First Amendment??? Arizona Wants Power To Seize The Assets Of Protesters – H.L.
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JWR interview on Infowars (video): Tradecraft for Privacy: Use It or Lose It.
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Farm from a Box – a complete off-grid toolkit for tech-powered farming – G.P.
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A Two-State Solution… For The West? – B.B.
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Proposed Executive Order Designating Certain Rifles for ‘Militia Purposes’ – G.G.
“The wave of the future is not the conquest of the world by a single dogmatic creed but the liberation of the diverse energies of free nations and free men.” – John F. Kennedy
This day, February 26, is the birthday of Major-General Orde Charles Wingate (born, 1903, died 24 March 1944), an eccentric British Army officer who organized special military units in Palestine in the 1930s, and in Abyssinia, Sudan, and Burma during World War II. He is most famous for his creation of the Chindits, airborne deep-penetration troops trained to work behind enemy lines in the Far East campaigns against the Japanese during World War II.
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We’ve made mention of Emergency Life Saving Armor (ELSA) before in the blog and now Ready Made Resources is carrying it. It looks like a computer bag, but unzips and deploys in seconds to give a level 3+ body armor capable of stopping 5.56 and 7.62 rounds.
I’m concerned about having yeast readily available in TEOTWAWKI. I like having dry yeast readily available by the measurable spoonful, and so I buy it in one pound bricks and then store it in a sealed quart Mason jars – one in my refrigerator door and one in my freezer– so that the yeast keeps for well over a year (if I haven’t used it up in that amount of time). It is no problem to use cold yeast directly in your recipes. It wakes up in the warm water just as if it had been stored at room temperature. However, this dry, dormant yeast won’t last forever, even in my freezer, and I wonder if I will continue to be able to buy it. I’ve used other forms of yeast also. Let’s talk about yeast and look at our options for a long-term TEOTWAWKI situation where we can’t buy our dry, packaged yeast.
Yeasts are single-celled organisms that generally reproduce asexually through mitosis, which can be simplistically described as cellular self-replication and splitting. The yeast reproduction process is commonly referred to as budding. Yeasts differ from mold in that molds are multi-celled organisms. Saccharomyces cerevisiae is the species of yeast commonly used in bread baking and in alcohol production. (There are more than 1,500 species of yeast.) According to Wikipedia, Saccharomyces is a Latin word that literally means “sugar fungus”. Yes, it is a fungus, and it is a tasty and nutritious one. It is also a yeast derived generally from sweet fruits. (We’ll look into that more later in this article.)
Biologists consider yeast to be a plant capable of reproducing itself. You can feed it sugar or carbohydrates to make it grow or kill it through starvation or heat. In the fermentation process, our baking yeast (Saccharomyces) converts carbohydrates into carbon dioxide and alcohol, giving our breads wonderful lift and flavor and, I suppose, doing something of the same for beverages (or those who consume alcoholic beverages and become “light” in the head).
For thousands of years, it is well documented that yeast has been used in bread baking and in brewing alcoholic beverages around the world. It seems that this yeast began being accumulated from the surface skins of grapes; however, back in the days when everyone made their own bread, there is much documentation (and even art) of people going to their local brewer to purchase a jug of liquid, yellow brewer’s yeast for their week’s bread baking needs.
According to King Arthur Flour:
In order to have a reliable supply of yeast on hand for all of our baking needs, it’s necessary for manufacturers to “domesticate” wild yeast—stabilizing it, and in the process making it 200 times stronger than its wild counterpart.
Plant scientists working with a yeast manufacturer identify certain characteristics of wild yeast that they decide are desirable; isolate them, and then replicate them. The resulting yeast is given a “training” diet to make it reproduce. Formerly based on molasses, most manufacturers now feed their growing yeast with corn syrup. Once the cells have replicated to a critical mass—a process that generally takes about a week—they’re filtered, dried, packaged, and sent off to the market.
Homemade bread from freshly ground whole grains is routinely a part of our family’s daily diet, and at least half of these breads are yeast breads. Sure, we enjoy whole grain biscuits, pancakes, cornbread, cookies, pastries, cakes, muffins, scones, and more, each made with baking soda or baking powder, plus I occasionally make crackers or unleavened breads too; however, a significant portion of our breads depend upon yeast. When we travel or eat out, we definitely miss the benefit of the fiber and wholesome goodness of our own freshly ground whole grain breads (and lightly cooked vegetables)! Without them, things in our well-adjusted bodies just don’t function as well. It is for this same reason that I encourage those who want to survive TEOTWAWKI in good shape begin adjusting their diets now to include fresh whole grain flours and not just the products at the store that say “whole grain”. The difference between the grain you grind yourself and what you buy in the store is significant, because so many of these store items just have a small portion of their content that includes whole grain, plus as soon as the grain is cracked the germ and nutrients begin to deteriorate and some are lost within a few days. Using truly fresh flour captures the greatest amount of nutrient and fiber and prepares us for what we will deal with in TEOTWAWKI. Since our whole, uncracked grains store indefinitely, we wait to grind grain until we have need of flour and then just grind what we are going to need for the day (or possibly two days).
