The Conservative Cave
Interests => All Things Edible (and how to prepare them) => Topic started by: Thor on June 19, 2009, 02:56:53 PM
-
OK, I want to store meats for the long term. I have access to a dehydrator, canning equipment etc. I could probably go out and purchase a vacuum sealer. Any thoughts, recommendations??
-
I'd either go with the dehydrator or the canning routine. Even if you vacuum seal it, you still need to freeze it.
For some other ideas:
http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/publications/nchfp/lit_rev/cure_smoke_pres.html
-
I'm not much help there...I've never been very good at it!
-
Does anyone have the salted meat method? That may help.
-
Does anyone have the salted meat method? That may help.
Salt curing is probably one of the oldest forms of preserving meat. But, as you might expect, the meat is very salty afterward. I've had some salt cured bacon that was pretty good, but I couldn't eat much of it due to the salt content.
-
I preserve beef by making it into Jerky - Cut up some decent quality steaks , remove the fat. Marinate overnight in soy sauce, drain, pat dry and roll in salt / spices mixture, then dry on a rack oin in a slightly open oven (to allow the moisture to escape) at 70-80C until dry.
Vacuum pack after if you make enough - use promptly after opening so pack portion sizes that are suitable.
This is fairly impractical for large amounts of meat or if you don't really care for jerky. It also doesn't keep for very long especially in hot and humid climates.
I don't know all that much about canning - I'd suspect the best way to do that would be to prepare stews and the like and can them - probably you'd have to cook the meat entirely before canning it.
The best plan for having a long term stockpile of beef is to have a big freezer or keep it on the hoof until it's needed.
-
If your planning post nuclear war rations, then dehydration and canning might be best. If it's just for buying in bulk and planning on eating in a few weeks, then I'd go with the vacuum pack and freezing it.
Thats what we do, and it works great.
-
In the Foxfire book series there are detailed instructions on ways to cure meat. The whole series is a survivalist bible. See if you can get them on ebay or something.
-
Does anyone have the salted meat method? That may help.
My Aunt bought and shipped out (back east somewhere, to Cali) some salted hams from one of those "preserved Colonial Towns" where they do everything the "old" way.
Most-horrible-inedible-shit-ever. :puke:
-
My Aunt bought and shipped out (back east somewhere, to Cali) some salted hams from one of those "preserved Colonial Towns" where they do everything the "old" way.
Most-horrible-inedible-shit-ever. :puke:
LOL, one has to soak those in milk for a day or two to remove the salt. If not, it's like eating a salt lick.
-
LOL, one has to soak those in milk for a day or two to remove the salt. If not, it's like eating a salt lick.
We tried everything to make that crap edible. Soaked it in water, boiled the shit, cubed and soaked in water............plus it had a slight rancid smell to it that never went away. Godawful.
No wonder the colonists hunted deer, 'possums, squirrels, rabbits, coons, anything but that shit. :p