HomePosts Tagged "emergency food"

Being prepared means being prepared all the time; at least in my book it does. That can be a bit challenging at times, especially since we don’t really know what life is going to throw our way. That’s why I always carry a complete survival kit as part of my EDC, along with emergency equipment in my car. This includes a variety of food items so that I always have something to eat with me.

Granted, there are few places where you can drive in this great land of ours, where you aren’t going to find food to eat. Even so, I’ve been in a few. I’ve also been stranded in my car a number of times, whether because of mechanical failure or simply being stuck in traffic. At those times, it’s nice to have something to eat, especially something for the kids to eat. They just don’t understand phrases like, “There isn’t a McDonald’s here in the middle of nowhere.”

Keeping food in your car can also help out with a number of other emergency and semi-emergency situations, such as low blood sugar, heat exhaustion, and low energy. So it really makes sense to keep food in the car, even if you’re not thinking of bugging out or getting stranded. Now the only question is, what to keep? Here are the types of things I find useful to keep in mind.

Water

I always start out by putting a couple of gallons of water in the car. I know some people prefer to use bottles, but I find that I can carry more water in less space if I use gallons. If I need to drink that water, I can easily pour it into water bottles; but if I need to use it for the car, gallons are more convenient.

 

The water bottle in this picture is aluminum. I always use metal water bottles, because they can be put in the fire. So, I can use this water bottle to purify water, heat up water for coffee, and heat up water for soup. That’s a whole lot better than using a plastic water bottle and needing to have something extra for heating up water.

Gatorade Powder

I live in a hot part of the country, so it’s not unusual to overheat and become dehydrated from sweating too much. Many people deal with that here by drinking copious amounts of Gatorade. Carrying liquid Gatorade in bottles is one option, but it takes up space. Since I’m carrying water anyway, I tend to carry the powdered Gatorade, rather than the bottles.

 

Of course, the container of powdered Gatorade is pretty large too; about the size of a number 10 can. So for the car, I just dump some of it into a label. This jar held pickles at one time until I cleaned it out and repurposed it for my Gatorade. A plastic container would work too.

You might want some instant coffee, as well as your Gatorade, especially if you do a lot of driving at night. With the metal water bottle and a way to start fires, you’ll be all set to make yourself a cup of coffee, even if you are in the middle of nowhere.

Jerky

My favorite snack food is jerky. Nutritious, low calorie and it is meat; what more could you ask for? The American Indians made jerky as survival food and our early ancestors learned that from them. While there are other places in the world that make something similar, our jerky tradition goes back to those early Indians.

Jerky also provides you with something that you can make a meal out of. Mix it with Ramen noodles and come dried veggies and you’ve got a fairly decent soup; something that can keep you going and warm you up on a cold night.

Just remember that you will need to replace your jerky periodically if you don’t eat it. Heat will draw the oils out of it, drying it even further.

Ramen & Dried Vegetables

Good old Ramen is the college staple. I think every college student goes through a time when they live off of it. It’s a great source of carbohydrates to give you energy to keep you going. Mix it with some cut-up jerky and some dehydrated vegetables and you can have a much heartier soup.

This kind of Ramen comes with dried vegetables already mixed in. I usually dry my own, but I’m out of them until harvest time, so I bought the kind that comes with veggies. While a bit more expensive, it really doesn’t cost all that much. Besides, it comes with a cup to mix it in.

Dry Fruit

Speaking of carbohydrates, fruit is another excellent source for them. If you have someone with low blood sugar, giving them fruit is much safer than giving them a candy bar. The natural fructose sugar is much easier for the body to digest and won’t shock their system like candy will.

Dried fruit also provides you with something that’s easy to take along, if you have to leave your car for any reason; whether due to an emergency, taking a hike, or for work. A bag of dried fruit in your pocket can keep away hunger pains for the whole afternoon.

Canned Fruit

Canned fruit, like dried fruit, is a great source of carbohydrates and sugar. Some people prefer it. I wouldn’t want to carry this around in a backpack, due to the extra weight; but last I checked, that much weight isn’t going to bother anyone’s car.

These mandarin oranges and applesauce are “canned” in plastic cups, with foil lids. That works well for short-term canning; but not for long-term (more than a year). The plastic might release some chemicals into the fruit during hot times, so you want to be careful about that. Even so, canned fruit can be much more refreshing than dried when you need something to eat.

Granola Bars

I’m almost as big a fan of granola bars for emergency food as I am of jerky. It’s worth spending the money to buy the better brands, even though they are considerably more expensive. But the amount of nutrition you get from those better brands makes them worth the money.

Granola bars are great, in that they are an ideal pick-me-up sort of snack, packing a lot of carbohydrates into a small amount of food. Watch out for the ones with chocolate or yogurt, as those ingredients can melt, making a mess for you to deal with.

 

Nuts & Sunflower Seeds

Nuts are a good source of both fats and protein. Of all the nutrients we eat, protein is one of the most important, as the body can’t really synthesize it well, without having consumed proteins to break down into amino acids. Fats digest slower than carbohydrates, providing you with long-term energy to burn. Eating a combination of fats and carbohydrates together will keep you going for hours.

I always keep sunflower seeds on hand, as well. Like nuts, they provide you with protein and fats, but they also do something else; they help keep you awake. If you’re driving long distances, especially at night, eating sunflower seeds while you are driving will keep you active enough that you can probably keep driving all the way through the night.

Hard Candies & Gum

These might be a bit surprising, but I have a good reason for keeping them in my car. First of all, hard candies are great for that quick burst of sugar, when you need some energy. They’re a whole lot safer to eat than energy drinks too. But they also work to help you if you have a sore throat and don’t have any throat lozenges around. Sometimes, I just carry the throat lozenges and use them as hard candy.

Peppermint is also useful for settling an upset stomach or relieving pain. Peppermint essential oil is one of the best ways to relieve headaches there is. So if you’re in pain, have a headache, or have indigestion, mints are nice to have.

The gum isn’t as much for use as candy, as it is for relieving the pressure in your ears when changing altitude quickly. If you’ve spent any time traveling by air or in the mountains, you’re familiar with the need to pop your ears every once in a while. Chewing gum helps with that. It can also help to keep you awake while driving at night, just like the sunflower seeds.

Breakfast Cereal

This is for the kiddies. If you have small children, breakfast cereals, especially sweet breakfast cereals are one of the easiest ways of quieting them down, when they are hungry. Not only do they like the taste, but they like eating the cereal out of these cool little containers. Yeah, you can put it in baggies too; but for the price, these are worth it.

Doritos

Many people have touted Doritos as a fire starter. Actually, what they are is a good tinder for a fire.

