Preparedness

parallel said:
Hi 3d Student, I missed the flavoring bit. Must admit that this freeze dry interest of mine is about lazyness. Back in febuary I saw McCanney selling it and was overwhelmed with all the preparations/info/skills needed for preservation, displayed in this thread (and I wanted to put my energy toward getting a job and own place). So what easier way than just ordering supplies when I would get some money in the future- wishful thinking.

What I can gather is talking for freeze dried goods is extensive shelf life. Then there are the outnumbering cons; It's very expensive. It's out of stock and one is in the hands of the industry for preserving (unless one has lab access). Fat is heavily reduced for the processs to work. And then there are probably also dangerous additives.

I will go get a pressure cooker and re-read this thread.

One thing about freeze dried food is that it keeps for something like 30 years. It's also light in weight, so can be easily moved. If the tilt, orbit, and rotation of the planet were to change, along with the list of possible effects McCanney lists, it could mean not having ANY source of food for months or even years. If that was the case, I think food additives would be the least of my worries. Just shows how totally ill-prepared our society is for any kind of natural disaster. A major city without a source of food and water is like a sitting duck...
 
Mrs.Tigersoap said:
3D said:
It seems you have to take the fat out, as this can mess up the seal.

Data said:
The solution: Just leave one inch space between rubber and food.

Maybe also what can help is to have that kind of accessory to make sure the fat/food does not touch the seal:

http://www.econologie.info/share/partager/1253179648ZFKgsx.jpg
So people can find these easier, the tool in the photograph is a "canning funnel". We just found a metal one as we were unpacking our old boxes of kitchen supplies.
 
Just had a quick look thru the entire thread. Seems like it could be pretty expensive. I have some questions.

A) If people start starving will you distribute some food to help them or is your stash exclusive to your family and your own needs?

B) Wouldn't it be cheaper and easier to just buy canned foods from the supermarket that have shelf lives of pretty much decades!

C) Can you buy organic meats in cans?

D) I live in Scotland, is this worth my while even tho this time next year I could be under 9 stories of ice?

Jamie
 
I started canning stew beef according to my recipe in April. The other day I checked if the jars were still under vacuum. Out of a dozen, two weren't, although I sterilized them at 100°C for 2 hours. Compared to the other jars, who were still intact, I could see that they developed bubbles inside, and probably produced gas by fermentation. So I discarded them immediately.

In my recipe posted above you'll see that I've added buckwheat (just out of fun). I'm suspecting that the carbohydrates -- sugars -- might be food for any remaining bacteria (a few always will survive), and that this caused the spoiling.

So, in order to not lose anything again, I was thinking about changing my conserve recipe to 100% beef with enough pure fat to cover it, and a lot of salt, maybe with added vitamin C as antioxidant.

So yesterday late in the evening I ate one of the intact jars of stew beef that I made in April. It was excellent and tasted exactly as it were freshly made. I was still hungry and made some buckwheat blinis with grapeseed oil and lard. 3 hours later I went to bed. At the verge of sleep I felt nausea coming over me, although I slept a few moments afterwards. This morning I awoke terribly inflamed: swollen eyes, nose partially shut. All day long I felt as if I were drunk and only now I'm recovering slightly with vitamin C and magnesium.

I don't know what exactly caused it, but I'm leaning towards the blinis with the seed oil. I know that carbohydrates with a lot of fat gave me an uncomfortable feeling before. I will try these foods independently again to see what it was.

In any event, I will probably make some 100% meat + fat conserves.
 
mugatea said:
Just had a quick look thru the entire thread. Seems like it could be pretty expensive. I have some questions.

A) If people start starving will you distribute some food to help them or is your stash exclusive to your family and your own needs?

Keeping it exclusively for you would be a service to self. What about starting to network with people to increase mutual support and increase the probability of survival?

mugatea said:
B) Wouldn't it be cheaper and easier to just buy canned foods from the supermarket that have shelf lives of pretty much decades!

Easier yes but probably not cheaper. 125g of canned sardines cost about 1.60 Euros here. 1 kg would cost about 13 Euros. When you buy rather expensive organic meat for 8 Euros a kilo, and add the cost of the jar, 1 Euro per piece, you're still cheaper when making it yourself.

mugatea said:
C) Can you buy organic meats in cans?

I've never seen them here but maybe in your country?

mugatea said:
D) I live in Scotland, is this worth my while even tho this time next year I could be under 9 stories of ice?

