Along with the discussion of the need for unpowered ventilation, one thing I have not seen discussed is whether or how much salt folks are storing. Salt is relatively easy to get on the coast, and in selected areas, but fairly hard to find most other places, and remarkably important for 19th century living, not to mention hot weather survival.
I am thinking that salt is cheap now, but my be hard to come by later.
What do others think?
Sea salt, plain and simple, will likely increase in price during a pandemic. Non-toxic, unlike table salt.
i tucked a few boxes of kosher salt in the preps. seemed sensible to me.
Being on a “reduced salt” diet- I make sure I have extra “morton lite salt”. I like to use sea salt, but I add about 1/4 of the lite stuff (KCL+NaCl) to it to keep the right sodium to potassium ratios. Nice thing is that salt is cheap and will store “forever”.
I also have a few big bags of salt crystals (from the feed store) that I use to reduce snow loads on the drive but at SIP those will be held in reserve for salting any “hunted/gathered foods” and fish.
We have 2 25 lb bags we got at Sam’s for about $4 each. I think it’s good to have some stocked, since I don’t have anyway to get salt where I’m at.
Salt is NaCl. No difference between sea salt and table salt unless there is a non-clumper added. I did lay in a good supply for preps. Why suffer without it? Especially if we are eating boring food.
OK, I’m missing something….. why do we need to be so concerned about salt? Other than making rehydration drinks, salt is generally a bad thing for the body, so why need so much of it?
Ricewiki-
Salt_Stories
For many many years (centuries actually)pepper was the most valuable spice. Salt can be found in many places, mined, extracted from sea water, etc.
Another thing I have been stocking up on are coffee beans, and more of the green unroasted ones than roasted because they will keep for several years if stored properly.
EOD- what are your plans for roasting the beans? Have you tried it? Is it tricky?
Nearly Ready – at 19:22
There is a difference in the taste between pure NaCl and sea salt. The sea salt has some magnesium and other ions in it. In fact, some people can taste the difference between kinds of sea salt just like some people can tell the difference in coffee and wine.
The reason I was and am concerned about salt was particularly for those in the warmer parts of the country, and for the preservation of food, especially meat. Salting food keeps it for a long long time.
I have tried twice before to get the message out about salt but to no avail. I wish people would listen because I am certain they will be grateful one day if they do. Most of the people who prep have beans and rice and other things that have to be prepped from scratch. Garden produce, homemade bread, I could go on. We eat these kinds of foods and most people have absolutely no idea how much salt is needed for cooking from scratch. Try to get people to eat a pot of beans without salt. I prefer sea salt but for prepping and bartering we have tons of regular salt. During the Civil War, near the end, salt in the deep south was selling for $100 per pound. It was considered the most valuable item one could get. Many people will kill game to survive. Salt is important to preserve the food not to mention making it palatable.
For you gourmet cooks out there here is an interesting article about the difference in salts and their tastes and what kinds go best with different foods. But it depends on your own taste buds.
http://www.slate.com/id/2117243/
But if you are going to use it to just preserve foods instead of as a spice, there should be little difference.
Allquietonthewesternfront
You are so right about salt when you are cooking from scratch. I am on a low fat low carb diet - so I am eating fresh fruits, veggies, fish, and lean meat. The first 2 days I was very sick almost like I had the flu, when I talked to my doctor about it he said it was because I did not have enough salt and my body was adjusting. To counter it I drank a glass of boulion (spelling? not my strength). When you do not have enough salt you get very tired and run down. Now I salt all my vegetables and meat.
Many people I work with eat frozen meals for lunch - take a look at the sodium content you will be shocked.
My question - should it be salt with or with out iodine? If someone says table salt is it w or wo iodine? Morton sells it both ways and at my grocery store the normal size container is 2 for a $1 - what a bargain.
Morton’s is the worst. Get a good natural salt. The taste is more powerful and wholesome. You will use less and get more from it.
We have salt in our softener. I wonder if it could be used in a crunch…
Iodine may be hard to get in a famine situation so perhaps that would be best.
Iodized salt is important, especially during times of food shortage or famine because:
from UNICEF website:
An important area is the protection of infants and children from physical and mental disabilities caused by iodine deficiency, the world’s single greatest cause of preventable brain damage and mental retardation. Lack of iodine can be corrected for only a few cents per child by providing iodized salt.
If a pregnant mother lacks iodine in her diet, her child may be born with lifelong disabilities such as brain damage, speech impediments or even severe mental retardation. Simply adding minute traces of iodine to table salt can completely prevent iodine deficiency.
from eMedicine.com - Hunger and Malnutrition (famine, food shortage, Effects of iodine deficiency):
Iodine is a chemical element. It is found in trace amounts in the human body, in which its only known function is in the synthesis of thyroid hormones. Severe iodine deficiency results in impaired thyroid hormone synthesis and/or thyroid enlargement (goiter). Population effects of severe iodine deficiency, termed iodine deficiency disorders (IDDs), include endemic goiter, hypothyroidism, cretinism, decreased fertility rate, increased infant mortality, and mental retardation.
Iodine is primarily obtained through the diet but is also a component of some medications, such as radiology contrast agents, iodophor cleansers, and amiodarone. Worldwide, the soil in large geographic areas is deficient in iodine.
Salt in ancient times was currency. Those who cook from scratch know that it is an important ingredient in most recipes. It is also necessary for the human body - particularly when salts/electrolytes are being lost through sweat or diarhea.
I have quite abit “salted” away (pardon the pun!)in my food storage area and live less than a 1/4 mile from a seaside beach which provides even more options in a really long term situation.
Iodized salt does not work as well for pickling meat as non-iodized so I’d stock both.
Thank you everyone. Good job. I honestly feel that everyone here will thank their lucky stars and your good advise some day if they put it up.
Iodine it is - I knew someone out there would know the way to go.
So what is a better brand than Morton - I am not into cooking so I am clueless - anyone? And back to the original question - how much? I am still working on my one month food supply and was planning for 5 lbs. But that assumes I will need the bulk of that for rehydration/medicinal purposes.
We have around 100 lbs. of salt on hand.
I think it;s around $4.50 or so for 35 lbs at Sam’s Club.
-bob
DoubleD- It’s quite complicated to obtain pure NaCl from seawater. Some of the other salts in there can be quite bitter. It also takes a lot of energy, especially since NaCl isn’t the first salt to crystallize. Do you have plans drawn up for an evaporation plan?
Ideally a modified solar oven could be used, and you’d capture the evaporated water. You’d need at least a 3 stage process to separate the lesser soluble salts first.
salt=sal=salary.
good as gold!
And if you have ever seen a full blown goiter, you understand why we have iodized salt.
ah, okay. I don’t eat meat so won’t be salting them to preserve them! And other than minimal salt for baking, never use it. Certainly don’t need to add it to a can of beans and you don’t need it for cooking rice, despite what those “Minute Maid” packages say.
