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FOOD FOR THOUGHT
From: Chris Janowsky
Whether it be a natural disaster or
one that's manmade, being prepared can mean the difference between life or
death. Many of you readers know me as a writer and a wilderness survival
instructor. This is World Survival Institute's 25th Anniversary year of teaching
people the skills and knowledge they need to stay alive in most any emergency.
We constantly emphasize to our students the value of being prepared.
Putting food up for the future is a
very important aspect of being prepared and is usually one of the first things
most of us think about. There are a number of good companies out there that sell
M.R.E.'s, freeze-dried, or dehydrated food for backpackers and for storage. You
may well choose to have some of their products as part of your overall emergency
preparedness inventory. However, it is just as important that you know how to
preserve food yourself, especially meat.
Meat is a significant part of most
people's diet. From it, our bodies receive vitamins, minerals, electrolytes, and
precious muscle-regenerating protein. In most wilderness survival situations,
wild game and fish are very easy to procure if you know how. This makes meat and
fish a natural way to go.
Whether you are in the wilderness or
in the city, putting up meat is a wise idea. However, there are certain
considerations that we have to think about when dealing with meat or fish.
Depending upon the ambient temperature, meat can spoil very quickly. Meat by its
nature is very heavy and if it has to be transported in the future, this should
be of great concern, Especially if you have to pack it on your back.
There are many ways to overcome
these problems either in the field or at home. First of all we have to know why
meat spoils and what to do about it. We will address this issue soon but for now
let's take a good look at the logistics and solution of the meat/weight problem.
Your first concern is your plan. What I'm talking about here is a complete plan.
Nobody knows what is going to happen tomorrow but we should plan for the most
likely emergencies. Your plan could make the difference between life or death
for you and your family.
As mentioned above, many people are
stocking up on M.R.E.'s, or cases of freeze-dried/dehydrated meals. These, plus
water and whatever you normally keep in your kitchen cupboards should be the
first part of your plan. Having extra food and water at home during and after a
disaster means you don't have to worry about battling the mob down at the
supermarket-if it is open. Let's call this plan "A." But you and I
both know that whenever you have a single good plan some SOB will probably mess
it up. This is why you need plan "B."
Depending on the circumstances your
plan "B" may have to be initiated. This plan would be implemented if
you chose or were forced to move from your dwelling. Many people believe they
will be able to use their trucks and cars to transport all their stuff to a safe
haven. But what if the roads are closed? What if a natural disaster has
destroyed bridges and covered highways with debris? I believe that it is a good idea to have your vehicles set
up but don't depend on it. You may end up only being able to take what you can
carry on your back, and folks, that ain't much. Remember that flies can easily
get into the ole ointment.
The next plan is plan "C."
This plan should be a part of all the other plans. And that is having the
KNOWLEDGE and SKILLS to make these plans work, maybe even to having a plan
"D" in reserve. This plan I don't even want to think about but I-and
you-must. You may have to take off with what is only on your person, no bags, no
backpacks. Knowledge at this time is worth far more than gold. You'll have to find your food as you go
and be able to transport it (with reduced weight) for tomorrow.
When you are in a wilderness
survival situation and on the move, you must procure food wherever and whenever
you find it. Let's say you come across a nice lake abundant with fish. Naturally
you are going to take some fish for dinner, but what about tomorrow and the next
week? If you are on the move, you may not find another good food source for
days. If the fishing is good, you'll want to catch as many as you can NOW.
Let's say you take in 44 nice fish
averaging 1 pound each. You cook and eat 4 fish during that day. There are still
40 fish left, which equals 40 pounds. This is far too much weight to transport
on your back, and if freezing conditions do not exist, they will spoil rapidly.
You are going to have to dehydrate
(dry) and smoke the fish. When you are done your 40 pounds of fish will weigh
only 6-8 pounds. This you can easily carry and it's a 10 day supply of food for
one person. Also, any part of the dry smoked fish you would normally discard
like skin and bones will become bait for small animals.
Once you trap or snare a small
animal, you will do the same with them as you did with the fish, cook and eat
what you can and dry the rest. You can see at this point that you are not only
eating well but you have also created variety. This couldn't happen without the
drying process. Even animals like squirrels deliberately gather and spread out
food to dry, like mushrooms.
When putting up meat for the future
at home you will be cooking, drying, and packaging it. You may want to smoke
some for the taste it gives the meat. Most important will be the different ways
you will be packaging the meat for your back up plans.
The meat you stock in your residence
is to stay there. You can cook, dry and smoke the meat if you like. You can
simply can the meat in canning jars. The weight of the jars is not important for
this plan. If canned properly, meat will keep for many years. I've eaten meat
that I've canned ten years before.