The combination of the dried corn and the oils they are cooked in, make the chips burn well. You can even ignite them with a spark, let alone using a flame to get them going.

If you don’t need them for a fire, I suppose you can always eat them. Doritos, like any other chips, are a good source of carbohydrates.

Being made of corn, rather than potato, they probably digest a little slower; so they’ll help you feel full longer than if you were just eating potato chips.

 

Spices

This is another one that you might think is a bit strange, but there is a good reason for it.

Whether you’re in an actual survival situation or you’re just stranded somewhere, there’s a good chance that you’ll end up eating things that you might otherwise not want to eat.

But when you’re hungry, you go for what’s available, right?

But that doesn’t mean that you have to choke it down if you don’t like it. Rather, bring some spices with you, so that you can make it more appealing. It’s amazing what you can do with just a few spices, especially if they are stronger flavors that you like.

Both of the container styles shown below were bought on eBay.

The ones with the red stoppers are small test tubes and the others are just miniature containers. I wrote on them with a Sharpie marker and I’d recommend covering that with tape, so that the marking doesn’t wipe off. Put the closed containers in a small zipper bag, so that nothing can rub against the lids and open them.


Other self-sufficiency and preparedness solutions recommended for you:

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Being prepared means being prepared all the time; at least in my book it does. That can be a bit challenging at times, especially since we don’t really know what

Beef jerky…the stories I could tell you about this stuff. I’m just going to say that I would marry beef jerky if that were possible (thinking about moving to state or country). Anyway, beef jerky’s awesome and, from where I stand, has but one caveat – not enough of it to go around. I mean, c’mon, I know it’s supposed to be emergency food or trail food, but who in God’s name eats just one 20g bag? It’s like saying “hey, it’s game night, and I’m gonna drink just one beer or eat one bag of chips.”

As far as a survival food is concerned, jerky’s the right call since it’s packed with just enough protein and fats to keep that engine of yours running. Sure, they’re salty AF and feels like you’re chewing on a rubber band, but it’s amazingly delicious. Since most of you are busy with your jobs and have neither the time nor the mood to replenish your beef jerky stocks, I thought about sharing with you my mouthwatering homemade beef jerky recipe.

It’s super easy to make and, most importantly, it mostly requires ingredients you probably have in your pantry. Why make beef jerky at home when you can always order some online? Because, let’s face it – as cheap as store jerky is, it’s pretty hard to find one that’s exactly the way you like it. Some are chewy, others salty as Hell and some, well, taste like crap.

First of all, preparing your own beef jerky puts you in full control of the dish, from choosing the beef cuts, all the way to the cooking part. Second, by choosing to cook rather than buy, you can make it as salty or sweet as you like. Last, but not least, beef jerky’s one of those recipes that don’t require an advanced degree in rocket science in order to prepare.

So, without further ado, here’s how to make some delish beef jerky at home.

Ingredients and Utensils

For this recipe, you will need the following:

  • Angus beef sirloin. I use around two pounds of beef for this recipe. Once you get it dried, you end up with one large zip-lock bag of beef jerky.
  • Worcestershire sauce (three-quarters of a cup).
  • Soy sauce (three-quarters of a cup).
  • Smoked paprika (one tablespoon).
  • Honey (one or two tablespoons).
  • Ground black pepper (two teaspoons).
  • Hot chili flakes (one or two tablespoons, depending on preference).
  • Garlic powder (one teaspoon).
  • Onion powder (one teaspoon).

That’s it for the ingredients. As for kitchen utensils, you will need a large bowl to mix your ingredients, an oven tray, baking paper, a pair of scissors, and, of course, a zip-lock bag for the jerky. All done gathering your utensils and all of the ingredients? Take your time. I ain’t going anywhere. When you’re ready, here’s how to put everything together.

Preparing mouthwatering beef jerky

Step 1. Take your beef cut out of the bag and wash it thoroughly. Dry with a couple of paper towels or place in a strainer.

Step 2. In a large bowl add your Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, smoked paprika, honey, ground pepper, hot chili flakes, powdered garlic, and powdered onions. Whisk the ingredients using a fork or, well, a whisk.

Step 3. Cover the bowl with some plastic wrap and place it inside the fridge for half an hour.

Step 4. It’s now time to tend to the meat. Using a very sharp butcher’s knife, cut the meat into thin strips – if it’s easier, make stake-sized bits.

Step 5. Take a big zip-lock bag from the pantry and put the beef inside.

Step 6. Get the bowl out of the fridge and pour over the beef. Seal the bag and place in the refrigerator. Leave the meat to soak up all those juices for at least a couple of hours. Ideally, you should leave it overnight. Remember – the longer you marinate your meat, the tastier it will be. I usually keep it in the fridge for one or two days.

Step 7. When you’re ready to cook the meat, preheat the oven to 176 degrees – yup, you’ll need ultra-low heat. The idea is to dry the beef cuts, not to bake it.

Step 8. Take the marinated beef out of the bag.

Step 9. Place the meat on an oven tray covered with baking paper. Use a paper towel to soak the excess marinade.

Step 10. When the oven reached the desired temperature, stick the tray in the oven and cook for 4 to 5 hours. Every hour or so, flip the beef cuts.

Step 11. When they’re done, take them out of the oven, allow the cuts to cool down, and cut them into thin strips using a pair of scissors or a knife. Bag and tag!

Another Way to Prepare Beef Jerky

Don’t go anywhere, because this was just the warm-up. Okay, so you now know how to prepare beef jerky at home. But can you do the same, say during a shit hits the fan situation? Beef jerky is, more or less, the beauty of the best – thought it looks totally unpalatable, it’s actually delicious, nutritious, and, on top of that, it can be made anywhere and with any type of meat.

Now let’s imagine for a moment that you’re lost in the woods and you run out of food. Obviously, you’ve got to do something about it. Now, if you still have your bug out bag with you, whip out a snare and wait. Keep in mind that beef jerky can be made with any kind of meat.

However, if you want your trail snack to contain all the proteins and fats your body needs to keep on going, you would want to stick with red meat or fish. When you’re done with the gutting and butchering parts, here’s what you will need to do in order to prepare jerky.

Step 1. Find a clean spot to set up your working area.

Step 2. Use your survival knife or a very sharp rock to cut the flesh into very thin strips (half a centimeter). Don’t forget to cut across the grain, not with the grain (those muscle fibers will make meat harder to chew).

Step 3. While the meat’s still wet and tender, season it with your condiments of choice. I like to keep stuff like ginger, cumin, sugar, salt, pepper, and chili in small pill bottles. You can also make your own mix which you can use to season the meat. Put a little bit of sugar if you have some in your bug out bag.

