Category: Food Storage & Cooking

Letter Re: Rolled Oats Versus Steel Cut Oats for Storage

Dear Sir, I love your blog and read it every day. I have a background in chemistry. I believe that the fat content, per unit weight, of rolled oats is essentially the same as cut oats. What is different is the density. I agree with the point that the cut oats store more densely. More importantly, the access of oxygen to the oil/fat is faster in the (thinner) rolled grains relative to cut, and faster in cut oats relative to whole oats. I would bet that the rolled oats will go rancid faster in a warm climate. Other than that, …


Two Letters Re: Rolled Oats Versus Steel Cut Oats for Storage

Mr. Rawles; Regarding the steel cut versus rolled oats discussion, I too love the taste of steel cut oats. The easy, low energy way to prepare them is on the McCann’s steel Cut Irish Oatmeal (box, not the can). It is: Boil 4 cups of water. Add 1 cup oatmeal. Stir, cover and leave overnight. The next morning cook over low 9-12 minutes. This is very easy. Using a microwave to re-heat the oatmeal in the morning is even faster. Just my $0.02 worth. Love your site, – Steve in California   Hello Mr. Rawles, I was surprised and disappointed …


Letter Re: Eating The Food That You Store

Mr Rawles, First off, let me start by saying, I loved “Patriots” Kudos to you. The thing I’m writing to you about is an idea I came up with after reading one or the suggestions for single survivalists using # 10 cans of foodstuffs in their preps. The reduction of waste is a serious subject. I think it would be a good idea for all of the folks that use these food stores, to invest a bit of their survival funds on a vacuum sealer system, and kitchen scale. The cans could then be opened, divided into individual portions, [labelled] …


Letter Re: Eating The Food That You Store

Sir: I currently store many foods which I routinely eat, none of which has the long shelf life of many of the ‘survival staples’. I’m ready and willing to buy several thousand dollars’ worth of hard wheat and other canned supplies, but I have one problem: I don’t know if I will actually eat them! Is there anyone out there that has a sampler pack, that allows one to try various offerings to make sure that we and our families will eat those staples? Thanks for all your hard work in helping us prepare! Warm Regards, – Rich S. JWR …


Letter Re: Rolled Oats Versus Steel Cut Oats for Storage

Mr. Rawles; Here is another thing that readers should be aware of: steel-cut oats require substantially more cooking than the more processed varieties. I buy #10 cans of steel-cut from Honeyville Grain, mostly because I like the taste of this product. Compared to “just add boiling water” instant oats, steel cut is much slower to cook, requiring about 20 minutes of boiling to become sufficiently soft. As a preparedness food, it requires too much fuel and preparation time to be a first-line food of choice. On the other hand, a pressure cooker could probably make short work of preparing any …


Letter Re: Recommendations for a Storage Food Vendor in Canada?

Hi Jim, I live near Ottawa, [Canada] and have no idea where to buy wheat, whole corn, etc. The only place I can think of would be the feed and seed store, but don’t know about whether these are human consumption quality. I went to a huge local farm and asked them, and they said “I’m not sure where to buy it…” Thanks, – Chris R. JWR Replies: I have heard positive reports about FC Surplus, a storage food vendor in Ontario, Canada. At last report, they carried Mountain House freeze dried foods, the Canadian “Freddy Chef” MREs, and a …


Letter Re: Rolled Oats Versus Steel Cut Oats for Storage

Hello Mr. Rawles, I recently discovered something called ‘steel-cut’ oats which are healthier than rolled oats. Are you familiar with this and how do they differ when it comes to long term storage. I did find a small container in the store that was about 2-1/2 times the cost of regular rolled oats. I have enjoyed reading your daily tips and the blog. Thank you, – Margo JWR Replies: The advantages of steel cut oats are marginal. They do have slightly more nutritive value than rolled oats, but certainly not enough to justify their substantially higher price! Rolled oats are …


Letter Re: Whole Grains Versus Milled Grains for Storage

Jim: With regards to food storage, I’ve heard a great deal about people buying buckets of wheat to put away. What would be the feasibility of just cutting out the middle-man and stocking up on baking flour, cornmeal, etc.? If this were possible it would allow one to forego the price of a grinder and put those funds toward even more foodstuffs. I imagine it would keep pretty well if packed with a good vacuum-sealer and socked away in food grade buckets. What am I missing? – L.C. JWR Replies: As described in my “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course, …


Letter Re: Gold is Going Up, But is Now a Good Time to Buy?

