Freezer Purchase = Doomsday Prep?

[gumby]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_m2CZU9vdk&list=RDP_m2CZU9vdk&start_radio=1&rv=P_m2CZU9vdk&t=0

'Can't help it bout the shape I'm in I can't sing I ain't pretty and my legs are thin'

[hbueno]

Originally Posted by herr_oberst

Hopefully the world after doomsday will be populated by people like you and yours.
As long as photosynthesis is still working the planet can start over, and it would be nice if good people were the ones that were left. (You might want to get a couple of water filters, though!).
I'm pretty sure I'm gonna be in the group that gets 'downsized' by a cataclysmic event
Can't help it bout the shape I'm in I can't sing I ain't pretty and my legs are thin.

Photosynthesis is nice but deer, slugs, fungus, groundhogs, beetles, etc are waiting in the wings ready to give you hours of "entertainment".

[ramonesfreak]

I try to buy a few hundred rounds of ammo per month. I have good survival gear and good bags to carry it all. I could put a freezer in the garage I guess but the power goes down here so often that it doesn’t make much sense. My dooms day scenario in my head is more like red dawn or walking dead in which case, I’ll be eating my neighbors after I eat their food

[FOG]

You can put me in the category of keeping “stuff” to weather bad times.

I have multiple freezers and refrigerators with back-up power. A number of years ago a found a good deal 18” square soap stone tiles which I've used to line cold storage just in case I loose power, they also make good pizza stones etc.

Old refrigerators (those not worth getting into a working condition), cleaned and sealed, make good storage for bagged rice, beans, canned veggies, etc. You can vacuum bag smoked meats after dipping them in the rendered fat for even longer storage. Also smoking eggs (2 hours at 225F) then covered in food grade mineral oil while still hot will last over two years in my experiments.

I have a few buildings on the property and keep most in a room insulated with closed cell foam to R-80 and no windows.

I have the opposite of a green thumb but have one refrigerator with seeds, etc. for my son's fiance to use just in case. I have zero talent in area of growing things.

If you want to learn to can contact your local Mormons, they often have classes and seem glad to help people learn and be prepared.

Right now I am looking at adding in another well. This one would be hand operated but in a small building of cinder block that is insulated in such a way that I can use a small wood fire (think red-neck engineered Breo) to keep it from freezing.

S/F, FOG

[rfuerst911sc]

Originally Posted by cabmando

I've been brewing beer just in case! Never can be too careful!

^^^ I nominate as post reply of the month ! Well done 😋

[mjohnson]

Pleasant hill grain is a good source for getting your prepper/LDS/foodie mojo on. We have one of the chamber sealers and, while it hurt a bit to pay for, we haven't regretted it one bit.

Haven't gone down the 5-gal bucket-o-meals hole yet though. Just avoiding freezer burn is worth it - for some reason with our elevation and climate (7500', rarely >30% humidity) things packed normally would go to crap in a month or less. Also, if you're going down that road, pick up an impulse sealer for maybe $30 to use on things that don't need the vacuum. They make "ziplock" bags that are super handy for travel, especially with kids.

[craigster59]

I have one of those Food Saver vacuum sealers and sealed up the country style ribs last night. Will probably pick up another package Saturday. They work great on the smoker and you can dress them up as 'burnt ends" or just toss some in a pot of sauerkraut (my Wife makes great sauerkraut).

I'm also going to pick up some meat at the Mexican market and make some beef jerky. The guys at work have been bugging me to make some, there's a few Pelicans who have been lucky enough to try it. I'll pull the canning jars and stuff from the attic this weekend and get that ready. When COVID lockdown hit you couldn't find jars or lids. Everyone started canning and baking bread, yeast and flour was NLA around here for awhile. Like i said, just trying to get ahead. When gas prices and rising food prices really start to hit home for people I think you'll see more folks changing their eating habits.

[Wetwork]

Back when I was stationed on the Oregon coast I kept a three plastic totes filled with bug-out gear. Made sure each could be lifted into a rig by my kids. I bought four months worth of MRE entree's. Not the whole stupid kit, just the entree's. Needs no refrigeration and can last decades in a cool dry place. It was like $2.50 a meal back then. Simple fast convient and takes up no room. And pretty cheap if you spread out the purchase over a few months. Couple of tents, some water purfification and fire starter and I was set. The one warning we had I was home. The rig was loaded and heading for higher ground in just six minutes, and I got to the station to get the boats off-shore in ten.

Now I'm retired and back on the ranch...well no worries. Our ranch didn't get power until the early 50's. All our off grid stuff is still here. We are fancy with a gals and guys outhouses on opposite ends of the lots. Pretty much fallen down now but still useable. I built a full size walk in cooler for hunting season so it's basically a giant fridge I can run on the genny.. If the power went I'd just start pressure canning everything. We pressure can all the lesser venision cuts instead of burger., so I have tons of jars and lids. I also prefer to chamber seal instead of vaccum as the bags are tougher and you get them in boxes of 1000 for a lot less than the vaccum bags.

