# Salt post SHTF



## PrettyPaisley (May 18, 2007)

Organ meat? I'm thinking blood from animals must be salty. How do you get in salt once Amazon stops delivering ?


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## Ernie (Jul 22, 2007)

PrettyPaisley said:


> Organ meat? I'm thinking blood from animals must be salty. How do you get in salt once Amazon stops delivering ?


Well, there's salt present in some plants in small amounts but mostly primitive man would move around to get it, or trade for it.

If we fall back to an entirely primitive way of life, stationary settlements and homesteads will probably not work out.


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## kycountry (Jan 26, 2012)

PrettyPaisley said:


> Organ meat? I'm thinking blood from animals must be salty. How do you get in salt once Amazon stops delivering ?


In a survival post shtf type thinking, remember most all large herbivores need salts and minerals. In many places, including Kentucky and surrounding states, there are natural deposits of these that can be found by following these herbivores to their 'salt licks'.

Deer is the main one I'm talking about based on the fact it is easy to identify their mineral licks because they will dig huge holes in order to recover the minerals from soil.


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## plowhand (Aug 14, 2005)

That's one reason salt was once used as currency....and the fact that refridgeration has lessened folks realization of just how important salt is in daily life.....especially if things go backwards for some reason....
Salt: preservative, salt was once used as a sterilizer...it can be used medicinally( the salt was mixed with say cornmeal and put on as a poultice to "draw out" the "poison")....it can be used as a bait for game..has been...(but I believe it's illegal nowadays)
If you plan to eat meat year round with out refridgeration., and plan to butcher larger critters..you need salt, or a lot a canning jars..or you'll just have to dry it and smoke it....it'd be smart to learn to pickle in brine, cure with salt and smoke, and just dry and preserve in salt...salt pork,salt beef, fatback ect...

I go as far as to say, if you believe in a total failure, worldwide ect.....and are laying by supplies....better add a few hundred lbs. of different coarseness of salt to your supplies....kept dry and secure, it'll last along time


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## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

We've got Detroit,probably the only thing it's good for. Other than that, feed stores.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

the word salary came from the word salt...way back you worked for a ration of salt.it was item more needed for life than anything else like gold and silver.

some of the very oldest towns are settled at salt deposits.


PP you can get all the salt you want from the ocean...heres a simple how to video.

go ahead and get several bags of salt while its cheap and accessible easy.



[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8tOvmo6vME[/ame]


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## Ziptie (May 16, 2013)

I asked the same thing a while back. Basically I found that our closest salt mine is 400 or 500 miles away in Kansas. Apparently they shot part of Men in Black in the mines. We would have to go there or trade for it.


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## Solar Geek (Mar 14, 2014)

Thinking on the same thing but on a much smaller scale. Bought 4 of Morton's 4 lb. canning/pickling salts today. Plan to buy 4 everytime I shop. I cannot manage big huge 20-40 lb bags of dog food much less salt. Not expensive at all. Easier to store. 

Yes thinking along those lines too.


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## Ernie (Jul 22, 2007)

This goes beyond a prepping issue into a sustainability issue.

If we assume minimum salt intake just to maintain life, you need about 6 grams per person, per day, or approximately 1 pound per person per year.

So it's not very difficult to stockpile enough for the rest of your natural life. But then, let's assume civilization doesn't restart ... what then? What about your children? Or your children's children for those of us who think in those terms?

You will HAVE to have a source of salt, be it travelling traders or a naturally occurring source. Those of you who live near an ocean are in great shape, but the rest of us will have to find a source.


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## PrettyPaisley (May 18, 2007)

Yes - and I want real salt. Not Morton's. This needs to be a place where I focus hard. 

Thanks!


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## Nimrod (Jun 8, 2010)

If Mortons is not "real salt" then what the heck is it?

You need to remember that, if the world ends, you will be eating only locally produced food. Some areas of the country had an epidemic of goiters back in the day. This is caused by a deficiency of iodine in the diet. Those areas have a lack of iodine in the ground so the plants grown there don't have enough and there isn't enough in the resident's diet. The easy solution was to add iodine to table salt so everyone gets enough. Please check if you live in a deficient area and stock up on iodized salt if you do.


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## Forcast (Apr 15, 2014)

and if you cant deal with life any more salt is the method of choice for suicide in china and japan.