Ricewiki-
Many think that salt is not good for you (if memory serves about 40% of the populace has a sodium= high blood pressure problem), but having spent time in the desert, I can tell you that having enough salt in a hot climate with no AC is really very important. Heavy work in hot weather requires a lot of salt. I ran a 8 person construction crew in the South during a very hot period. We had 2 5 gallon water jugs and the day it was 114 in the shade we refilled those things seven times at least, maybe 8. we drank over 70 gallons of water and gatorade. When I got home, the lower 6″ of my pants were completely impregnated with salt, as were my boots and the upper cuffs of my socks. We had salt tablets for the crew and we were all sucking on salt tabs, and needed them. Summer without AC is bad, but Summer without salt would be hell. You cannot live in hot weather without salt.
Actually, there is a very minute number of people who are “salt sensitive”. New research shows it is truthfully those individuals who should restrict their sodium. But, do what your doctor says.
chicken little in FL – at 23:11
So what is a better brand than Morton - I am not into cooking so I am clueless - anyone? And back to the original question - how much?
I can’t tell one bit of difference in generic salt from name brand… except the cost.
Provident living.org has an emergency prep food storage thing where you put in number of months and number of family members… it will kick out how much stuff you need in various categories/groups. Salt is under group miscellaneous. The link to this is on this sites mainpage under personal prep! Remember, this figure is for normal usage. If you do stuff like canning, it would be more and not figured into this handy little calculation device. But, it gives you a ballpark figure!
Morton’s salt is processed to the point that it is bad for you, even for soaking in. A nutritionist would know best. I use Baline (has a whale on the label) for cooking and it comes in a tube container for ease of use. The finer sea salts, grey in color, are vey good. I eat that salt as I do not get enough in my diet. Yes, just put it in your mouth and savor. Since processed foods often mean pain for me, I am at liberty to enjoy salt daily.
OK, I know that people can appreciate the variations in taste of NaCl from different sources and containing various trace elements. I like to use designer salt myself. But what is the basis for maintaining the Morton’s salt, or any other common variety on American shelves is “precessed to the point where it’s bad for you.” Are you referring to the addition of iodine or the anticlumping agent,calcium silicate? Neither of these is harmful. Why the concern?
Ditto-
Many canned goods already contain a lot of salt so if they are being incorporated into a recipe, no additional salt may be required. Check the can label for sodium content.
The reason we have problems with to much salt is that we eat mostly processed foods. Salt is a nessesity you wont live long without it. Ive gotten several different kinds, table of course canning salt and kosher salt.
Friends, I’v been planning to start a thread for vegetarian diets but time is so scarce! and it’s a big subject. I have an outline but first I’m getting side tracked by salt. Actually, sodium, potassium and iodine. For reference I’ve used for many years the excellent “Nutrition Almanac” by Gayla Kirschmann and John Kirschmann, published by McGraw-Hill. Very easy for the layman, it’s divided into sections labeled: Nurition and Health; Exercise; Sources of calories; Nutrients; Ailments and other stressful conditions; Normal life cycles; Herbs; Foods, beverages and natural supplementary foods; and table of food composition (this section I find very handy.) Here’s some of what they say about sodium: The National Research council recommends 1 gram per kilo body weight per day. The average American ingest between 2–6 grams and up to 15 grams per day. An intake of 14 to 28 grams per day is considered excessive. Too much sodium leads to a loss of too much postassium. Excessive sodium contributes to liver, heart and kidney disease. Sodium functions with potassium to equalize the acid/alkali factor in blood. They regulate together the distribution of fluids on both sides of cell walls. Good food sources are seafood, table salt, celery, kelp, soy sauce and dairy products. Potassium: is an essential mineral (5% of the total mineral content of the body) which regulates transfer of nutrients to cells and for the transmission of nerve impulses to the brain. Excessive intake of sugar is antagonistic to potassium, as well as alcohol and coffee. BTW, alcohol is also a double antagonistic as it depletes the magnesium reserve. Especially for Bronco Bill, whose humour and humanity have save me from many depressing thoughts: magnesium is found in fresh green vegetables, raw wheat germ, soybeans, milk, whole grains, seafoods, figs, corn, apples, oil rich seeds, especially almonds, fish, garlic, tofu, apricots, and lima beans. Excessive sweating, diarrhea and vomiting deplete both potassium and sodium. Early symptoms of potassium deficiency are: General weakness and impairment of neuromuscular and central nervous function; bone fragility; poor reflexes; poor growth; muscles that are soft and sagging and diminished heart rate. People may have a potassium deficiency as a result of diarrhea and/or food passing throught too quickly. (Remember the ORS prep of Dr. Woodson here: 4 cups clean water, 3 tablespoons sugar and 1 level teaspoon of salt.) Can also be drunk during hard work ouside in the summer, IMO. P.S. Don’t wait til you’re dying of thirst before you drink! Drink lots and drink it before and regularly during work. Potassium food sources: all vegetables, especially leafy green ones, orange juice, whole grains, sunflower seeds, mint leaves, potatoes(especially in the peelings), garlic, brewer’s yeast, brown rice, blackstrap molasses, dried fruits, raisins, apricots and bananas. And Iodine: It aids in the development and functioning of the thyroid gland and plays an important role in regulating the body’s production of ENERGY, promotes growth and development and stimulates the rate of metabolism, helping the body to burn excess fat. Mentality, speech, and the condition of hair, teeth skin and nails are dependent upon a well-functioning thyroid gland. Food sources include sealife both plant (KELP!)and animal, white deep waterfish, and for all you gardeners, garlic, lima beans, sesame seeds, soy beans, spinach, Swiss chard, summer squash and turnip greens. Backcountry water can be made pure by using tetraglycine hydroperiodide (they don’t mention quantity or methode). Being a vegetarian for many years (with occasional lapses into meat eating), I’ve learned the important things to have in my diet are: kelp, nutritional yeast, mountain crystal salt (the sea salt may be too polluted, I’m not sure), whole grains, lots of vegetables (including broccoli for the sulphur),garlic, fresh fruits in season, unsweetened yoghurt, calcium/magnesium supplement since I don’t like milk, tofu and tempe since I’m a woman, seeds and nuts, cold pressed oils incluging omega-3 rich linseed oil, acidophilus capsules for intestinal bacteria since I’m over 45 years of age (I’m not telling HOW far over!), various herbs such as golden seal, green tea, strawberry leaves, tea mixes for liver and gall and anything with cinnamon (an important herb in Chinese medicine), psyllium seeds (spelling?), miso and soysauce, all organic if possible. Lots of water, even in the winter. And, of course, lots and lots of ice cream!!! HAh HAhHah! After all, I know what good is. May you all be happy and well prepped!
Great post, Ocean2.
We work along the same lines. When you are ready, start the vegetarian thread.
Remember your saturated fats (in balance), like coconut oil and Ishmag (Red Palm Oil from Palm Fruit).
What do you use for liver and gall currently? How long have you been self-treating? What have you tried that didn’t work?