Fiber– real, heavy fiber– affects your body. If you wait to begin grinding your grain and using it for flour and homemade breads and cereals for the first time after TEOTWAWKI, you are not only in for some frustration in learning how to go about doing all of this successfully, but your body may have a significant digestive fitness adjustment. Your body’s plumbing may initially be sluggish from its habit of eating highly processed foods and become constipated and then possibly shift to the opposite. If this is the case, you may not have a pleasant go of it. Imagine this physical discomfort occurring simultaneously to the stress of adjusting to life in a chaotic situation without electricity or running water and you are in short supply of toilet paper (or at least worried about your supply), and I haven’t even mentioned the social unrest or relocation circumstances that you may be enduring, too. Again, I cannot encourage you strongly enough to begin living the wholesome, healthy dietary lifestyle now that you plan on living in a TEOTWAWKI situation, including eating whole grains, increased quantities of greens including wild/weedy ones, fresh fruits and vegetables, eggs, and reduced quantities of processed meats and foods.
In addition to using yeasts in breads, it is used in fermenting sauces and alcohol. I have no expertise there, at least not at this time, but it is something that I may look at in the future, as I definitely can see great life-sustaining value in being able to make our own wine and distilled alcohols for medicinal purposes that go beyond pleasure.
Right now, we have a variety of commercial yeasts available to us. We have several kinds of instant/rapid rise yeasts as well as active yeasts and also fresh yeast. Do you know the difference and which might be better for storage? Well, the instant/rapid rise yeasts are smaller celled organisms that provide more surface space when placed into warm liquid to active and thus enable it to activate more quickly. Instant/rapid rise doesn’t produce a bigger rise in bread, but it is quick and convenient. Active yeasts are larger celled organisms that take a little longer to activate in liquid but produce the same rise in bread as its smaller version. Fresh yeast comes in cubes that crumble when touched; it has a very, very short shelf life and is not available everywhere. Yeast is a living orgasm, and it needs energy to survive, though it retains some within its cellular structure. By keeping yeast in the freezer or refrigerator, we are able to slow its activity. It seems to me that the larger celled orgasm– active yeast– would be better able to retain more resources for a longer shelf life than the instant yeasts, and in my research that is in fact what I discovered. So, for storage purposes, active yeast has the longest shelf life and is what I choose to use and keep in the freezer and refrigerator. I store at least a two-year supply in the freezer, even though it may not be “as” active in year two as it was in its first year, but it may still have some life to it to boost my starters.
There are very practical and relatively easy ways of dealing with having no dry yeast, if it becomes unavailable commercially. Certainly, the dry active yeast most of us use in our recipes and activate with warm water is the simplest and very easiest form, but there are other ways to use yeast for bread leavening, and there are some benefits and flavor enhancing qualities that can be added in these methods, also.
Yeasts grow on organic matter, especially sweet organic matter. It is on the surface of fruits, vegetables, and grains and can be lying around your home dormant just about everywhere, especially if you are a bread maker, like me. While I usually use dry yeast, I will definitely need to capture some of the available wild yeasts in my possession to make our family’s beloved breads in a TEOTWAWKI situation. Even now, there are times when I grow yeast and modify bread flavors using it, keeping some continuously alive in my refrigerator for weeks or months at a time. (We’ll talk about sour dough a little later.)
Anyway, whoever wants yeast bread or to make beer or wine will need to produce yeast once their commercial yeast supply is depleted. I am delighted to share with you that it is possible to produce your own yeast and also to produce pre-fermented dough that stores and can be used as bread “starter”.
I recall my mother making a jar of mixed fruit yeast water. I thought it looked and smelled horrible, but I was just a youngster. What did I know!?! Back then, I didn’t like vinegar or wine. I did like the bread that was her final result though. Yum!