Step 4. It’s now time to create some sort of drying rack. Look around for twigs, long stick or branches. If there’s nothing available, you can always hang the meat cuts by a low-lying branch using heavy duty zip ties. Just be careful to place that meat within eyeshot because it’s bound to attract some unwanted attention (flies, mosquitoes, and, yes, even bears).

(Optional) If you want to a little smokey flavor to your meat, place it over a small campfire. Don’t leave there too long, though. You’ll want to dry your meat, not cook it. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with some BBQed game, but it tends to spoil faster.

Step 5. If you manage to improvise a drying rack, flip the meat every couple of hours. Depending on weather conditions, like wind, humidity, and temperature, it can take up to four days for the meat to lose all moisture.

Yes, I know it’s a painstaking process. More so because you’ll need to be on the lookout for critters. On that note, when it’s time to hit the sack, don’t forget to bring the meat inside your tent or improvised shelter. Obviously, you won’t be able to keep an eye out while you’re asleep.

Step 6. After a couple of days have passed, take a look at the meat. You’ll know it’s ready to eat when the meat has a brittle aspect. If you prepare jerky from red meat, the color you’re looking for is a purple-brown. On the other hand, if you’re using white meat, the jerky will turn pink-grey when it’s done.

Step 7. All that remains to be done is to cut the meat into thinner strips and to store it in a zip-lock bag or an airtight container.

Wrap-up

Taking all these facts into account, I would have to say that jerky is indeed the ultimate survival food. Given the right storage conditions, a batch of jerky can last for at least a couple of months, if not for a whole year.

Now, as far as the oven-drying version is concerned, I would advise ditching the salt. Yes, I know that salt and jerky is a marriage made in Heaven, but the soy sauce adds and smoky taste to the meat, which means that it doesn’t need extra. Of course, if you’re not a big fan of soy, you can always replace with two tablespoons of rock salt.

I don’t know about you, but I like to add some kick to my jerky. If you want your snack to be spicier, you can add half a teaspoon of Tabasco in addition to the chili flakes. Yes, I know it sounds pretty hardcore, but hey, at least your jerky won’t be bland.

One of my friends told me that it’s also possible to prepare beef jerky using a dehydrator. Remember my powdered eggs recipe? Well, the method’s more or less the same. The only advantage of using a dehydrator instead of a regular oven set on ultra-low heat is that it reduces the cooking time by at least one, maybe two hours. If you have one of those gadgets in the kitchen, you should definitely try it out.

One more thing – the meat itself. Though I highly recommend using sirloin for this recipe since the cut will be, well, chewier, you can use whatever meat you prefer. Just be sure it has the same amount of fat as sirloin. Haven’t tried it yet, but from what I heard, jerky prepared from fish like rainbow trout, tuna or salmon is absolutely divine. Trouble is that it’s very hard to get ahold of a good recipe and most of the stuff on the market looks way too nasty.

So, here’s where I take my love. Hope my little winding has managed to convince you that making your own beef jerky is better than having to go through hundreds of Google pages in order to find the right one. As always, don’t think of cooking as something you need to do – have fun around the kitchen. Play some tunes. Work on your air guitar skills; whatever floats your boat. What do you think about my beef jerky recipe? Hit the comments section and let me know.

Beef jerky…the stories I could tell you about this stuff. I’m just going to say that I would marry beef jerky if that were possible (thinking about moving to state

One of the central pillars of preparedness is being able to feed yourself. Preppers focus some of their attention on stockpiling food as well as creating renewable sources like gardens or livestock (chickens and rabbits) as protection against the possibility that the local grocery store is no longer able to provide something to eat. The average person it has been said only has about 3 days’ worth of food in their homes and if that is true, feeding your family in certain disasters could prove to be possibly your biggest problem.

We have already seen time and time again, scenes of grocery store shelves stripped clean anytime there is a concern in the public. Greece was just the most recent example of this behavior preppers warn against. Starvation would surely be a horrible way to die and it seems as though collectively we all consider this a threat that must be dealt with to ensure the safety of our loved ones. The question is how you will deal with the risk of not being able to feed your family. Will you stock up on food now while you are able, or will you try to swim through the crowd of potentially thousands of other people raiding the local grocery store in the hopes that you can secure enough food to last your family through whatever disaster you are facing?

For many preppers, this may not be as grave of a concern from your perspective. If you have been diligently preparing, you may already have quite a large supply of food that would conceivably last you and anyone else in your home a long time. You might have plenty of food stocked already so you plan to sit back in the safety of your home while everyone else goes crazy; fighting over the last can of olives. But as you are sitting back feeling confidently comfortable, gazing at your full pantry, those 5-gallon buckets of Winter Wheat and metric tons of beans, have you ever considered how long that food will actually last you when you start needing to eat it?

Determining how long your food storage will last

The default amount of calories we consider to be recommended for an adult is approximately 2,000 calories per person. I know there are differences in age, activity level, and gender, but for simplicity’s, sake let’s just take that amount as our baseline. For general health, each member of your survival group will need to consume on average 2,000 calories per day to simply maintain a “healthy” weight.

Rice and beans are a great long-term stable food supply for preppers. They have an impressive storage life as long as they are kept cool and dry and they are very cost-effective as well. You can purchase a 50-pound bag of rice for around $20. Rice and Beans together give you carbohydrates and protein. Each 50-pound bag of rice has approximately 500 servings and there really isn’t anything like the satisfaction you can get from staring at a shelf full of rice and beans. But how long will that last your family?

A 50-pound bag of rice has about 500 servings.

Each serving (1 cup) of rice is 206 calories

Each serving of pinto beans has 245 calories

If you ate three meals of Rice and Beans in a day you would consume only 1353 calories. (451 X 3). If you had a family of 4, that 50 pound bag would last you about 41 days but that isn’t all the calories you would need. To just stay healthy and not lose any weight you would need to come up with another 700 calories per person, per day.

Calories are more important to measure than servings

Well, you could supplement that rice and beans with the wild game you plan on hunting, right? Did you know, a 0.5-1 pound roast venison tenderloin has a whopping 127 calories? That doesn’t get you much further toward your calorie targets, does it? What about chicken? One grilled chicken breast has only 141 calories.

Now let’s make the assumption that life without grocery stores is going to require more work out of you. Possibly much more work. So, the 2,000 calories per day amount aren’t likely to be a realistic count of the number of calories you will actually need. You might be digging latrines to deal with sanitation, hunting for food, or foraging in the forest all day. You could be patrolling your neighborhood or lugging water from a mile away. You would be washing clothes by hand, chopping wood; building fires and the 2,000 calorie amount would likely be more like 3,000 or 4,000 for some people just to maintain their weight. How long will your food last now?

