Here at the Redpill Project, we recently kicked off our first ever Prepper and Survival meeting. This meeting was put together with the intention of providing the community with valuable knowledge and resources to help them prepare for anything that could take place in the future. Anything from natural disasters and power outages to a possible economic collapse. Whatever the crisis may be, it is always good to be prepared. And if nothing else, you can rest easy in knowing that even if nothing happened, you were ready just in case something did.
During our first meeting, we were graced with the knowledge of two wonderful women, Stacey and Chris, who gave us some valuable insight into the world of canning.
In Stacey’s introduction she tells us, “Canning food is a great way to get a food supply and save it for long-term.” And she is absolutely right. Canning is an incredibly handy skill to have. When it comes to being prepared, this is one of the best ways that you can do this for yourself and your family. And if you were ever in a situation where you had to go without power and did not have or desire to utilize a generator to save foods that you might have in your freezer, this would be a great way to preserve that food before it spoiled. With that being said, here is the information we have gathered from these presentations:
Storage:
The food that you preserve will last anywhere from 1-5 years, depending on what you are saving.
Never store your jars with the screw lids on them. if the seal pops, then bacteria will make its way inside the jar and the screw lid will prevent you from being aware that this has happened. You will end up eating spoiled food full of bacteria and it will cause you to become severely ill.
Do not reuse your metal lids, as they are likely to not seal properly after first use. Here is an article that helps to explain this a little further:
Don't Be Tempted to Reuse Canning Lids
There are lids that you can purchase if you wish to reuse the lid and they are called tatter lids. They are more expensive, but they can be used over and over again, so it might be worth the extra cost.
Store your canned food in a cool, dark, dry place where the temperature will not be fluctuating, as this can cause the lid to come unsealed.
Preparation:
There are two types of canning: water bathing and pressure canning.
Knowing the pH balance of the food will determine how to you are going to preserve it. There are high acid and low acid foods. High acid foods such as lemons, pickles, gooseberries, peaches, tomatoes, plums, apples, and sauerkraut, are prepared with a brine such as vinegar and water canning is the method that should be used.
With water canning, you will place the jars inside and fill the pot with water to where it is an inch to an inch and a half over the jars. Bring the water to a rolling boil and cook it anywhere from 10-30 minutes. Elevation also plays a role in the canning process so be aware of this. The temperature inside the jar must be at least 212 degrees in order for any bacteria that may be present to be killed.
With low acid foods, which would be anything below a 4.6 pH, pressure canning is the preferred method of preservation. These would be foods such as meats, poultry, vegetables, soups and stews. With a pressure canner, it is not required to put water inside of the pot like you would do with the water bathing. If you live anywhere from zero to one thousand feet elevation, you should use the weight that comes with the cooker and place it onto the lid. The jars will be cooked anywhere from 60, to 90, to 120 minutes, depending on what you are preserving.
Foods to avoid while canning are dairy products such as milk, cream, and cheese. Butter may be used but it must be a small quantity. Fats may also be present but only in small amounts. Pasta and cooked grains are also foods that should not be canned. They should be cooked and added to the food after the jar has been opened for use.
Here is a book that Stacey recommends as a good resource:
Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving
Chris was our second presenter, and while she was also incredibly knowledgeable about the entire canning process, she gave us some extra insight that helped to further expand on the topic and fill in the gaps.
More On Preparation:
There are actually two types of pressure canners: weight gauge and dial gauge. And the type you choose is just a matter of personal preference.
If preferred, water bath canning may be used for low acid foods. But when you are preserving the high acid foods, the water method must be the one that is used.
When you put your food into the jar, before you place the lid on, use a bubble popper spatula to remove the air and clean the rim of the jar with a damp cloth coated with either water or vinegar.
She also gave us a list of some extra tools that would be useful for the canning process:
Jar wrench
Bubble popper
Magnetic lid lifter
Jar lifter
Funnels
The bubble popper may also be used to measure the head space. Maintaining proper head space is incredibly important because if you have too much, the air will not release in time and the jars will not seal properly. If you have too little, it will bubble up and you will not get a good seal.
Anything that you decide to can that is going to ferment, make sure that there is enough head space left in order for the food to have enough room to expand. Otherwise, the pressure from the fermentation process will cause the lid to blow.
If you open up a jar of food, such as a spaghetti sauce, and will not use the entire portion in time, you can re-seal what is left over. What you will do in this situation is place the leftover food into a smaller jar and do the canning process over again, making sure to use a new lid.
