Storing/Curing Meat

[Guitars_N_Guns]

So for the current shitshow, I seriously doubt the complete shutdown of the power grid. That being said, there's always a slight chance that some natural disaster could shut power down for long periods of time.

Normally, a decent generator back-fed into a house would provide enough power to run a freezer, but you would need a constant source of fuel for this. During long power outages, this is fairly easy to manage, as you can always drive around to find fuel from various stations.

I buy meat in serious bulk, so even if times get tough, I will always have something to eat. But what if something happens to where running generators isn't an option any more? Having months worth of food suddenly turns into a couple days worth of food.

I know some people can meat. I've eaten canned venison but have never tried canning myself, and I'm not sure how long meat keeps that way. People have been eating meat for millions of years without access to a Frigidaire, so there must be some good ways of doing it.

I have no desire to take 1/2 a beef and turn the whole thing into jerky for SHTF, although I could see having some on hand for emergency situations. I'd be more interested in how to preserve meat AFTER SHTF (no power/gas etc). If you have a freezer full of meat, what are good ways to take what you have and preserve it for as long as possible? If there's a good method, you could preserve as much as you can, then you can bag a deer or something later on and use similar practices.

This is something I'd be willing to practice with if there are some good ways to do this.

[Hodgie]

Lots of salt for starters.

I have also heard of people eating jarred beef strews and soups homemade soups 10 to 15 years later.

[lts1ow]

Build a smoker, my neighbor is building a rather nice one in the backyard can't wait to try smoking a whole deer quarter or something.

[PAMedic=F|A=]

Meat is a low acid food, so if you’re canning it has to be pressure canned.


Canned meat keeps as long as any other canned good, that is, longer then you’ll be alive. To preserve micronutrients, keep out of sunlight/heat.

I’m over in rauchtown (outside Jersey Shore) is you would like to practice pressure canning.

[PAMedic=F|A=]

Vote for canning meat ............... can even eat it cold.
Canned venison .....now that's good eatting

Technically for home (pressure) canned goods you are to heat it to at least boiling to kill any botulism that may have occurred because you f’d up and didn’t sterilize/ pressure can properly.

If you know you followed proper procedure I wouldn’t worry about it, but you want to make sure you’re crossing all the Ies and dotting your Ts when taking about proper food processing. I also can at 12 pounds instead of the required 10 at my alt. Just in case.

[Sturm&rugerfan]

/search?query=canning+meathttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UClo...y=canning+meat

[Delkal]

Look up how to make Biltong. Its a South African / Australian dried meat similar to jerky. It is dried in much thicker pieces so after you dry it you have to slice it thin into "chips" and eat it. It is very tasty.

At its most basic all you need is some kind of critter, salt, vinegar and coriander (coriander keeps the flies off). You can spice it up some with some hot pepper, and other spices (pink salt / nitrite cure makes it even better for long term storage). Then you dry it in the open at room temperature or in a box with a small fan. My girlfriend and Son were over when I took out the marinated meat and started hanging it in a cardboard box with some holes cut in it and a small fan. They gave me a puzzled look at first but when i told them I was not going to smoke or cook anything and just let it sit in my kitchen for 5-7 days they looked horrified. You wouln't think it could work but it turns into dried meat that everyone loved.

In full disclosure it has a different taste than American jerky (especially the stuff in plastic wrap) and when my son first tried it he said "It tasted weird". But every day I would come home and another piece or two would be gone. I was making it every week or two for a while.

[cephas]

Been canning meat for a few decades. I take one of the hogs and grind the majority of it into sausage. The sweet meat is cut into chunks and canned. Only thing we add is some canning salt and pepper. Sausage is made into patties and placed in wide mouth pint jars. It's easier to get them out of the wide mouth jars. Would guess we average 60 pints/hog. Tastes as good a year later as it did going in. Imagine it would keep quite awhile, but with three grandsons I may grind two hogs this year.
Recommend getting the best canner you can afford. Used a Mirro canner that was passed down to us for quite awhile.
Last year upgraded to an All American Pressure Canner. Pricey but a pleasure using. Can do about 18 pints/run.
A good reference with "just the facts mam" is the Ball Blue Book of Canning and Preserving. Has been recommended by others here.

[lts1ow]

To add since I was made aware of it from my wife, cured meats carry a high risk of listeria for pregnant women and I would assume immuno compromised folks. Just food for thought.

[Guitars_N_Guns]

This is good advice. With everyone on lockdown, there’s really nothing to pass the time except to chase the ol’ lady around the house, which in turn will cause a massive baby boom.