The basic and very old way to capture yeast is to make yeast water. This is done simply by growing natural yeast, found on the surface of dried fruits, in room temperature water, and to speed the growth you can feed the yeast a little sugar or honey. Yeast naturally accumulates on dried raisins, apricots, apples, and cranberries, so these are good to use or you can use a combination of fruits. Just be sure that you are using pesticide-free/organic dried fruits. Here are the simple steps:
While the Italians call it “biga” and the French call it “poolish”, this pre-fermented dough starter is simply a wet mixture of flour and water with a small amount of yeast that is allowed to rest at room temperature for a long period (usually 12-24 hours and sometimes longer) to allow the yeast (and some probiotic-type bacteria) to multiply and improve the dough’s texture and taste. Then this biga or poolish is added into new dough to complete the bread dough recipe. Most Italian breads, including Ciabatta and Pugliese, are made using bigas. These are some of our family’s favorite table breads, and they require that I begin the process days in advance of serving them on the table; however, we find the taste, texture, and crust to be worth the advance planning. I usually allow my whole wheat bread doughs to sit for at least several hours to pre-ferment and also for the grains to soften before completing the recipe. Pâte Fermentée, which means “old dough” in French, differs from biga and poolish in that this dough is merely a portion of regular dough that is set aside to be added to the next batch of bread dough to continue the yeast and bacterial strains in order to preserve a consistent bread flavor between batches. In using these methods, we are able to reduce the amount of yeast required and can use our yeast water instead of active dry yeast in bread recipes.
While these pre-fermented doughs have hours and even days to sit at room temperature, they are not sour. Even the Pâte Fermentée is used for many doughs that are not sour, though this process is also used for sour dough, too. A lot has to do with how long the dough is allowed to sit and its ratios of yeast, sugar, water, and temperature, et cetera.
The sour dough process is believed to be the oldest form of bread leavening. InfoGalactic references the very expensive Encyclopedia of Food Microbiology report of sour dough being excavated in Switzerland that was dated from 3700 BCE. (That was some pretty stale bread, I’d imagine.) Good sour dough is wonderful, as it is recognized and applauded around the world but especially in San Francisco. It captures yeast from the grain itself and uses the sugars from the grain to grow and reproduce.
To make a superb wheat flour sour dough “mother” or starter can be a tricky process. The production of a good sourdough, in modern manufacturing kitchen, employs exact control of the acidity developed during the process as well as highly controlled temperature, time, dough yield (dough firmness), and type and species of microflora. Additionally, there are multiple processes for producing sour dough as well. The final results of all of this effort to produce good sour dough bread is not known until the final product is produced, baked, and tasted. We do not have all of these controls and simply must do our best and then taste the yield. Here’s the simplest process that I use:
After completing this four-step process and obtaining your good-smelling sour dough starter, store it covered in the refrigerator. Each day begin removing the amount of starter you need for making bread or throw out the excess, but be sure to feed your living sour dough starter every day. It is alive and will die if not fed! I add about 3/4 cup of flour plus 1/3 cup of warm water solution each day. I sometimes use even more flour to thicken my final sour dough starter before putting it in the refrigerator to help it maintain the yeast in the refrigerator. If it gets too thick, just add water. Also, if you get tired of maintaining your sour dough starter, I’ve read that it can be air dried by smearing it on a silpat non-stick sheet and storing it then in an airtight container for months until you want to use it and activate it in warm water. (I haven’t done this before. If you have, you might write to SurvivalBlog about your experience. Having a dry sour dough starter to carry in our BOB is a great idea, if it really works!)
So, in my final conclusion about yeast, I know that it is everywhere and can be multiplied in the proper conditions and used to leaven all kinds of breads. We can store the commercial yeast in the freezer or refrigerator. We can capture yeast from fruit in yeast water and use yeast water to make wonderful pre-ferment dough and artisan breads, and we can simply use wholesome grains and filtered water to make sour dough starters that will leaven our sour dough breads. The non-commercial options take some time, but their tastes and results are superior and worth the effort, especially if our commercial yeasts are unavailable.
If you haven’t tried to capture wild yeasts and make pre-ferments or sour dough starter, I suggest you give it a try. You’ll be satisfied in knowing that you can. It becomes fairly easy and routine after you get the hang of it. It’s one more step in self sufficiency, plus you just might get a taste for your own homemade whole grain breads and make a lifestyle change that saves your colon or your life.
I wish you well, until we meet again on SurvivalBlog!
Mr. Latimer:
There’s a curious development in metal prices. Because of the recent strength in the zinc price and relative weakness in copper and nickel prices, it is the case that $1000 face value of “new” pennies (post-1982) is worth more than $1000 face value in nickel coins. As of today’s prices, the corresponding values are $734.37 for new pennies vs. $715.75 for nickels.