Well, that's up to you I'd say, but I think it's better to be flexible and have options to choose from.
 
networking is a good idea and probably what will save the survivors. It's just getting a network. There's not many people who know whats going on and telling someone that "hey, everything you know is wrong," "there is an ice age coming" and "global starvation looks likely" without looking like a fruitcake is kinda hard.

I've got a new question.

a)Has anyone got a duration for how much food they want to collect for or are they just trying to get as much as possible?

b) the most appealing way of food collection to me is the freezer, but what happens when/if there is no electricity? Or is this the fatal flaw in freezing?

Jamie
 
mugatea said:
networking is a good idea and probably what will save the survivors. It's just getting a network. There's not many people who know whats going on and telling someone that "hey, everything you know is wrong," "there is an ice age coming" and "global starvation looks likely" without looking like a fruitcake is kinda hard.

I've got a new question.

a)Has anyone got a duration for how much food they want to collect for or are they just trying to get as much as possible?

they ? what you men by that ?

mugatea said:
b) the most appealing way of food collection to me is the freezer, but what happens when/if there is no electricity? Or is this the fatal flaw in freezing?

Jamie

Ice Age comes so you can always put food outside the window

Hmm speaking seriously preparing itself for example can teach us how to deal with food in extreme situations this knowledge may be more useful than just stored food.
 
they ? what you men by that ?

I mean they as in 'themselves'. How much food are people planning to save up? Is there a preferential amount? I'm guessing not, but it seems that it can't last very long, especially if they want to act in an STO way even with networking such a small number will be invloved that there can never be enough to go round.

Hmm speaking seriously preparing itself for example can teach us how to deal with food in extreme situations this knowledge may be more useful than just stored food.

That's a good point, but will any of the information here be of any use if things go tits-up? Can you can meat with no electricity? I dont know myself.
 
mugatea said:
they ? what you men by that ?

I mean they as in 'themselves'. How much food are people planning to save up? Is there a preferential amount? I'm guessing not, but it seems that it can't last very long, especially if they want to act in an STS way even with networking such a small number will be invloved that there can never be enough to go round.

I doubt that people outside the PTB and a total of us? now gather food. Usually gather once something happens. This reminds me of people of the future - draw attention to what is HERE, and now thanks to this you can prepare.

Rather, there is no number more what you're doing it for the pleasure of knowledge

mugatea said:
Hmm speaking seriously preparing itself for example can teach us how to deal with food in extreme situations this knowledge may be more useful than just stored food.

That's a good point, but will any of the information here be of any use if things go tits-up? Can you can meat with no electricity? I dont know myself.

when things will happen quickly relevant knowledge can affect our decisions for both in time and after the event.
 
I doubt that people outside the PTB and a total of us? now gather food. Usually gather once something happens. This reminds me of people of the future - draw attention to what is HERE, and now thanks to this you can prepare.

And as well as gathering the PTB will no doubt steal too!


Jamie
 
About the preparedness I'm thinking of this: to buy a small stock of various seed to be able to cultivate. Depending the variety, can be stored from 2 to 10 years. Don't know, but if the value of the money fall the price will skyrocket.
 
Ellipse said:
About the preparedness I'm thinking of this: to buy a small stock of various seed to be able to cultivate. Depending the variety, can be stored from 2 to 10 years. Don't know, but if the value of the money fall the price will skyrocket.

As The C's have said, the is no oil shortage. The idea of a depleted oil resource's is way to drive the cost of everthing for the generation of profit, driven by greed.
So while your dollar has what limited buy buying power, now would be a good time to stock up the essentials, before commodities start to double and possibly tripling in price, due the lie of an oil shortage.

Let the games begin :shock:

From Oil Price net.com
http://oil-price.net/index.php?lang=en

Thighter Oil Supply 2012
Saudi Arabia has been overstating its oil reserves for decades and will not meet increased demand in 2012.

................Demand
As a more affluent population in BRICs consumes more goods, fuel usage for transportation and farming also increases. According to a UN report earlier this year, the world population would reach seven billion later this year and increase to 14 billion by 2100, if left unchecked. This doesn't necessarily abide by the math rule of 'the more people, the more pressure on the resources of the planet' theory, as people from the wealthy nations consume more, and waste more. However, what happens when the poor move higher on the economic scale. They have every right to the resources too, don't they? Still, continued growth in BRIC countries means motorized vehicle usage will increase. IMF has, in its update of the WEO World Economic Outlook, predicts a growth rate of 7.8 percent for India, and 9.2 percent for China in 2012 next year. This will have a lever effect: less oil production capacity while the demand skyrockets.

