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Making Beef Jerky with the Scouts

April 8th, 2010 | Author: admin

The Scouts helped themselves to the elk jerky I made.The Scouts are coming over next week to learn how to make beef jerky for their camping and hiking trips next summer. Anyone who has made the stuff knows that it isn’t a one step, one hour affair, so I’ve been preparing by making some ahead of time so that they’ll get to go home with the finished jerky.

A friend donated some old elk that had been sitting in his freezer for a while. Like giving grand kids good expensive ice cream, the Scouts aren’t going to care if their jerky is a little freezer burned or old, they’ll like anything that smells remotely like the stuff.

Actually I created kind of a reputation for my smoked jerky and myself. I showed up at a girls’ camp a few years ago with my jerky. I’ve been making it for almost 40 years and have developed some skills along the way. When their brothers found out about the treat at girl’s camp, they wanted some too. Ever since they’ve been calling me jerky man. Elk isn’t the only thing I smoke. I’ve found that smoking is an excellent way to get rid of last year’s trout. It doesn’t last long when I constantly have a bag in my brief case to share with who ever happens to be around.

So when the scouts come over on Wednesday, they’ll learn the fine art of cutting away the fat, so all that you end up with are nice long strips of good meat. The first step in making good jerky.

Marinating comes next. My marinade recipe changes from what I have on hand. It always has a soy sauce base. With onion and garlic salt, and paprika from my Hungarian forefathers. A good trick I learned is to freeze the marinade between batches of meat. I never mix meat and fish. The tastes just don’t mingle. I don’t throw it away until I’ve used it a few times, and it lowers the overall cost.

Then I lay the marinated strips on the drying racks overnight. Letting them get a good glaze from the overnight set, makes for a softer, chewier jerky.

After they’ve set at least 8 hours or so, they go into my smoker. My wife does a lot of dehydrating, and has the best there is, but the smoker adds that extra flavor you just can’t get from drying them out. I use an electric smoker, plugged into a power switch in my garage. The smell is really too strong for the house. In the summer time, when it sits out on the deck, all the neighbors are probably wondering who is barbequing at 2:00 AM. Depending on when I start the jerky, is when it gets to smoking. That’s why sometimes it’s going at that time.

Jerky, whether beef, elk or trout is a great survival food. You don’t have to have a smoker, or a dehydrator, or even an oven. An old car, sitting in the sun, makes a great place to dry food, as the inside temperature stays hot and it keeps the bugs and flies off. Pulling all the moisture out of meat makes it last without a refrigerator. When you make it yourself, you are controlling the salt and sugar in the final product, and it doesn’t have any of those nasty artificial preservatives in it. The actual drying and salting process through the marinade are the preservatives. Making your own jerky is a good and easy project that will help  you be more prepared for whatever might happen in the future.

Here’s a good marinade recipe:
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup salt
2 cups soy sauce
1 cup water
1 cup red wine (we used grape juice)
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp Tabasco sauce
Place fat trimmed and sliced meat in cool brine for 8 hours or overnight. Remove meat and allow to air dry 4-6 hours. Then place in smoker 12-16 hours.

My smoker is a Little Chief. I’ve had it forever and it still works great. Here’s a link for one just like mine, plus the chips you put in the bottom for the campground flavor. 

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    Posted in Emergency preparedness, Frugal living, Jerky, Outdoor cooking, Urban survival, survival skills | Tags: , , , , , | No Comments »

    Obituary for the United States of America

    March 20th, 2010 | Author: admin

    This message was sent to me by a friend. It is sobering.

    OBITUARY

    It does not hurt to read this several times.

    Gravestone for US

    Professor Joseph Olson of   Hamline University School of Law,   St. Paul ,   Minnesota , points out some interesting facts concerning last November’s Presidential election:

    • Number of States won by: Obama: 19 McCain: 29
    • Square miles of land won by: Obama: 580,000 McCain: 2,427,000
    • Population of counties won by: Obama: 127 million McCain: 143 million
    • Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by: Obama: 13.2 McCain: 2.1


    Professor Olson adds: “In aggregate, the map of the territory McCain won was mostly     the land owned by the taxpaying citizens of the country.

    Obama territory mostly     encompassed those citizens living in low income tenements and living off various forms of government welfare…”

    Olson believes the United States is now somewhere between the “complacency and apathy” phase of Professor Tyler’s definition of democracy, with some forty percent of the nation’s population already having reached the “governmental dependency” phase.

