Food

[pkveazey]

We all have our own ideas about what foods we stock up on. My food stocks are quite varied but the other day I got to thinking about what basic foods would be reasonably good tasting and healthy as far as proteins and carbohydrates. BAM! Canned Corn Beef Hash. I've got a huge supply of Rice but that can get bland real quick even though its healthy. I went out and bought a dozen cans of Corn Beef Hash. Yep, I believe I could eat that maybe twice a week and not get tired of it. The same goes for my Brown Rice. OK, Raman Noodles maybe once a week. I'm not a fan of white rice but I have a bunch of it. Whatever white rice I don't eat, I can barter or at least help keep my neighbors alive. I think I'm going to increase my supply of Dinty Moore Beef Stew also. I couldn't find any Brunswick Stew at the grocery store so I ordered 10 large cans from Amazon. Please don't get me started on those Eat by dates. My wife thinks that they go bad at midnight of the eat by date. I told her that when she gets hungry those eat by dates are going to become less important to her. I'm betting that she watches me eat it first and if I don't die then she'll eat it.

[grizz]

I'll have spam and eggs every morning nd one can of spam will last me two weeks. I get about the same mileage from a can hash

[Nemo]

Sorry, but I just had to.

Nemo


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duFierM1yDg

[JohnyMac]

Love it! 

[Felix]

ALL canned meats, variety is King.
Of course "bush meat" augmenting the store of carbohydrates (rice, beans, grains, etc) as possible.   Greens are seasonal but easy to grow and some vitamins both in pill form and natural source such as dried rose hips (we are blessed with wild roses here but severe
 drought years really whack size/quality).
A real biggie is lots of spices - quantity and variety.   Of course salt is stored in quantity - food seasoning, preservative, trade item.
Fats - there's the rub.   I keep about a year's supply in combo - olive, coconut, sesame, peanut always rotating.   But these all have a relatively short shelf life if I'm understanding what I read correctly.   
Anybody have terms/conditions/types for long term fat storage?   Any experience with "Snow-Cap Lard"?

[RB in GA]

Canned butter, although it's expensive, is probably the best long term fat to store.  Also, invest in some of the surplus German Army butter dishes.  I keep butter in those for daily use and have for the last 10 years or so. As long as the gasket is  tight there are no issues with putting your butter in one of those. Assuming you have power to run a freezer, regular butter and olive oil can be frozen as well (I do both).

As far as canned meats go, I'd add herring/sardines canned in water to the list.  Lots of good Omega-3's and will help fight arthritis. 
For all canned meats the only caution I'd add is for those folks with high blood pressure and/or heart conditions-  watch the salt intake!  It does no good to survive if you die or get debilitated by a stroke! 

[grizz]

Canned butter, although it's expensive, is probably the best long term fat to store.  Also, invest in some of the surplus German Army butter dishes.  I keep butter in those for daily use and have for the last 10 years or so. As long as the gasket is  tight there are no issues with putting your butter in one of those. Assuming you have power to run a freezer, regular butter and olive oil can be frozen as well (I do both).

As far as canned meats go, I'd add herring/sardines canned in water to the list.  Lots of good Omega-3's and will help fight arthritis. 
For all canned meats the only caution I'd add is for those folks with high blood pressure and/or heart conditions-  watch the salt intake!  It does no good to survive if you die or get debilitated by a stroke!

Canned butter?? Can a person do that at home in a pressure canner?

[JohnyMac]

A few things from experience.

1) I store olive oil by the gallon. As already mentioned, I rotate through the cans however, I have had Olive Oil in storage
    for more than 4-years and it was just fine.
2) Ghee is the answer to butter. I have a MAG friend who makes Ghee. When ever butter is on sale, she buys 3-4 salted
    pounds and melts them in a slow cooker. She skims off the solids that float to the top and then ladles the relatively
    clear liquid into 1-pint mason jars. She does this when the ghee is hot and then believe it or not, the jars seal
    themselves as if they had been canned. I have been at her house and heard that usual sound of "crack" when a mason
    jar seals itself.

    I have used her ghee for cooking and it seems to burn at a higher temp which is great to use for a filet minion in a cast
    iron skillet.

    I start with a hot cast iron skilled and then throw in the salted and peppered filet minion for about a minute on each
   side. Then in to the skillet about a tbs of ghee per steak along with fresh thyme if I have or dried if I do not. I then turn
   the steak over and over about every 30 seconds or so till rare. Pull the steak and wrap in aluminum foil for...oh, 3-4
   minutes. Plate up the steaks and dribble a little of the ghee/thyme gravy over the steak along with a nice tsp of ghee.

Fat is an important part of our diets that people forget it. 
   

[Jackalope]

Canned butter, although it's expensive, is probably the best long term fat to store.  Also, invest in some of the surplus German Army butter dishes.  I keep butter in those for daily use and have for the last 10 years or so. As long as the gasket is  tight there are no issues with putting your butter in one of those. Assuming you have power to run a freezer, regular butter and olive oil can be frozen as well (I do both).