Friends, Sorry for the food pudding above. I don’t know where all the paragraphs disappeared ! Can anyone tell me how to avoid this loss in the future?
BTW, I’ve posted in the humour thread a very good joke site. www:punyajokes.com
www:punyajokes.com/chicken_contents.htm has lots of bird jokes and the dodo video is a
scream!! Between chicken and contents is a uppercase stripe. I guess that’s the underline mark? (I’m not very computer literate.)
Dear NS1,
I’ll have to translate the herbs from the liver/gall tea from Dutch to English first! I’ll put it on the vegetarian thread when I have time. Since I eat too much ice cream I get fat and I use it to flush all that nasty cholesterol out of me! But I don’t consider it self-treating, I just drink as a rule herbal mixes ( and I don’t mean Celestial Seasonings!) when my body says I need this or that herbal mix. I have no experience about eating coconut oil or Ishmag. But I do love Dutch and Belgian beers!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BTW, I figured out the paragraph problem. Must be due to all that extra potassium trnsfering intelligence to my brain!
OK, I live at the coast. Who knows how to “make salt” for personal use. Is it as simple as letting the ocean water evaporate in a pan or is there a process to it?
DebMcRn-
The way it was done in the olden days was that seawater would be introduced to a graded *flat* claybottomed bed. seawater would be allowed to enter to a depth of several inches, and allowed to evaporate. The clay bottom would be rolled to harden and temper the surface. When the bed was ready, usually several cycles, seawater would be introduced and allowed to almost evap, then more water introduced creating a very salty brine. This was repeated until there was 3–4 inches of very salty brine, then the final evap was done. This created a layer of salt perhaps an inch or so thick which was easily picked up for final drying. Salt is VERY hygroscopic, so the final drying was usually done during the hottest dryest part of the day, away from more humid areas if possible. The floor of the pan was patched and rolled then the cycle repeated.
For your purposes, a large flat pan would work nicely. You get about a pound of sea salt for every 8 gallons of seawater if I remember correctly. Suggest that the old time way of concentrating into brine then final evap is a good idea although it does take longer. Would not use steel, stainless or aluminum; Copper or nonleaded brass is probably the best choice for this usage; Food grade plastic is OK for the short term, but sunlight will deteriorate the plastic.
Thanks LMWatBullRun! Wow….the things you can learn on Flu Wiki!!!
I get most of my salt intake from organic tamari or shoyu (soy sauce) and have probably a gallon or more in my preps. This article came out last Saturday. Of course I also have gallons of wine too <grin> so I should be all set for a happy SIP. Miso is incredibly good for you too. Love it!
“Scientists found that the sauce — derived from fermented soya beans — contains antioxidant properties about 10 times more effective than red wine and 150 times more potent than vitamin C, Singapore’s Strait Times reported on Saturday.”
http://tinyurl.com/fr8tf (Reuters)
huh, I just tried to acces the article without luck. I’ll post more from my ‘saved’ copy.
“SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Dark soya sauce, widely used in east Asia, may prove to be more effective than red wine and vitamin C in combating human cell damage, researchers in Singapore said.”
<skip>
“Antioxidants — found in red wine, fruits and vegetables — counter the effects of free radicals, unstable atoms which attack human cells and tissues.
Free radicals have been linked to the aging process as well as a range of ailments including Parkinson’s disease, cancer and heart disease.
The National University of Singapore study also found that the sauce improved blood flow by as much as 50 percent in the hours after consumption.
“There’s a preventative aspect, showing that it may potentially slow down the rate of cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases,” research team leader Professor Barry Halliwell said.
But he cautioned against taking large amounts of dark soya sauce because of its high salt content, which could lead to high blood pressure.”
My soy sauce says to refrigerate after opening. I have tons of packets from take out - does anyone know the shelf life of indivual packets? Also, along that line, how about ketchup, etc.? Thanks!
My soy sauce says to refrigerate after opening. I have tons of packets from take out - does anyone know the shelf life of indivual packets? Also, along that line, how about ketchup, etc.? Thanks!
Sorry! My wireless lost connectivity AGAIN and must have resent the post when it reloaded!
well, sorry, I don’t know exactly but those small packets should last for months. I bought my soy sauce for preps in smallish bottles and I won’t worry having a bottle unrefridgerated for a few days to a week.
Ah, this should tell you! shelf life of those fast-food condiment packets >>>
bird-dog:
Wow! Thanks! I never thought to try yahoo answers. So glad that there are smarter people here than me to get thru all this!
DebMcRn
Make sure you realize that NaCl isn’t the only salt that will precipitate, it is usually the third ionic compound to come out of a sea water solution. Large commercial operations use several evaporation ponds, moving the brine between ponds after each mineral precipitates. Some of the salts that form can be quite bitter.
Morton’s salt is processed to the point that it is bad for you, even for soaking in. A nutritionist would know best.
ummm, ummm, [clearing throat]… They never mentioned that in under grad or grad school. What they did teach us was that generally speaking, generic brands are as good as name brands. Never a word about Morton’s salt being bad for you.
We’re talking about salt for food. What about needing salt to melt snow? I have a 20 kg bag of salt for just that purpose, to thaw the snow down the stairs of my home, if I should need to go out and not wanting to break a leg slipping on snowed steps.
Several people have siad that they buy salt in 25 lb bags at Sam’s Club, but I was there today and couldn’t find any big bags. I looked in the aisle where the flour, sugar, etc is, and saw salt packets, pre-filled salt shakers, and a largish (maybe 5–8 lb) box of Morton salt. Am I looking in the wrong spot?
Try Costco for the large bags of salt :) They come in 25 lb bags there.
Kim – at 16:52
I am not sure where you live, but Sam’s here did have the large bags of salt about 2 or 3 weeks ago. Costco had them this weekend. If I’m not mistaken, WalMart’s and Krogers have them, too. But it is summer here… and folks are canning and putting stuff up hands-over-fists. May not be that way everywhere.
I have gotten 25 pound bags of both iodized and plain salt at super Walmart in the DC area. Cheap prices. I have been meaning to look in some of the organic places for sea salt. Will report back.
Whole Foods will typically discount their retail bulk prices by 5–10% if you purchase a full bag of the item. I don’t know bag sizes for their sea salt, probably 25 pounds or about 10 Kg.
EnoughAlready - the friend that mentioned not using Morton’s is a Ph.d. who has extensive practice. Not sure what problems she saw, but Morton’s was off the list of possibilities. I will ask her via email for the reason.
She treated me for heavy metal toxins and the resulting damage. What a 1/2 dozen big wig Atlanta (Emory) Drs could not identify, she treated with diet and supplements.
Not that I blame the Drs. They ran every test they could think of. I am just glad I can live a normal life again.
bump
Kim – at 16:52 Several people have siad that they buy salt in 25 lb bags at Sam’s Club, but I was there today and couldn’t find any big bags. I looked in the aisle where the flour, sugar, etc is, and saw salt packets, pre-filled salt shakers, and a largish (maybe 5–8 lb) box of Morton salt. Am I looking in the wrong spot?
