Your Food Storage Equation...

[TexPrep]

@TexPrep It makes it a very sweet type jerkey. You and your wife may like to juice and then make it into a jelly. I have done that many times and everyone has loved it.

I do make a lot of beef jerky in the dehydrator so It'll be easy enough to dry some water melon.

 

[Buttoni]

I haven't made jerky in ages, but do have a dehydrator down at the BOL. Will likely make some as meat defrosts (if we lose power to the freezer)..........along with pressure canning some of it.

 

[Danil54grl]

I haven't made jerky in ages, but do have a dehydrator down at the BOL. Will likely make some as meat defrosts (if we lose power to the freezer)..........along with pressure canning some of it.

Are you on the grid at your BOL? Or do you have an alternative energy source?

 

[Danil54grl]

I do make a lot of beef jerky in the dehydrator so It'll be easy enough to dry some water melon.

One of my absolute favorite jerky recipes from Jerky Lovers.

Jerky Lover's Jerky - Sweet, Hot and Spicy

• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons cracked black pepper, or to taste
• 1 pound lean beef sirloin tip, sliced into 1/8 inch strips
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2/3 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup teriyaki sauce
• 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
• 5 tablespoons liquid smoke flavoring
• 1/2 cup pineapple juice
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste (optional)
• In a small bowl or cup, mix together the onion powder, garlic powder, and some cracked black pepper. Season the meat lightly, using only part of the mixture. Reserve the remaining spices. Place into an airtight plastic container or bowl, and refrigerate.
• In a saucepan over medium heat, mix together the brown sugar, soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, Worcestershire sauce, balsamic vinegar, liquid smoke flavoring and pineapple juice. Heat until the brown sugar has completely dissolved. Pour over the meat, and mix by hand to coat really well. Seal the bowl, and refrigerate for at least 3 hours to marinate.
• Arrange the beef strips on the rack of a dehydrator, and sprinkle with a little bit more of the spice mixture and red pepper flakes if using. Dry for 5 hours, or to your desired dryness.

 

[Robinjopo1]

Interesting. How are they suggesting you use a watermelon powder? My first thought is add to smoothies. That may be yummy.

HaHaha scapes not shapes.

 

[Robinjopo1]

Interesting. How are they suggesting you use a watermelon powder? My first thought is add to smoothies. That may be yummy.

This video was only about garlic, but the watermelon I dehydrated on trays got too crumbly and would make powder very easily. Made some slices too thin.

 

[Buttoni]

Are you on the grid at your BOL? Or do you have an alternative energy source?

We're on the grid at the cabin, until power goes down. Then it's 2 generators to run fridge/freezer and well pump as needed, until fuel is no longer available. We know nothing about setting up solar and it's cost prohibitive to have someone come in and do that for us.......plus it's really too late at this juncture.

 

[Buttoni]

Thanks for the jerky recipe, @Danil54grl.

 

[GaRp58]

Watermelon wine, dandelion wine....those were the days...
Don't forget to put some Jack Daniels or Jim Beam in your beef jerky people. The alcohol is gone but the flavor and aroma comes thru.

We know nothing about setting up solar and it's cost prohibitive

There are simple solar systems in-the-box and small wind mills you can install yourself for off grid in e-bay. Take a look at what is up for sale. Also get a few used solar panels (photovoltaic is best) and simple parts in e-bay also. Watch a few videos to the "how-to" and try it. It worked for me and I only have one large battery to run the fridge for one hour each day and it stays frozen with extry insulation surrounding the stand-up freezer for 36 hours...I can also run all my small electric tools, drill, circular saw, mobil phone and laptops charging, spare batteries for lights and such all run off a single panel and battery with a small inverter.

 

[Buttoni]

I've watched the how-to videos (can't get my husband to, however). You're talking to a female who didn't understand any of it I watched. I'm married to a city boy unknowledgeable on such things (and unwilling) to tackle many do-it-yourself projects due to past failures when attempted. He hires everything like that done. Just being honest. He has laid in his Jack Daniels, brandy and gin at the BOL.

So we're going to learn real fast how to live like they did in the 1850's, without electricity, TV, fridges, freezers or air conditioning. All our preps & prep equipment/tools investments have all been chosen for use in an off-grid cabin. We'll be reverting to a 'Townsends' world, in other words. When I say our cabin BOL is rustic, it is precisely that. Electricity is a luxury we just won't have when SHTF. The transition will be difficult at first, as we humans do get spoiled. But humans are amazingly resilient when it comes to roughing it and survival. To put that into perspective, I'm old enough to remember not having air-conditioning in my house growing up; old enough to have experienced lousy TV reception with crappy rabbit ears (and sometimes no reception at all). And I'm still here to talk about 'living through' such times. Those creature comforts are nice. I'd be crazy to say they aren't. But they're just not necessities in a SHTF scenario IMO. We have oil lamps mounted on the walls in our cabin for light. If power is ever restored, the cabin is capable of using at a moment's notice.