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## Muleman (Nov 8, 2013)

You can buy 50# bags at the feed store for under $5.00


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

salt,spices and essential oils and various items like this were the first trade goods that traveled by camel.



our modern way of life is only approx 100 years now...for 1,000 of years before humans made it...we can do it again...the learning curve will be steep.but theres all kinds of people in this world living and doing and making it right now.

learn skills and stockpile information..old maps,etc etc.

check it out..

http://www.fotothing.com/Znuber/photo/5c9a108f47225dfa77bb893577c89a95/


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)




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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica]*A major occupation in Kuntu is gathering salt. Sea water is pumped into ponds, evaporated and the salt harvested. The collected salt is sold in markets throughout Ghana. Fishing and farming are other major occupations in Kuntu.


http://www.ghanavillage.org/about_kuntu1.htm
*[/FONT]


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## Ernie (Jul 22, 2007)

That's one thing those Kuntuns (Kuntians? Kuntus?) have on us ... easy access to salt.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

http://geology.com/stories/13/salt-domes/


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## Twp.Tom (Dec 29, 2010)

It's not 'easy access', but there is lots of salt up here in the 'rust belt'. My Chickens/ducks, are always venturing out to the roadside for salt. http://fox8.com/2013/01/31/fox-8-explores-salt-mine-below-lake-erie/


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## Twp.Tom (Dec 29, 2010)

I dumped a left over partial bag of rock salt, out on the treeline this past Spring. I was back there last week, and the deer had about dug up the tree that I dumped it under.They must have been angry when it had all washed out, and started scratchin' the tree's all up and down*


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## where I want to (Oct 28, 2008)

Ran into one article on it- http://news.softpedia.com/news/How-Did-People-Once-Get-Salt-46779.shtml


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

http://fopnews.wordpress.com/2010/02/13/the-desertification-of-new-york-city/


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## PrettyPaisley (May 18, 2007)

Nimrod said:


> If Mortons is not "real salt" then what the heck is it?
> 
> You need to remember that, if the world ends, you will be eating only locally produced food. Some areas of the country had an epidemic of goiters back in the day. This is caused by a deficiency of iodine in the diet. Those areas have a lack of iodine in the ground so the plants grown there don't have enough and there isn't enough in the resident's diet. The easy solution was to add iodine to table salt so everyone gets enough. Please check if you live in a deficient area and stock up on iodized salt if you do.



You tell me. How did people live on locally grown food before Morton started his business ? Has salt been being iodized for thousands of years, or is this just another piece of the processed food puzzle ? 

If you go with processed salt then you'll need to source minerals. We consume real salt for the trace minerals. Guess I should be expecting goiter any day now, huh ?


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## Muleman (Nov 8, 2013)

I am not sure about land food, but I know seafood is high in Iodine, especially shellfish. That is what many people are allergic to in seafood, the high iodine levels. I would be curious to know if freshwater shellfish have iodine or not?? I just do not know, but if so maybe would be a good source for people inland?? Eating other animals is a big part of getting trace minerals. Most animals can consume plants and other things that we can not eat, but we can benefit from the diverse minerals, by eating the animals that can eat these other things.


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## Ernie (Jul 22, 2007)

You really shouldn't worry about iodine.

It's present in the organ meats of animals (especially liver) in decent quantities, plus can be found in raw dairy and fermented dairy foods. Some grains have it in quantity too, so you're most likely going to get plenty.

Salt is always going to be a worry.


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## Muleman (Nov 8, 2013)

Well, that being the case Ernie, if your math is correct, 1# a year per person a 50# bag would do me and my wife and 4 more bags would do my children, their lifetime, so 6 bags and we are set. That would mean anything over that would be extra. So for $30.00 I could buy 6 bags. Just seems like for a few hundred dollars a person could fill a few plastic barrels with salt and be pretty good on salt for a while?


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## Ernie (Jul 22, 2007)

Muleman said:


> Well, that being the case Ernie, if your math is correct, 1# a year per person a 50# bag would do me and my wife and 4 more bags would do my children, their lifetime, so 6 bags and we are set. That would mean anything over that would be extra. So for $30.00 I could buy 6 bags. Just seems like for a few hundred dollars a person could fill a few plastic barrels with salt and be pretty good on salt for a while?