As far as canned meats go, I'd add herring/sardines canned in water to the list.  Lots of good Omega-3's and will help fight arthritis. 
For all canned meats the only caution I'd add is for those folks with high blood pressure and/or heart conditions-  watch the salt intake!  It does no good to survive if you die or get debilitated by a stroke!

Canned butter?? Can a person do that at home in a pressure canner?

   You can buy canned butter, Red Feather is the best known brand and it's available on eBay and Amazon, plus at many survival stores.  If you don't want to refine and can your own ghee, it's available at Asian food stores.  We usually keep a variety of fats available, as we don't want to suffer from food monotony.

[Nemo]

Discussion got me interested enough to look.  I will save you all the searching.

Nemo


https://www.amazon.com/s?k=canned+butter&ref=nb_sb_noss


https://www.amazon.com/Zealand-Hurricane-Preparedness-Emergency-Safecastle/dp/B08QJSTXPV/ref=sr_1_7

[RB in GA]

Red feather is what I buy when its available and not priced through the roof.  Right now I have it on Amazon's subscribe and save program set for every 4 months to build up my stockpile.

[JohnyMac]

Of course another way to have butter is to buy a cow. 

If ya' did that you would have milk and cheese too. 

[pkveazey]

I grew up on a farm and the Milk and Butter thing is easy but I'm not so sure about Cheese being easy. We didn't never make no cheese.

[Felix]

Thanks to every one for "chewing the fats" on this one.   
I looked at the price of the canned butter from New Zealand and immediately figured sleuthing making and canning ghee was a much cheaper option.   
Still no comment on lard?
How about rendered bear fat?   Canning it?

[JohnyMac]

I forgot all about lard.

Every year when my neighbor and I slaughter our pigs, we have the butcher save the fat to render down for lard. I give my lard from my pig to my neighbor.

He puts about one inch of water in a big stew pot on a propane burner. As the water comes to a boil he cuts up the pig fat and tosses it into the boiling water. He turns down the burner and slowly over time adds to the rendering pig fat more fat.

As the fat renders he takes off of the top of the fat, solids and scum.

Once rendered down he ladles the fat into a milk strainer used for straining cow and goat milk after milking and then into quart Mason jars. Puts on the seal and lid while hot and the jars self seal.

I do not know how long the lard lasts however, I have opened a new jar of lard a year or so old and it was just fine. I primarily use his lard for pie crusts. He uses it to fry just about everything, potatoes, chicken, eggs, etc.

[DMCakhunter]

Don't forget bacon drippings. We save ours after running thru a coffee filter. 2 pounds of bacon leaves a good amount of grease that we use for cooking.
We don't make pies or pastries, but nothing beats bacon flavor for eggs, ham, steaks, chops and veggies.
We keep bacon and butter in each freezer.

[JohnyMac]

LOL, yes bacon fat.

We keep a jar in the fridge. I use it mostly for fried potatoes and flash fried veggies. Last night I cubed up some yellow squash and in a sauté pan I put 2-3 tbs of olive oil and similar amount of bacon fat. Brought the temp of the oil up just starting to smoke and threw in the squash. Added some pepper, salt, and Italian seasoning. Cooked till the squash had caramelized on most sides of the cubed squash. Finished with about a tbs of butter. 

Never thought of straining it. Sounds like a good idea. Not to sound dense but, give a short description of how you do it. Something must hold the coffee filter.

Thx

[FeedingFreedom]

We have super-fine strainers used for making miso soup, I just put a filter in there and pour it in. My friend just got a hand-crank press for extracting oil from seeds and nuts, it works pretty well for how little it cost. And the cake left over can either be put into baked goods or if there are hulls/shells, fed to the animals. Edit: It's called a misokoshi, and one of the best parts is that it has a small hook on the back of the basket to hold it on the side of a pot or jar.

[JohnyMac]

Thank you F2. 

[DMCakhunter]

We use a coffee mug and use a rubber band to hold the filter. Once the fat is used, run it thru the dish washer

[Jackalope]

   I follow some agricultural websites, and indications are that crops in the west are being severely impacted by a drought.  So, we're going to see price increases on a wide variety of food products, from produce to pasta.  Beef herds are being culled too, because the shortage of forage materials.  Beef prices may initially drop as herds are culled, but then prices should sharply increase.  Now is the time to stock up!

[Felix]

I can vouch for serious herd reduction in Arizona.   Granted, we are a drop in the bucket compared to places that actually get precipitation.
Even the wildlife has been impacted by our severe, extended drought.   This year's bird hunting is probably going to be pretty sad.
Hey!    Some more Anasazi beans arrived today- they are kinda like Pintos only a whole lot better, easier/faster to cook.   Check out Adobe Milling in Colorado, you can visit website order by phone or internet.   Their distribution in small bags at grocery stores ist kaput here in Flagstaff and they are limiting amounts sold until this Fall's harvest is in.   But the 40# bags are still available and with shipping, the price per pound is not far out of line from supermarket small bags.
https://www.anasazibeans.com/