Way O.T. subject: Salt

[Cliff]

Okay I am bored and this has been tickling in my mind. How much common salt is a good amount to keep on hand for emergency use. I was thinking about it as it is so easy to pick up a pound to store at most food stores. But with problems similar to Hati and other areas I figure Salt would be nice to have for food preservation and so on. Some areas it is readily available other places it can be precious stuff. It comes in many forms and packaging options so it shouldn't be a problem if someone wanted to keep some stored away. Of course the Feds are complaining about everyone eating too much. Just curious if anyone has ever thought this through. Have a good day or evening. ATB

[Streetstar]

Sure, if you are a prepper, i guess it does not hurt to keep 10 lbs or so stashed away. It doesnt go bad. The only thing i can think of is for jerky though (massive quantities of salt --- or salt curing a ham --- whether the ham comes from a pig, a deer, or wherever) Seems like a Costco or Sams Club sized container - the ones they sell that are intended for restaurant use --- would last most families a long long time

[Hobie]

Smaller packages make for easy trading unless you're will to trade by the tablespoon...

I have lived where people bought cigarettes one at a time and so forth. Being set up for that might be a good idea.

[Rimfire McNutjob]

My pool chlorinator uses salt that's dissolved in the water to produce chlorine for the pool. Oddly, I find myself with never less than 50lbs of the stuff in the pool closet. I get the Morton's brand food grade at the pool store. I should be all set. I go through about 150lbs a year in the pool.

[Doc Hudson]

If you are trying to prepare for preserving all the meat in your freezer in the event of an extended power outage, two or threee 50-pound bags would not be an unreasonable amount to have on hand.

Oddly enough, my Mom and I were discussing this possibility just a few days ago.

With Hobie's trade good thought in mind having a case or two of one-pound boxes would not be a bad idea.

Currently and in the past,I try to keep at leaast one 3-pound box of kosher salt in the pantry plus two or three one-pound boxes of regular table salt.

[Nazgul]

The only place I know where cigarrettes are sold individually is prison. You do time Hobie?

Don

[Hobie]

The only place I know where cigarrettes are sold individually is prison. You do time Hobie?

Don

I guess you haven't "been around". When I was younger and overseas this was often done in poor neighborhoods. I had never seen it in the US. Later though, I saw it done in Little Rock and Washington D.C. I have been told there were stores in Richmond that sold the cigarettes individually as well but haven't witnessed it.

When my dad was in Germany in 1950-52 there was still a strong trading economy in existence due to the devastation following WWII.

[SteveR]

The only place I know where cigarrettes are sold individually is prison. You do time Hobie?

Don

I guess you haven't "been around". When I was younger and overseas this was often done in poor neighborhoods. I had never seen it in the US. Later though, I saw it done in Little Rock and Washington D.C. I have been told there were stores in Richmond that sold the cigarettes individually as well but haven't witnessed it.

When my dad was in Germany in 1950-52 there was still a strong trading economy in existence due to the devastation following WWII.

When I was stationed in Germany in 1980's - 1990, bartering with cigarettes and booze was very common. Weren't supposed to do it because we didn't pay taxes on the cigarettes or booze, but saved a bunch on rent!!

We didn't trade one cigarette, but by the pack.

Steve

[Malamute]

How do you use salt to preserve food?


What does salt have to do with making jerky?

[Streetstar]

The only place I know where cigarrettes are sold individually is prison. You do time Hobie?

Don

Thats called a "Loosie" --- a loose ciggie for a quarter or so. I have seen it done that way in gas stations too. Mostly the gas stations that resemble a Middle Eastern bazaar or flea market inside

[Doc Hudson]

How do you use salt to preserve food?


What does salt have to do with making jerky?

What does salt have to do with making jerky? i was wondereing that myself. The only salt in my jerky is in the Worcestershire Sauce I enerally use.

up until the invention of mechanical refrigeration meats were preserved in one off three ways, Smoking, Drying, or Salting.

Packing meat in Salt draws out the moisture content of the meat and acts as both an anti-bacterial agent and as a preservative.
I'm no expert in the salting of meat so I suggest you do a Google search to get details. All I can say for certain is that Salted meat will last a long time.

[Hillbilly]

as bad as table salt is in the modern diet... we won't live long without it.

All mammals need a little salt in the diet.

Salt used to be traded as cash... In a subsistence-barter economy salt would be worth it's weight in "gold" as the saying goes.

[Doc Hudson]

Salt used to be traded as cash... In a subsistence-barter economy salt would be worth it's weight in "gold" as the saying goes.

he's right! Roman Soldiers were often paid in salt rather than gold, whence originates the word "salary" from the Latin SALARIUM.

In a number of cultures salt was at one time routinely traded weight for weight for gold.

IMO, Salt might not have the same value as gold, but it is a derned sight more useful. You can't eat gold, and gold won't prevent your mea from spoiling.

[Terry Murbach]

My pool chlorinator uses salt that's dissolved in the water to produce chlorine for the pool. Oddly, I find myself with never less than 50lbs of the stuff in the pool closet. I get the Morton's brand food grade at the pool store. I should be all set. I go through about 150lbs a year in the pool.

SO ALL OF THAT JUST TO WASH YOUR POOL TABLE ??? WHODA THUNK IT !!!

[Rimfire McNutjob]

My pool chlorinator uses salt that's dissolved in the water to produce chlorine for the pool. Oddly, I find myself with never less than 50lbs of the stuff in the pool closet. I get the Morton's brand food grade at the pool store. I should be all set. I go through about 150lbs a year in the pool.

SO ALL OF THAT JUST TO WASH YOUR POOL TABLE ??? WHODA THUNK IT !!!

Not a lot of over-sized bathtubs in South Dakota I take it. Thankfully my kids aren't up on this forum or I'd probably have a hundred pounds of the stuff all over my pool table by now ... just so they could see what it looked like.

[Tycer]

According to the LDS food storage calculator, 5# per person per year is what you need. Extra for barter. Store in plastic or glass, the paper boxes will absorb water, swell and sweat.

http://lds.about.com/library/bl/faq/blcalculator.htm

[AJMD429]

The only place I know where cigarrettes are sold individually is prison. You do time Hobie?

Don

Some of the convenience/gas stores around here sell them singly as well.

[cessnapilot]

The only place I know where cigarrettes are sold individually is prison. You do time Hobie?

Don

I work in the Detroit area, around there most of the small stores sell individual cigarettes. I see it all the time.

[Malamute]

It may help in areas of higher humidity. I've made plain, simple, old fashioned jerky just by cutting the meat into thin strips and hanging it over baling string I strung up or whatever was handy to hang it on. This was in Az. No salt needed, it dried hard as can be in a couple days.


5 pounds of salt a year? I think I use about 1 shaker a year at home.

[Tycer]

5 pounds of salt a year? I think I use about 1 shaker a year at home.

We get salt from everything we consume in today's world. In a situation where we are not eating store bought food, we'll use more than we do now. Maybe 5#.

[J35]

Every fall I put up a 5 gal. bucket of salt fish.

Layer of salt, layer of fillets, layer of salt, stop about 3 inches from the top, to make room for the brine that will form.

When I want some to eat I soak them for eight hrs in fresh water and change the water once. Then fry, bake, or boil, good stuff.

Have fun

[Old Time Hunter]

Let'me see....go through around 1000# a year in the water "softner", 30# minimum for the family eating ('course that depends on how much "old" fashion popcorn we make), a couple of hundred pounds for melting the ice off the drive, and another 50 or so pounds for smok'n fish or critters. That would be:

a little under 1250 #'s or 5-30 gallon drums of it.