Alright there, Ozymandias. 

Best laid plans of mice and men, and all that.

My thoughts always turn towards, "What happens after we have to flee naked and barefoot into the hills one night?"


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## Ernie (Jul 22, 2007)

And keep in mind, fleeing naked and barefoot into the hills did not happen too long ago in the family histories of some of us.

My great-great grandfather had to do it when the evil Yankees came burning. Only 150 years ago. And nothing I've seen in the character of the Federal Government has led me to believe they are of any different mindset now than they were when the Tyrant Lincoln was in power.


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## Muleman (Nov 8, 2013)

One word, Cashe's and a backup plan.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

PP you live sorta close to a salt deposit....pm me if ya wanna know.


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## Ernie (Jul 22, 2007)

Muleman said:


> One word, Cashe's and a backup plan.


A cache is always a good thing.

Great-great granddad had some silver hidden in an old tree stump. After the Yankees burned them out, they crept back one night and retrieved it and then fled to Texas.


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## Ernie (Jul 22, 2007)

Another interesting tidbit from the sordid genealogical past ...

My mother can trace the ancestry of one side of her family back to the Wampanoag indian tribe ... famous for being the tribe who brought corn, beans, and squash to the starving pilgrims as a gift, and took home smallpox blankets in return.

I'm from a long line of SUCKERS.


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## unregistered29228 (Jan 9, 2008)

Muleman said:


> I am not sure about land food, but I know seafood is high in Iodine, especially shellfish. That is what many people are allergic to in seafood, the high iodine levels. I would be curious to know if freshwater shellfish have iodine or not?? I just do not know, but if so maybe would be a good source for people inland?? Eating other animals is a big part of getting trace minerals. Most animals can consume plants and other things that we can not eat, but we can benefit from the diverse minerals, by eating the animals that can eat these other things.


I just did a search about iodine a few weeks ago, because we use mostly sea or kosher salt and I wondered if we'd be deficient. What I found is that a healthy thyroid needs about 150 micrograms of iodine per day. It's found in surprising places in our food, and it set my mind at ease.

4 ounces of cranberries have 400 mcg.

1 cup real yogurt has 90 mcg.

1/3 cup navy beans has 32 mcg.

1 cup strawberries has 13 mcg

1 ounce cheddar cheese has 10-15 mcg.

1 regular potato (skin on) has 60 mcg.

1 egg has 12 mcg.

1 cup milk has 56 mcg.


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## willbuck1 (Apr 4, 2010)

Actually Mom of Four that is only true if the animals ate food with adequate amounts of iodine in it or if the ground those crops were grown in had adequate iodine levels. In this part of the country many people who ate mostly food grown on their own property suffered from goiter. 
Salt trade will probably be one of the growth industries after TEOTWAWKI.


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## unregistered29228 (Jan 9, 2008)

Good point, Willbuck1! I have no idea how a person could check to see if their soil has iodine, short of sending a sample in to a lab.


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## Ernie (Jul 22, 2007)

Mom_of_Four said:


> Good point, Willbuck1! I have no idea how a person could check to see if their soil has iodine, short of sending a sample in to a lab.


Check and see if they grew crops there that took iodine up out of the soil.

That would be a good guess as to where that iodine went.


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## Ziptie (May 16, 2013)

Since we can not eat iodized salt due to the dextrose in it we have tried a couple things. 

You can buy powered kelp to use as salt but that was really gross. Then I bought kelp for minerals for the diary cow. She really likes it but it is kinda spendy. 

What we are currently doing is liquid iodine on our skin. We put about a dime size drop on the skin(when I remember). If it absorbs really fast then I might do another one the next day.


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## Skamp (Apr 26, 2014)

"real salt", I like that one.

"any chemical compound formed from the reaction of an acid with a base, with all or part of the hydrogen of the acid replaced by a metal or other cation."


I'm going to make the generally safe assumption that the OP is confusing "salt" with "sodium". 

You need all kinds of minerals, sodium is certainly one of them. I conjecture that a simple inventory of your stores will reveal a significant amount of that particular mineral in stock.

The hard part comes with balancing all of the required minerals. Morton, the producer of "pseudo salt" makes table salt (fortified with iodide) and Morton Lite (fortified with potassium and iodide).

All are cheap and easy to store, along with those "real salts".

You have much to learn Grasshopper.