    If Congress grants amnesty and citizenship to twenty million criminal invaders  called  illegal’s and they vote, then we can say goodbye to the USA in fewer than five years.

    If you are in favor of this, then by all means, delete this message.

    If you are not, then pass this along to help everyone realize just how much is at stake, knowing that     apathy is the greatest danger to our freedom.


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    Posted in Citizenship, Politics | Tags: , , , , , | 3 Comments »

    The Rules of Rural Utah (or rural most anywhere for that matter)

    December 31st, 2009 | Author: admin

    Got this from my mother-in-law in an email. Too good not to share. Applys to small towns too.

    Listen up City Slickers!

    1. Pull your droopy pants up. You look like an idiot.

    2. Turn your cap right, your head isn’t crooked.

    3. Let’s get this straight; it’s called a ‘dirt road.’ I drive a pickup truck because I want to. No matter how slow you drive, you’re going to get dust on your Lexus. Drive it or get out of the way.

    4. They are cattle. They’re live steaks. That’s why they smell funny to you. But they smell like money to us. Get over it. Don’t like it? I-80 goes North and South, I-84 goes East and West. Pick one.

    5. So you have a $60,000 car. We’re impressed. We have $350,000 combines that are driven only 3 weeks a year.

    6. So every person in rural Utah waves. It’s called being friendly. Try to understand the concept.

    7. If that cell phone rings while an 8-point buck and 3 does are coming in, we WILL shoot it out of your hand. You better hope you don’t have it up to your ear at the time.

    8. Yeah, we eat tater’s, gravy, beans and cornbread. You really want sushi and caviar? It’s available at Jim’s bait shop.

    9. The ‘Opener’ refers to the first day of deer season. It’s religious holiday held the closest Saturday to the first of November.

    10. We open doors for women. That is applied to all women, regardless of age.

    11. No, there’s no ‘vegetarian special’ on the menu. Order steak. Or you can order the Chef’s Salad and pick off the 2 pounds of ham & turkey.

    12. When we fill out a table, there are three main dishes: meats, vegetables, and breads. We use three seasonings – salt, pepper, and ketchup. Oh, yeah… We don’t care what you folks in California call that stuff you eat … IT AIN’ T REAL CHILI!!

    13. You bring ‘coke’ into my house, it better be brown, wet and served over ice.

    14. You bring ‘Mary Jane’ into my house, she better be cute, know how to shoot, drive a truck, and have long hair.

    15. College and high school football are as important here as the Lakers and the Clippers… and more fun to watch.

    16. Yeah, we have golf courses. But don’t hit the water hazards — it spooks the fish.

    17. Colleges? We have them all. We have State Universities , Community Colleges, and Vo-tech’s. They come outta there with an education plus a love for God and country , and they still wave at everybody when they come for the holidays.

    18. Turn down that blasted car stereo! That thumpity-thump crap ain’t music, anyway. We don’t want to hear it anymore than we want to see your boxers. Refer back to #1.

    19. Four inches of snow isn’t a blizzard – it’s a flurry. Drive in it like you got some sense, and DON’T take all our bread, milk, and bleach from the grocery stores. This ain’t Alaska . Worst case you may have to live a whole day without croissants. The pickups with snowplows will have you out the next day.

    20.By the way…. if you want to talk to God in Utah , it’s a local call.



    Listen up

    City Slickers!

    1. Pull your droopy pants up. You look like

    an idiot.

    2. Turn your

    cap right, your head isn’t crooked.
    3. Let’s get

    this straight; it’s called a ‘dirt road.’   I drive

    a pickup truck because I want to.  No matter how slow you

    drive, you’re going to get dust on your Lexus.  Drive

    it or get out of the way.
    4. They are cattle.  They’re live

    steaks.  That’s why they smell funny to you.  But

    they smell like money to us. Get over it.  Don’t like it?

    I-80 goes North and South, I-84 goes East and

    West.  Pick one.
    5. So you have a $60,000 car.  We’re

    impressed. We have $350,000 combines that

    are driven only 3 weeks a

    year.
    6. So every person in rural Utah waves.  It’s

    called being friendly.  Try to understand the

    concept.
    7. If that cell phone rings while an 8-point buck and 3

    does are coming in, we WILL shoot it out of your hand.  You

    better hope you don’t have it up to your ear at the

    time.
    8. Yeah, we eat tater’s, gravy, beans and cornbread.

