Simple, Easy Survival Staple (Hardtack)

[SSDawg]

this may be wrong but how is flour, salt, and water nutritious? I mean it is a good idea to have for the calories, but man cannot live on bread alone lol

You are correct....it's calories and shelf stable for long term food storage....I look at it as a supplement to other food stores.....it is filling and something you can eat without any food prep/cooking (after you initially bake them)....I am always looking for food that is shelf stable for long term food storage and can be eaten with little fuss.....could you live off of it alone for a long time, No......but, history has proven that it's a viable supliment/staple food source.

 

[SOLGardener]

Pemmican is the other staple. I have a recipe somewhere.


and on the topic, how about an easy jerky recipe you can make in the oven overnight-

buy a roast. I pick one with low fat/marbling as you want it lean. Fat turns and doesn't dehydrate well.
But a bottle of Allegra either original or hot n spicy. The latter is preferred for me.

Slice it either cross grain or at least 45 degrees so that it chews easier.

Cut the slices around 1/4" thick and don't worry about perfect slices. The weird shapes are often the best pieces.

as you cut the pieces off, drop them in a bowl with the bottle of allegra. After all the meat is in the marinade, let it sit for about 30 minutes. No need to soak overnight.

Get a couple cookie sheets and line them with double layers of foil, over the edges so the juices don't touch the cookie sheet. This is for easy clean up.

Law the meat strips out. They can be touching, but try not to overlap. They're gonna draw up anyway.

Save your marinade (or buy two bottles if you're concerned about reusing- keep reading.)

Turn the over on around 175-190 degrees and put the filled cookie sheets in.

After about 2-3 hours, pull the sheets out of the oven and drain off the juices that have cooked out of the meat

after about 4-6 hours, when the meat is visibly starting to dry, drop it back in the marinade and just put it back on the tray. It really soaks up the marinade quick so no need to soak for any length of time.

continue drying.

If I start the process around 5pm with may last check (and sampling at 10pm, I get up around 4-5am and the jerky is done.

I usually flip all the pieces just before I go to bed so that they dry evenly.

You get around 1/5-2 pounds of jerky from a $8-9 roast. Way more than store bought, and way better than store bought as well.

I have numerous family member ask me to make them jerky for a Christmas or Birthday present.

 

[dial1911]

Note: Allegro is marinade... Allegra is allergy medicine. Sinus clearing jerky could catch on though

 

[VC94]

Great instructions, thanks!

This would be a geat use for a Masterbuilt smoker too.
One pan of smoke adds flavor and has antibacterial qualities.

The old "Sailorboy Pilot Bread" in a blue 2 lbs box was a great source of hard tac, but it is hard to find anymore.
Span Alaska Sales in Woodinville, WA is the distributor, or special order from Sam's Club.

Future Essentials has several types of canned crackers for long term storage.

ountain House also has canned crackers

 

[SSDawg]

Ok.....so I made a small batch of hardtack....I quartered the recipe and used a product call "Natures Seasoning" in place of just salt....it doesn't contain anything that will spoil and I figured it would add some flavor.

- Mixed dry ingredients then added water.....hint: use you hands....much easier.
- Rolled it out.....1/2 thick.....used a drinking glass to cut it into circular shapes to ensure uniform sizes.
- Used a fork to put a bunch of holes in each side.....similar to what you would see an a saltine.
- Preheated oven to 375 and baked for 30 mins. on each side.
- Let them "cure" for 2 days.....i.e. set them on a plate in the microwave (just to keep them out of the way)

Result.....hard as a rock......but, could still eat without softening it first. Actually tasted much better than I had thought it would.....I have to say that to me it tasted really good! I will place a couple in a vacuum sealed bag and a couple in a plain plastic bag to see how they last. I am so encouraged that I have decided to roll the dice and make a few hundred of these to add to my long term food stores in vacuum sealed bags.

 

[SSDawg]

BTW......my next project is to build a solar oven and I will see if I can bake these in the solar oven.....But, that will be a month or two from now.

 

[dial1911]

SSDawg- great report! This was on my list for the weekend, but didn't get done. I am 60% finished with a loft for my son's bedroom though.

 

[SSDawg]

SSDawg- great report! This was on my list for the weekend, but didn't get done. I am 60% finished with a loft for my son's bedroom though.

Glad you got 60% of the loft project done......the good this about making hardtack is that it really doesn't take any time.....less than 5 minutes to mix it up, cut it and poke holes in it (as long as you aren't trying to make them look pretty)......the you are free for 30 minutes to do whatever.....1 minute to flip them and then 30 more minutes to bake on the second side.....

 

[Amicablerogue]

I'm definitely gonna try this.

And we used this recipe to make ornaments when I was a kid. My mom still has it 30 years later. No.... I'm not gonna eat it.