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## Solar Geek (Mar 14, 2014)

PrettyPaisley said:


> You tell me. How did people live on locally grown food before Morton started his business ? Has salt been being iodized for thousands of years, or is this just another piece of the processed food puzzle ?
> 
> If you go with processed salt then you'll need to source minerals. We consume real salt for the trace minerals. Guess I should be expecting goiter any day now, huh ?


Pretty Paisley, while some of Morton salt does have additives, the one that I was discussing is completely pure salt. No additives at all. Take a look at their website. Although it is not sea salt, it is the one I will need for canning.


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## PrettyPaisley (May 18, 2007)

Solar Geek said:


> Pretty Paisley, while some of Morton salt does have additives, the one that I was discussing is completely pure salt. No additives at all. Take a look at their website. Although it is not sea salt, it is the one I will need for canning.



I think the canning salt isn't iodized so it doesn't react in the jars, right ? I'm not 100% but I think I came across that somewhere. 

Clearly I'm clueless about all aspects of processed food. Solar Geek-I'm not talking about your comments. But my point is, count me out when it comes to buying a product that's been stripped of it's minerals and then crap added back in. Iodine or else, Morton's salt is processed. I just happen to be weird enough (or ignorant as I have much to learn) enough to prefer a wet salt, full of minerals that were in it when mined from the earth.


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## BlackFeather (Jun 17, 2014)

Found this.....

http://readynutrition.com/resources/5-naturally-occuring-salt-sources-when-the-shtf_29012014/



> 3. Fresh foods. That&#8217;s right, folks, some fresh foods that are nutrient dense also possess naturally occurring amounts of sodium. Although the vast majority of fruits and vegetables, in their natural state, do not contain high levels of sodium; there are a few exceptions. Some variety of beans are good sources of sodium. For example, 100 g of mung beans contain about 820 mg of sodium, whereas 60 g of garbanzo beans contains 850 mg of sodium.
> 
> Green leafy vegetables and roots naturally contain trace amounts of salt, as well. Some of the top contenders include Swiss chard, which contains about 158 mg per 1/2 cup; beet, collard, dandelion, mustard and turnip greens contain about 174 mg of sodium per 1/2 cup; artichoke hearts contain about 80 mg per 1/2 cup, while spinach contains about 80 mg per 1/2 cup. Some other vegetables moderate amounts of sodium are peanuts, lemons, celery.
> 
> 4. Edible roots. Some roots, such as the root from the hickory three contain higher amounts of sodium. Parsley root is an exceptional root with moderate amounts of sodium. Further, red and gold beets contain around 65 mg of sodium per beet, and make a viable salt substitute. Similar to celery, potatoes have trace amounts of sodium as do carrots which possess 50 mg of sodium.


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## vicker (Jul 11, 2003)

Iodized salt is meant to be used as table salt only, in other words, sprinkled on your food before you eat it, not for cooking or food preservation. You should use plain salt for everything else. I don't use iodized salt at all, as I eat plenty of locally grown greens and veggies. Any soil that is below the fall line will be high in iodine. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_line South Carolina used to be called the iodine state, as much of its agricultural land is below the fall line. It comes from the land relatively recently being covered by ocean.
ETA
Hmm, the goiter belt. http://curezone.com/forums/am.asp?i=1036622 Bad news for some of you in upper Midwest. You should consider this in your prepping.


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## vicker (Jul 11, 2003)

Unless you live in an area known to have iodine deficient soil, you will get plenty of iodine from eating locally grown vegetables. In particular, leafy greens. Salt would certainly become valuable, unless you have access to an area suitable for mining or evaporating sea water for salt. Much of salt used in food preservation can be reclaimed by using water and evaporation.


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## farmerDale (Jan 8, 2011)

Don't forget that the sea is not the only water body that has salt in evaporative potential quantities. Many freshwater lakes have salt in amounts that could be evaporated. The lakes on our land, though freshwater, have considerable salt deposits in certain areas on the shoreline. Which tells me the water within is not 100% salt free. 

But I would never resort to that unless I had to. We buy large salt blocks for our livestock, and one could always chip off a bit of the old block for personal use. Get it now while it is cheap if you are concerned about salt...