Sterilization:
When it comes to sterilization, this is a must to prevent bacterial growth inside of the jars. To do this, you may use the dishwasher, the oven, or a large pot. If you are sterilizing in a pot, you are going to fill the pot until the water is at least an inch over the top of the jars and boil the water for 20 minutes. If you are sterilizing in the oven, place the jars onto a cookie sheet, turn the oven to 275 degrees, and heat them for 20 to 30 minutes. If you are sterilizing the lids to use for other things, do not place them in water that is at a rolling boil. Only put them into simmering water as the lids contain a gel-like seal that can become damaged from the high heat.
Another good tip for everyone to be aware of is how to keep pests away from your stored food. It is no surprise to know that if you have an infestation of mice, rats, or some type of bug, that can be incredibly detrimental to your supply. Some means of preventing this from happening is to place essential oils around your stored food, as most pests do not like the smell. Another good thing to use is Irish Spring soap. Cut up a bar and spread it around your supply to keep them away. And one last tip is that when you are trying to preserve foods such as grains, dried beans, and flour, place them into the freezer for three days before cooking or storing to kill any bugs that may already be present. If you are in a position to where you are limited on freezer space, another option to help kill any bugs would be to incorporate food grade diatomaceous earth.
In the second half of the meeting, we opened it up for questions and extra comments. Several of our members had valuable information to offer regarding other topics of similar nature. This information included food dehydration, herbal medicine, gardening, and water storage and filtration. These topics, as well as many others, will be given much more detail in the future.
Dehydration:
Any food can be dehydrated. Meats, poultry, seafood, fruits, vegetables, beans, herbs, and even liquids such as broth.
A great beginner’s dehydrator is one that is either square or round and has stackable trays. The only thing you will not be able to do with this type is dehydrate liquids and you will also be more limited on space. But here is an example of a good dehydrator that was recommended that would allow for liquids:
Another good tool to go along with this type of dehydrator would be silicon dehydrator sheets with edges. These are beneficial for use with liquids such as broth, fruit purees, and eggs.
Dehydration can be done for vegetables and then placed into a sealed container, making sure to remove all the air for long-term storage. These vegetables can then be used later by reconstituting them with water or broth. This is a great thing to do if you prefer not to can your vegetables due to the fiber in the vegetables breaking down over time, causing them to become soft.
Another good tip that was brought up is to buy bags of frozen vegetables that are on sale and instead of placing them into the freezer and taking up that space, put them into the dehydrator to preserve them that way. Place them into a jar and use a vacuum sealer to seal the lid. And every time you open the jar, you can use what you need and then reseal it again with the vacuum sealer to keep them fresh.
When you are dehydrating any type of meat or fish, add any type of seasoning that you prefer, but cook it without any oil or fat. If there is any grease left over from the cooking, rinse the meat in some water. When you do it this way it will dehydrate much quicker. Once that is done, place it into a jar and seal it properly. In this state it will last up to a year. If you want it to last for a longer period of time, either place the jar into the freezer or wait to seal the lid and follow through with the canning process.
Dehydration is also a great method to use for foods that you may have that would need to be thrown out soon if not preserved. This can be anything from fruit that has not been eaten yet to leftover broth in the refrigerator. And another way to speed up the process, especially when it comes to fruits, is to poke holes into them before putting them on the trays.