The Sam’s here had them, too…at least they did in May when I bought 50 lbs’ worth. They were across from the flour and rice, on the same side as the sugar, but down low on the bottom shelf between the sugar and the spice/gravy mix section. I would assume that the home office sends out merchandising sheets to ensure that most stores look the same, but if it’s not there then perhaps they were just out??
What you don’t learn here, unbelievable. I do cook from scratch but because of my hubby I cut out most salt years ago. I’ve still got the salt I bought I bet 3 to 5 years ago. But what is really interesting to me is I developed hypothyroidism and have been medicated for the past 3 years- any correlation, I now wonder?
We don’t like salted food anymore which is why in part I cook from scratch. I never put in as much salt as a recipe calls for except maybe in bread. I feel so dehydrated after eating anything salty; I just feel crappy for hours after. I don’t like french fries,chips, nachos, salted nuts, pretzels etc because of the salt.
I do take various supplements including cal/mag and when I work out for more than an hour I drink a quality rehydrating drink. I also noticed sometimes after working out that my black workout pants have large white stains-I guess this is salt, didn’t know.
I will also drink the rehydrating drink (Ultima)if I’m feeling crappy after eating something with salt in it.
This has been a very interesting thread. I’ll have to reconsider my salt intake.
Went to Sam’s again today and hunted high and low, still couldn’t find large bags of salt, thought I must be going blind. So I got online to their website, sure enough, the Sam’s Club I shop at doesn’t carry the 25 lb bags. Closest they come is a 4 lb box of Morton Iodized table salt for $0.87. I’ll try to get to Wallyworld and see if they have large bags of salt, if not guess I’ll just go with the 4-pounders at Sams (still a pretty good price). Thanks everyone:)
While you may get adequate sodium intake from processed foods, if we eventually have to switch to the home grown variety you will be very thankful to have stored salt.
It may also make a good barter item if you forsee such a system being created in your area.
Salt also has numerous other uses such as replacing tooth paste, cleaning, etc.
Salt is also an ingredient in the homemade electrolyte solution.
Salt disolved in warm water is great for sore throat gargle, sores in mouth or hurting gums.
FWIW, since reading on this thread that people were having trouble finding large bags of salt, I have started “hunting” for them. I still haven’t been able to find any.
Ganygirl – at 23:31
Did she also discuss aluminum with you (a non-heavy, but certainly toxic metal)? Some processed table salts contain flow control agents and other additives with residues of aluminum.
kc_quiet – at 22:36
Roasting is not that difficult, there are several ways to go about it, the “trick” so to speak is roasting evenly and to the right degree. There are many good web sites out there that give info on this, my favorite is here: http://tinyurl.com/dw8r2 I have a small electric roaster that works just like an air-popper for popcorn – most are made of a rotating drum for the roasting chamber.. You can also roast in your oven or in a pan on a stovetop or burner. Getting an even roast is accomplished simply by keeping the beans moving. The biggest drawback in any method is the smoke and smell produced. The smell is not what you would think, it smells like badly burnt popcorn, not at all like coffee – I do my roasting outside. You can buy green beans over the net but if you are fortunate to have a local roaster that can be much cheaper. There are 4 in our area, two of which will sell me green beans. The one I buy from I have developed a good rapport with and he actually gives me a fair quantity. I was considering opening a coffee shop myself and so educated myself on the product & industry. Even though I chose not to open the shop it has been of a benefit; I get free beans to sample whenever they are trying a new variety or crop.
NS1 - 05:49 and gannygirl 23:31 - Some baking powder uses an aluminum declumping agent…and I also heard that aluminum can build up and be toxic.
I have seen studies that link aluminum with Alzheimers and other health risks. As a result, we use non-al pans, no non-stick pans and we don’t use AL-based baking powder or salt with AL-based anti-caking agents listed.
OnandAnon - how do you know if baking powder & salt have the AL-based stuff in it?
amak-
Look at the ingredients list, aluminum silicate is a common anti-caking agent. The baking powder is usually AL-based unless it states otherwise, but the list will tell you
I have seen studies that link aluminum with Alzheimers and other health risks.
That’s olllllllld information. See http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a971219.html
Hmmm. Will have to think that over.
I like cooking in cast iron better, though!
NS1 - “Did she also discuss aluminum with you (a non-heavy, but certainly toxic metal)? Some processed table salts contain flow control agents and other additives with residues of aluminum.”
Yes, that was another metal she found. I have all new stainless steel pans. I avoid alum in most items including baking powder. At any rate, when I follow her recommendations I feel much better. If I backslide, I feel “bad” and then the pain comes. I know of at least 5 others in the Atlanta area that have had the same problems.
I am storing foil because it is easy to cook with, but I rarely use it now.
Ganygirl,
Good Work!
I tell my friends that there’s only one thing that you need to change if you want optimal health . . .
Everything!
It’s very hard to undo the damage that we spend most of our un-informed life creating because we have to change everything. And people just don’t understand what we are doing, do they?
Simple things like salt, baking powder and non-stick pans have to be re-assessed and sometimes removed or replaced.
Remember that many vaccines use aluminum hydroxide as the adjuvant.
Are you using any ongoing natural modalities for continued detoxification?
There are a very large number of toxin-bearers in the Atlanta area. Are you in the city? When I found myself working in Atlanta, I’d always get in a 25 mile inline skate route around Peachtree and then onto the nice hills of Piedmont Park.
a solution for saving the content of the frezzer in case of a blackout has been called for many times. Well the solution is salt.. My sugestion is to fill any empty space in the frezeer with bottles of salted water, this will keep the cool for some extended time (also cover with insualtion)
when there is no more hope for the content its time to learn how to salt meat for storage. Find the recipe on the net now, and even try it out to get some practice.
I have made my own pancetta from scratch, its dead esasy. This was the way to store meat before the frezer.
Recently my doctor wanted me to go on blood pressure meds…….I stopped all salt intake and within 2 weeks my blood pressure is now normal at 123/80 !, in spite of being over weight…….So, Forget prepping salt, there is plenty in every can and package you buy!!
About a month ago I started looking carefully thru all the items in the canning section of my neighborhood grocery store and - lo! There was coarse pickling salt! I took a couple of 5lb. bags of it home thinking I’d run across (or remember to search out) the way to use it. Guess I’d better root out that info.
Salt, the #2 thing (after water) essential for life in hot weather. Cheap now, priceless when you need it.
BR:
How much salt would be needed per person per month in hot weather?
Tough question, JJF. A lot depends on how active you are, how hot and humid it is, and how much salt is provided by diet. You also need to think about salt for food preservation and cooking purposes, for medical treatment, as well as for barter.