I endorse and practice the discipline of saving nickels. There is an excellent track record of them being worth a premium to face value. As it makes sense to keep an ample supply of cash on hand at home, why not do it in the form of nickels (if one has the storage room) and “go long” on copper and nickel prices risk free? Recent zinc price trends now indicate that one can do the same with pennies. In fact, by going with pennies, one can skim a premium product by separating the pre-1982 pennies ($1812.31 copper value for $1000 face value!) and have a remainder in new pennies that is worth more than the equivalent face value for nickels. – Nevada Slim
POWERFUL GOLD & SILVER COILED SPRINGS: Important Charts You Have To See
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CASHLESS SOCIETY Expands to Taiwan! Ban on Cash for Large Purchases!
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In America’s heartland, the American Dream is in crisis
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SurvivalBlog and its editors are not paid investment counselors or advisers. Please see our Provisos page for details.
SurvivalBlog readers wrote in with some answers on where to find the adjustable glasses mentioned yesterday.
Note that not all of these adjustable glasses are like those described in the original question and SurvivalBlog does not have any affiliation with any of these vendors.
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Surviving doomsday: Underground condos bring wealthy to Kansas – G.G.
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DNC transgender spokesman tries to argue science with Tucker Carlson, and it doesn’t go well – DSV
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Wranglerstar shows some of the results of the crazy snowfall this year: Snow & Ice Crush Our Neighbors House!!
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“And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, and was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.” – Matthew 17:1-3 (KJV)
February 25th is the birthday of the late bluegrass music legend Ralph Stanley (1927 – 2016). His harmonizing and high tenor solos had an almost haunting sound to them.
First let me state up front that I have heated with a wood stove for over 20 years, so I am not a novice and I understand the use of wood stoves. Additionally, as a person who worked for over 30 years in the defense industry, I also understand that there are products that are ill or poorly planned by engineers who never used the product and/or have large egos and refuse to accept any feedback from the end users of a product.
Our previous wood stove was a Regency brand, which we located in a single story home. In the more than 20 years we owned the Regency wood stove, we had zero problems with the stove.
When we purchased and moved to our new country homestead property, it was equipped with a 1940’s Warm Morning Coal Stove, which had a sheet metal housing that was just warm to the touch, so we were unable to cook on it. (This was a major preparedness issue in my mind.) We were concerned also that coal may not be available in a long-term SHTF situation. We did not want a pellet stove because it requires electricity, manufactured pellets may not be available in the future, and also we could not cook on it. So we opted to upgrade to a new, modern, air tight wood stove. Both the old coal stove and the new wood stove were located in our finished basement next to the small canning kitchen.
We purchased a new Jøtul F 50 TL Rangeley wood stove to replace the 1940’s coal stove from a local dealer in the county who sold it and installed it for us. With the new stove pipe, the final total cost was approximately $2,800. Just as an added bit of information, we paid for the stove and installation two days in advance of the installation, as the stove was in stock, and at that time the amount of stove pipe that was needed was an unknown because this is a very small Appalachian County. After installation I was told to go back to the local dealer in a couple of days to pay for the stove pipe after the installation. I must say that in our previous home in California, they would not have installed our wood stove until the check had cleared the bank much less told us to pay for the stove pipe at a later date. This was an eye opener for my husband, who was born and only lived in California prior to our retirement.
What will happen in 10 years when I am pushing 70 and my husband is pushing 80, we may be wheelchair bound, and not be able to bend down or lay on the floor to remove the ash pan? Will I have to pay $500 or more to have someone remove part of the stovepipe and install four solid cement blocks under the legs to increase the height of the wood stove and add a sheet metal plate over the grate and a layer or two of fire brick on the steel plate? Or will I have to pay someone to come in everyday in the wintertime to empty the ash pan?
The first year we owned the stove there were not any problems.
The second year we owned the stove, the front glass broke down the middle into two pieces. The replacement glass was an additional $180. I may have to order five additional pieces of glass if this happens again in the future. I understand the importance of preparations; however, something that once lasted us over 20 years and now only lasts two years is a problem for me.
The third year the handle latch fell off when I opened the door at 4am. The metal plate holding the handle in place came unscrewed (due to heat?). The screws used a hex screw in lieu of the U.S. standard flat head or phillips screws. It just sticks in my craw that all of my hot coals are going into an ash pan hour after hour instead of staying in the wood stove keeping the house warm.