    You really want sushi and caviar?   It’s available at Jim’s

    bait shop..
    9. The ‘Opener’ refers to the first day of deer

    season.  It’s religious holiday held the closest Saturday

    to the first of November.
    10. We open doors for women.  That

    is applied to all women, regardless of age.
    11. No, there’s

    no ’vegetarian special’ on the menu.  Order steak.

    Or you can order the Chef’s Salad and pick off the 2 pounds of

    ham & turkey.
    12. When we fill out a table, there are

    three main dishes: meats, vegetables, and breads.  We use

    three seasonings – salt, pepper, and ketchup.  Oh, yeah…

    We don’t care what you folks in California call that stuff you

    eat … IT AIN’ T REAL CHILI!!
    13. You bring ’coke’ into my

    house, it better be brown, wet and served over ice.
    14. You

    bring ‘Mary Jane’ into my house, she better be cute, know how to

    shoot, drive a truck, and have long hair.
    15. College and high

    school football are as important here as the Lakers and the

    Clippers… and more fun to watch.
    16. Yeah, we have golf

    courses.  But don’t hit the water hazards – it spooks the

    fish.

    17. Colleges?

    We have them all. We have State Universities

    , Community Colleges, and Vo-tech’s.  They come outta

    there with an education plus a love for God and country , and

    they still wave at everybody when they come for

    the holidays.
    18. Turn down that blasted car stereo!

    That thumpity-thump crap ain’t music, anyway.  We don’t

    want to hear it anymore than we want to see your boxers.  Refer

    back to #1.
    19. Four inches of snow isn’t a blizzard – it’s a

    flurry.  Drive in it like you got some sense, and DON’T

    take all our bread, milk, and bleach from the

    grocery stores. This ain’t Alaska .  Worst case you

    may have to live a whole day without croissants.  The

    pickups with snowplows will have you out the next day.

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    Posted in Frugal living, Self-reliance | Tags: , , | 1 Comment »

    Christmas Shopping On a Dime

    December 11th, 2009 | Author: admin
    What I often found under the tree when I was a kid

    What I often found under the tree when I was a kid

    I remember when I was a kid, my list for Santa was minimal, if it even existed. I knew my parents were poor, (though they weren’t as poor as they implied). Filling the Christmas lists of four kids would have taken a lot of money that they didn’t have. So I didn’t ask for or expect a lot. Socks, underwear, new pajamas, a bag of army men, a can of Lincoln logs and I was happy. To order a new bike or a microscope or anything that cost over ten bucks would never have happened. But kids today, wanting the latest in video games and players, or snowboards and boots, personal phones and services, would scoff at the presents I received as a kid, even for stocking stuffers. With our large family our Christmas order filling has always been pretty modest. I remember one really broke Christmas, when I had been without a job for over a year, that the older kids chipped in together to play Santa Claus for the little ones. That Christmas, despite being broke, is one that really stands in my list of memorable holidays. Like many families this year, our purse strings are a little slack. So how are we going to tackle gifts this Christmas? The kids always draw names for each other and they will probably do that again. But grandma and grandpa always buy for everybody, kids and grand kids alike. My wife has always been a smart shopper and she shines at Christmas time. We used to buy heavily at a local over runs store, but the place has gone out of business. We have been on a desperate search for other bargain spots. We know a few in our neck of the woods, but that doesn’t translate to where you live. Ross Department stores have pretty good deals. If you are over 55, Tuesday club gives you an automatic 10% off. Take some time to do some online searching, using the words, close-out stores, liquidation stores, and overstock. Whether you end up buying directly off the web, or you can find a physical store in your area, closeouts are a great way to trim your Christmas budget. Another great way to find bargains at Christmas time is to shop the ads. Traditionally Black Friday always has good deals, but I avoid shopping that day like the plague. As the season rolls on, shopping the weekly ads may help you find the same bargains that came out on Black Friday, but without the headaches and crowds. Making gifts is another way to save money and still enjoy gift exchanges. Make sure however that you don’t spend more for materials than you could buy the item ready made. Look at all the supplies you have lying around and see what you can make from them. Thrift and second hand stores have bikes and other outdoor play things that may just need a little bit of restoration to make them almost new. Look on Craigslist and other online classifieds to find slightly used items. Sometimes you can get them for free.With a little cleaning and fixing these things may be almost good as new. If you are looking for ideas for homemade Christmas gift ideas, try www.homemadeforchristmas.com. This is my wife’s site and it has lots of unique and interesting homemade gift ideas. Service is another good gift to give. Offer to baby-sit weekly for your son or daughter so they can go out and not have to pay a sitter. If your wife is anything like mine, volunteering for a month’s worth of dishes might be the best present you could ever give her. The most important thing to remember with this gift buying and giving is to make a budget and stick with it. Try to make your gifts full of thought, and short on cash. Given in the right way, nobody will really care how much you spend on a gift, except maybe your teenagers and they’ll grow out of it someday.