As it stands, my wife and I go through about 5–7 pounds per year, with all the salt in the food that we eat and a life spent in air conditioning, or about 1/4 pound per person per month. From my experience in Miami (14 months no AC at home doing mostly airconditioned office work with occasional excursions into the heat- a good incentive to stay at work!) I found I was using a pound every six weeks on average, maybe more in the summer.
I’m a big guy and I sweat a lot outside. I’m estimating that an average male doing a full day of hard manual labor in 95 degree heat 80 degree dewpoint with no AC, could use as much as 2 pounds of salt a month. You don’t need that much iodized salt, especially for salting meat and fish.
YMMV, though. This is one of those things that is so cheap to buy by the sack now, and may be so precious later on, that I have LOTS of salt. At less than $5 a sack, buy a couple per person, split between iodized and not, and forget about it.
Another note for those interested in the finer things, if you have water ice and salt, you can make both champagne and ICE CREAM, with the proper ingredients, of course. I’d bet that 2 or three years after a collapse, anyone who can make ice cream in the summertime could probably trade it ounce for ounce for silver. And champagne? Who knows?
tks, BR
I might have to do some research on buying and stock piling a *LARGE* quantity. I’m guessing barter possibilities would make that worthwhile. I read on one of these threads that salt went for $100 a pound in the south at the end of the civil war. Hard to believe but I will research…
After reading this thread, went out and bought over a hundred pounds. Cost less than $20.
Bump in a thread closing session
$3.50 for a twenty five pound sack. bought every one they had in the store.
Will salt store in the basement as is, or will it cake up? Not a wet basement just normal.
Salt is *highly* hygroscopic. It will absorb atmospheric moisture. That said, as long as it’s not sitting on anything you want to keep from corroding, like steel or concrete, that should not be a problem. Put it in a food-grade plastic barrel or bucket and don’t worry about it.
desalinate the wiki…
Whatever size you bought, store it in an airproof container with some sort of dessicant to keep moisture out of it. A bag of rice will keep a 25 pound sack from clumping.
A lot depends on where you are. If you are in the humid south, it may be worth your time to do that, but if not I’d not bother.
I find that if I don’t eat enough salt, particularly when exercising a lot, my blood pressure goes down too far. It runs in my family to have a pulse rate of 50 to 55, normal is 72, and low blood pressure, sometimes below 100/60. So we may have a genetic need for more than average.
I am going to go out and get a bunch of it, iodized and not, to store - just in case. Thanks for mentioning it!
Hope that it helps.
It is obvious, but we sometimes forget the obvious things when there’s a new threat to think about.
I actually started with the things everyone assumes that they’ll have and looked for gaps.
Example- Air. “None sing hymns to air, but oh to be without it!” - Zelazny
Everyone forgets how dependent modern residences are on air conditioning and mechanical ventilation.
Same thing with salt; most folks don’t work outside in the heat anymore, and forget how important salt is.
Some basics:
You need iodine, a good source is iodized salt
There is no evidence that Morton’s salt, or any other store brand, is bad for you.
The link between aluminum and Alzheimer’s has been de-bunked long ago.
Prep some iodized salt. If you do canning prep some more.
Having a PhD doesn’t prove anything, I know, I have one.
Talking endlessly about salt because there is really little flu news? Let’s just stop and go tend the garden or something else that’s productive.
feel free.
LMWatBullRun- this is a great thread. I have started thinking about salt- for the first time ever. I have a freezer full of meat that I was intending to dry if the power started failing. I am going to salt some of it as well.
Here is a Pancetta recipe I found for you all. I had to google the word.
Pancetta is a large slice of pork fat back, cured with salt, spices, and herbs. Unlike some other cured cuts of pork, it’s easy to make, and this is handy because it’s a common flavoring agent in Italian dishes. PREPARATION: Purchase a piece of pork fat back weighing about 4 - 41/2 pounds (1.8 - 2 k) and lay it flat in a deep flat-bottomed container, rind side down. Dust it lightly with finely ground (as opposed to coarse) salt. Grind a couple of cloves of garlic to a fine paste in a mortar and spread them uniformly over the meat. Cover it with cracked peppercorns and spices (just a touch of cinnamon, cloves, or nutmeg — for this amount I’d go with a half teaspoon or less). Next, cover it with a uniform, thick layer of salt, pressing down so it sticks throughout.
Leave the meat lie for 20 days, then shake off the excess salt, make a hole in one end with an awl, run a string through it, and hang it up in a cool well-ventilated place for a month.
It’s now ready; you can use it in thin (1/8 inch, 1/4 cm) slices in whatever recipe calls for it.
A note: in southern Italy they also make a spicy variety of pancetta in which ground red pepper figures prominently in the spice mixture rubbed into the meat before the salt is added.
Ceredwin – at 16:54
I have found and others have found this salt thread useful. If you don’t care for it, don’t read it. very simple.
Jumping Jack Flash – at 06:04
I agree. Don’t know why people want to kill threads that others are finding useful and enjoyable. Well, unless they are paying for the bandwidth. ;-D
clark: Is this salt curing done at room temperature (70 deg F)? Right now, non-air-conditioned room temperature is near 100 deg. F. Ditto the hanging bit, do they visualize summer or winter temperatures?
wetDirt – at 16:05- I honestly don’t know! Has anyone out in the wikiworld preserved meat with salt?? I have mostly been a supermarket boy. We have a 24 hour supermarket in my town now- nobody has to stock up on anything.
My kids friends have never even had to fry an egg!!
I have saurkrout working in the kitchen right now= the first batch I have ever tried to make (it is SALT and cabbage). Hardly anybody knows how to make these things now adays. Alot of it is just the “knack” that you only get by doing it.
I would reccomnd “The Journal of the Plague Year” by Daniel Defoe for everyone. He wrote Robinson Crusoe. Northstar started a thread about the book. SALT fits right in there. My opinion is that this bug is going to hit us hard- the cans of baked beans are going to run out- the fuel for the generator is going to run out- and everything in the freezer is going to start rotting.
That will be the day I thank our lucky stars that LMWatBullRun started this thread. Salt is so dispised and common, we are unaware or forget how lifesaving it could be for many of us.
In my opinion, one of the most important threads on the wiki!
I have salted and dried beef and it works nicely.
The trick to salting meat for preservation is to soak it in brine then coat the wet meat in more salt as you remove it from the brine, then let it dry in cool temps away from flies.
Foxfire had a section on salting meat.
BTW, I am glad folks got something worthwhile out of this.
LMWatBullRun – at 21:58 Can you just use straight salt, or do you need saltpeter (potassium nitrate or sodium nitrate) as well? I have heard bad things about eating too much nitrates- and wondered if you could preserve meat just using the salt?
I have a electric dehumidifyer for the house. I was planning on making a low temp dryer out of a fan heater, and a huge cartdboard box lined with tin foil. I would use the dehumidifyer to dry the air in the room that I was doing the drying in.
Thanks for the heads up on salt. This wiki gives me shivers some times. I would have never of thought of “salt” on my own.
