[marlas1too]

well so far as of now i have on hand in the basement 14 -5 gal. containers full of water and 240 -2 liter bottles of water. and now im in the process of making more soup starter to put up as i have about 6 gallons of the dry soup starter going to make another 2 gals this weekend---then its back to drying apples again--hugs to all fv and their family's

 

[Ali Lee]

I'm just curious... How are you keeping this sanitized? so many drops of bleach per gal? are you sealing the lids/caps with wax? Where are you keeping this? What's in your soup starter? & why are you doing this? And are other people here doing this? I have extra food on hand & keep xtra h2o frozen in the freezer, but not to this extreme. But maybe this isn't extreme if others are doing it, too. Thanks so much!

 

[marlas1too]

ali i use one drop per 2 gals of city water in a 5 gal container of which i mix first then i fill the 2 liter bottles --and my soup starter i dry all the veggies myself--i use frozen mixed veggies,raw carrots(sliced),celery,onions,peppers(green and red)potatoes---and i dry chicken for it too just boil the chicken till its cooked all through the remove and cool then cut in small pieces and put in drier--meat for soup--as for stockpiling well america is headed for another depression and its going to be a big one and food prices are already starting to climb -water,food,gas,ect.,ect.,are all going to be hard to get so i for one am preparing for it like my mother taught me as she was in the first one so like her i stockpile for hard times that way we will have things to eat even if its beans and rice-(which i like)and i dry beef to to put in vacuum and seal-its a mind set if something is one sale that the family likes just buy extra and put that back i hope lots of folks are doing this hard times coming and it truly scares me ----hugs to all fv and their familys

 

[NikoSan999]

Marla, you say 1 drop per 2 gallons of water...I've read 4 drops per gallon...just curious
how do you dry the beef..can you dry it without salt..after you vac seal do you freeze it or shelf it? Do you use a Food Saver vac?

I'd love to do the dried beef but the salt would kill me...sitting here now with ankles the size of a small tree trunk from salt yesterday...can you dry the beef and chicken without it?

 

[marlas1too]

nikosan999--first i get all my water from the city-already treated but i still like to put 2 drops of bleach in it as i haven't found any liquid chlorine bleach around here just chlorine in pills so i don't trust it and have to use Clorox bleach so only use 2 drops-might have to go to a pool outlet and get some liquid bleach-costly but oh well---second i boil my chicken in just water and when it cools i cut it up and dry it then seal it in the soup starter and i do the beef in 2 ways one in small pieces to be used in soups or cut in strips and seasoned with what i want on it -like chili and black pepper with just a little powdered garlic and with the small soup pieces i mix with my soup starter and vacuum seal as all ingredients soup starter and the strips i also vacuum seal by their selves ---don't go by what i season my strips with as im a diabetic (type 2) and cant have much i just do it like i want that tastes good to me---hugs to all fv and their familys

 

[jas]

Just curious is this drying different than when you make jerky? I thought it would go rancid after awhile. I know in the store bought kind they put in an oxygen absorber. Do you?

You probably are not far off the mark with your concern about the economy. Something is coming just don't know when.

 

[marlas1too]

jas once i dry the jerky/meat i vacuum it and there is no need for a oxy absorber and it will keep forever

 

[Ali Lee]

Thanks for all your info.

 

[crafty73]

Marla do you use a food dehydrator to dry your meat?
My next goal is to buy a food vacuum thingy

 

[crafty73]

My next goal is to start stockpiling water, h2o is crucial. About a month a go, our town was 'flushing' the waterlines - couldn't use the water for washing, eating/drinking. It was a filthy dark brown colour, absolutely disgusting. So for a few days, we were buying jugs of water...Had I been prepared i would have already had sufficient water for 4 ppl and 2 cats, 1 dog and 2 birds.....but i wasn't ready at all

Kudo's to you Marla! Well done!!

 

[marlas1too]

crafty 73 yes i have 3 dehydrators and they are going now with chopped celery and carrots for my home made soup starter--good choice get a vacuum packer you can get them and a dehydrator both at wal mart

 

[marlas1too]

OMG I,m so glad i store water the city was working on their plane and now all the water coming out look like watered down milk and smells and tastes like pool water-they said it should clear up in a few days i still use it to shower and wash dishes and cloths but ill use the stored water till it clears up---hugs to all fv and their family,s

 

[ladytoysdream]

We have our water here from our well. Thank goodness, we
are not dependent on a outside source.

Thinking maybe about canning some water in quarts.
Would not hurt to have some on hand just in case.

I do have to buy distilled water so I keep about 2 gallons
ahead on that. May have to rethink that. I guess I should
track how long a gallon lasts me ( maybe a month), and then
stock at least a 6 month supply.

 

[Hamada]

Great to have the stockpile to count on. When I first read your post I thought that is alot of water to be stockpiling. Then I saw you were from WV. Having gone to school there I know towns can be miles apart. Much less houses.

Then I saw your reasons for the degree of stockpiling and you really do make a good point.

In my area I pretty much know I can easily have access to buying food however I do keep a pantry which I find very comforting to have. But I do think you have a point about prices going up and needing to stockpile more. So now I will seriously start thinking about purchasing a food dehydrator because you are right. It is better to be prepared if the possibility of more difficult times may happen.

 

[crafty73]

I definately need to get a vacuum food saver thingy and a food dehydrator, nfact i think I'm going to go to wally world right now and pick them up

 

[aprilrain1024]

How long does water keep if you put bleach in it? I had heard that it had a shelf life of only 1 year, is that false? And doesn't the plastic jugs start to deteriorate and leach out the chemicals into the water? :scratch:

 

[imagine]

my father studied water as he was the consulting engineer for the city water plant when it was built.

He told me that how long water can be stored depended on how well your city water was treated.

The plastic two liter bottles are better for storing water the milk jug type he told me.

He said that adding bleach was a extra safety measure and helped it last longer. That if we felt the stored water had gone bad we could boil it and it would be good and we could also add chlorine again.

Also water you were unsure of could be used for washing and other things beside eating and drinking.

Depends on why and how limited water is on how long you think it can be stored.

My dad also stored water in the freezer in milk jugs it would help keep things cold if power went out and could be used for drinking.

just my humble thoughts and what he told me. He probably had a different opinion that he had to say when he was acting as a water engineer instead of a father. Maybe I, I knew him as dad and got fatherly advice from him.

 

[crafty73]

well i went to walmart and bought a food saver, hefty pricetag of $149 plus a box of the plastic baggy things. I tried it out and just LOVE it!!!!
No food dehydrators in sight Maybe I'll put that on my wish list for xmas or my bday in march lol

 

[ladytoysdream]

Check craigslist or a thrift shop for a dehydrator.
I got a used one at a Rescue Mission for $ 5. They have a wish list book, and when they get a item you want in, they call you.

That way if you like it, you can always upgrade later and resell the first one. If you don't like it, then you are not out a lot.