To really get a good idea of how much food you have, you need to look at how many calories that food you plan on eating is going to give you. You can’t simply look at serving amounts and call it done because a serving of a fruit roll-up might make you think you will get a meal out of it, but they won’t come anywhere near close to what you need.

In addition to food make sure you plan on a good source of vitamins to augment austere eating conditions. This won’t be as good as the real thing but could help stave off some health effects of a less than ideal diet. You should take the time to conduct at least a cursory inventory of your food stockpiles, check the serving size and calorie amounts. You can get really detailed and put this into a food storage spreadsheet if you like, but that will give you a true picture of the amount of time your food will last the number of people you have. Instead of looking at this from a poundage viewpoint, you consider calorie counts. That way it will be easier to forecast how long your food will last and adjust for different people in your care.

What happens when we start to starve?

The more food you have, the better off you will be in a collapse scenario where we have no hope of the lights coming back on. Gardens and livestock greatly add to this cumulative total you have, but unless you have a very productive garden or a large supply of animals, the food you have on hand is likely to start running out. At some point in time, if the supply of food is interrupted, rationing might be a consideration you need to make.

Another consideration is the needs of the various people in your group. You may find you have hard choices to make. Someone who is old for example, who is less active may not get the same share of food as a younger person who is working outside all day. You may have to choose between roles and which people in which roles are given extra allotments of food. What if someone is out digging graves all day? Do you believe that someone who is sitting inside or not working as hard should get the same ration of food or the same dispensation of calories? If so, how long before the person who is working physically harder starts to decline in health? How long could you shovel or defend your home in a starvation state?

We talk about food storage as a solution to the grocery stores closing, but that will only buy us time in a true collapse. Yes, it will help your family tremendously to have additional food stocked up, but it will run out if the crisis lasts long enough. When calories are seriously limited, health starts to decline.

When we don’t get enough calories for a long enough time, our organs begin to shrink and gradually start to lose function. We can have bouts of chronic diarrhea, anemia, reduction in muscle mass, and the weakness that goes with that.

We have all seen images of refugees on TV. Poor children covered in flies with distended bellies staring blankly at the camera might elicit a sense of guilt in us today as we sit on the sofa and flip through the channels. In Haiti, there are areas where people make and sell mud pies for people to eat because there is no other food and the worms in their stomachs would rob the person of any nutritional value from real food before it could help them.

What will you do when these poor souls are your children?

Kwashiorkor and Marasmus

Kwashiorkor and Marasmus are two conditions that are seen with acute malnutrition. It causes the swollen bellies you see on TV and I can see this appearing in our country where we to go through some horrible SHTF event. The pictures you see on TV could be not from around the world, but in your own backyard.

As in other places in the world, this will lead to violence and death as everyone fights for food resources to fend off dying.

“Kwashiorkor is the most common and widespread nutritional disorder in developing countries. It is a form of malnutrition caused by not getting enough protein in your diet. Foods that contain protein include meat, milk, cheese, fish, eggs, soy, beans, nuts, seeds, and some types of grains like quinoa.”

Children who are deprived of calories for long enough will never reach their full potential for height and growth. These two conditions are treated in the beginning by simply getting more food with a healthy balance of protein. In more severe cases, you can’t just give a starving person a cheeseburger. You will have to introduce food slowly and something like powdered milk is good (reconstituted of course) to start them out until strength has increased and more food can be slowly added to their diet.

Anyone who has children will tell you that they will do anything to take care of their family. This manifests itself in a lot of imaginative ways, some violent. Before you have to get to that place where you are thinking of doing whatever is necessary to feed your family, make plans now to have as much food security as possible. A good strategy of food storage to include foods you eat every day, long-term store-able food, and renewable sources will put you in a better position to provide for your family. Think about this now so you have to worry about this less when it actually is an issue.

What are your food storage plans and how long will your food hold out?

 

 


Other self-sufficiency and preparedness solutions recommended for you:

The vital self-sufficiency lessons our great grand-fathers left us
Knowledge to survive any medical crisis situation
Liberal’s hidden agenda: more than just your guns
Build yourself the only unlimited water source you’ll ever need
4 Important Forgotten Skills used by our Ancestors that can help you in any crisis
Secure your privacy in just 10 simple steps

One of the central pillars of preparedness is being able to feed yourself. Preppers focus some of their attention on stockpiling food as well as creating renewable sources like gardens

The various types of emergency foods that are available, coupled with the commercial hype surrounding them, can understandably lead the prepper to make less than optimal decisions with regard to the types and amounts of emergency foods to acquire. In this article I will briefly recap the most common types of emergency food and describe how each would fit in to a practical survival strategy.

The common types of emergency food stores include:

  • Canned Foods – Canned foods consist of fruits, vegetables and meats that have been prepared for long-term storage in jars and cans. Canned foods can be prepared at home and are available at virtually any grocery store. Depending on the type of food, they can either be ‘dry-pack canned’ or ‘wet-pack canned’. (Wet-pack canning involves immersing the food in hot water – sometimes in a pressure cooker – prior to vacuum-sealing.) Dried beans and dried white rice are the dry-pack canned foods most commonly stored by preppers and survivalists because they have an extremely long shelf life (up to 25 years!) and provide a good supply of proteins and carbohydrates.
  • mre

    MRE’s are a common choice for Emergency Food.

    Dehydrated Foods – Dehydrated foods have been processed in a food dehydrator to remove much of their moisture. This inhibits the growth of microorganisms that cause the food to spoil.

  • Freeze-dried Foods – Freeze-dried foods have been processed in a commercial freeze-drier in such a way that virtually all water has been removed (much more than is removed by a dehydrator). This process results in food that is lightweight and which has a very long shelf life.
  • Cured Meats – Cured meats have been treated with chemicals (usually nitrates) in such a way as to inhibit the growth of microbes and extend the unrefrigerated shelf life of meats.
  • Smoked Meats – Smoked meats have been exposed to the heat and smoke such that the increase in temperature dehydrates the meat (which inhibits microbial growth) while the smoke deposits an anti-microbial chemical layer over the meat.
  • Meals Ready-to-Eat – Originally developed for the military, MREs are portable, long-shelf-life food packets that contain complete meals. MREs can quickly be prepared and consumed. Often these packets include built-in food heaters and provide complete meals.

