Making Jerky in Your Kitchen Stove

Jerked meat was a pioneer staple in the days before refrigeration.  This was, and still is, an excellent way to preserve meat.  It's easy to do, it doesn't require any special equipment, and the meat will keep for months.  In this post I'm going to tell you how to make jerky in your kitchen. 

Jerking meat is a process for reducing the moisture content of the meat to the point where bacteria can no longer grow in the meat.  Meat does not have to be cooked before it is jerked, although some authorities recommend blanching wild meat in boiling water before it is jerked.  Many different meats can be jerked.  Venison, beef, and buffalo are probably the most common.  You want to avoid fatty meats as they will not jerk well and can become rancid or spoiled.  If you buy beef to jerk I would suggest that you buy a very lean roast In this instance I am jerking a round roast that weighs 44 ounces. Pictured below: round roast ready to jerk.

The first step is to slice up the meat.  You want to cut the meat in nice thin strips about a quarter inch thick.  The old timers always sliced their jerky so that the grain of the meat ran up and down the strip.  I have no idea why, but this is the way that I do it because they might have known something that I don’t.

 Pictured below: meat cut into strips.

After you have sliced the meat you need to decide if you want to add spices to the jerky or if you just want it plain.  If you are making jerky to snack on you'll probably want to spice it up.  If you are making jerky to store and use in cooking you will probably want to leave it plain.  When I make snack jerky I marinate it is soy sauce, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  Sometimes I add a little red pepper or jalapeno juice to make it hotter. 

In this instance I am using about 2 cups of soy sauce, a teaspoon each of salt, black pepper, and garlic, and a half teaspoon or red pepper. Let the meat soak in the marinade for at least 3 hours; over-night is better.  Pictured below: top, spices I use when making snack jerky: bottom, meat marinating in spices.   

To dry the meat out you can use the oven of your cook stove.  I put a pan in the bottom of the oven to catch any drippings off of the meat then drape the strips of meat over the wire cooking racks in the oven.  Turn the oven to its lowest setting (below 200 degrees for sure) and leave the oven door propped open about six inches.  Pictured below: meat on racks ready to jerk

 Check the jerky periodically.  It will probably take about six to eight hours to dehydrate.  The trick to good jerky is to get it dry but not too dry.  You can test the jerky by bending it.  When it is about right it will break when you bent it, but it won't snap.  If it snaps it’s too dry.  Pictured below: finished jerky ready to bag.

 When your jerky is done take it out of the oven and let it cool.  You can store it in zip-lock bags or sealed jars and it will keep for a long time.  Put the bags/jars in the refrigerator and it will keep even longer.  Pictured below: bag of jerky.

This finished batch of jerky weighs in at about twelve ounces, or about one-forth of the weight of the original meat.  This represents a lot of concentrated nutrition, so don’t over-eat on this stuff.  One piece is enough for a meal.

Paper Plates as a Survival Tool?

I am all about recycling and reusing stuff.  I try to avoid buying things that are designed to be thrown away.  But I make one serious exception to this rule, and that is that I keep a good supply of paper plates, Styrofoam bowls, plastic cups, and plastic tableware.  Now these items are not for any kind of long-term, end of the world as we know it type of survival scenario.  My paper plates are for short term emergencies, like when there is an ice storm and the power is out for two or three days.

If you don't have paper plates during one of these short term emergencies you have, basically, just three choices about dishes:

Choice 1 - You use your dishes and pile them in the sink and hope that the power comes back on before you run out of dishes.  When the power does come back on you will be faced with a sink full of dirty dishes, covered in dried out food, that have to be washed.

Choice 2 - If you live in the city and your water still works, or if you live in the country and have a generator that will power your well pump; you can rinse the dishes off in cold water.  This will not adequately kill germs on the dishes, and you should not eat off of them again, but at least they won't have crud all over them.  You need to set them aside and give them a real washing when the power comes back on.

Choice 3 - You can put a big pot of water on your gas or wood stove (if you have one), heat the water up, and do dishes the old time way.  Not horrible, but it is kind of a pain.  Especially if the power is out for a week or more, which has happened to us.

So here's what we do now.  We have our supply of paper plates, cups, and etc.  When the power goes out we eat a lot of stuff that doesn't require cooking.  Sandwiches, cereal, fresh and canned fruit, peanut butter, cheese, canned drinks, breakfast bars, Vienna sausages, sardines, almonds, crackers, chips; that sort of thing.  We turn the generator on for a couple of hours a day to keep the refrigerator and freezer cold.  We eat everything off of paper plates, and throw it all away.  No mess to clean up when the power comes back on.

