I have started a new MAG (Mutual Assistance Group) in my area. Temporarily, it is called the "Four Bee's Group" (4BG) 
I am not necessarily married to that name, however, it beats the Endless Mountain Militia. 
I wrote the following article for the 4BG but I thought it was worthwhile posting here too. "The next area of interests from The Group?s gathering was preserving food. We know that these are ways to do just that,
- Canning
- Freeze drying ⚡︎
- Smoking
- Air drying
- Freezing ⚡︎
- Bulk packaging using sealed Mylar bags and
* O2 Absorbers or dry ice.
⚡︎ = You need electricity
While freeze drying, air drying, and freezing are an option, two of these three need electricity and the third would take forever to dry in the open air and sun. This leaves us with the old fashion way of canning, using heat and/or pressure. Remember, any heating source can be used, e.g. turkey deep fryer (with a
diffuser), your stove top, wood stove, or a campfire. I have used an electric stove top but that is a challenge regulating the heat.
Bottom-line, as we all learned from our grandparents there are two methods that can be used in canning. One involves boiling water in a
water-bath canner and the other is pressure like you get from a pressure cooker.
The water-bath method should only be used for high acid items like pickles and jellies to
remove the risk of botulism from canning. Bottom-line, I never cann using the water-bath method.
The pressure cooker method has been our tried & true method for years and I am not about to change. We use a
Presto 23 quart pressure canner. The top of the line pressure cooker is the
All American 21.5 quart but is it really worth its $400.00 PLUS price tag? Well it would certainly last for generations so in essence you are buying it for your grandchildren.
Along with the pressure canner purchase you need the
accoutrements for the canning process and
canning jars. I have learned from experience, do not skimp here.
Now you can buy canning jars pretty much everywhere; grocery stores, hardware stores, on-line, garage sales, church bazaars, etc. The best price for me anyway has been Amazon. I only use wide mouth jars in 16 & 32 ounce sizes. MrsMac does use 8-ounce jars for jellies and jams, however. That is another story for another time.
We cann all of our veggies in 16 ounce (1 pint) jars because it is just the two of us. We cann all protein (Beef, chicken, pork, venison, etc) in 32 ounce (1 quart) jars. Making a stew as an example, we use two one pint jars of differing veggies and one quart of protein for a meal with some left overs.
For our protein jars we ?cold pack? our protein, add the appropriate broth and then pressure cann it. There are some pressure canner aficionados who will cook the protein ahead of time to render out the fat. In canning protein, fat is your enemy due to shelf life. Fat can turn rancid. If you cold pack, just trim as much fat from the meat as possible before hand and only store on your shelf for a year or less. To us, the fat adds flavor.
As a side note, we reuse the lids from veggie canning jars but never from jars that contain protein. I am not as worried about botulism from veggies as I am from protein. Yes, make sure you have lids & rings as part of your preps. They make great bartering items too.
How many jars do you need you might ask? Well using our use in a year for two people if we were to only eat from what we canned, we would need,
> 365 PLUS, pint jars for veggies, maple syrup, ghee (Butter), jellies & jams, etc. Let?s call it 408 to 420 jars (34-35, 12-jar
cases).
> 180 PLUS, quart jars for protein. Let?s call it 180 to 192 jars (15-16,12-jar cases).
Okay, this estimation is only if you are eating out of canned food exclusively. This will not be the case for most of us. Also, before you buy or raise food to cann, sit down and develop recipes, e.g. soups, stews, casseroles, etc. Once you do this based on the size of your family, likes and dislikes, you will have a better handle on how deep and broad you need to go in your pantry. Don?t forget your kids who may live away from home today but may not tomorrow when (Not if) the SHTF.
Last, let?s talk food. If you are not a very experienced gardener (Now you are in reality a substance farmer), can you grow enough veggies for one year? Probably not. My best year eating form our garden we only grew about 60% of our needs for two people. That is with a 1,800 sq-ft garden. Don?t forget you need an optimal environment (Sun, water, fertilizer, critter avoidance, etc.) to maximize your garden. Bottom-line, we optimize our pantry with veggies purchased from local farmers and liquidators like Frog Pond in Bainbridge, NY. Buy in bulk what you need and cann from that.
In closing, if the initial investment seems out of reach or daunting, remember that for all intents and purposes the investment you make today is a onetime investment. How much do you pay for a fancy dinner out on the town? For many of us that would be $200- for two. Or for a not so fancy dinner on the town for four, $150-. Just food (Pun intended) for thought. Times a-wasting."
