Salt

Your situation in a nutshell:

You are fortunate; there is a relatively reliable source of wild game. It is a few years since everything went to hell. Ten; fifteen years maybe?

You have become quite used to finding game and only needing to store it for a short while --if at all. Suddenly, for whatever reason (it may not be possible to diagnoss the situation from your now fairly limited world-view), your reliable source of food has become less reliable and far less in quantity...

The few animals you do manage to catch now need to be stored for potentially long periods of time. How do you extend it's life span? Of course, salt. But where do you get salt?

Well, what are some sources for this often overlooked, and potentially life saving, piece of extended self-sufficiency survival life saver? Any natural/clever sources which, without much effort, could be used for the storing of food?

I believe that if 'starting over' in an isolated area (responsible for you and yours), looting is a very poor option. Stock piling is always a good first step, but perhaps your choice of bug out location should reflect this...

...that is if you were to be planning on self-sufficiency, for a very extended, possibly permanent, period of time.

edit: For the purpose of this discussion, 'game' should read as any reliable source of food. Plants, fouls, rodents, etc...

[edit on 8/1/0808 by spines]

good point. source of location.

i live along the west coast and have salt right at my front door if needed. (provided i can conjure up some suitable "evap" ponds)
a related book to read is "salt" by mark kurlanski.
an amazing book all about salt.

Originally posted by zooplancton
i live along the west coast and have salt right at my front door if needed. (provided i can conjure up some suitable "evap" ponds)

Pardon my ignorance, but could you elaborate?

What is the source?

Does the mentioning of an 'evap pond' mean that you need to 'process' the salt in some way?

Thanks.

Originally posted by spines

Originally posted by zooplancton
i live along the west coast and have salt right at my front door if needed. (provided i can conjure up some suitable "evap" ponds)

Pardon my ignorance, but could you elaborate?

What is the source?

Does the mentioning of an 'evap pond' mean that you need to 'process' the salt in some way?

Thanks.

Seeing as zooplancton lives on the west coast, I feel it is safe to assume that he is referring to the sea as a source of salt.
Evaporation is how you gain the salt from sea water.

EDIT: fat-finger correction

[edit on 2-8-2008 by Psychopump]

Salt occurs naturally. If you're lost in the woods and need salt desperately, a good trick is to trail game. Animals are generally drawn towards natural sources of salt.

All natural water contains salt in some amount, albeit usually a very small amount. Unless you're really unfortunate, a small amount can generally be obtained by boiling away natural water over a campfire. It won't get you much, but the little bit of debris left on the bottom of the pail generally contains a high salt content.

Also, for regular dietary needs, most people can do just fine without any additional salt. Foods naturally contain small amounts. So the only real need is for preserving food.

I just realized how our lives are based around such a common, cheap commodity that is so difficult to find naturally in its processed state. I'll probably be looking at salt shakers with a bit more respect from now on.

TheRedneck

reply to post by spines


I'd have to say the first thing that comes to mind is that if you can get close to the ocean, naturally occuring salt water is there. Sometimes the woods are near to an ocean, depending on which part of the nation or world you're in.

You can take the salt water, filter it through your clothing multiple times, this being to try to drag as much salt out of the water as possible, and as well it would get an alternate type of salt from your sweat and let the clothing sit in the Sun and with what little water is on them and it evaporates.

Meanwhile you've created a source for water as well as salt for your food preservation processes. Yes, I realize that some people are probably gagging thinking about drinking water and eating food that has your own sweat on it, and I am too just writing it, but we're talking in a survival situation, not regular life. And I could have gone somewhere else with other bodily fluids but I didn't.

[edit on 2-8-2008 by SpartanKingLeonidas]

As SpartanKing mentions......sweat contains salt. Didn't the Huns preserve meat by putting it under their saddles, next to the salty, sweaty horse??

One might be able to scrape sweat from a horse or mule to get salt, there is a good bit of it there, as anyone whose hosed down a sweaty horse and gotten splashed in the face, can attest......of course one might not want to use it unless they were desperate.

I might look into smoking meat to preserve it.....sans salt.



[edit on 2-8-2008 by frayed1]

Originally posted by frayed1
As SpartanKing mentions......sweat contains salt. Didn't the Huns preserve meat by putting it under their saddles, next to the salty, sweaty horse??

One might be able to scrape sweat from a horse or mule to get salt, there is a good bit of it there, as anyone whose hosed down a sweaty horse and gotten splashed in the face, can attest......of course one might not want to use it unless they were desperate.

I don't want to resort to extracting salt from sweat or (oh god) URINE. Gives your food a pretty funny taste wouldn't you think?

Are you assuming there are no canning jars left anywhere in the world at this point?

Originally posted by Yarcofin
Are you assuming there are no canning jars left anywhere in the world at this point?

Apparently there are no jars and no other ways. Grandma and grandpa were fools and we never should have listened..........

I have added a useful topic called: Cooking Camp Meat that covers the situation until salt can be obtained, but as stated before we don't really need salt, just the iodine it contains which can be found in several wild foods.

[edit on 2-8-2008 by Illahee]

reply to post by frayed1


Attila the Hun and the Mongolians did practice this in putting their meat under their horses saddles in order to preserve it with the salt that was created from their horses galloping. This is also where "steak tartar" comes from, being that it's raw meat and this became a delicacy of theirs.

I would probably try to rig a sea-water boiling contraption.

I would use a wood fire to boil the sea water very slowly. (Or even just use reflective film to build a solar oven to heat the water). Then I would have a plastic sheet/trashbag/tarp to catch all of the evaporate.