The weakest part of this system is
the lids. All lids are not equal! Over the years I've done a lot of canning.
When I use my fish wheel to take in sockeye salmon, it's not uncommon to catch
several hundred 5 to 8 pound fish in a night. And that represents a lot of jars
and lids.
Once the jars are filled, they are
placed in a pressure canner and cooked at the proper heat, pressure, and length
of time. Afterward, the pressure is relieved from the cooker and the jars are
left to cool slowly. As they cool, the center of the lids will be sucked down
toward the contents of the jar. At this point the screw rings that held the lids
in place can be removed. The jars of meat are ready for storage.
Any lids that are not sucked down
warn you that there is no vacuum in that jar and you DO NOT have a seal. The
contents in these jars will spoil. This situation is called a
"failure." I've found over the years that the best lids with the least
amount of failures are Ball lids. If you have a failure it's usually because of
a inferior brand of lid, a defective mouth on the jar, or you didn't clean the rim of the jar well enough after adding the
contents. Stick with Ball lids and you will be in good shape.
When you pull a jar from the shelf
later, always check the lid. The center of the lid should still be sucked down
very solidly. Tap it with your finger: it should sound solid and not move. If
the lid sounds hollow and moves up and down, you have a failure. DO NOT eat the
contents.
Another little trick is if your jars
are stored in your freezer, or are stored where they are subject to being frozen
in the winter, always leave at least 1 inch of head space at the top of the jar.
If you do this, the jars will not break when frozen. I've had jars that were
packed in this fashion that experienced ambient temperatures of 70 degrees below
zero and none broke.
When I can meat it may be in chunks
or in other forms. My store house does have meat in chunks but it also has many
jars of my favorite homemade chili, Moose stew, and sausages in sauce. This way
you can open a jar and your meal is already prepared for you. All you have to do
is heat it up.
This whole operation only requires
reusable mason jars, lids, screw rings, a good pressure cooker, and a 1,200
pound moose. The type of pressure cooker you purchase is important. I've used
many and feel the ones made by American Canner are without a doubt superior in
every way except weight. They are heavy but they are built to last.
They also have many safety features
that the others don't have. The best thing is that they use no rubber O-ring.
It's a metal-to-metal seal that will never wear out. Let's say you are set up at
your wilderness home and it's two years from now. The rubber seal goes bad on
your cheaper cooker. Where are you going to buy a new O-ring? The scary part is
right then you'll need this cooker to put up more food, or you and your family
could be in dire straits. It's something to think about now!
The next way to go is to preserve
the same food in metal cans like those you see in the supermarket. It's easy to
do and you have the advantage of lighter weight and no glass to break. This is a
good way to go if you have vehicle transport. You will need cans, lids, a
pressure cooker and a mechanical can canner. I put up a lot of food this way
each year. Also you can seal up most anything from ammunition to medical
supplies (You won't be using the pressure cooker for these items, especially the ammo!).
The difference between canning in
jars and in cans is the procedure. With jars you add heat and pressure and then
the sealing happens. With cans you mechanically make the seal then add heat and
pressure. The lids on the cans will suck down, just like the canning jars.
Your next step is to put up the
light weight stuff. This is the food that you can carry on your back. Also, if
you have a storage problem as far as space goes, cooked dried meat is the way to
go. Not only does the meat lose weight, but there is a considerable reduction in
its size. These are all plus factors for you.
One way that I do this is to take
some very lean meat; game meat like deer is the best. You can use beef, but make
sure that it's lean. Usually the more inexpensive cuts are the leanest. That's
good news! Take the meat and trim off any fat you can find. Put the meat in a
pan on the cooker rack in a pressure cooker. Add about 1 inch of water to the
cooker, put the top on, and you are ready to go.
You'll want to cook the meat until
well done. Once you've gotten the water boiling and the steam gauge has risen to
the right amount of pressure, you will be cooking 12 to 15 minutes for each
pound of meat. You should keep the pressure at 15 p.s.i. during the entire
cooking time. When the cooking process is over, the meat, no matter how tough it
was, should easily flake into small slivers with the use of a fork.
Next spread these flaked pieces of
meat out on a cookie sheet or sheets. All you have to do now is to dry it
completely. This can be done in many ovens at very low temperature with the door
cracked open for ventilation and to get rid of moisture. This can also be done
in a food dryer or a small smoker oven (The Sausage Maker company in Buffalo, NY
makes several different size smokers, all of them excellent.).
As soon as the meat is completely
dry, take it out and put it in containers that exclude all moisture. Vacuum
sealers work very well for this purpose, and can be applied to canning jars and
plastic resealable bags like M.R.E. packages. You can dry vegetables and add
your favorite spices, mix it all together and then package it. When you need it,
just add hot water and you have a meal ready to eat. You will want to cook the
veggies before you dry them or they may be too tough for your liking. Pre-cooked dried rice or beans are a good addition also.
