Food storage

originally posted by: MykeNukem

originally posted by: Terpene
a reply to: MykeNukem

We conclude, miice is a loot proof option to consider in a SHTF scenario...

Yep, instead of using the buckets to keep mice out, fill the buckets with mouse jerky, AND it'll keep the live ones out.

Win-win, really, lol.

Nope, mice have to be cooked at 165 degrees F to kill all diseases so dehydration is out.

originally posted by: quintessentone

originally posted by: MykeNukem

originally posted by: Terpene
a reply to: MykeNukem

We conclude, miice is a loot proof option to consider in a SHTF scenario...

Yep, instead of using the buckets to keep mice out, fill the buckets with mouse jerky, AND it'll keep the live ones out.

Win-win, really, lol.

Nope, mice have to be cooked at 165 degrees F to kill all diseases so dehydration is out.

Again, you can make jerky by smoking it at temperature. Which would solve both issues.

Your time and effort would be better served learning to snare rabbits, etc.

I'd rather fill my buckets up with rabbit or something. Still can't survive on rabbit either, though.

originally posted by: MykeNukem

originally posted by: quintessentone

originally posted by: MykeNukem

originally posted by: Terpene
a reply to: MykeNukem

We conclude, miice is a loot proof option to consider in a SHTF scenario...

Yep, instead of using the buckets to keep mice out, fill the buckets with mouse jerky, AND it'll keep the live ones out.

Win-win, really, lol.

Nope, mice have to be cooked at 165 degrees F to kill all diseases so dehydration is out.

Again, you can make jerky by smoking it at temperature. Which would solve both issues.

Your time and effort would be better served learning to snare rabbits, etc.

Some jerk is dehydrated some smoked, so sure as long as it is at the right temperature.

originally posted by: Terpene
a reply to: Quadrivium

The good ones indeed, a cat is still better at it...

Absolutely!
Have two outside and one in the house.
The outside ones are getting lazy though, no "present" (moles, mice, lizards or birds) left by the front door in a while.

a reply to: MykeNukem
Hehe, dried Ramen noodles and protein powder. Just add water.
Quick, easy to store, and last forever.
Have some put up, to act a a supplement, just in case.
I don't think I could eat mice either, although I find squirrel good and they're just "tree rats".

originally posted by: Quadrivium
a reply to: MykeNukem
Hehe, dried Ramen noodles and protein powder. Just add water.
Quick, easy to store, and last forever.
Have some put up, to act a a supplement, just in case.
I don't think I could eat mice either, although I find squirrel good and they're just "tree rats".

See, now that's sensible.

I prefer rice as it packs more punch, but either way, you've got some protein and carbs.

Now you just need a fat source and something to ward off scurvy and you're set.

The problem I have with mice, is that you can't count on what THEIR food source was. No thanks.

At least with a squirrel, you know he's been eating primarily nuts and seeds, and his pelt is useful as well, properly skinned, stretched and dried, you can make a 12oz water skin out of a good size squirrel.

Hands down the best animal in North America for survival purposes is the Porcupine. It's prolific. It has loads of fat, which is the most important thing. It's also slow and dumb af, making it easy prey. Also, it's needles are very useful for multiple purposes.

And, it'll all fit in a bucket!

originally posted by: Terpene
a reply to: DAVID64

sorry to burst your bubble, but plastic is no deterrent for mice or other rodents. metal and glass is the only ticket for rodent save container.
there are some technical solutions to make certain containers or whole areas rodent proof...

I've got ~100lbs of rice, beans, peas, etc in mylar bags in regular old home depot buckets, and they are a huge deterrent for rodents... the trick, of course, is to properly seal the food before putting it in the bucket.
If they can smell it, they'll chew right through the bucket to get it- but if the food is properly stored inside they'll just pee/poo all of it as they pass by.

disgusting little vermin, but most of this food (and ammo, and fire lighting supplies) has been stored for about ten years without issue.

Food grade buckets weren't an option for my budget at the time- Thanks David64! A lot of what I have should probably be cycled out this summer...

originally posted by: MykeNukem

originally posted by: quintessentone

originally posted by: MykeNukem

originally posted by: quintessentone

originally posted by: Terpene
a reply to: DAVID64

sorry to burst your bubble, but plastic is no deterrent for mice or other rodents. metal and glass is the only ticket for rodent save container.
there are some technical solutions to make certain containers or whole areas rodent proof...

I am also reading if rodents are OK to eat. City ones - not so much because they eat garbage, live in sewers, and resort to canabalism, which all gives the mice various diseases. Country mice, however, would be the safer bet or to start farming mice for food even better because you can control the cleanliness of their pens. Preparing the mice is a must to research to deal with any diseases and scent gland chemicals on the fur, etc.

I can't think of a more disgusting and inefficient food to raise.

Guinea Pigs would be way better, they get really fat and are actually raised for food in places, plus, as a bonus, their skins can be used for clothing.

Or you could just give up completely and raise crickets...