ISSUES RELATED TO NUTRITION

In general, all of the above forms of preserved foods provide good nutritional value. While the heating associated with some canning processes can degrade some water-soluble vitamins such as vitamins A, C, thiamine and riboflavin, they still serve as a good source of these and other nutrients. While nutritional value is preserved in the above types of foods, the nitrates used to cure meats have been shown to be carcinogenic in larger quantities. Salt and sugar may be added to canned foods to improve taste, which can also affect the nutrition offered by such foods (be sure to check the labels of any canned foods for references to sugar and salt!).

MREs provide good calories and some nutrition, but also contain a large quantity of sodium, which has been show to have adverse health effects when consumed excessively (MREs are designed to simply “get the soldier across the battlefield”).

SHELF LIFE OF DIFFERENT EMERGENCY FOOD TYPES

The shelf lives described here assume the foods are kept at room temperature of about 70 degrees Fahrenheit.

Canned fruits and vegetables typically have a shelf life of between 2 and 5 years. There is much anecdotal evidence of canned meats being eaten (and having good flavor and nutrition) after being stored for as long as 10 years. Some dry-canned foods such as dried beans and dried white rice can have a shelf life that exceeds 25 years.

Dehydrated fruits and vegetables typically have a shelf life of up to one year, while dehydrated meats have a shelf life of only about one month.

Freeze-dried foods have a shelf life that ranges between 5 and 25 years, depending on how well it is packaged (plastic food pouches have a shorter shelf life, while cans have a a much longer shelf life).

Smoked meats have an unrefrigerated shelf life of only a few weeks.

Cured meats have an unrefrigerated shelf life that ranges from a few weeks to as long as a year, depending on the type of meat and how it was cured.

Canned foods offer offer the most nutrition at the least cost. The other forms of food have the advantage of lighter weight and/or longer shelf life, but at significantly greater cost.

Smoked meats have an unrefrigerated shelf life of only a few weeks.

NOTE: While the storage of cured and smoked meats is of limited value in the time leading up to disaster; the ability, equipment and supplies required to smoke and cure meats will certainly be valuable skills to have in the aftermath if refrigeration systems are unavailable.

Modern MREs have a shelf life of between 3 to 4 years when stored at room temperature, however that shelf life can decrease rapidly when stored at higher temperatures (in a desert environment the shelf-life for a MRE may be as short as one month!). Also, when purchasing MREs you should be certain of their date of manufacture – otherwise you won’t get the benefit of the full shelf life.

DETERMINING YOUR OWN EMERGENCY FOOD NEEDS

A good way to begin to understand the types of emergency food supplies you will need is to consider how you will most probably be traveling during and after a major disaster. If you expect to be sheltering-in-place then the bulk of your emergency food supplies should consist of canned foods, as canned foods offer a very good shelf life and provide a lower cost per meal than other forms of emergency food. Even though canned foods are heavier than other types of emergency food, if you are sheltering-in-place then portability becomes a less important consideration than cost.

If you expect to be traveling on foot for an extended period, then the weight of your food will be a major consideration. In these circumstances you should plan on having freeze-dried food available, as freeze dried foods have an extremely long shelf life and are extremely light.

If you expect to be traveling by vehicle then weight is less of an issue and the ability to “eat while on the move” becomes important. MREs are an excellent choice for these circumstances because they can typically be unpackaged, heated and eaten without the need to interrupt travel. Also, because they utilize a chemical reaction to generate heat, the preparation of MREs does not produce smoke that might attract undesired attention.

When considering these factors you should not only be anticipating your travel needs when bugging out, but also potential future needs to travel overland for trade, barter and defense. Of course no one has a crystal ball to be able to predict these needs with certainty; however you should at least be able to develop a reasonable estimate. Additionally, you should build into your estimates the expected duration of the disaster, which should ideally be the amount of time required for you to become self-sufficient.

A quick way to estimate your emergency food needs is to answer the following questions:

  • How many people are in my group?
  • What duration disaster (in days) am I planning for or how long do I anticipate before achieving self-sufficiency?
  • If bugging out to another location, how many days of travel will be required?
  • In the aftermath of disaster, what percentage of total group members’ time will be spent on extended trips away?
  • What percentage of meals will utilize basic dry-canned foods such as beans and rice?

The answers to these questions can help you to estimate your own emergency food needs. If MREs are used exclusively for travel, for example, then the total number of MREs needed for travel is simply the product of number of group members, number of days of travel and number of meals per day. You may then increase this number so as to plan to use MREs for a percentage of post-disaster travel when concealment and speed are a top consideration.

Amounts of freeze-dried meals can be estimated as the product of average number of people traveling, the number of days of travel and the number of meals per day (while there will be some double coverage of travel by MREs and freeze-dried food, it’s never a bad idea to have some extra food on hand).

The balance between dry-packed “beans and rice” type meals and canned foods will be much more subjective, however by thinking in terms of the percentage of beans-and-rice meals vs. other meals, and of course considering the number of people you are planning to feed and the expected duration of the disaster, you will be able to identify the types and quantities of these bulk emergency foods that will meet your preparedness needs.

NOTE: Even before disaster strikes you should normally be consuming and replenishing your supply of canned disaster food so that you do not find yourself with a cupboard filled with expired canned food when disaster does strike!

 

The various types of emergency foods that are available, coupled with the commercial hype surrounding them, can understandably lead the prepper to make less than optimal decisions with regard to

The other week I stopped and stared at my pantry. Looking in on all of the cans of food, bags of rice, beans and jugs of water gives me a sense of accomplishment and a certain satisfaction in all of our prepping efforts to date. For some reason I got it into my head to arrange things because the pantry had gotten a little disorganized over time. I started by pulling every item out of the pantry and staging them in the kitchen. There were bottles all over the place of dressing –  cans of beans and tomatoes took over the kitchen table and pasta galore spilled onto the kitchen counters.

The first sign of trouble was when I grabbed some condiments from the top shelf and noticed I had mayonnaise that was 2 years past its expiration. I started going further and this was the same case with pickles and some soups, even canned fruit. Now I was worried because it was obvious my brilliant solution to all of my family’s food problems had failed miserably. The next order of business was to grab one of my kids and have them check every label on every product. This scored me a lot of points I have to say…

Hard to believe isn’t it?

Next I went back into the pantry to grab some of the larger items. We have large 50 pound bags of rice that I got from Costco for a ridiculously cheap price. I grabbed one of the bags off the top shelf to lift it up and noticed the bottom was a funny color. Actually, it looked like mold and the bag was stiff. When I pulled it down I discovered that yes, the bag was moldy. Someone, maybe I placed a one gallon jug of water on the top shelf and at some point it had leaked. The jug of water was empty and 50 pounds of rice was ruined. I don’t know how this happened, but it was a little depressing.