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## Spinner (Jul 19, 2003)

Some people are storing the salt lick blocks from farm stores. They are square so they stack nicely. They are pure salt and chunks can be broken off for kitchen use. Salt is cheap, stock up while it's available. I have 250 lbs stored, but probably should have a lot more.


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## Muleman (Nov 8, 2013)

And to think I been wasting all of mine by putting them out for the mules!!!!

good idea, they are easy, already in blocks and all. Be sure to store somewhere dry as they will leach away if they get wet. 

Also VERY important, be carefull when transporting salt in your vehicle. The salt will literaly eat up the metal your truck is made of. I had a old blazer that we spilled a bag of salt in, there is now a 3' hole in the floor


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## TxGypsy (Nov 23, 2006)

A bit off topic but thought it was a good place to mention it. I buy salt in 25 lb bags and then vacuum seal it into bags of a size to fit into the top of a bucket. I line a bucket, fill it with beans, peas, rice, etc. I place oxygen absorbers in the bucket then remove the air and seal the bag. There is almost always enough room between the top of the food and the bucket lid to nudge a bag of salt into. This way the salt is divided up among all of my stores. 

#1 It is in about the right amount for household use while I am using the food that is coming out of the bucket. I especially make sure there is salt with beans since beans without salt are pretty awful. 

#2 In case of a SHTF scenario and I need to evacuate....no matter what bucket I grab....I'll have some salt. So if I am having to make a split second prioritizing dash through my preps I won't end up with no salt. If I ever get a bit more organized I have considered making vacuum sealed bags of dehydrated onions and garlic to tuck into the top of buckets as well.


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## Trainwrek (Aug 23, 2014)

I could be all wet on this one, but i always considered adding 'salt' to foods to be a luxury. I'm pretty sure a naturally balanced diet contains all the sodium you need to live. Their are 'salts' in the foods we eat, just like there is calcium, iron, magnesium, and etc.

If TSHTF in a total collapse type of scenario, somehow I don't think lack of seasoning is going to be our biggest problem.


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## PrettyPaisley (May 18, 2007)

^^ Maybe not, but salt is more than just flavoring. Like mentioned prior, if you plan to preserve meat you're going to need it.


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## Ernie (Jul 22, 2007)

PrettyPaisley said:


> ^^ Maybe not, but salt is more than just flavoring. Like mentioned prior, if you plan to preserve meat you're going to need it.


I would not be wasting salt on meat preservation UNLESS I lived by a source.

You can dry meat without salt, and smoke it without salt.


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## Muleman (Nov 8, 2013)

Go without refrigeration for a while and the importance of salt will become crystal clear in a short period of time. Look up most any old time food preservation method nut using refrigeration and you will find large quantities of salt to be a main ingredient in most, especially meats.


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## Ernie (Jul 22, 2007)

Muleman said:


> Go without refrigeration for a while and the importance of salt will become crystal clear in a short period of time. Look up most any old time food preservation method nut using refrigeration and you will find large quantities of salt to be a main ingredient in most, especially meats.


Those "old time" methods you are talking about date to the 1800's and a functional transportation system.

The Comanche dried meat in the hot sun and dry wind of Texas. Some African tribes dry it in the sun in thin strips and then pound it to powder and fill containers with the powdered meat. All without salt.

It's like canning. People think that's the old way because that's the way grandma did it, but when you start looking you find out that canning was the start of industrial methodologies. Your great-grandmother likely did not do canning.


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## Muleman (Nov 8, 2013)

Ernie, like many things one can do all sorts of things without stuff, but having stuff, makes it much easier. I do not see salting meat as wasting salt in that you will be eating the meat, thus consuming the salt at some time. I think a lot of it goes to how far back do you want to go? Firearms are relatively modern, but I am keeping mine and have no inclination to give them up for a club.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

storing several years worth of salt can be done on the cheap , salt is about 5 dollars for 25 pounds , store these in mason jars you get about 12 quarts to the 25 pound bag 

I bought a bag in 2012 and we have not finished all the jars from that bag yet , when i open them they are not clumped any worse than a wrap on the jar with my palm and it flows out decent 

for 20 dollars you could store 8 years worth for 5 people with normal cooking , that may not handle pickling or preserving but it will be enough salt to keep you going and food tasting the way you have it now 

if salt isn't trading again inside 3-5 years with the massive quantity we have in Utah , and hat could be collected from the ocean in coastal areas things are probably broken beyond repair


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## Trainwrek (Aug 23, 2014)

PrettyPaisley said:


> ^^ Maybe not, but salt is more than just flavoring. Like mentioned prior, if you plan to preserve meat you're going to need it.


