Smoking and Salt Curing Cookbook FOR PREPPERS: 2000 Days of Easy and Delicious Homemade Recipes for Jerky, Fruit, Vegetables, and Herbs to Be Prepared for the Incoming Crisis

By Teresita Vargas

Gone are the days when people used to laugh at people trying to protect themselves from the incoming doomsday. COVID-19, followed by various epidemics, war, and the looming threat of global warming, has made everyone think twice before stepping out. The only people who can survive such disasters are those who are already well-prepared. This book

• Language: English
• Publisher: Teresita Vargas
• Release date: Aug 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9781088246962

Book preview

Introduction

Gone are the days when people used to laugh at people trying to protect themselves from the incoming doomsday. COVID-19, followed by various epidemics, war, and the looming threat of global warming, has made everyone think twice before stepping out. The only people who can survive such disasters are those who are already well-prepared. This book is meant for people who want to learn how to survive impending doom and be self-reliant and prepared.

One of the biggest reasons people die after disasters is a lack of hygiene and food. While a person may go without food for a week or two, they will be emaciated and may or may not survive later. A hungry mind is the devil’s workshop. You need to be satiated to think clearly and work properly.

Unfortunately, finding food during and after disasters can be pretty tricky, and if you manage to find food, it might be rancid or contaminated. Therefore, it is better to prepare and store some food for such unseen circumstances during normal times. This can be done through a variety of processes of food preservation, including smoking, freezing, freeze-drying, salt curing, etc. Various products, including seafood, meat, fruits, vegetables, and nuts, can be stored for a long time using these methods.

This book will cover the basics of storing and preserving foods for a long time. It can serve as a survival guide in times of crisis and a hobby guide for enthusiasts.

So, without further ado, let’s prepare in whatever way we can!

Chapter One

Storing Food

There are a few things that you must keep in mind while storing food items - what, where, and how to store them. It is recommended to choose food items that are a part of your regular diet and products that generally have a longer shelf life.

Make a long checklist of absolutely crucial things. This includes food for humans, food for pets, nutritional needs, medical needs, etc. Add everything you may need to survive on your own for at least a few months. Once you decide what to store, you can move on to the ‘how.’

Always rotate your stocks to ensure the oldest food is used first. It is recommended to choose the right container for different food products so that it stays good for a long time. Here are some things that you should consider while storing food for a long time:

Never use any random plastic container to store food. Always use containers made of food-grade material. This way, chemicals will not seep into the food, which may be harmful to you. Food-grade containers do not have any harmful chemicals.

Always use plastic containers made of polyethylene and polycarbonate to store noodles, pasta, and other dry foods. These can be stored in containers of various sizes. These are suitable for dried and dehydrated foods as well.

For bulk storage of food items such as grains, oatmeal, sugar, and flour, you can be food storage buckets specially made for this purpose.

Sealing Plastic Containers

Merely storing the food is still half battle won. You need to learn how to store the food and seal the storage buckets and containers, so the food stays good for a long time. Sealing the containers properly will keep them safe from contaminants and bacteria for a long time and will also increase their shelf life.

Plastic containers are better than glass as they are considered true oxygen barriers. While oxygen gets transmitted through polyethylene walls, the transmission is slow and will take a long time to penetrate. The primary issue with plastic containers is pest infestation. This is generally seen in the case of foods that have been stored for a long time. You can reduce or prevent such infestations by:

Add desiccant packets or oxygen absorber packets to the containers. Remember, these packets and contents are not edible - they only keep the dry goods safe for a long time.

Use oxygen barrier bags - plastic and metalized oxygen bags both are good. Metalized bags can prevent damage done by insects and light.

Add food-grade diatomaceous earth to the grains. This powder can be coated on grains and beans, especially for bulk storage, and can prevent organic infestation. Applying around a cup of this powder to 25-30 lb of grains and beans is recommended.

Chapter Two

Methods of Preserving Food

There are many different methods of preserving food at home, most of which are inexpensive. Some standard techniques are salt curing, smoking, drying, or dehydrating, with which anyone can preserve food in the comfort of their home.

It is necessary to study and understand preservation techniques to enjoy the food item for a long time or use it during a crisis. In this chapter, you will learn how to preserve fresh food using salt curing, dehydrating, salt and sugar preservation, smoking, and much more.

Salt Curing

Curing with salt is one of the oldest methods of preserving foods. There is proof of our ancestors using this method to preserve their hunted animals. In this process, the water content of the food is drawn out through osmosis. If done properly, a cured food item can stay edible for years! The only issue with curing foods is that the process may seem difficult for beginners. This is why curing should be done with utmost care and precision.

What Happens in Curing?

All food items contain some amount of water in the form of moisture. This is necessary for the functioning of the cells of the object. When the object is placed in salt, the salt draws out the moisture, effectively drying out the cells. Bacteria can only survive in moisture; dry cells prevent bacteria from growing.

Salt also creates an acidic atmosphere in the food item, which prevents the growth of bacteria. But this only blocks the harmful bacteria as good bacteria such as Lactobacillus can thrive in an acidic environment.

The salt concentration depends on the type of bacteria you want to kill. For instance, to inhibit the growth of bacteria such as Staphylococcus, the food item must be cured with a 20% salt concentration. However, some can be stopped with just 3%. Yet, 20% or higher concentration is highly recommended to prevent bacteria from growing.

Many times, people combine sugar and salt for curing. Sugar acts as food for Lactobacillus, which can keep the bad bacteria from growing. Other products that can be used to replace sugar include maple syrup, corn syrup, and honey. Salt won’t add any flavor to any food item except bacon. Sugar can serve as a catalyst for the flavor profile of the food item and can check the intense saltiness of the curing salt.

Shelf Life

A properly cured food such as meat can last for years if stored properly. That being said, combining other methods and curing is recommended to make the system fail-proof. Food poisoning can be quite dangerous, especially during times of crisis. Do not rely just on salt curing to preserve your food.

Once you have successfully cured meat, it can be dehydrated or smoked. If done properly, it will remove the meat’s moisture and inhibit the growth of harmful bacteria. Such foods, in theory, can last forever (if stored properly).

Types of Salt Curing

Talk to any ‘curer,’ and you will hear a bunch of advice that often will contradict one another. There is no specific salt that you should use to cure. For instance, in older times, regular salt was often used as curing salt. In the 1800s, a combination of salt and saltpeter was used instead of just salt.

Saltpeter can either be sodium nitrate or potassium nitrate. Saltpeter itself does not preserve food, as it is not a preserving agent. Rather it serves as food to certain bacteria that are naturally unaffected by salt. By consuming saltpeter, the bacteria release nitrite, which in turn becomes nitric oxide. Nitric oxide, or NO, will bond with certain proteins in the flesh, reducing oxidation. Thus, NO can kill various harmful bacteria, including botulism spores.

It is necessary to remember that saltpeter will do nothing to preserve your meat. It must be combined with salt.

Prague Powder and Pink Salt

If you use the Internet regularly, you must have heard people talking about pink salt and its health benefits. Pink salt has various uses. The saltpeter generally used for curing purposes is also known as pink salt. Saltpeter is pink because of artificial dyes, which are added to prevent people from getting confused between regular salt and saltpeter. The pink dye is safe and does not taint the cured meat. The two commonly used types of pink salt are as follows:

Prague Powder 1:

This is also known as