If you bother to research it, country mice that is, and if one is in dire straits, in the country that is, then it becomes a necessity to learn how to catch, kill, prepare and cook all types of food sources, including insects.

I guess my wilderness survival courses, which required us to lift up rotting logs and eat whatever is slithering underneath, has equipped me for success in a survival scenario.

I'll be as gentle as I can.

Courses don't teach you #. You have to go out and do it, for extended periods.

I've been actually going out and surviving with only my wits in the bush for over 20 years, in the roughest wilderness in the world, in both summer and winter, with almost the coldest temperatures in the world.

I know what I'm talking about.

Chewing a mouse takes more calories than it provides. So, your solution is to eat a lot of them? Mice contain zero useful fat, and you will slowly die from that lack of fat. Same thing with insects and worms.

This isn't like on TV.

My courses taught me how and what to forage for in all seasons and of which I have practiced already. I will be just fine with my knowledge and experience thus far including storing high fat long-term storage items.

I was just researching about mice because another member brought up the problem they were having getting into their plastic pails containing their stored food. I just offered the choice just in case if the SHTF scenario was life or death.

You are correct that mice, squirrels, rabbits and certain types of fish lack fat but I wasn't advocating for the mice to be a staple in one's diet, just that eating country mice could be an option as a food/protein source if one were desperate.

a reply to: MykeNukem
The dairy goats and chicken's will help with the fat intake, I hope.

originally posted by: Quadrivium
a reply to: MykeNukem
The dairy goats and chicken's will help with the fat intake, I hope.

Goats!

Yea, you'll be fine.

Keep your buckets away, they'll eat them, lmao.

a reply to: MykeNukem
The wife has been dehydrating eggs, veggies, fruit and meats for a while as well.
We Can veggies and jelly/jam.
She has also "water-glassed" whole eggs using hydrated lime.
We have been doing this for a long time.
Oh, and we are also bee keepers.
Something is coming, I think we all feel it.
Sometimes I wonder if anyone will be prepared enough.
A friend keeps telling me, he and his wife are buying gold......
My response is "can you eat it?".

originally posted by: Quadrivium
a reply to: MykeNukem
The wife has been dehydrating eggs, veggies, fruit and meats for a while as well.
We Can veggies and jelly/jam.
She has also "water-glassed" whole eggs using hydrated lime.
We have been doing this for a long time.
Oh, and we are also bee keepers.
Something is coming, I think we all feel it.
Sometimes I wonder if anyone will be prepared enough.
A friend keeps telling me, he and his wife are buying gold......
My response is "can you eat it?".

Very similar to what the wife and I do on the homestead here. Sounds like you know exactly what you're doing.

Beekeeping makes me envious, I wish I had bees, worth more than gold for sure.

I've never understood the gold buyers (for survival/SHTF scenario). I'd rather a good stock of chickens or seeds, lol.

Just to stay on topic, these buckets are a good deal, even if you don't use them for food.

We have about ten of the Tractor supply ones for storing our flour, sugar, egg noodles, rye and oat flakes, and beans. We got them incase we have mice and because there are little moths here that lay eggs that get into stored food. Those little moths can inject the eggs into a thin plastic bag. those tiny worms can ruin the food....an old friend had a problem with them getting into his food stores so I started buying buckets to store things in.

They are a little hard to use to rotate things though, especially the five pound flour bags. We usually stock about a hundred pounds of organic whole grain white flour. It has a shorter shelf life so we cannot stock more than that.

If there is a nuclear war, a plastic bucket with a tighter lid like those buckets have will protect the food pretty well. Chances are that we will not have a close bombing going off so they are adequate. After about three weeks the fallout will disipate and then you can start cleaning stuff up. The only problem is that the radioactivity will get into the plants in your garden.

The chances of a nuclear war are not that great, so I do not stock up for that...but we did just buy another bottle of seagrams 7 crown just in case so we can be drunk until we die anyway.

We stock up to save money, buying stuff on sale when it is cheap and rotating it into use. We are not stocking up for an end of the world event, just to save money as prices keep rising. We saved probably eight hundred bucks on food in the last year and have not noticed much overall increase in food spending other than now we are taking care of the great grandkids when the granddaughters husband brings them over while he works...we also make him supper too. So food cost is higher because of that. We go through way more ice cream and milk than we used to go through.

a reply to: Meldionne1 if you worried about water if you got a heat source what about a still vaporize sea water when it comes out other side it's pure water right.

a reply to: Meldionne1

Stainless steal or thick rubber are best for storing water long term.

Plastic, even food grade will degrade and leak eventually. Much sooner than metal or rubber will.

I am now researching how to make and store pemmican as the ancient aboriginals of North America did. Storing pemmican seems easy enough, just keep it stored high up away from insects and damp. It certainly looks better than hardtack, but hardtack seems to last forever. Did you know there is a piece of hardtack in a Florida museum that was baked in 1862 as a staple for Civil War soldiers.

theamericanparlor.tumblr.com...

An aboriginal story from N.A. aboriginals about the Chinook Winds. Enjoy.



The venison smoke in the song refers to venison pemmican in other versions of the story.