Food storage- Starting the journey

 Hi Gang.

Lets talk about food storage. This will, again, be a multi-part series. 

Part 1- Brief discussion of the different types of food storage and why store at all.

Part 2- A brief history of canning and the biology and chemistry of canning, why can, and resources of canning.

Part 3- Dehydrating/drying foods.

Part 4- Freeze-drying  

Part 5- Vacuum packing

Part 6- Storage of foods that have been canned, dehydrated or freeze-dried.

Part 7- Water. 


PART 1

Why would anyone store food? Very simply because bad things happen, and having a store means that you are not immediately a part of the zombie crowd that has no clue where the next government meal is coming from, or even if that government meal will come.  

Additionally, many religions suggest or recommend or even command preparation for difficulties. In the Hebrew bible, Joseph went down to Egypt where he suggested to Pharaoh to prepare for 7 years of famine. In modern times, we have floods, droughts (sometimes at the same time as floods), fires, snow storms, hurricanes, tornadoes, mudslides, pandemics, and economic disasters like job loss. We also have minor emergencies like hackers getting into the meat distributors, hackers getting into the fuel/gas distribution network. Temporary closure of a food distribution network or grocery stores. 

How much should you store? Well, a good start is 3 days for each person who is in your house or may be coming. Lets be honest, you will not turn away some people, so plan on them coming to you, and

There are several different ways to store food for long periods of time. 

Canning is the process of cooking in a container to the point that all of the microbial life is dead, to eliminate spoilage. Examples include canned vegetables and meats.

Dehydrating is the process of heat and air reducing the water content of food so microbes have a harder time living and developing. This is a shorter term storage, but will extend many things. Examples include jerky and apple chips.

Freeze-dried foods are more extreme version of dehydrating, A machine rapidly reduces the temperature (freezing) at the same time as a low pressure system reduces the air pressure, so the liquid in the food sublimates, or converts from solid directly to gas. This takes more of the water out than dehydrating, and once that is done, the food can be stored for longer. 

Vacuum packing foods is the process of taking existing food and eliminating the oxygen from the system so that the mold and fungus has less chance to grow. It is particularly helpful when combined with freezing as it reduces the effects of freezer-burn. Note that it does not completely eliminate growth, so food safety must be carefully monitored. 

Storage of foods that have been packaged depends on what manner of you have done. For example, canned foods in glass jars can be kept on shelves in a dark and cool environment for long periods of time. Foods in cans (tuna, etc) can be kept in warmer environments for longer periods of time, but again, not an unlimited time. Dehydrated foods can be kept in a variety of places. Jerky was often kept in a saddle bag for long periods of time. Freeze-dried food can be kept in sealed bags for very long times, often 25 years or more. 

Water is a substantial problem. It is heavy, difficult to transport, and extremely necessary. A person typically needs anywhere from two to 3 liters of water a day for drinking, plus incidental water will run another up to 3 liters. Water storage is a problem. It can't be allowed to get too cold, or it will freeze and may crack the container. It can't be allowed to get too hot, or the container may contaminate the water. 

We will explore all of these, in more detail in future blogs. 

Jason

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Snowing... Is it a disaster?

Well, I hadn’t planned to write about snow this week… it was supposed to be security cameras. But, it snowed.   Lets talk about preparation for a snow disaster.   Lets talk about what kinds of emergencies can occur in snow storms, particularly on the east coast, and then talk about how you can prepare for them.   There are 2 categories, generally of problems that you may face. The first is home. The second is transportation/cars. The second is a bit easier to discuss, so lets start there.   CAR In your car, there are only a few things that are possible issues. You get stuck somewhere due to snow. You crash, and get stuck somewhere due to snow Your car breaks down. If you get stuck somewhere, the easiest solution is to have a snow shovel or military entrenching tool in your car. Dig yourself out. This is the easiest problem to fix. You may need help, but in most cases a shove is all you need. There are also some tra...
Read more

Firearm Maintanence

  Hi gang.   I know, its almost spring planting time, so I am working on some of those. I have also made contact with a fire fighter, and I am planning interview him and get some fire prevention and fire fighting tips, much like the 4 part series I did on plumbing.   But I have not done that yet.   Today, I am going to talk about firearm maintenance. The information about the schedules is coming from a number of sources, the information about breakage is coming from BattleField Vegas (BFV). Battlefield Vegas is a range that rents machine guns in Las Vegas. They go through a LOT of guns and parts.   RIFLES ARs have a very specific maintenance schedule, and if you keep it up, it may well last for near infinite time and rounds. AKs have a limited lifespan, no matter what you do, but they can be fixed, its just much harder. Most other platforms are closer to the AK than to the AR.   The AK is relatively simple. Lube it up, and change...
Read more

Winter specific tools

  Hi gang.   As you recall, I wrote about snow issues a while back. (OK, it was January 2021) https://rvadisasterprep.blogspot.com/2021/01/snowing-is-it-disaster.html   But what tools do you need for your car and home?   Well, you are a bit more limited in the space you have for a car. In your car, you need the tools to get out of a problem and get home safely. These are specific tools to the car. Lets talk about that. Of course, one of the things you will want to do is keep gas in the car. I recommend keeping the tank at least half full, because that gives you some range- half the range of your car. Most cars have a range of around 300 miles on a full tank, so you should have at least 150 miles of gas in your car. If you are running an electric car (Tesla or Chevy or Hyundai or Toyota or any other all electric) you have a different problem. The cold reduces the ability of the battery to charge and retain the charge and the heat in the car is ...
Read more