If we just have to cook something on the stove, then we heat up a little water and wash the pots and pans the old time way.  More likely we cook in our cast iron skillets which we hardly ever wash anyway.  We usually just wipe them out or maybe rinse out with a little cold water.

Anyhow, lay in a supply of paper plates and you'll thank me the next time the power's off for a couple of days.

Super Storm Sandy - When Will They Learn?

Super Storm Sandy has once again revealed two of the most destructive beliefs that a human being can have. Number one, "It won't happen to me"; and number two, "If something bad happens someone will take care of me."

Let me start off by saying that my heart goes out to those who had to evacuate and returned to find their homes damaged or destroyed.  I also have some sympathy for everyone who has to deal with the hardships of being without power, food, and water.  I say "some" sympathy because I stress the fact that it should only be a hardship, not a life threatening situation.

For those who chose not to evacuate and then called on first responders to come and rescue them; they should be ashamed, and they should have to pay for the cost of the rescue.  If a responder was injured or killed in the attempt to rescue one of these people then that individual should be charged with reckless endangerment and prosecuted.  If you don't have the guts to follow through, then don't ignore the warning to leave.

For those who are without food, water, light, or heat, please heed these words of advice, IN AN EMERGENCY, YOU CAN'T DEPEND ON ANYONE BUT YOURSELF. 

You have to be prepared for an emergency, and guess what, sometimes you don't have four days warning before the emergency happens, so be prepared ALL the time.  You don't have to build a bunker and buy an arsenal of weapons.  Just do some simple things like store some food and water under your bed; buy a propane or kerosene heater and some fuel for it.  Buy a propane cook stove.  Buy a kerosene or propane lantern and a couple of hand cranked flashlights.  Keep some batteries in the refrigerator and buy a battery powered or hand crank radio.  You can get all of this stuff for less than the price of a Louis Viton bag and a pair of Prada sunglasses.

Did you notice the news footage of stores in the Northeast in the days just before the storm?  People carrying out cases of water, empty shelves everywhere.  It's the same footage we see every time an event like this occurs.  We also hear stories about price gouging and looting every time there's a disaster.  Please, please, do yourself a favor and prepare when times are good for the bad times that will inevitably occur.  You don't wait until your car is skidding toward a tree to buy car insurance.  Go out as soon as you can and buy the things that you need to prepare for a disaster, natural or otherwise. Someday, in the not to distant future, you will be glad that you did.

The AR-7 Survival Rifle - Review

The AR-7 is a little .22 caliber auto-loader.  It is an interesting gun because the barrel and receiver disassemble and store in the stock making a veer small and lightweight package.  I've always been curious to own one of these little rifles, so when I saw one at a recent gun show for a hundred dollars, I picked it up.  Pictured below: Charter Arms AR-7

 

The AR-7 was designed by Eugene Stoner and manufactured originally by Armalite in hopes that the military would adopt it as a replacement for the AR-5 bolt action survival rifle.  Things didn't work out so Armalite began selling the AR-7 on the civilian market.  Over the years the design and manufacturing right were sold to Charter Arms and then the Henry Co.  The AR-7 that I bought was made by Charter Arms which I have read did not produce the best version of this product.

The stock of the gun is a synthetic that is filled with foam.  Supposedly the gun will float if dropped in water, but I haven't tried this personally.  The barrel is made of aluminum with a rifled steel inner sleeve and unscrews from receiver.  Pictured below: Barrel unscrewed from receiver

A thumb screw on the bottom of the stock allows the receiver to be detached from the stock.   Pictured below:  Screw that holds receiver in place

The barrel, receiver, and magazine can then be stored in the butt of the stock which is closed by snapping the plastic butt-cap back in place.  Pictured below: top, parts of the rifle; bottom, barrel, receiver, and magazine stored in stock

When assembled the rifle is 35 inches long.  Disassembled and with the barrel and receiver stored in the stock, the AR-7 is 16 inches long.  The total weight of this weapon is 2.5 pounds.  Pictured below: AR-7 broken down and packed

The AR-7 is chambered for .22 longrifle.  It is an auto-loader with a blow-back bolt and double bolt springs.  The factory magazine holds eight rounds. Pictured below: top, Magazine in mag port, bottom, magazine removed

The bolt springs are fairly stiff and will only cycle reliably with high velocity ammo.  .22 longs, short, and CB's will not operate the bolt although they can be single loaded and fired.  Round nose bullets are said to load more reliably, but I always buy hollow points so that's what I am using in this test.