Herbal Medicine:
Here are a couple of herbal medicinal recipes that were given by Stacey:
Olive Oil and Oregano:
Extra virgin olive oil
Fresh or dried oregano
Place both ingredients into a glass jar and put in a cool, dark place for at least 6 weeks
Strain the oregano and store in an amber glass bottle
May be used for cooking or for medicine
Beneficial for use as an antibiotic
This is also a good to use in place of Asprin
Herbal Valium:
Used for pain
St. John’s Wort
Valerian Root
Equal parts of each herb into a jar and add in either 40-100 proof alcohol, honey, or apple cider vinegar
Let it sit for 6 weeks and then strain and add to an amber glass bottle
Will last up to 10 years
Should not be used if you take heart medications, anti-rejection meds, HIV meds, cancer meds, anti-anxiety meds, or are pregnant or nursing
Other herbs and foods and their benefits:
Cloves – toothaches
Honey – mouth sores
Garlic – earaches and stomach bugs
Table salt – feet pain
Grapes – back pain
Turmeric – chronic pain and inflammation
Blueberries – bladder issues
Dandelion root – aids in digestion, good for the kidneys, gall bladder, and liver, stimulates bowl production, aids in toxin removal
Ginger – muscle pain and nausea
Peppermint – muscle pain and nausea
Oats – menstrual pain
Horseradish – sinus issues
Lavender – migraines
Garlic, Lemon, Ginger Tonic – reducing blood pressure
Pineapple, Olive Oil, and Lime Juice – helps prevents cancer, increases blood circulation, produces antibodies, increases the immune system, improves kidneys and gets rid of kidney stones, helps with arthritis, helps with coughing, relieves vision problems, aids in weight loss, improves digestion
Gardening:
If you have the ability to grow your own food, it would be incredibly beneficial for your health and the health of your plants, to do what you can to build up your soil. There are many farming practices taking place in the world today that are wreaking havoc on our land and depleting the soil of all of the nutrients that the plants and our bodies need to thrive. When you have your own home garden, you are also giving yourself the power to not only produce more nutrient dense food, but also food that is not riddled with pesticides. So, when it came time to harvest, you could have that confidence in knowing that the food that you are using to preserve through canning and dehydration will be more nutritious and safer for you and your family. With that being said, here are a few good tips to get you started on the path towards soil regeneration:
If you have a home garden, and if you are able to have animals, get them. Animals are not only able to provide you with various foods, but they are also good for creating fertilizer and compost that you can add to your garden. If you have animals such as rabbits or alpacas, their feces can be collected and added straight onto your garden because their feces is considered a “cold fertilizer,” meaning it will not burn your plants.
Chickens are one of the best animals to have when it comes to creating good soil because if you have them in a chicken yard, you can not only throw over scraps, you can also add other materials into the pen for them to scratch up. Instead of raking up all your leaves and either burning them or bagging them up to send off with the city, throw them into your chicken yard. Some people like to take leaves, wood chips, grass clippings, and scraps and put them into a compost pile. That is great if you can do that, but letting your chickens do the work for you not only removes the work on your part by not having to turn the compost, it also breaks down the materials at a much quicker rate. And having their feces mixed in with the organic materials as it is being broken down is what will create a compost known as “black gold.” This also allows the chickens to maintain good health because once you create this kind of environment, you are allowing for the buildup of insect life, which the chickens will enjoy eating. If you prefer or are able to have your chickens free ranging, one thing you can do is create a small pen to throw all of your organic materials into and open it up to allow the chickens to come in and scratch everything around. It is a process that is in constant motion and will continue to provide you with the perfect solution to a thriving garden.
Another thing that you can do is to tap into a resource that is local to your community and completely free to you. Your electric companies are responsible for maintaining the safety of your local power lines. They do this by making sure that the lines are free and clear of any tree limbs, vines, and debris. These power companies will go around your town from time to time, cutting down any limbs that are protruding onto the lines, and place them into a grinder to make wood chips. They then have to pay another company to get rid of the “waste.” If you call your power company and request the wood chips from them, they will bring them out to your property and give them to you with no cost. You are essentially saving them the cost of getting rid of those materials and it will provide you with a fantastic resource to add to your garden or put with your chickens to break down. It is a win-win situation.
Water:
The biggest thing to remember when it comes to survival, is that water is a top priority. Yes, you need shelter, especially in cold climates or stormy weather. And yes, you need food, but humans have the natural ability to fast for prolonged periods of time if need be. But when it comes to water, this is essential. You can only go for so long without water, just a few days for most people, before your body starts breaking down and it can easily lead to death.
Here are some good means of water storage and filtration:
Well or inline water tanks to store water along with a diesel generator in case you lose power
Water storage tanks to collect and store water that can be accessed without power
Rain water collection systems
Osmosis filtration system
Berkey or similar filtration system that can clean your water of toxins
Another good thing to be aware of is if you know that you are about to be in a situation where you could lose power or will be limited to water access, fill up your bathtubs with water to then be filtered and used for drinking and cooking as well as for bathing and cleaning.
These meetings are going to be something that will continue to bring valuable information and resources to people so that we all can become better equipped with the right tools and course of action to prepare ourselves and our loved ones for anything that may happen in the future that would be detrimental to life. It is better to be prepared and not need it then need it and not be prepared.
Watch The Redpill Preppers