the best survival food for your fallout bunker - well the tangyest at least

Orange marmalade


OK so i lied a bit.

orange marmalade is not the best survival foods

but boasting high energy ( got to love sugar)
and vitamin c

and it tastes great,
and if sealed properly will last for ages due to its high sugar content.

combine those bonuses with its great combination with toast, porridge, sandwiches straight out of the jar. or a whole host of cooking oppertunities

. and your sorted fora life of tangy luxury in your fallout bunker.

admit idly once the fallout settles you might only have the odd remaining tooth. but its ok in the post apocalyptic world i cant imagine their to be many surviving dentists so everyone will have similar problems.


my recent obsession with making marmalade happened a few weeks ago when asking my mum to

borrow her sugar thermometer. i wanted to learn how to preserve food stuffs for my self.

instead of leading me one she got me a new one and all the ingredients to make some tasty

orange marmalade.

to make your survival marmalade you will need,

* 6-8 small oranges, weighing about 550g
* juice of 1 lemons
* 1.4 litres water
* 1.1kg granulated sugar
* pintch of mixed spice (optional)

also a large pan, wooden spoon, sugar thermometer, and a collection of empty used jars.

you can also get waxed paper disks for sealing the jars.

first we sterilize our jars. clean thoroughly with hot water then rinse with boiling water.

then on to the cooking i followed a recipe on the good food website. there are thousands

out their

uktv.co.uk...

2. Slice the oranges in half. Using a metal spoon, scoop out the flesh over a bowl to

collect any juice, leaving the pith behind. Reserve the shells.

3. Put the flesh, juice and pips in a food processor and blend until smooth.

4. Push the purée through a sieve into a preserving pan or large heavy-based saucepan.

5. Now scoop out as much of the pith from the shells as possible. Slice the rind into very

thin matchstick strips and add these to the sieved flesh in the pan.

6. Pour in the lemon juice and water.

7. Bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 1 to 1 1/2 hours until the rind is

very soft and the mixture has reduced by half.

8. Over a low heat, add the sugar and stir until it has dissolved. Boil for about 10

minutes, skimming off any froth on the surface.

9. After 10 minutes, spoon a little of the marmalade onto a cold plate and place in the

fridge. If it sets to a jelly the marmalade is cooked. If necessary, cook for a further

5-10 minutes and test again.

10. Allow the marmalade to cool slightly, then pour into the sterilized jars.


then seal using your waxed papper seals. this can be skipped if you have good air tight

seals on your jars.


this will keep indefinably till opened and even then will keep for months before spoiling.


great to sweeten up other long term supply's and get your vit c


enjoy and quite literally spread the marmalade love

here is a link with some info on marmalade and some recipe ideas for cooking with it. ( recipes at bottom of page )

www.bbc.co.uk...


now ive mastered fruit preserves i think ill have to dabble with pickling next.

reply to post by jericanman


not a bad Idea, you get your vitamin C and sugar for extra energy...
Peanut butter makes for a better all around long term survival food but you get tired of all that peanut butter pretty quickly...

as a side note anything you pack/can in honey will last forever! they found some honey in an Egyptian tomb and it was still eatable after a 1,000 years... ... how cool is that...

sorry double post

[edit on 21-4-2010 by DaddyBare]

thats one thing id love to do make my own honey.

my granddad who is unfortunately dead now was an avid bee keeper he had 3 hives on his farm. his honey to this day was the best ive ever tasted. nothing like the poo you get in the shop's

i even had a strange affinity with bee's when younger i used to stroke them when they where collecting nectar and pollen from the flowers in the gardens.

till one day aged 4 or 5 i tried to help one that fell in a pond. it stung me as i scooped it out. i was so sad when i was told it would die from stinging me as i was just trying to save the furry critter.

maybe i got it from him he never used to wear protective gear and they never tried to sting him. guess they understood the symbiotic relationship with him on some level.


i still stroke bee's to this day. and have never been stung since.

all this current news regarding dwindling bee populations makes me sad. so one day ill do my part and keep my own bee's " any then get my own honey yum yum

Excellent suggestion. I have many flavors of powdered Gatorade stored away. You may only be able to drink water in a survival situation and that gets old pretty quick. Plus you get the sugar, potassium, electrolytes and vitamin C needed for long hikes and recon missions to scope out the local area.

and props on mentioning peanut butter one of my outer favorite foods. ill have to take the time to learn how to make that for my self. and sunflowerseed butter as i hear that is nice to and sunflower seeds are my all time every day favorite snacking food. .. (with the shells on) i can eat them all day i love the action of shelling them in ones mouth and love the seeds.... hell as allways i have two bowls next to my pc one with seeds in one with empty shells

reply to post by BrianInRI


i believe it a good idea to learn to jazz up standard survival foods. because in any situation eating and drinking the same thing day in day out with no luxury's to look forward to is just going to add to survival stress.

marmalade also makes a great sweet marinade for BBQ meats.

so you can hunt some local game and roast it with a sweet sauce.

reply to post by jericanman


Right on. I'm with you and that sounds yummy. I got a .22 pellet gun just to hunt birds and small animals without giveing away my position. That recipe will come in handy for some of the less edible creatures out there.

i can imagine smaller game.. with its distinctively gamey taste being better with some sweet marinade.

over here in the uk rabbits, hare and the like would be great with it.

or if your having a larger feast say a hog roast ... (might need more than a .22 to down one of them) the crackling (skin and fat l) would taste great with a sweet side. as pork is quite salty.

dam i might have to bring one of my jars to a countryside BBQ im organizing with my friends for the weekend.

reply to post by jericanman

The .22 is a fall back weapon and last resort survival tactic if it ever gets that bad. I've been looking into bow hunting for larger game for staying under the radar, but bows are bulky and you can only carry so many arrows whereas a box of pellets is light and gives me many more shots.
There are A LOT of dear in the NorthEast, so many that we are allowed to cull them every year. Venison stew really hits the spot and is a good way to use up scraps. Talking about hog got me hungry for some bacon lol. Time for a bacon and egg sandwich while I can still have both.


[edit on 21-4-2010 by BrianInRI]

[edit on 21-4-2010 by BrianInRI]

i hear that

England sux all we can have is pellet guns, bows and crossbows,,, and shotguns with a license.

i got the pig fever too.

for tea i decided to cook some nice sausages with a chilli / marmalade sauce ... veggies and some home made chips dam does it taste good.

i used to have a pellet rifle but sold it to a mate yeas ago.

think ill have to get a new one

least i can allways fall back on snares and traps

reply to post by jericanman


Shame blow guns are a no, no there in the UK...
But you know there is no law against having a 2 meter piece of aluminum tubing and a few wooden dowels laying about, right?

reply to post by DaddyBare


i like your thinking.

i have actually tried making a blow gun in the past. it worked fairly well.

around the time i was a mental pyromaniac .. making pipe bombs and the like with ideas gained from the anicast cook book.

shame nowadays you would probably be labeled as a terrorist for doing these things.