The AR-7 is intended as a survival weapon.  This means small game at fairly close range, so I am going to be firing it on a thirty yard range.  The sight on the AR-7 is a fixed blade on the front with a rear peep-sight that is removable but not adjustable. Pictured below: Rear peep sight

I am no sharpshooter, so I decided that in case I just wasn't shooting any good I would fire from the same distance, and from the same prone position with the AR-7, a Hi Standard .22 revolver, a Savage combo gun in .22 over 20 ga., and a Ruger 10-22.  I could then compare the targets and see how the AR-7 performed against other weapons.

The results were not very favorable for the AR-7.  It was the worst performer of the four weapons fired.  Of the first eight rounds fired through the AR-7, I had two jams.  These jams were not from failure of a round to chamber properly.  They were caused by failure of the extractors to pull the fired rounds from the chamber.  Because the bolt doesn't lock back I had to manually hold the bolt open while pulling out the spent cartridge case with my pocket knife.  A real pain.  Of the eight rounds fired only six cut paper and they were all over the place; no consistent pattern whatsoever.  Pictured below AR-7 target number one.

I ran eight more rounds this time with only one jam, but I only got two rounds on the paper.  I'm not a great shot, but I'm not that bad.  Pictured below: AR-7 target number 2.

Next I fired eight rounds through the Hi Standard revolver.  No misfires and all eight rounds on the target.  Seven of the rounds were within a six inch circle.  Pictured below: Hi Standard revolver and target.

As pictured below the Savage combo put all eight on the paper including one bull, and the Ruger 10-22, predictably, shot the tightest group including one bull.  Pictured below: top, Savage target; bottom, Ruger target

So when all is said and done I would say that if you have the opportunity to buy a Charter Arms AR-7, don't.  If you are looking for light-weight and compactness, a good quality revolver will out perform the Charter Arms AR-7.  I can't tell you about the Armalite or Henry versions of the AR-7, and I have heard that they are of higher quality.  But as for the Charter Arms……..save your money.

Survival Dental Care

You definitely want to avoid tooth problems if you no longer have access to modern dental care.  One way to avoid problems in an uncertain future is to take good care of your teeth now.  Regular dental check-ups and cleanings, and daily brushings are a must.

You can stock-pile toothpaste in your emergency supplies if you want to, but it's not really necessary.  Back in the day, the purpose of tooth powder was to clean your teeth, not to give you a brighter, whiter, sexier, better smelling smile like today.  Most people back then used a mixture of salt and baking soda to brush their teeth.  Tooth powder was kept in a can.  You could shake a little out into the palm of your hand, wet the bristles of your tooth brush, dip the bristles down into the powder, and brush away. Pictured below: Home made tooth powder and twig brush.

If a toothbrush was not available, the old-timers would cut a small stick (usually from a gum tree or a willow) and chew the end until it kind of splintered up into a brush.  This improvised brush was then used to brush the teeth. Pictured below: Brush made from gum tree twig

I do keep a few dental items in my emergency supplies.  I have a little dental repair kit that consists of a topical numbing agent, a small wooden spatula, some dental putty to temporarily fill cavities, and some dental adhesive that can be used to temporarily glue on broken crowns or dropped fillings.  Pictured below: Emergency dental repair kit

I also keep a bottle of oil of clove.  Clove oil has been used to treat toothaches for centuries.   

A topical oral anesthetic like Anbesol or Oragel can also be very handy.  Pictured below: Oral topical anesthetic

I have a supply of broad spectrum antibiotics that can be used to help with abscesses and infections.  And I always have a bottle of bourbon and a pair of vice grip pliers.  I guess you could call these my last resort dental care items.  Sure hope I never have to use them.

There is a book available called Where There is No Dentist.  This book is intended for use by aid workers in third world countries, and it is written on a pretty understandable level with the layman in mind. It is available for purchase from the Hesperian foundation or you can download the fairly massive pdf file for free.  Just do a search for "Where There is No Dentist" and you'll see a couple of different places where you can download the book.

Survival Sanitation - The Old Timey Outhouse

Improper disposal of garbage and human waste leads to disease.  In fact, the two greatest factors in increasing human longevity have been improved nutrition and improved sanitation.  Improvements in medical treatment come in third. 

