Food storage is incredibly important for us preppers. It’s so crucial because we know that, once SHTF, we won’t be able to depend on our normal grocery stores and supply chains to provide us food. Heck, after just three days of an emergency, most of the store shelves will be stripped down, and we’ll all have to depend on ourselves and our own survival skills to get by.
However, if you’ve got a good food storage supply tucked away, you can live for days, weeks, months… maybe even years off your canned, freeze-dried and frozen food. Plus, if you’ve got a survival garden growing nearby, heck – you might even live a whole lot longer.
However, there’s another food storage method I want to talk about today – and that’s preserving meat. Not only is meat packed with protein, but it stores surprisingly well in a variety of ways.
I want to help ensure you have success in your food storage preps so you can outlast any crisis that comes your way. That’s why I want to enlighten you with these…
5 Food Storage Methods For Preserving Meat
1 – Curing
This is one of the most well-known food storage methods. Salt is a natural preservative. And, when slathered onto meat, it’ll dehydrate it, preserve it, and prevent any microorganisms from growing inside it. This food storage method sure is a win-win for preppers.
Here’s a video of a homesteader that’s cured his own meat. Take a look:
2 – Raw Packing
This food storage method is fairly easy to implement, and it can help your meat last for years.
First, cut your meat into cubes. Then, pack them in a canning jar, making sure that the lid is vacuum-sealed tight and that no air can get in. Use your pressurized canner to cook the meat. It’s that easy!
Here’s a how-to video for this food storage method:
3 – Hot Packing
One way to perform this food storage method is to cut your meat and boil it, adding spices as it cooks. Then, when it’s cooked about two-thirds through, the meat goes into the can, and the hot broth is poured on top of it.
Make sure any drops of broth are wiped off the jar (including the mouth of it), and cap it off with a vacuum-sealed lid. Use your pressurized canner to seal the deal.
A second method is to cook the meat in a pan, browning it until it’s somewhere between rare and medium rare. Then, use meat broth, water, or store-bought beef broth to fill the can. Finish by using your pressurized canner, and you’re good to go.
Here’s a video explaining the process:
4 – Drying
Most folks think of jerky when they think of drying meat – and that’s exactly right. Not only is it one of the most common food storage methods, but it’s also one of the most popular.
Plus, the nice thing is you can use a variety of heat sources to dry your meat, including the oven, fire, or dehydrator.
Better yet, if you make it at home, you won’t be adding all those preservatives and chemicals many large corporations do – so it’s an investment in your health to make it yourself.
The key is to remove the skin and fat before cutting into your meat, and to slice the meat as thinly as possible to help it cook quickly and evenly.
Now I figured it would be better to just show you how to do this method, versus trying to explain it. So here’s a video explaining the process (warning: contains adult language):
5 – Canning
This is an insanely popular food storage method for fruits and vegetables, as well as for meats.
Again, the nice thing about doing this method on your own is you avoid adding/consuming a lot of the chemicals and preservatives that large corporations inject in their canned food.
Better yet, this is one of the longest-lasting food storage methods; if you do it right, your meat can be preserved for years to come (a god-send in an emergency).
However, it’s always important to use a canning system that’s pressurized in order to make sure the meat is preserved properly.
Not quite sold on canning? Here’s a video of a prepper who’s about to eat some meat he prepared and stored FOUR YEARS ago. See how it tastes below:
Well, there you have it – 5 food storage methods to prepare for an emergency situation. Make sure to start preparing now so you have plenty of protein-packed meals for when SHTF! As always, prepare now, survive later!