Remember: cook it, dry it, keep it dry and it will last.
When putting up any meat for
long-term storage, start with fresh meat, keep it cold, and process it as soon
as possible. Bacteria like the C. Botulinum need a nice moist environment that
lacks oxygen in order to grow. When we are canning meat we are creating this
very environment. Luckily, the bacterium needs one more thing in order to
survive, and that is the proper temperature. So when we can, we do it in a
pressure cooker at 15 lbs. p.s.i. This creates a temperature of 250 degrees F.,
much too hot for the bacterium to live. This procedure is similar to sterilizing
medical instruments in an autoclave.
The C. Botulinum bacterium cannot
survive jerky making either, because in making jerky you take away the moisture and fully expose the meat to the air. As an added precaution, if you wish, you
can also add a cure such as Prague Powder #1 to the marinade. This cure destroys the bacterium.
Let's make some jerky! Jerky is easy
to make and it's delicious. It's something you may want to always keep on hand.
Because of it's nature, it's light in weight and easy to transport. It's a
nutritious snack and good emergency food.
Start out with some nice lean meat.
Beef works well but, again, wild game is by far the best. Next, slice the meat
in strips 1/4 of an inch thick by 3/4 to 1 inch wide. I make these about 4
inches long. Make sure any fat or gristle is trimmed off. This is the secret to
good jerky with a long shelf life. Fat can cause the meat to become rancid.
The meat is then mixed in a marinade
of your choice. I will give you the recipe that I use. I'm sure that you will
like it, but remember that it can be easily altered to your taste. Let the meat
soak for no more than 24 hours in the refrigerator. Stir it around several times
while it's soaking.
Next day, blot the excess liquid off
the meat and place on drying racks. The meat can be dried in many different ways
so long as you can hold the temperature somewhere between 95 and 115 degrees F.
Make sure there is good air circulation so moisture can escape. Depending on
what type of drying system you use, the jerky will be ready in 8-10 hrs.
Many kitchen ovens will do a good
job drying jerky if the heat can be kept low enough and the door is left cracked
open to allow the moisture to vent. A food dehydrator or a small smoker also can
be used. You'll know when the jerky is ready. It will be dry around the edges
and rubbery in the center. It will smell wonderful and have taken on a pretty
reddish color. At this point you'll probably be getting " Old Betsy " out to
guard your precious prize, `cause if there's other people around, it'll
disappear as fast as you can make it. And nobody'll fess up!
At our survival school, the students
make jerky in several different ways, and they also add smoke to it. If you like
the smoke flavor, liquid smoke can be added to the marinate. There is a liquid
smoke available that is very concentrated and all natural smoke. Or, if you use
the small smoker, you can smoke the meat while you are drying it.
Jerky that is properly made will
have a moisture loss of 70-80%. You should store the jerky in glass jars, like
mason jars with lids. These lids should have several holes punched or drilled in
them to promote good air circulation and prevent mold. If all the guidelines are
followed and it is kept in a dry environment, your jerky will last for months.
Here are two good recipes for the marinade. This will do 5-6 pounds of meat,
reducing it in 8-10 hours to delicious jerky weighing only 1-1/2 pounds.
Mild
* 1 tbs. salt
* 1 tsp. Prague Powder No. 1
* 2 tsp. garlic powder
* 2 tsp. ground black pepper
* 2 tsp. onion powder
* 1/2 cup soy sauce
* 2/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
* 4 cups water
Hot
* 1 tbs salt
* 1 tsp. Prague Powder No. 1
* 2 tbs. ginger
* 2 tbs. garlic powder
* 1/8 cup (1-1/2 tbs.) ground red pepper
* 1/4 cup sage
* 1/4 cup onion powder
* 1/4 cup chili powder
* 1/4 cup black pepper
* 1 cup soy sauce
* 4 cups water
As you start out, I would suggest
you get some good books on food preservation. One I particularly recommend
is called, "Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing," by Rytek Kutas.
It's the best reference book on the subject I have ever seen. It is available
from the Sausage Maker Company listed below, and I know it will be a welcome
addition to your survival library.
Whether you decide to buy the proper
provisions or put them up yourself, you should at least learn how to do it.
These are important skills you may need in the future, and learning them can be
a lot of fun for you and your family right now. Remember, knowledge and skills
are your best insurance for an unpredictable future.
Chris Janowsky is the founder of the
highly respected World Survival Institute, which offers courses in outdoor
survival and self-reliance. These folks also carry a full series of video tapes
which makes it possible to learn many of these skills from home. For further
information you can write the author at P.O. Box 394, Tok, AK. 99780; or call
(907) 883-4243.
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