Here’s a dandy looking book: Cold-Smoking & Salt-Curing Meat, Fish, & Game by A. D. Livingston
On Amazon, there’s also a few books on Charcuterie — the preservation of meats.
The whole idea of preserving meat without refridgeration scares the heck out of me, but then I think that people have been doing this for literally thousands of years. It’s only in the last 100 or so we’ve really forgotten how to preserve food.
I’ve seen this thread for a while now but have neglected to visit it. As has been mentioned by others, salt will become very important if/when we lose electricity for long periods of time. I purchased a generator for short term outages, but if a severe pan flu comes along then it will be used to keep things cool while I salt down all my meat using the pounds upon pounds of salt I have squirreled away, and “can” all the vegetables I have in the freezer. Sugar is another good preservative. I have a lot of that too. I have not tried preserving meat with salt or sugar yet, but I have the information and supplies (salt and sugar) to do so if the need arises. My ancestors did this sort of thing to get by and I reckon I can too.
Okieman – at 23:36- I have already started making sourkraut- and I’m going to try my hand at salt preserving meat. We should do it now and figure it out before push comes to shove.
Northstar- have you ever dried or preserved meat? any good tips?
I’m on a different computer- it was clark at 5–20
I have never used nitrates; that is an old-timey technique that seems to be contraindicated.
I just put salt into water or soy sauce to make a really salty brine, add a little liquid smoke, cut the beef into strips, soak it overnight, then squeeze out the brine, salt a bit more and let it dry in a Ronco dehydrator that I got for $5 at a yard sale.
The British used to salt beef in brine barrels, and they stored it in the brine and shipped it all over the world. The brine was so salty that the beef had to be boiled in seawater to get enough salt out so folks could eat it….
LMWatBullRun – at 07:53
I was thinking the meat had to be completely surrounded by salt and not touch any other piece of meat. I read that sailors would put down a layer of salt in a barrel, CAREFULLY place meat cubes on this layer so they didn’t touch each other, then put down another layer of salt. Repeat until barrel is full.
How can one be confident that the meat has not spoiled using your technique?
How long will meat keep before spoiling using the dehydrator?
tks for opening this thread. My buddies will have some more material to poke fun at me when I pull in with about 500 lbs of salt…
Here’s a site that has a lot of information on it about dry curing pork. Everything I’ve read (except for a piece done by a Civil War reenactor- who claims he’s dry cured meat in 80 degree Texas heat and never got sick) talks about keeping the meat between 36 −40* F. Which would mean electricity powered coolers, and if that’s available the curing process would not be necessary to preserve the meat.
I’m sure that the temperature thing is not crucial, since obviously meat was cured for centuries without refrigeration, but am wondering if the curing was done during fall and winter months when it was cooler with lower humidity. This article from Virginia Tech mentions December as the best month to cure Virginia hams as well as cutting any mold that has grown, off the meat and rinsing it well before eating.
http://www.ext.vt.edu/pubs/foods/458-872/458-872.html
I’m prepping salt as well but more for flavoring our foods as opposed to curing meats.
Clark at 5:20 — I haven’t myself dried or preserved meat but have had some native-Inuit smoked salmon - it was delicious beyond belief, and done all in the “old way.” I have started putting a lot of meat by with pressure canning — it covers all the bases of long term non-refridgerated storage, lack of cooking facilites (as it’s pre-cooked) and ease of access to small children. My younger ones, who struggle even with a can opener or to make the simplest meal can pop the top off a canning jar with ease and have a complete meal, or something to pour over rice or noodles. Since I have a two year old, my fear of her being left to fend for herself with the rest of us sick or dying is profound. I’ve started moving easy to eat food where she can good at it, and yep, she’s pretty clever about being able to get into boxes of dry cereal, now on a lower counter. I’m going to show her how to pop the top off a canning jar of jam and make sure I have a low shelf of that, too.
But anyways, I researched and purchased the type of canner that doesn’t need any replacement gaskets (the metal to metal seal kind) and that pressurizes with a simple, clever metal weight — even if the gauge is damaged, the pressure can still be maintained accurately with the weight. The canner is huge — I call it my little Sputnik (s) — and my only regret is I didn’t get a bigger one.
I’m thinking of a pre - pandemic trial run of curing meat to ensure ability to do so.
I’ll then make a point of keeping freezers full of meat rotated through our normal consumption patterns.
If the pandemic outbreak occurs, I’ll go ahead and salt cure everything in anticipation of a prolonged power failure…
Need to make absolutely certain that curing skills are adequate pre - pandemic, though. I’d hate to put food poisoning on one of my family with improperly cured meat.
this thread gets the X by x.
I have kept dry jerky for several days at room temp with no problems, and thats without massive salting, jsut enough to to taste good to me. HAven’t had to worry about it past that cause it’s so good it never lasts past a week at best; I did find several pieces in the bottom of my briefcase that were a couple months old and they smelled fine and didn’t make me sick when I ate them. <grin> You do have to be VERY careful to keep the meat fat free; Fat goes rancid quicker than dry muscle tissue, and for long term storage I’d use oatmeal or cornmeal that I was going to bake or boil up to wick the fat off the dried jerky.
If I were going to try to keep meat for a long time, weeks to months, I’d get a really salty brine, Brine the meat for a few days, and use the layers of salt technique. Boil the brine between batches to reduce contamination issues. Meat packed that way lasts a long time, years, but you have to rinse it off before you eat it.
As far as meat going bad, aerobic bacterial infections smell bad, but they need moisture to prosper and the salt sucks the life out of the microbial growth. I have a very sensitive sniffer and I always sniff things before I eat them; I’ve discarded some canned stuff that smelled a little off, but I’ve never had to chuck out any properly dried meat…
For those who inquired, I have just run another 3 batches of jerky through my drier, and they each lasted about 3 days.
JJF- Have you run your trial yet?
Its been awhile but I’m am going to try a batch of jerky made from ground beef … the leanest stuff I can buy. I have an extruder that I use to get the correct thickness. For flavoring you add spices, etc.
But to store it I layer it between butcher paper and in small portions in an airtight container(s).
The other thing you can do is buy your beef cut for stir fry … but that can get expensive.
The best jerky is usually based on how the meat is cut rather than the cut of meat. <grin> I’m not that talented with a knife so I’ve taken the express route and had the butcher cut it for me. LOL!
For beef jerky, I use pretty much the same method as LMWatBullRun – at 07:53, except I cut my time down quite a bit, since I know ahead of time that the jerky isn’t going to last more than a week in my house anyway!
I usually just go to a grocery store that has an inhouse butcher, and have them slice me up a few of the cheapest beef roasts I can find.
I’ll have him/her trim all the fat off, then slice across the grain about 3/16 inch thick. I’ll take all that home, fill a 4-quart bowl 1/2 way with soy sauce and a couple of tablespoons or so of liquid hickory smoke (there are other flavors available, such as mesquite, apple, etc). I let the meat soak for about 30 minutes, then spread it all out one layer thick on my drying trays.