The first step is to admit you have a problem

Here I was, mid-way through a Saturday afternoon, my house was in chaos due to all of my food storage being distributed around the rooms and I was finding more and more food that was out of date or inedible in some fashion. Initially I was ticked off that I had let this happen. I started thinking about what all could have gone wrong with food and how foolish I would have felt if we had some crisis and I went to grab the food that was supposed to feed my family and it was all rotten. Visions of my family staring at me with angry expressions on their sunken faces started to appear. Not good.

So after I had all of the food out and verified what was really expired I realized that it wasn’t too bad. It was a good idea to do this though because I wouldn’t have found that rice probably until it was too late. What really stunk is that my super awesome system for rotating groceries was not working and again, that was my fault for assuming this was being used.

Why weren’t we rotating our food the right way? Well, it comes down to a few main reasons. The first reason is that our pantry shelves didn’t really have any rhyme or reason to how food was stored. We have a decent amount of pantry space but cans of beans were mixed in with cans of fruit and for some reason we had jars and jars of jelly that nobody was eating. When groceries got put away, there was no predetermined place or order for them to go in so they went where ever was easiest. This usually meant they all got loaded onto and taken off of one shelf. Another aspect of this is that we weren’t using the time tested FIFO system (First In First Out) so food wasn’t getting rotated like it should. Fortunately for us, this didn’t get too far out of control, but we did have to throw away some jars of food.

There were two other contributing factors to our food use and one was the way my wife shopped. She is excellent at clipping coupons and always has her coupon book out when she goes shopping. The problem was that she would buy whatever she had coupons for and didn’t take into account whether or not we needed it. For example, we had a ton of jelly like I said because they were buy one get one free so she stocked up. All of that jelly kept sitting in the pantry and items we do use, but didn’t get the same coupon attention were lacking.

Also, we eat most of our meals from fresh ingredients and my wife cooks from scratch a lot. This in combination with my daughter’s gluten intolerance caused the biggest stockpile of food we had (pasta and canned tomato sauces) to be virtually ignored for many months. What used to be a staple was forgotten and was at risk for going bad.

Starting at the beginning

It makes sense to watch the expiration dates.

Now that I had all of my food out of the pantry, I was able to sort it into groups. This is just as fun as it sounds. I put the food back into the pantry in a specific order. The item order itself doesn’t matter so much as the fact it is in order. I started clockwise in our pantry and put canned meat, then beans, soups, fruit, coffee, tomatoes, sauces, mixes and then baking items like flour, sugar and other sundries. Pasta went into the kitchen and placed in one spot and the hard to reach containers of condiments were placed back down on eye level so they could be used. Freeze dried food went in storage containers under the bed. Water was stored on the floor to prevent anything bad from happening to the rice again. I know that I would have been fine if I just stored all of the rice in 5 gallon buckets, but I haven’t gotten around to that yet and we do eat off of our rice weekly.

So I had the semblance of a system now and I started filling it in with the cans according to expiration date. The cans that were the closest to expiration went at the front of one row and it wrapped around to two or three rows if needed. The newest cans were on the left and the oldest were on the right. I didn’t throw everything out that had expired because I know you can go past the dates on most things. I wasn’t going to give Mayo a chance though… Now not only do we have a simple way of pulling the oldest food item, but we can easily place new cans in a spot that will ensure rotation.

When we go grocery shopping now, my wife can easily see what we have left and fill that up. We are also trying to cook more according to what we have and purchase what we ate, as opposed to what we want, to eat to keep the pantry stocked.

This exercise taught me a few other lessons that weekend; actually it was a weird weekend because I spent both days doing similar things. It was almost like I was a nesting bird and it was a weird compulsion that came over me. I don’t normally spend my weekends reorganizing anything but it was good that I did. This also manifested itself into a good ammo inventory but I’ll write about that on another day. Now we have a better system for storing and rotating food and a different strategy for filling our pantry. That type of understanding is extremely beneficial and ensures that you aren’t just buying a ton of supplies and shoving them in a dark corner. You instead are building a stocked larder that will be ready for you when you need it.

When we go grocery shopping now, my wife can easily see what we have left and fill that up. We are also trying to cook more according to what we

Recall how almost all material on prepping says something about having at least one cornbread around the house? It’s, indeed, delicious, nutritious, and, all thing’s considered, very easy to make.

As I’m always on the lookout for great survival recipes, a couple of days ago, I stumbled upon this nifty cornbread recipe. The thing that stroke me is that I still can’t figure out if this thing should be served with something on the side, like some butter or cheese, or is more of a dessert. Well, it’s up to you to figure it out.

Anyway, the cornbread recipe I’m about to show you is not only very easy to prepare, but it also has a peculiar name. In Mormon tongue, this type of cornbread is called a Johnnycake. No comments there. I will do some more digging to figure out why it’s called that way (if you know, don’t be stranger and share with the rest of the community. So, without further ado, here’s how to make some Mormon Johnnycake.

Gathering the ingredients

For this recipe, you’ll need the following:

  • Two eggs. This recipe calls for both egg white and yolk.
  • One cup of buttermilk.
  • Two or three tablespoons of molasses.
  • Half a cup of all-purpose flour.
  • One teaspoon of salt.
  • One teaspoon of baking soda.
  • Two cups of Yellow cornmeal (you can find that at your local food market).
  • Two or three tablespoons of melted butter.
  • (Optional) Agave nectar.

All done gathering the ingredients? Neat! Put your chef’s bonnet on because it’s time to do some major cooking.

How to prepare Mormon Johnnycake

Step 1. Start by grabbing a baking dish or cast-iron skillet. To ensure that your Johnnycake won’t stick to the bottom, grease it with some butter, tallow or a little bit of sunflower oil.

Step 2.  Preheat your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

Step 3. Grab a large bowl and add your eggs, buttermilk, and molasses. Give them a good stir with a whisk.

Step 4. Get another mixing bowl for your dry ingredients.

Step 5. Grab a flour sifter and get to work on that flour. You can skip this step if you like your bread with air bubbles.

Step 6. Add your salt and the baking soda.

Step 7. It’s now time to put everything together. Using a mug, add the dry ingredients to the bowl with the buttermilk, honey, eggs, and molasses. Don’t add it all at once. Empty the contents of a cup and slowly whisk the mixture. Do this until you’ve incorporated all the flower.

Step 8. The batter should be smooth. If it’s too watery, add some flour and whisk.

Step 9. It’s now time to add your cornmeal. Just like before, pour half a cup, and gently whisk it. Yes, I know it’s frustrating, but do you have anything better to do?

Step 10. When you’re done incorporating the ingredients, transfer the batter to the cast-iron skillet or baking dish.