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    Thanksgiving in the Barn

    November 30th, 2009 | Author: admin

    Thanksgiving at our house was a wild and wacky affair that started at 9 AM, when our 3 of our kids and their friends pulled in from an all night trip from California. The first bit of excitement came from daughter Katie’s Pomeranian puppy meeting our other two dogs. Lots of barking and confusion as our pit-bull and lab mix didn’t know what to make of this puff of white bouncing fur.

    Molly waits for turkey

    Molly waits for turkey

    Things settled down for a bit, and then the chaos intensified, when son Jeff showed up with his St. Barnard and Boxer puppies.Though our expected numbers dwindled a bit, we still decided to eat in the barn. The room let everybody stretch out and not be cramped elbow to elbow. Decorating with Indian corn and fake fruit and leaves gave everything a festive air. We ran a string of Christmas lights through the middle and hung another strand from the garage door opener, giving us additional light.

    Using a high-powered space heater kept the nip off, but everyone still kept their jackets on. No one was really cold eating dinner, but it wasn’t exactly a place we wanted to sit around and visit after we ate. Everyone pulled a chore from the chore jar, and we cleaned it up in an hour, including putting the folding chairs and tables back in the truck to return to the church.

    Afterwards our other daughter brought her four kids over for desert. The dogs made another trip upstairs and chaos once again ensued. We had a piñata that was left over from Halloween. The barn was a perfect place with a high ceiling and protection from the cold outdoors to hit it. My wife made it from a cardboard box, covered in black plastic to look like a spider. The box was almost too sturdy and each kid got to smack it with the stick until they were tired. My 23-year old son finally broke it open and the candy poured out.

    My and some of my kids.

    Me and some of my kids.

    We then went back in the house to eat desert, enjoy the fire, watch a movie and play some games.
    Not much to say about preparedness or survival in this note. Just a feeling of satisfaction and thankfulness in being with kids we haven’t seen in almost a year. I have a feeling of gratitude for this great country and the ability we have to pause and enjoy such a time of love and warmth with my family. I hope that all of you have had the same chance to reflect and take pleasure in such a day. Hope you all had a happy Thanksgiving too.

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    Posted in Celebrations, Deep Fried Turkey, Family, Holidays, Outdoor cooking | Tags: , | 2 Comments »