So let's talk about sewage disposal.  What happens when the sewage and water plants shut down?  Well, you better be ready to do something about it yourself.  If you have a septic tank system you can continue to use an indoor toilet, but you will have to haul buckets of water to flush the toilet.  When we have a power outage my water well only works if I have my generator going.  I don't like to run the generator all the time, so I fill up a five gallon plastic bucket with water and set it in the bathroom.  One bucket of water will serve to flush the toilet two or three times.  Another alternative is to buy a portable, chemical toilet; but I find the bucket of water to be easier.  In the city, if the water goes out you will have to use a chemical toilet.  You wouldn't want to waste any of the water that you have to flush a toilet.  If the problem is long-term you're going to need to leave the city anyway, so I wouldn't bother trying to put together an elaborate waste disposal system

For us country folks the old timey outhouse is a long-time tradition.  You still see outhouses in the country, and I just happen to have a working model on my farm.  I'll grant you that it doesn't get used very often, but I have one, and it works!

An outhouse should be located a good distance away from your house.  It should be at least a hundred feet from your home and I would recommend that it be at least two hundred feet from your water well or garden.  An outhouse is basically just a hole in the ground with a seat over the top of it.  The fecal matter falls into the hole where it can decompose.  It is important to treat the waste after each use so that it will not attract flies.  You can do this by sprinkling powdered lime in the hole, or you can do it the old timey way and use hardwood ashes.  I keep a five gallon bucket of lime and a coffee can in my outhouse.  After use you just dip up a little lime and sprinkle away.

I keep toilet tissue in my out house, but back in the day they used pages torn from an old Sear's catalogue or even corn cobs.  Trust me, corn cobs are not the route to go.

One caution about outhouses.  Beware of spiders.  It is a good idea to hang one of those plastic no-pest-strips down under the toilet seat to discourage spiders and other bugs from making a home in your outhouse.

One final word on human waste disposal. Please do not try and compost human waste to use on your garden.  The human digestive tract contains e. coli bacteria, and if any of these bacteria survive the composting process you could have serious problems.  Many of the e. coli outbreaks that you hear about on the news are the result of agricultural workers defecating in the fields as they work.  You can get deadly sick from this bacterium, so be safe and don't fertilize with human waste.

Mosquitoes - More than Just a Nuisance

Note: I wrote this article a couple of years ago but never posted it.  It really is hitting home this year, so I am posting it now.  We have had over 80 cases of West Nile virus and 5 deaths in East Texas this summer; so mosquitoes are a problem even in the “developed” world.  Read, and be warned about these little killers.

Nearly anywhere that you live in this world you will encounter mosquitoes.  Most people these days think of mosquitoes as a nuisance; but the fact is, they are a deadly danger to human health.  Mosquitoes are fairly well controlled in most developed nations, so the diseases that they carry are no longer a major health risk.  In developing nations mosquitoes are responsible for huge numbers of illnesses and deaths, and the cost to these nations is very high in terms of dollars, lost production, and weakening of future generations.

What would happen in developed nations if government agencies could no longer carry out mosquito control programs.  Well just look at the mosquito related health problems in some of the developing nations around the world.  According to a 2010 report of the World Health Organization there are over 225 million cases of malaria (a mosquito borne illness) throughout the world every year. Nearly 800,000 people die from malaria each year.  The majority of these deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa and most of these victims are children.

Because of changing climate, some mosquito borne diseases, like West Nile virus, that were once considered "tropical" diseases have begun to spread to the temperate zones.  I live in Texas, and in recent years there have been several cases of West Nile virus. This is a disease that has never been known in this area, and it has appeared in spite of the aggressive mosquito control programs that we have.

So the bottom line is: government break-down equals no more mosquito control programs which equals you're on your own as far as preventing mosquito borne illnesses.  You need to prepare for this.  What are some things that you can do to prevent mosquito borne disease?

1. Drain standing water where mosquitoes can breed.

2. Avoid going out at dusk and nighttime (the time when mosquitoes are most active).

3. Wear protective clothing.

4. Wear insect repellant. (You need to lay in a good supply of DEET)

5. Make sure that you have screens on all windows and doors.

6. Sleep under a mosquito net if you are out doors.

Most of these precautions against mosquitoes used to be common place in the USA and other now developed nations, but with modern mosquito control we have fallen out of the habit of protecting ourselves.  It's time to start thinking about them again, because a mosquito can kill you just as dead as a bullet from an AK-47.