Jim, I am going to become a 10 Cent Challenge subscriber before the end of the month because the information provided in SurvivalBlog is invaluable and has forever changed my way of thinking! I have been a reader for about a half year and have seen the topic of gold come up several times. Gold is apparently at a 28 year high and the desire to get invested from my personal standpoint is high but my question is do you see gold leveling out or continuing its upward trend? The other part of the equation is I am young father …


Letter Re: Phases of the Moon and Deer Hunting

James, Ungulates (cattle, deer, antelopes, camels, deer, goats, pigs, sheep, as so forth) daily routines are keyed to the moon. People’s routines are keyed to the Sun. The moon cycles each 28 days, the sun in 30 or so days. Each day, the sun is always somewhere near high noon, i.e. 50% past sun-up, at 12:00 sun time (duh). However, the moon can be at ‘high noon’ in moon time at any given hour, i.e. at 9:00 a.m./3:00 p.m., etc.—because the moon has a shorter cycle. Recent satellite telemetry studies on collared white tail does and bucks across North America …


US Food Riots Much Closer Than You Think, by Robert Felix

(The following is re-posted with permission, from IceAgeNow.com) Recently, I said “we’ll be fighting in the streets for food long before we’re buried in ice.” I say the same thing in my book Not by Fire but by Ice. I just received an email from a reader that sums it up better than I did: “I spent about thirty years working in commercial agribusiness. My main job was to purchase ingredients, mainly grain, for flour mills and animal feed mills. As a part of my job, I was forced to understand the US food supply system, its strengths and weaknesses. …


Letter Re: Plan B — Your Bug-Out Route

Mr. Rawles, In the event of a natural or manmade disaster you may need to retreat despite extensive preparations at your base of operations, whether in suburbia or in the mountains. You may find yourself in a desperate situation; facing forest fire, fallout from a malfunctioning nuclear power plant, terrorism, organized bands of looters or an invading army. Where will you go? How will you get there? What is your route? Whether you have been preparing for years or weeks you need a Plan “B”. Identifying the threat will help you determine the safest route and mode of transportation to …


Letter Re: “Get Your Ark” Food Storage Pails

Hi Jim. A quick note regarding the question/comment from J.S.C. on serving size in the bucket of food. It is perhaps not commonly known, but it is an important fact to be aware of … that is, all foods sold in the US with nutrition labels have serving sizes based on definitions provided by the FDA. Each type of food is defined at the FDA web site. In simple terms, the FDA determines how much food is customarily consumed at one eating occasion. Typically, several different foods are eaten together during a meal (or eating occasion), so a single serving …


Letter Re: “Get Your Ark” Food Storage Pails

Mr. Rawles: First off, I would like to thank you personally for the nice note you sent to thank me for becoming a “10 Cent Challenge” subscriber. The services you provide are worth much, much more than the $36.50 [per year that] you ask. To be honest, you’re a better man than me; if I were you, I would probably make the subscription mandatory. I do have a question for you: in your considerable opinion, how would you rate the usefulness of this product from a preparedness perspective As you can see, they tout “The ARK” [bucket-packaged storage food unit] …


Letter Re: Advice for Newbie on Food Dehydrating, Canning, and Storage

Sir: I started reading SurvivalBlog just two months ago,following a recommendation by an elder at my Baptist church. Your blog has become a daily habit. I just recently signed up for $3 a month for the 10 Cent Challenge. Right now, I’m “peeling back the onion layers”–going through the [SurvivalBlog] archives. I am blown away by how much knowledge you have amassed there, all free. Thank you! I’m feeling more than a bit overwhelmed by the enormity of what I now realize that I need to do, to prepare for my family [for] disasters. I wasn’t raised on a farm, …