 

[GeorgiaPeachie]

I’m with you on experiencing the “rabbit ears” and no tv. Experienced no indoor toilets at my grandparents farm for several years. Lots of electric outages where we used oil lamps. Bringing water for a short period of time from their spring…which was the best tasting water I’ve ever had! Experienced no refrigerator at their place in very young days. They had a little spring house where milk and such was kept. We lived just fine.

 

[GaRp58]

Yes, Helena lived with only a root cellar and a spring house to as a child. I grew up with AC, TV and radios but not lots of food and later no TV...She can still enjoy the smell of my petroleum lamps which I test and fill regularly. I have a small collection of them, down to some only a few inches tall and a large one with a ROUND wick. PICS:

 

[Kiwichick]

We don't have as many options available in New Zealand. Much of the stuff designed to last more than 10 years is prohibitively expensive (at least in my experience). So I have a combo of dry foods and canned foods. I'm working on growing as much food as possible. I have a dehydrator. Supplies for canning are also expensive here but still on my list of preps to get.

I rely on my own judgment about whether food is still good. They have to put cautious best before dates on everything.

 

[rainingcatzanddogs]

If anyone is interested in solar, but the cost of new is out of your range, I have had sucess with auctions. I bought 36 210-220w panels for the BOL for about $50 a piece after taxes and buyer's premiums, They came from a large horse ranch that was sold off. So far all the ones we've tested worked well.

 

[rainingcatzanddogs]

@Buttoni , the one thing about having to make it without electricity is that at least here in the south, the heat will degrade the nutritional value and quality of your food stores very quickly.

It is a problem that I have been trying to find a way around for a while now. I finally gave in and decided to splurge on solar.

I am like you and watts, volts and such just boggled my mind. The book "Solar for Dummies" helped because I could easily go back and re-read; on issues I struggle with, having a tangible book really helps me to wrap my head around it better than videos. My husband knows electrical but, lighting a fire under his butt to get him moving on things is sometimes a problem, so I need to know. Plus, if anything was to happen to him, or me, we both need to understand all of the systems and such.

The conundrum for me regarding long term food storage without electricity is...

From my research : In Central Texas the frost line is at about 4" and the ground, unless you are really deep (Like 35+ feet), does not provide significant cooling in the summer months. With outside temps at 110 + sometimes for weeks at a time, with 80%+ humidity the soil is just thoroughly heated,

One of the first things I noticed when I moved from the north to the south was there was no such thing as "cold" water coming out of the tap. Even with the much deeper city water we had in Florida. Cool yes, cold no. Combine it with our high humidity and you might just end up with a spoiled mess even with a traditional root cellar.

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Figure 2. Mean annual earth temperature observations at individual stations, superimposed on well-water temperature contours.

I haven't gotten the root cellar built yet so has anyone here in the southern US in that earth temp 75 degree range, done it and successfully stored food? If so, how did you do it?

 

[Amish Heart]

Can you use a basement?

 

[rainingcatzanddogs]

Can you use a basement?

We don't have basements here. In Central and West Texas, you can dig about 6-18" generally before hitting solid limestone (putting in fencing by hand is a real adventure). In East Texas, water tables and expansive clay soils become an issue so with few exceptions no one builds them here.

 

[rainingcatzanddogs]

Maybe this? Much less labor intensive and I have the clay to make my own bricks at BOL2, I might just give this a try and see what happens!

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[GeorgiaPeachie]

We are fortunate here in the mountains. Our water is cool even during the summer. It is down right cold cold right now.

 

[Buttoni]

We don't have basements here. In Central and West Texas, you can dig about 6-18" generally before hitting solid limestone (putting in fencing by hand is a real adventure). In East Texas, water tables and expansive clay soils become an issue so with few exceptions no one builds them here.

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I actually DO have a basement at my house in the city. Probably the ONLY one in Central Texas, complete with two sump pumps to insure it stays dry. But I'm not bugging in at this house. I have a storm shelter at the BOL in the general area of Gause, and am trying to convince the hubs we need to install a second one (just for storable food). The 4" cement-sided shelters only take 1 day to excavate and install, but for now, I just have the one shelter in place. This one would only hold half of our long-term food.