Fresh ground pepper is sprinkled on top of the meat, and then I dry it at 140 degrees for about 18 hours. Nice and dry, and oooohhh, so good!
Just an FYI for those who want to try a dried, salted Virginia Ham. There’s a website called VirginiaTraditions.com, and they sell what they claim are the original-recipe salted hams. I’ve never tried one (yet) but after talking with the store manager a few months ago, they really need to be soaked in cold, fresh water for about 24 hours to get most of the salt out. But as a prep item, they don’t need refrigeration and can be hung in a cool basement for about 6–12 months. I may have to get one and see…and no, I don’t work there. The commute would kill me…
My grandparents had a smokehouse where they made the same kinds of hams. Brined and then hung to be smoked to finish the drying process.
If you are going to bake the ham whole you do need to soak it but I grew up just cutting slices out of a ham and frying it. The remaining drippings then were make into “red eye” gravy by adding coffee and stirring in the skillet. Talk about lip smackin’ good … a slice of country ham (though it is salty so may be an acquired taste), eggs, homemade biscuits that sop up the red eye gravy, and homemade preserves. Yum! Yum!
Kathy in FL – at 12:19 --- Looks like we’re all havin’ Sunday breakfast at YOUR house!!!
Kathy - were you and your parents living in Fl at the time you were brining hams, or somewhere in high temp/high humidity land? If so, did the meat keep past March or was it all used up by then? Thanks.
How important is salt to the human diet? Essential! Sodium, a component of salt (sodium + chloride), is one of the major elements that ensures the proper functioning of our bodies.
Salt has been reduced to a negative in our modern world because of all the high sodium content prepared foods we ingest. This was not always the case.
I agree with AllQuiet, BullRun and others. This is a critical prep item IMHO. Critical. Not only for use in rehydration fluid, but also for the new scenarios that many of us will find ourselves in.
If the majority of your preps consist of canned foods, then you may not have to worry about a salt deficit. But, as others have mentioned, if you begin to ingest large quantities of fresh, or non-processed foods, then the addition of salt will be essential.
Only a tiny quantitiy is needed daily, so I don’t see the need for stocking mass quantities unless using it for barter or the other uses as mentioned.
The situations I can envision that we may not have experienced before include the loss of electricity and therefore no air conditioning. That will lead to significant sweating (salt and water) and thus, loss of sodium here in the South. Rehydration with large amounts of water ONLY will further dilute your sodium level. Today, we may see this scenario with long distance runners.
Another scenario may be with any illness that results in vomiting/diarrhea. We may be eating poor quality foods at some point (hopefully not). Vomiting, sweating will lead to even a greater problem.
Certain medications like some diurectics will also deplete sodium supplies. Poor kidney function will also affect this balance. People with these conditions will be at great risk for any chemical imbalance as a result of dehydration/sweating. Becoming dehydrated will also significantly alter the effects of most medications.
Lastly, even our water may be different. Today, we often get a tiny bit of sodium in most water supplies. Obtaining water via evaporation will eliminate even that tiny amount. It is the chemicals like sodium, potassium, etc. that make water have some taste and why we often don’t like the taste of distilled water.
I’m glad to see that this was brought up. We take this for granted. But I am sure others may not realize the importance, especially if faced with living in primitive conditions.
I’m thinking that a whole lot of people in our “civilized” world will have no clue what it will take to survive under dire circumstances.
2beans – at 13:02
Sorry, talking about western KY (think just outside of Ft. Campbell army base which my grandfather helped build the original barracks for and which is on the original homesteads of many of my relatives).
I know that it is possible to cure hams here in Florida, but just don’t know the directions. You might want to check with some of the Cracker homestead historical sites … they might be able to tell you something.
Kathy in FL, your suggestion surprised me, because I hadn’t heard Cracker used in a serious way, just as joshing and kind of insulting, not something you would do. So I had to go look: here’s one site (with good pictures of the house - showing how to cope with the heat, deep porch, summer kitchen):
jane – at 15:34
Sorry about that. Anyone in Florida knows that early Florida settlers went by the name “Cracker.” Not because it meant the same thing as it does now … rude way of calling someone a redneck. It originally referred to the fact that many early Florida settlers raised cattle and would “crack” the whips to drive them through the deep underbrush and palmetto stands.
Guess I didn’t think much of it. Hope someone else didn’t take it the wrong way as well.
Should also say that the Florida State Fair is based in Tampa and they have a permanent living history display called “Cracker Country.” LOL! Maybe I’ll call up some of those folks and see what I can find out about food preservation in early Florida.
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After some long discussion about AF with my husband this week-end, I started seriously looking into dry salt curing beef (we raise Angus cattle and have a freezer full of processed beef year round). I’d like some way of preserving at least part of it if the power ends up being unreliable. How are the “experiments” in salt curing going?
I’ve googled the term both “salt curing” and “dry curing” and have not really found very detailed descriptions of “how-to” other than using brine to cure. Questions I’m seeking answers to:
Is a brine solution used once only? How do you dispose of it? If you brine in a baggie, then can you use less than if you use a pot?
Found and article here that might be helpful in how to cure meat in brines.
Thanks, Kathy! After your site, I Googled Smokehouse and found a site that tells how to make one out of an old refrigerator
http://www.endtimes.com/smokehouse.html and how to maintain a kerosene heater
http://www.endtimes.com/regular_maintenance.html
and info on canning butter and more. This site may have been mentioned before somewhere-There are books and CDs for sale, and a wick store
http://www.endtimes.com/Kero_Stove_Wicks.htm and there’s a neat flashlight with LEDs, also a 16 foot antenna that winds up like a metal tape measure! and a little radio in his store.
http://www.endtimes.com/survival_shop.html There’s also a panflu link. (Hope this post is not too messy and confusing.)
bump… anyone have any references about or experiences with dry salt curing beef, not fish??
I wonder if beef that has been frozen will cure as well as fresh meat. There was a post yesterday about an abundance of beef soon, because the grain crops are so poor. But cooler temperatures would be better for the curing. I’d want to buy it when it goes on sale and freeze it until the Fall.
Actually corn prices dropped considerably yesterday due to the rain in the Midwest… so I don’t forsee a large sell off of cattle running prices down in the next couple weeks or so. Actually most larger cattle producers have locked in prices for their corn feed needs long ago, if crop conditions end up being poor through harvest driving feed prices up, less cattle will go onto feed this Fall and Winter making beef prices actually jump.
If you’re looking for more reasonable prices than a grocery store or butcher shop, contact a local farmer who raises beef (not dairy) cattle and ask about the possibility of buying one for butchering. They can usually recommend a butcher who processes meat. A typical 12–14 month old corn-fed steer should net you 750–800lbs of processed beef with about 1/2 of that being ground beef, with the rest split between roasts and steaks.
