have bought and stored green coffee beans for more than 10 years as a part of our survival and barter larder. The oldest left in rotation to date in dry storage is seven years. I purchase in bulk yearly when the season is harvested from my favorite coffee bean varietals. I started off buying …


The Survivalist’s Coffee Cup, by Matt M.

In the novel “Patriots”, one of the characters scrounges a packet of Sanka from an MRE and complains that the coffee has run out. In the Civil War, Southerners used chicory as a substitute, which (to say the least) is an acquired taste. These unfortunate uses of ersatz coffees can be avoided, if the prudent survivalist plans ahead and learns the relevant skills now. Beans Coffee is harvested from the fruit of the coffee tree, and the fruit discarded. Its inner green seed is the bean itself, which is then roasted, ground, and sold in your local market. This is …


Letter Re: Preparedness on a Very Tight Budget

Mr. Rawles, I have recently begun reading your blog and I am intrigued by the ideas behind survivalism. As a Mormon who grew up in an area with frequent inclement weather, I have maintained an interest over the years and made, at least, some preparations. I presently have a well-equipped Bug-Out-Bag (FYI – Mormons generally refer to these as “72-hour kits”) for both my wife and I, an easily portable lock box containing all vital documents and an external hard drive with all digital documents, plenty of bottled water on hand, and sufficient food in our home for one month. …