You should be left with dirty salt and clean pure drinking water.

I've never built one... just brainstorming.

Edit: As you added the cooking the camp meat, the best thing to do with the camp meat is to smoke them slowly over low fire with some green vegetation put on it.

[edit on 2-8-2008 by ThreeDeuce]

I am only a two hour drive from the shore. And in sit X I just may go there. And fortunately in this area, there are woods and sea.

In fact, my favorite place in the world, Assateague Island, has lots of wild deer as a result of hunters placing them there for sport. So there is plenty of fowl, fish, and four legged meat.And horses!!!

So my question is this, How do you extract salt from sea water??

Thanks for your reply.

Thanks for all the information.

In response to a few of the posts: I was talking about salt used specifically for the preservation of foods, not as a dietary choice.

The ocean is a good source, but many may not be close enough to risk a long trip to the shore. It would be a job requiring more than one person and quite some time. In a small, long term survival group, you may not be able to afford two persons for any amount of time.

Also, for the sake of the discussion, put yourself in my little situation. It is nice to know of potential sources and methods in optimum location, but what about those who live up in the mountains?

If the situation described in the OP happened to you, would you have any options? For some, stock piling may be the only choice. It would be good to know if that means you.

reply to post by nixie_nox

So my question is this, How do you extract salt from sea water??

You boil it at the lowest heat that will cause a boil. If you can catch the vapors and cool them off again, you will have clean drinking water. the stuff that's left on the bottom of the pot you used for boiling is a combination of cooked microscopic animals and plants, some assorted 'stuff' and various salts.

There are more salts than just sodium chloride, too. Potassium chloride is found in high quantities in sea water as well as magnesium salts. They're all salt. We only use sodium chloride because it is cheap and plentiful.

TheRedneck

wouldn't pemmikan-style preservation be preferrable to using copious amounts of rare and therefore valuable salt?

you'd have to try the recipie first, of course, otherwise you'd might get stuck with poor tasting or rotten stockpiles.

Here is a very good link to Salt, its uses, its history etc etc.

www.saltsense.co.uk...

If there is a total breakdown in society, SALT will be worth more than its weight in Gold.

For Salt (Seawater or brine) collection, you could have a very shallow tray, fill with seawater/brine and let solar energy (sun power) do the rest. You could then scrape, filter and wash the results to purify the salt or you could filter the seawater first before filling the tray.

Here is a link to other methods of preserving foods:-

en.wikipedia.org...

[edit on 2/8/08 by Wotan]

Originally posted by Yarcofin

Are you assuming there are no canning jars left anywhere in the world at this point?

Um, no.....



And this is only a paltry few compared to those still in Mom's old pantry....

But canned meat is no easy trick...the tomatoes and pickles shown in my photo were canned via the water bath method, meat will require pressure and high heat that will require the use of a pressure canner. (Without the acid, the risk of botulism is too great.) I do use one of the smaller pressure cookers for roasts, but the old monster that Mom used for canning, is a bit more dangerous.

(I recall Mom blowing one of the small ones up when I was small....there was a significant boom and turnip greens clinging to the 12 ft kitchen ceiling for quite some time!! The old canner could probably put a hole through my roof!)

The only home canned meat I've ever eaten was sausage, and not very tasty....probably not much more palatable than it would have been if it had been preserved with horse sweat!!

Even the salting method of home preservation required ( my Grandparents still practiced it when I was a teen) some nose-holding toward the bottom of the 'salt box' when the last of the salted pork became somewhat rank.....

[edit on 2-8-2008 by frayed1]

reply to post by frayed1


Then you've never had canned meat from someone who knew what they were doing. We used to can venison and beef and it tasted every bit as delicious as those tins of canned beef cubes that cost $4 in the stores.

Anybody who lives in the high country deserts (which I grew up in) can tell you that anywhere you find a windmill and stock tank or pond, you'll find salt lick blocks placed by the ranchers.

I've never really thought to much on it as I keep a lot of rock salt in my supplies. Not to mention I live fairly close to several sea salt evap businesses.

Originally posted by burdman30ott6
reply to post by frayed1

 

Then you've never had canned meat from someone who knew what they were doing. We used to can venison and beef and it tasted every bit as delicious as those tins of canned beef cubes that cost $4 in the stores.

That may be so, and how did you can yours?

Anybody who lives in the high country deserts (which I grew up in) can tell you that anywhere you find a windmill and stock tank or pond, you'll find salt lick blocks placed by the ranchers.

Feed stores sell those every where, not just high country deserts.....Grandad used to get them in two types, plain and with sulfur, I believe, which made them yellow. The ones I buy now are a salt/mineral block and are dark brown.....( I personally think the yellow ones tasted the best! )

I just saw something I had to purchase right away.

Bacon Salt Shopping

I honestly can not wait to get my 4 pack sampler in the main. I'm actually splitting the contents with someone (so I get to try out all the flavors for 8 bucks).

I hope its as good as the Youtube video makes it sound....
Youtube- Bacon Salt

Now, I'm not trying to promote this product for the company, and I don't work for them... But, I can see the advantages of salt that tastes like bacon.

I could cure cheap meats, while giving them a hickory bacon smoky flavor (I hope). I'm really interested in checking out the all natural which doesn't have sodium (I'm curious what the ingredients are.)

But, there are four flavors, Original Bacon, Peppered Bacon, Hickory Bacon, All Natural.
Has anyone tried any of these and can comment on this product?


[edit on 4-8-2008 by ThreeDeuce]