How to Store Foods for Primitive Survival
In a primitive survival situation, you rely on nature to supply your needs. That's why dehydration is the oldest way to preserve food. Sun drying prevents bacterial growth by removing the moisture from meat and produce. This dramatically extends the shelf life. It takes two sunny days to completely dehydrate your food. Properly dried fruits and meat are flexible and have a leatherlike texture. Vegetables should be brittle. Since water accounts for most of the size and weight of fruits, meat and vegetables, a lot of dried food can be stored in a very small space. Does this Spark an idea?
Things You'll Need
- 14-inch-by-24-inch-by-1-inch wood frames with stainless steel screen bottoms
- Folding tables
- Bricks
- Mesh food tents
- Knife
- Salt
Instructions
-
Preparing, Drying and Storing Foods
-
1
Prep the food. Select tender vegetables, firm and mature fruits and lean beef, venison or salmon. Wash your fruits and vegetables, remove damaged areas, peel off inedible skins, and cut the rest into pieces. Trim any visible fat from the meat.
The vegetables, and some fruits, should be steam blanched by suspending them, in a basket, over one inch of boiling water, for three to 10 minutes. Soak the fruit for 10 to 15 minutes, in a gallon of water, that has two to four tablespoons of salt mixed in it.
Slice your meat in inch wide, by half inch thick, by 10 inch long strips. Pound it flat to tenderize, and season to your preference. You can marinate it to enhance the flavor. Every pound of salmon should be seasoned with two tablespoons of salt.
-
2
Dry the food. You'll need two sunny days and a location that's in the sun all day. Arrange the meat, fruits and vegetables on separate trays. Lay the trays on tables and put bricks, under the trays, to elevate them for better air circulation.
Open the mesh umbrellas, of your food tents, and place them over the trays, to protect your food from insects. Bring the trays indoors at dusk and put them out in the morning. Don't leave them outside in bad weather.
-
-
3
Condition the food. If you plan to store dried food for an extended time, you'll need to condition it first. Put the food in a hanging cloth sack, for about a week, and shake it every day (to evenly distribute any moisture).
-
4
Store the food. Transfer the dried food to freezer bags and put them in a cool, dry and dark location. A hole, lined with stones, and covered with logs, or large rocks, will work fine for this purpose. Dried food, at room temperature, will keep for at least a month, under these conditions.
-
5
Use the food. The dried meat, and fruit, can be eaten as is. To rehydrate the vegetables, soak one cup of vegetables in two cups of water. When the vegetables have absorbed the water, they're ready to cook and eat. If you put dried meat, and vegetables, in boiling water, they'll rehydrate into a soup. Fruit can be rehydrated by immersing it in boiling water for five minutes.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
If you find insects, or their eggs, on your sun-dried foods, you can destroy them, with an oven, by heating the dehydrated food for 30 minutes, at 150 degrees.