Step 11. Stick the baking dish\skillet into the oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes until it’s golden brown. To see if your Johnnycake is ready, use a toothpick to test the batter. If it comes out clean, it means that it’s ready.

Step 12. Johnnycake is what chefs like to call comfort food. Serve it on rainy or cold days with plenty of butter. If you like to turn it into a desert, pour some agave nectar or maple syrup on top. Enjoy!

 

An alternative way to prepare Mormon Johnnycake

This recipe’s extremely versatile. Although the classic recipe calls for oven or stove baking, there’s another approach. Called Hoe Cakes, it’s the Southern take on the original Mormon Johnnycake recipe. The major difference between the two is that the first gets you a classic bread loaf, while the latter is more, well, pancakes. Anyway, here’s how to make some delish Southern Johnnycake pancakes for breakfast.

Ingredients

  • One cup of flour.
  • One cup of cornmeal.
  • Two and a half teaspoons of baking powder.
  • One teaspoon of salt.
  • Three-quarters of a cup of milk.
  • Half a cup of water.
  • Half a cup of melted butter.
  • One teaspoon of vanilla.
  • Half a tablespoon of nutmeg.

How to prepare Southern-style Johnnycakes

Step 1. Take a large bowl and mix your flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, sugar, and cornmeal.

Step 2. Using your fingers, make a little hole in the center of your dry mix.

Step 3. Put the milk, egg, vanilla, melted butter, and water in the hole.

Step 4. Mix the batter using a whisk or a fork. Since Southern Johnnycakes are closer to pancakes than to bread, your batter should be silky smooth.

Step 5. Take a cast-iron skillet or a frying pan and place it over the oven. Set to medium-high heat. You can use butter to fry the Johnnycakes or some cooking oil. I personally prefer to use tallow.

Step 6. Using a ladle or a small cup, pour some batter in the skillet and fry. Once the bottom is golden-brown, flip it and fry the other side. Continue until there’s no more batter left in the bowl.

Step 7. Like in the first case, serve hot, with some agave nectar or maple syrup. If you want to turn this into a really fancy dish, you can also add some frozen berries.

Wrap-up

As far as the traditional Mormon Johnnycake is concerned, I believe you can turn it into a full-fledged bread if you skip the sweet ingredients. Yes, I know that it’s hardly a substitute for oven-baked peasant’s bread, but it’s super easy to make and requires no cooking skills at all. If you’re careful enough to store it in a zip-lock bag or airtight container, that loaf can last for at least a couple of weeks, if not months.

The traditional recipe calls for the bread to be served hot out of the oven. Well, it is possible to eat it stone-cold but doesn’t have the same taste. What do you think about the Mormon Johnnycake? Hit the comments section and let me know.

 

 

Recall how almost all material on prepping says something about having at least one cornbread around the house? It’s, indeed, delicious, nutritious, and, all thing’s considered, very easy to make.

Oh, how I love food! Let me count the ways.

Actually, I don’t like food-food, but the homemade variety. And nothing beats a meal cooked during an SHTF situation.

Yes, I know how that sounds, but admit it that the best meal you’ve ever eaten was back when your can was on the line. Even spam taste better when it’s eating from tin plate set beside a romantic 24-hours emergency candle.

Which brings us to the topic du jour – how to make spam at home.

I know most of you people have enough cans in your emergency supplies pantry to make it through WWIII, but wouldn’t it be neat to learn how to make some yourself instead of buying? Sure it would, and I am going to show you how easy it is to make this stuff. What can I say about spam? The dish is so popular that it inspired songs and even phrases like the one we use each day: “for when the spam hits the fan.”

Now, as for the recipe, I have to warn you that it takes a little bit of muscle to pull this through because everything will have to chop, diced, and ground. So, without further ado, here’s how to prepare emergency spam. Ingredients:

  • Pork shoulder (about two-and-a-half pounds). You can use other pork cuts as well. Just be sure that your cut of choice has enough fat on it.
  • Good-quality ham (about three ounces).
  • Tender Quick Meat Cure (bought mine from Amazon. Aim from one tablespoon at first and then half a tablespoon later.
  • Garlic (two cloves are more than enough for this recipe).

Already gathered your ingredients? Great! Then it’s time for phase two of our spam cookery.

How to prepare homemade spam

Step 1.

Get your oven ready. Pre-heat to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.

Step 2.

Tend to the meat. Take your pork shoulder or cut of choice and cut it into small cubes.

Step 3.

Set up your grinder. After you finish installing the thingy, grind the pork shoulder cubes. If you prefer your mixture to be less chunky, grind the meat one more time.

Step 4.

Ham and garlic. Take your ham and mince it. Place it afterward in a food processor. Now mince your garlic and add it to the ham.

Step 5.

Finely mince the ham and garlic. Don’t make it into a paste, though.

Step 6.

Grab a large bowl and wash your hands. Place the ground pork meat, ham, and garlic in a large bowl. Add one tablespoon of Tender Quick Meat Cure and use your hands to mix the ingredients. If the mix seems too loose, add half of spoon of Tender Quick Meat Cure.

Step 7.

It’s time to shape your ham. Grab a baking tray from the pantry. For this recipe, I used a small ceramic terrine tray my wife got from her mother. Put the mixture inside the tray and use your hands to spread the mixture over the entire surface.

 

Step 8.

It’s oven time! By now, your oven should have reached the desired temp. Cover you spam tray with an aluminum foil. Make sure it’s wrapped around nice and tight, especially around the handles. Now, take a large baking tray from the pantry and place the spam tray smack in the middle. Fill the larger with water (should be ¾ full). Place in the oven for three to four hours. Check the larger tray every half an hour and make sure that there’s still water there.

Step 9.

Time’s up! Let’s pop the lid. This is the most important part of making ham. Remove the tray from the oven and allow it to cool for a bit. After that, use some gloves or something to get the spam tray out of the bigger tray. Have to warn you that this part’s a little bit disgusting. Take the aluminum foil off the spam tray. That yellowish goo on top of your meat is pure fat. Take a ladle or a large spoon and remove the excess fat. Temporarily place it in a plate or bowl. After it cools down, throw it in the garbage because it cannot be reused. Don’t forget to leave a thin layer on fat on top of your spam.

Step 10.

Bag and tag. Grab yourself a lid from the pantry and place it on top of the spam tray. All you need to do know is to find some sort of weight to put on top of the lid. This prevents the blob inside from expanding and from drawing too much moisture from the air. I used two small bricks to weigh down the lid, but you can use anything you have on hand as long as it’s heavy and keep the lid shut.

Step 11.