If that’s too much for you find someone else who would like to split it with you. A typical family of 4 who eats beef 3x times a week goes through about 1/4 to 1/3 of a beef a year(200–250lbs).
jane – at 08:29
I use frozen meat to make jerky all the time, I don’t see what you would treat a piece of pre-frozen meat any different than “fresh” meat when it comes to curing larger pieces. You just need to make sure that it is thoroughly thawed.
have used frozen-thawed and fresh beef. Doesn’t seem to matter as long as it isn ‘t frozen when it’s used. I boil my brine after I use it to marinate the beef then stick the soy/brine in the freezer. Never freezes solid but I never have anything growing in it either. The boiling/freezing seems to keep bacteria and mold from propagating.
Near most cities are ranches that will sell you a whole beef or selected parts. Many of these are organic/no hormones/antibiotics. Prices are high but not unreasonable.
Stocking Up III by Carol Hupping, tells what you need to know about all the different ways to preserve food, including meats, vegetables and dairy. It covers canning, freezing, curing, drying, ,root cellaring ,pickling. jams, jellies, fruit butters, juicing, storing milk, cream and eggs, making butter, making cheeses, making yogurt and other fermented milk products, making ice creams, butchering meat, preparing wild meats, making headcheese and other pressed meats, rendering lard, making sausage, slaughtering and de-feathering poultry, harvesting and handling nuts and seeds, harvesting and using grains, and sprouting. You would find this book invaluable if you are have to raise and process your own food. It even covers desirable varieties of fruits and vegetables for canning, freezing, pickling etc. My copy is published by Rodale Press and is a hardcover book with 619 pages.
Another good book that covers about the same topics is Putting Food By, by Ruth Hertsberg, Beatrice Vaughn, and Janet Greene. This book also has a section on soapmaking.
You can usually find these books at a very good price, used, at Half.com or Amazon.com. Both are very worthwhile but I believe Stocking Up is my favorite. Your local library will probably have a copy of one or both if you want to check out which one is your favorite
Meats can be corned (layered in salt) to preserve in case of power loss. cornish game hens are particurarly good. Layer same type of meat in white food grade bucket. Will last indefinately. When getting ready to cook, rinse or soak in clean water several times.
Roast meat, chicken or fish in salt. Mix salt with water to make a very thick paste. Roast in hot oven in under coals. We used to use this method when I lived in Alaska to roast the salmon we caught going upstream. Delish.
bgw @ 22:22.. thanks for the information on the book, I’ll check our local librarys or inter-library loan.
Safety Lady @ 22:31 How long do you rinse or soak in clean water several times?? Does it depend on the thickness of the cut of meat?? I would think a 4 lb chuck roast that had been cured would take longer to “de-salt” than a 3/4 lb sirloin.
Thanks for everyone’s input.. it’s greatly appreciated.
I just finished making another batch of jerky. I’m going to leave some of it out at room temp and see how long before it smells bad. The rest I will devour!
I tried this after someone made it. You can’t tell the difference between the fancy gourmet stuff and this homemade version … if anything, the homemade stuff tastes better. I’m told this recipe is older than 40 years … friend has been making this for 25 and they got it from someone else that had been making it for many years.
It keeps well in the fridge for sure, but they told me you could smoke it as well for longer storage. I’ve never done any “smoking” of meat so you will need to find someone else for those directions. <grin>
SUMMER SAUSAGE
Mix all ingredients well and refridgerate. Knead for 5 minutes a day for the next 5 days. On the 5th day, knead and make 5 logs. Bake at 200 degrees for 4 hours, turning every 1 1/2 hours.
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Salt is also good to have on hand if you do not have shampoo/ water. Combing the salt through your hair removes dirt and absorbs oils leaving it feeling cleaner. My mother would tell me stories of hard times from generations back. That one seemed to stick in my mind and could prove to be useful.
Forgive me if this has been mentioned, but salt is needed in oral rehydration fluid. Put 8 teaspoons sugar and 1 teaspoon salt in 1 liter of water. Add 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder if available for potassium. Or add molasses for same. This can be really useful if no IV is available.
LMWatBullRun
Where can one buy copper or non-leaded brass?
I am a Georgia Cracker and proud of it. I know this, because I was told in school. I think a lot of people read to much into names and lables. When I was in school, I was called “Cracker” all the time. “Hey, You a Cracker”. My reply “So?”
Gosh. When I came back today and read what I posted yesterday, I even read it with different meaning than I intended. I was in a hurry. I just wanted Cathy in FL to not feel bad because she thought she might have been offensive. When I was a child, the Georgia Crackers were the girls that wore cotton dresses, starched and ironed every day. They were to the knees. They wore the sponge rollers or pin curls every night, so their hair was curly during the day. They wore black patent leather shoes and white socks that had lace on them. MOstly they lived in large houses in the outskirts of towns with nice land for gardens and may be pecan orchards. Some lived in town. They went to church on Sunday and prayer meeting on thursday night. They did not date until 16 years old. They were expected to behave as young ladies 24/7. And yes, once I was told that I was even the color of a Salteen. I just laughed, because it was true. May be that kid who said that was trying to offend me. I don’t know. It doesn’t matter. I chose to laugh instead of being offended. I just wanted to clarify my last post.
bump
Hmmm. I was only thinking of salt in terms of cooking … but I’ve branched out now. Salt is a good weed killer … heck it kills just about everything <grin> … is useful in cleaning solutions, dealing with ice, etc.
I’ll keep my “good stuff” for cooking but thing I will also look for a large bag of junky salt to use for other purposes.
Prepmaniac-
If I were going to make an evap pan, I’d go to the nearest roofing supply store and buy a roll of copper roof flashing. The price these days will stun you, but you could build a good sized pan with a 50′ x 25″ roll of flashing. I’d use only tin/silver solder and silver flux; you want neither antimony nor lead in this soldering job.
If your going to brine your meats add whole pepper corns,2 or 3 bay leaf, garlic to taste, and kosher salt.If making kraut from scratch dont forget the caraway seeds!
It is common for swimming pools here to use salene instead of clorene. Does any one know if the salene kills viruses in swimming pools as well as the clorine? I notice a lot of birds like to bathe in thepools in the afternoons when all the people leave.
Also, I wonder if the salt that I put in my well water softener would kill any virus that happened into the water tank while salt was being added. Does salt kill viruses?
If trying to avoid aluminum, be sure to check your antiperspirant ingredients.
prepmaniac – at 07:52 --- I wonder about salt water killing viruses. If it proved to be true, then viruses would not survive in ocean water…and in that case, we might see more “Sea Water Inhalants” on the market.
Having a saline filter for your pool is why the birds like it so much. The salt water is “thinner” than regular H2O, and so cleans their feathers better…and they can drink it without the chlorine in it…
Sorry….I meant “thicker”, or “heavier” than normal water….
NaCl; When Salt dissolves into water, it liberates both the sodium ion and the chlorine one. I know salt water has anti-bacterial activity; I don’t know about antivirals but suspect so. Any virologists out there to offer data?
Spicy discussion continued here
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