According to Bureau of Economic analysis the US economy has declined by 1.8 percent in the first quarter. The latest U.S. job report showed a weak economic recovery with just 18,000 jobs created in June, and in the revised World economic outlook, IMF has since adjusted the growth for advanced economies to 2.5 percent from 2.6 percent. Indeed, the earthquake in Japan, the resultant disruption in the supply chain, and uncertainty with the varying pace of the economic recovery in the US economy's progress, are some of the reasons for the low demand for crude oil for the first half of 2011.

However, when US returns to faster growth, the Japanese economy bounces back, and Europe recovers from the debt crisis and thus a global recovery, what do we have in our hands, a supply deficit for oil.

In fact, Goldman predicts that the world economy would accelerate in the second half of the year itself, increasing demand. "Prices and returns will rise further later this year and into 2012," a report from the bank said, predicting that Brent crude would average at $120 in six months and $130 in 2012. An EIA report estimates that the oil demand will surpass production by 1.16 million barrels per day this year. The reports also suggests that the oil demand around the world to rise by 1.6 million bbl/d in 2012, a gap of 0.5 million barrels per day (only with increased production). The IMF, for its part, in the updated World Economic Outlook (WEO) for 2011, puts the assumed price for oil based on futures market at $105.25 in 2012. Analyst Hussein Allidina, from Morgan Stanley, said "We remain bullish on oil, particularly in the second half, and expect inventory draws will prompt OPEC to increase production, at the expense of spare capacity".

Of course, by 2012, we'll know which of these predictions come true, though wishful thinking hopes that, somehow, we've got it all wrong. Banks are bullish, you know why. But can we sit back, wait and watch as oil prices spiral, because spare capacity was exhausted?

So, really, did the Mayans predict the end of the world in 2012 or did they run out of space on their calendar? More like what Lady Macbeth said, "Almost at odds with morning, which is which." Superstitions and old wives tales aside, if we look at the oil supply/demand numbers, with close to 7 billion people, we are approaching the planet's carrying capacity. With the oil market set to go through a lot of stress in the coming year, 2012 will surely mark a turning point to remember.
 
Data said:
This is my recipe for stew beef in preservation glass jars:

700g beef from the front of the cow, cut in small chunks (it's tough and cheapest but very tasty and it becomes very tender after 2 hours of boiling, a time which we need for sterilization anyway)
200g chopped onions
300g coarsly chopped carrots
200g coarsly chopped celery
200g ghee and/or lard
400ml water

4 heaped teaspoons of salt
freshly ground black pepper
4 tablespoons of buckwheat flour

For taste (and maybe even antimicrobal properties):

1 finely chopped garlic clove
juice of 1 lemon
a few ground cloves
a pinch of cinnamon

1) Fry the onions for 5 minutes in part of the fat, remove them from the pot and set aside
2) Fry the beef for 5 minutes in the rest of the fat, make sure there is enough heat so that the pores are closing. Depending on the size of the pot you might want to do it in two batches. Don't steam the beef!
3) Turn off the heat, add the onions, carrots, celery, salt, pepper, garlic, lemon juice, ground cloves and cinnamon
4) Add the water and thicken the sauce with buckwheat flour

At that point you can fill the cooled down stew beef into glass jars, seal them, and cook them in water or steam for 2 hours @ 100°C. The beef will be very tender. Not only temperature, but also pH value and salt concentration minimizes bacteria survival, so I added lemon juice and made it rather salty. When you open the jar to eat the portion, you can still dilute the sauce with water, since it's rather thick.

The German term for the beef I used is: Beinfleisch and costs 5 Euros per kilo.

Happy cooking!

Sorry if I've missed it but are you saying you do this in a normal pressure cooker and not a canner Data?
 
Don Genaro said:
Sorry if I've missed it but are you saying you do this in a normal pressure cooker and not a canner Data?

No, neither pressure cooker nor canner. Since the world wars, European families have used glass jars with rubber gaskets (without clamps, the vacuum holds tight by itself) and conventional boiling water for sterilization exclusively. That's the reason why you can't buy canners here in Europe. They seem to be be an exclusive American thing. Boiling water for 1-2 hours seems to be enough for sterilization. Sterilization can be improved by adding lots of salt and acid (< 4.5 pH to inhibit the dangerous Clostridium botulinum bacteria).

Also keep in mind that this recipe isn't really appropriate for a low-carb diet (as illustrated in the "Life without Bread" thread). Today I probably would add just fatty meat, saturated fat, salt and acid (in the form of citric acid and ascorbic acid). It doesn't matter if it's too salty or sour, because you can still dilute or enrich the gravy when you consume the preserved food.
 
Back
Top Bottom