The ice-man cometh! Place the tray with the weight on top inside the fridge. You can also turn this into full-blackout recipe by swapping the fridge with a cool and dry place. Don’t worry about the meat turning bad because it’s packed with enough salt.

 

That’s it!

If you’ve gone through every step, you should have fresh, homemade spam in 24 hours or less. Now, bear in mind that this is not the canned spam variety which means that it doesn’t have a very long shelf life. However, if you know a little bit about canning, you can go for the kill.

I haven’t gotten around to canning my span mostly because I don’t know a thing about how to seal those blasted things. My mother told me that there’s a special tool for that job, but I’ve yet to discover it. Anyway, it’s not like there’s enough spam to can – my family made quick work of it.

Like my recipe? Let me know your thoughts in the comment section. Also, if you know of any canning method, I’ll be grateful if you would care to share it.


Other Self-sufficiency and Preparedness solutions recommended for you:

The Lost Ways (The vital self-sufficiency lessons our great grand-fathers left us)
Survival MD (Knowledge to survive any medical crisis situation)
Backyard Liberty (Liberal’s hidden agenda: more than just your guns…)
Alive After the Fall (Build yourself the only unlimited water source you’ll ever need)
The Lost ways II (4 Important Forgotten Skills used by our Ancestors that can help you in any crisis)
The Patriot Privacy Kit (Secure your privacy in just 10 simple steps)

Nothing beats a cooked meal during a SHTF situation. You have no idea how easy it is to make this stuff.

In my opinion, every prepper needs to know how to cook. More than that, he or she must become acquainted with the intricacies of preparing the game. Since it’s nearly impossible for me to cover every kind of game out there, I’m going to stick with something smaller and found in almost every corner of the globe – the rabbit.

Yup, you’ve guessed; in today’s article, I’m gonna show you how to deep-fry Bugs Bunny. Yes, I am well aware of the fact that they are cute and friendly and make great house pets, but do keep in mind that in SHTF situation, there’s no room for bias or, in this case, for mercy.

Anyway, you should know that in many countries, the rabbit is considered a delicacy, especially the wild one. Not that there’s anything wrong with domesticated bunnies, but those with ‘freedom to roam’ have an entirely different taste – it’s exactly the same thing between eating domesticated and wild hogs.

Now, the recipe I’m about to show you is very easy to prepare and, as the headline suggests, it involves plenty of oil. Consider this dish a prepper’s take on Colonel Sanders’ iconic fried chicken. So, without further ado, here’s how to prepare a Kentucky-style fried rabbit.

Gathering the ingredients

For this dish, you will need to following ingredients:

  • One young rabbit. Regarding the meat, you can use almost any part. I prefer the cottontails because they’re easier to prepare and far juicier compared to the other cuts.
  • Two cups of buttermilk.
  • Two tablespoons of Italian seasoning or your favorite spice mix. Just make sure it contains oregano, thyme, and dried parsley.
  • One tablespoon or paprika.
  • One tablespoon of powdered garlic.
  • Two or three tablespoons of black or cayenne pepper.
  • One and a half cups of all-purpose flour.
  • One teaspoon of salt.
  • Two cups of vegetable oil or tallow.

You done gathering the ingredients? Great. Let’s get to the fun part.

How to prepare Kentucky-style fried rabbit

Before seasoning your rabbit, you may want to brine it. The thing about using wild rabbit for this recipe is that it comes out all dry. Brining the rabbit beforehand ensures that the, well, nuggets will be moist and crispy at the same time.

To do that, grab a zip-lock back an add a ¼ tablespoon of rock salt and four cups of water. Put the cottontails inside and leave in the fridge for four to 8 hours. After that, take the rabbit out of the bag and start cooking.

Step 1. In a large bowl, put your buttermilk, paprika garlic powder, pepper, and Italian seasoning. Whisk the ingredients.

Step 2. Coat the cottontails with this mixture, stick in a zip-lock bag, and place in the fridge for a couple of hours or overnight.

Step 3. When you’re ready, take a skillet or frying pan and fill it with oil or tallow. Ensure that the oil completely covers the cottontails. Otherwise, you will need to flip it more times than necessary.

Step 4. Take the rabbit out of the zip-lock bag and place it into a strainer. Allow your cuts to drain for 15 or 20 minutes.

Step 5. While the rabbit’s sitting in the strainer, prepare the crust. Normally, you would have to put flour in a deep plate or something and sort of roll over your cottontails in it. However, there’s a faster way, one that does not involve getting your hands too dirty. Take a large zip-lock bag, add all-purpose flour and the salt.

Place your rabbit cuts inside, seal the bag, and shake. That’s it! All you have to do now is to use some thongs to take out the flour-coated rabbit and to place on a plate while waiting for your cooking oil to reach the desired temperature.

(Optional) If want a crunchier crust, follow the Viennese schnitzel recipe. Put some all-flour in a plate, some breadcrumbs in another one, followed by a third plate which contains one whisked egg, two tablespoons of milk, a dash of salt and pepper. First, roll the cottontail through the flour, dip in the eggs and milk mixture, and finally roll through breadcrumbs.

Step 6. Set the heat to medium-high. You’ll need a temperature of at least 325 degrees Fahrenheit to deep-fry those rabbit cuts.

Step 7. When the oil gets hot, add the cottontails. Deep-fry them for 8 to 12 minutes. Keep in mind that rabbit tends to suck a lot of oil, so be ready to pour some more if the oil level drops.

Step 8. When they’re done, place on a piece of paper towel. It will absorb the excess oil. That’s it! Serve while it’s still hot. Rabbit cottontails is a very versatile food since it can be paired with almost any kind of side-dish. I personally like to serve them with mashed or blanched potatoes and some green lettuce. Since it’s a deep-fried dish, you can always serve it with garlic sauce and a cold beer.

Wrap up

Preparing the rabbit is not that difficult. Of course, there are other ways to prepare this sort of game, but those recipes call for a lot more steps and ingredients. The best thing about this dish is that you can prepare it in any kind of setting. I personally like to prepare this recipe during a family camping trick. All you need are the right spices, a survival knife, a medium-sized cast-iron pot, and a source of the fire.

If you can’t afford to carry a pot, you can always use your canteen. As for frying the cuts, you can replace oil with tallow if you’ve got some of you. Always remember that domestic rabbits don’t need brining. Moreover, while keeping the wild rabbit cuts in the salt and water solution, you would do well to set a timer. If it stays longer than 8 hours, it will get all mushy during the deep-frying process.

That about covers it for my mouthwatering Kentucky-style fried rabbit. What do you think about this recipe? Hit the comments section and let me know.

Every prepper needs to know how to cook. More than that, he or she must become acquainted with the intricacies of preparing the game.