What will happen if hot coals burns through the ash pan, which is made of very thin aluminum sheet material material? When you select the contact link at the website, you are directed to a blank page, which has no address or phone number or email to contact Jøtul. So I have no way to provide any feedback to the wood stove manufacturer. I can only assume that Jøtul does not want or value the feedback from the users of their products.
Our previous wood stove sat atop a 20” hearth, and the coal stove loading door was a 3′ height, so it never occurred to me that there might be age-related problems of the new wood stove sitting so low to the floor. At some point in time, yes, I will find a way to elevate the wood stove to a better height. I will even add a solid plate of steel and a layer or two of fire brick to sit atop the grate to lessen the heat loss and solve the problems of the ash pan.
Would I recommend this stove to other people? The answer is “No”, due to the grate and ash pan and ash pan door issues. I hope this review has been helpful, even if you are considering a different brand of stove. I hope this review has given you some things to consider before purchasing a large ticket item, such as a wood stove.
I cook on this wood stove a couple of times every year, just to keep in practice (as I did with my previous wood stove), and I hope every other wood stove user also keeps in practice with their wood stove cooking. My wood stove cooks up the most wonderful pot roast and beef stew every year, and there is nothing better than a pot of coffee made from an old fashioned percolator on a wood stove.
HJL,
Good info from B.W. We also have donkeys, miniature donkeys. They make excellent pets and fine companions on the trail. We hike and even camp with ours, as well as string them along with their packs behind our mules on trail rides. When introduced properly, they get along fine with the family/farm dogs. We have found their personalities to be very similar to dogs, and they will even lay their head in your lap for attention.
Donkeys also make excellent property alarm systems. Our little pair will begin braying at the approach of a car or truck long before I hear it coming up our long gravel drive. Their “radar” and those lovable long ears are impeccable indicators of approach or movement by wildlife. All I have to do is follow their gaze or the direction of those ears and more times than not there’s a deer sneaking down the wood line or turkeys picking their way along. They have also alerted me to unwanted visitors of the 4-legged variety after dark while our other equine silently observe. I never fail to investigate our braying mini donks after dark, and they’re yet to sound a false alarm.
One note of caution: donkeys (of any size) do not need nearly the amount of feed, hay, or grass that a horse does, and as a result they are subject to founder in the spring and summer if left out with too much access to rich grass. Donkeys are desert animals built to thrive in arid regions. Make sure you have a dry lot or a separate paddock to limit access to rich grass in the spring and summer. – W. in the Old Dominion
Next Leg Up is Beginning (Precious Metals)
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Diverging Tops Forming In Precious Metals And Miners
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Why the Feds Should Legalize Interstate Commerce in Healthcare
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SurvivalBlog and its editors are not paid investment counselors or advisers. Please see our Provisos page for details.
When you think your city has high crime… A TALE OF TWO CITIES Rio Carnival 2017 sees millions of revellers take to the streets – as cops clash with drug users in notorious ‘crackland’ district of Sao Paulo (Warning: Brazil, Rio de Janeiro in particular, is very vulgar. You have been warned before viewing these pictures.)
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A solid take on the radiation detected in Europe: Some Numbers on the European Radioactive Iodine Story
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A SurvivalBlog reader wrote in asking if anyone knew how to obtain these adjustable glasses. They might be handy to have in a TEOTWAWKI situation.
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SurvivalBlog reader “Bronco” suggested this site for license plate scanner OPSEC. Apparently LLCs in New Mexico do not require the names and addresses of the principles and do not require any annual reports or annual fees. This might be worth researching.
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“Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: but I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.” – Matthew 5:38-42 (KJV)
On February 24, 1840, former President John Quincy Adams began to argue the Amistad case in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. A practicing lawyer, member of the House of Representatives, and son of America’s second president who was an avowed abolitionist. Though John Quincy Adams downplayed his abolitionist stance, he also viewed the practice as contrary to the nation’s core principles of freedom and equality. In the arguments, Adams attacked Van Buren’s abuse of executive power. In a dramatic moment, Adams faced the judges, pointed to a copy of the Declaration of Independence hanging on the courtroom wall, and said “[I know] no law, statute or constitution, no code, no treaty, except that law…which [is] forever before the eyes of your Honors.” Adams’ skillful arguments convinced the court to rule in favor of returning the Africans to their native country.
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Today, we present another entry for Round 69 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $15,000 worth of prizes for this round include:
First Prize:
Second Prize:
Third Prize:
Round 69 ends on March 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.