    The Best Turkey You’ll Ever Taste

    November 24th, 2009 | Author: admin



    We’re having a huge gathering of family and friend at our place this year for Thanksgiving. We decided thatdeep-fried-turkey we’re going to eat in the barn and we bought a new space heater so everyone stays warm. We don’t keep animals there. It’s strictly for equipment and working, but since we don’t have a 5th wheeler or a bunch of Jet-skis, there’s plenty of room for everyone to sit together at a very long table.
    My wife loves to cook, but feeding 25 plus people by herself is not exactly her idea of fun for Thanksgiving. So everybody pitches in and brings stuff, she gets to cook a little and I do the turkey. This year, with the amount of people it will be two turkeys. And cooking two turkeys in one oven and having them ready- hot together is kind of an impossible feat. So out comes the deep fat fryer.
    I’ve actually been using this method for almost 10 years. The turkey comes out moist and tender. You can use a cheap turkey and it tastes as good as the fancy butter basted, and it’s done in about half an hour.
    I’m sure you’ve heard the horror stories of people burning down their houses. Or dropping frozen turkeys into boiling hot grease with a resultant geyser that would put Old Faithful to shame and issue catastrophic burns to the cook. Actually deep frying a turkey properly can take almost as much time as cooking the traditional way, the time spent being in preparation instead of actual cooking.
    The first thing, like the traditional method is to thaw the turkey slowly in the fridge, two to three days before. Preparation begins the afternoon ahead of, when I start mixing the basting juice. Good thing it’s the afternoon before, because I’m pretty particular about my kitchen and folks not getting in my way.
    First you clean the extras out of the cavity and wash it with warm water, then pat it dry a bit. Grandchildren have been known to scream and run when I pull out the basting hypo. Actually I feel like Steve Martin in Little Shop of Horrors. It’s a pretty powerful looking weapon. But I only use it on the bird, pushing my secret basting sauce deep within its muscle parts. Then the whole thing goes in the basting pan and sits in the fridge until I get ready to cook it the next day.
    A few hours before dinner is going to be served. I take my tank of peanut oil outside and pour it in the fryer. It doesn’t matter if there is a foot of snow on the ground, frying a turkey is an outside job. Buying all that peanut oil can get a little pricey, but I strain it and re-use it. “According to the Texas Peanut Producers Board, peanut oil may be used three or four times to fry turkeys before signs of deterioration begin. Such indications include foaming, darkening or smoking excessively, indicating the oil must be discarded. Other signs of deteriorated oil include a rancid smell and/or failure to bubble when food is added.”
    Peanut oil is the best because of its taste and high flash point, but you can use any cooking oil made for deep fat frying. Lowering the bird into the bubbling, sizzling oil should be done very slowly and carefully. Keep the oil temperature to between 325-350. Turkeys 12 pounds and under fry for 2-1/2 minutes per pound, and 12 pounds and over 3 minutes per pound. If your turkey is floating it is overcooked. Spectators should stand at least 10 feet back, and stay out of the way.
    Deciding when the bird is done is somewhat tricky. Under cooked is generally better than over, to retain the moistness. We have been known to microwave turkey parts because they were a little too rare. Remember that the turkey will continue to cook internally, even after its pulled out of the oil. The heat of the oil sears the outside of the turkey and all of its natural juices, plus those that were injected stay inside. It’s what gives the meat its moisture and tenderness.
    The deep-fat fryer, stand and propane tanks are some of the best investments that you can get for preparedness. My wife uses the set up in the summer to can with because it keeps all the heat and humidity out of the kitchen. Being able to quickly boil large amounts of water would come in very handy for washing and sterilizing water during an emergency and the whole set-up can be used for other cooking methods. We’ve done the turkey in the cast iron funnel cooker and that comes out pretty tasty too.
    You won’t end up with a Norman Rockwell turkey if you prepare it this way, but frying a turkey is a taste-treat you won’t soon forget. The fat itself is not absorbed into the bird, so calorie wise, it makes no difference. Your wife will love you forever for keeping the turkey mess out of the kitchen. And you’ll be the hero of the Thanksgiving table with this moist, delicious bird.

    Here’s a link to some more tips on injecting the turkey and some recipes for the marinade/basting juice: http://www.the-perfect-turkey.com/turkey-marinade.html

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    2012 – The Movie, How Does It Apply?

    November 21st, 2009 | Author: admin



    Went to the movies with my wife tonight to see the block buster, 2010. I really enjoy action-adventure and special effects. From the previews this looked to be a good one, if you could say that watching the earth destroy itself could be entertaining. The 21/2 hours went by quickly. My wife dozed off in Star Trek, but this movie kept her attention, even through what might be considered the slow parts. They weren’t slow to me.
    As we talked on the way home, she brought up the point, would survival techniques apply in such a devastating situation? People were instantly killed either by drowning, burning, or crushing, so emergency medical preparedness would hardly matter. Storing food, water, and shelter, unless there were parts of the center of North America left relatively untouched, would also have been a moot point. They would have gone the way of the people. Even having a pack to grab and run, there was no time to grab, just run. The wilderness itself, was pretty much toast, so plans for escaping there, and hunting and fishing for sustenance wouldn’t have worked either.
    The point that I took from the movie, is the advantage of developing a mind set of always being prepared. The hero could help his family because he was two steps ahead of disaster. He observed the signs, he put clues together and he felt that things weren’t right. Preparing for the future, we need to take the same attitude. Be observant. Watch, listen analyze. There are clues right now, pointing in directions that most of us are not planning on going. Giving us gut feeling that we need to be more prudent with all of our resources. That whether we have 3 years, or 3 months, our country is in for some rocky times
    Relying on those intuitions, paying attention, planning and preparing will help make us more prepared for whatever happens in the future. And being prepared will bring us better peace of mind.
    If you’re interested in learning more about the 2012 phenomenon, this e-book is well researched. The author got his survival skills by being there when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans.
    2012

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