The nice thing about winter most folks forget is to just set your food outside. Folks let stuff rot just cause the power was out for a week. Of course I live in the mountains so climate dictates. In the shade right now its colder than my frige.

Having those totes with four months of food just sitting, ready to get tossed or dragged somewhere was a huge relief to me. Huge. I still dig into the entree's during hunting season.-WW

[Flat Six]

Originally Posted by craigster59

. . . snip . . .

I know you used to be out our way and we also hit up the farm stands on the 126 for strawberries and other fruits.

Oooh, yeah -- Fillmore. Used to play golf at Elkins Ranch every once in a while and make a point of getting awesome fruit in Fillmore; Francisco's maybe?

Originally Posted by craigster59

. . . snip . . .

I'm also going to pick up some meat at the Mexican market and make some beef jerky.

There is (at least used to be) an awesome carniceria in the southeast part of Simi Valley, south of the 118 and a couple miles west of Santa Susana pass.

Making me hungry . . . .

[Arizona_928]

So the real question. With the price of meat and the inability to even afford it now. Poaching an elk every 6 months a morality or ethical dilemma?


Flank steak. 12 dollars a pound at Costco.

[FOG]

Craig,

Try Sous Vide cooking the meat before freezing as it lasts a lot longer. You de-frost/re-heat on the smoker or add to a pot something.

Try making some pemican, I use 8 lbs. Flank steak, 8 lbs. frozen blue berries, and bind with rendered brisket fat then seal in quart sized vacuum bags.

S/F, FOG

[hbueno]

Originally Posted by Arizona_928

So the real question. With the price of meat and the inability to even afford it now. Poaching an elk every 6 months a morality or ethical dilemma?


Flank steak. 12 dollars a pound at Costco.

That's a package of processed product. What is the price for unprocessed flank steak?

[KFC911]

Have you considered dawg food? I might starve in the future but Moka's gonna eat and I'll have toilet paper ....

[john70t]

Top 15 Forever Foods for Survival (no electricity needed)
https://vid.puffyan.us/watch?v=M43rO3hXiX0

I'd add water filters and large containers. There are vids of DIY using pebbles/sand/hardwood charcoal processed a certain way. Maybe rechargable batteries and small solar panels. There was a blog by a Macedonian who said simple things like pots lighters bags plastic sheets and blankets were good to trade. Things nobody realizes they will need until access is NLA.

[craigster59]

I picked up 4 pot roasts, another pack of country ribs (started at $12 and change 3 weeks ago now at $23 a package) and some ribeyes.

Just have to wait for the freezer to come tomorrow. Also picked up some corned beef on sale. Next week I'm going to grab some chicken and frozen vegetables. I don't know what it's like in other areas but grocery prices have risen steadily here over the last couple of weeks.

[mjohnson]

Originally Posted by FOG

...Try Sous Vide cooking the meat before freezing as it lasts a lot longer...

And if you're doing simple things like steak (and yes you should) the old "Ziplock bag and a cooler full of hot water" works pretty well before you spring for an immersion circulator. Lots of information resources for that online.

[craigster59]

Well, so far so good....

[flatbutt]

Here's a handy buyers guide

[john70t]

The top-opening don't lose all the cold when opening the door. Easier to toss blue blocks in when it fails. etc.

[tabs]

Originally Posted by craigster59

After reading about inflation, gas prices, fertilizer prices, Ukraine/Russia being the world's "breadbasket" I started to get the feeling that food is next.

Trying to keep this out of PARF and just looking for input and suggestions to help ease the burden that seems to be fast approaching.

I just bought an upright freezer from Home Depot. 16.5 CF capacity, no backorders (delivery Tuesday) and seems like it will work OK for our means. After shopping Costco last Saturday and the large package of country style ribs that I bought 2 weeks ago for $12 were now $20. Scallops have tripled in price and vegetables can't be far behind.

We already have 2 fridge/ freezers and I wanted something devoted to strictly frozen foods. I'm not so much a "doomsday prepper" as much as I am a "cheapskate".

My Wife is German and lived there during Chernobyl. No food grown in Northern European countries was fit for consumption and I think to this day mushrooms grown in the area are verboten. All it would take is some type of "accident" and we could have a real food crisis on our hands.

Anyone else thinking of trying to stay ahead of the curve? I read where in the 1950's almost 25% of Americans grew vegetables in their backyards, today that number is around 1.2% That might be my next project along with canning and preserving.

Well when you think are rich why bother with growing you own...

Exactly what have I bin telling you Boyz for years?