I have a smoker. Preserves meat, no salt needed.


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## Trainwrek (Aug 23, 2014)

Muleman said:


> ... I think a lot of it goes to how far back do you want to go?...


I dont think its a matter of 'going back', its just another method to achieve the same ends. Why is salting meat preferable to smoking it? IDK, I have a smoker its really not a big deal to preserve meat using this method. I prefer it, in fact. It's great in soups and stews, adds a great flavor. I dont think I would want to eat salted meats on a regular basis.


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## Skamp (Apr 26, 2014)

Trainwrek said:


> ........its just another method to achieve the same ends.........



That is a very important point. Would you burn furniture, or structural members of your home to preserve meat? Your clothing? Your bedding?

Sodium Chloride is a very handy molecule to have on hand.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

Ernie said:


> I would not be wasting salt on meat preservation UNLESS I lived by a source.
> 
> You can dry meat without salt, and smoke it without salt.


takes very little salt to preserve alot of meat...i was actually shocked a few years ago when i done some tenderloin.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

sorry yall but smoking a 40# *whole ham* aint going to cure it..it has to be salt cured first.


even doing salt you get best results injecting it along bone to avoid inner spoilage.

get one of them old morton books shows how to do hog,cattle,sheep,chickens and turkeys and more.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

heres a place to get tons of recipes....for literally everything 


http://lpoli.50webs.com/Sausage recipes.htm#DRY


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

why eat dried out jerked meat when you can take a handful of salt and cure something you get out of a gormet shop.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

look at amount of salt need for 5# of canadian bacon....5tbs....thats nothing...i done 20 plus pounds year before last and hardly used a handful.


http://lpoli.50webs.com/index_files/Canadian%20Bacon-Len.pdf


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## Muleman (Nov 8, 2013)

I do not think this has to be an all or nothing thing. If you have salt you can use it for various needs. If you do not have salt! Well, you will need to find other methods. All the different methods of food preservation will offer up a different end result product and all will have their benefits and drawbacks. Heck, store up some salt and get a smoker and a wire cage to dry jerky in. 

Of course the alternative would be to forget about all of it, store up a bunch of gas and keep the generator running, to keep the freezers working, and eat a bunch of fresh bland meals, because you were spending so much time storing gas, you forgot the salt!!!! Ok, maybe this is not the best plan of action after all??


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

one thing you need to store is the cure....morton has there version and so do other people..its a nitrate/nirite ...its stops bacteria from growing...some people dont like it..its up to each decide if they use that particular ingredient...they use to get by without...like i said its each person choice on it...morton calls there tenderquick.


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## BlackFeather (Jun 17, 2014)

If the SHTF, I wonder how your blood pressures will be?


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## willbuck1 (Apr 4, 2010)

If TSHTF I won't be worrying about potential future damage to my body. I'll be worrying about what I'm having for dinner tonight or six months from now.
If sufficient salt can be obtained from my diet then why is it necessary to provide salt blocks for livestock? 
Low sodium is as dangerous as high sodium, probably more so and the effects will be noticeable a lot faster.


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## willbuck1 (Apr 4, 2010)

Remember folks you will be working probably harder than you ever have in your life and with no air conditioning. Electrolytes will go through you like water through a tea bag. In order to remain hydrated and functional you will need lots of sodium, magnesium, and potassium.


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## vicker (Jul 11, 2003)

I wonder where y'all expect to be getting these large supplies of large animals?


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

lol...my backyard...meat dont come from critters..it comes from the grocery store...aint ya heard.


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## vicker (Jul 11, 2003)

You might check into raising crickets.  http://healthland.time.com/2013/08/21/why-eating-bugs-is-good-for-you-its-about-the-nutrients/
They have great food value, are pretty easy to raise, and are way easier to preserve.


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## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

vicker said:


> You might check into raising crickets.  http://healthland.time.com/2013/08/21/why-eating-bugs-is-good-for-you-its-about-the-nutrients/
> They have great food value, are pretty easy to raise, and are way easier to preserve.


I hear they taste like chicken.


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## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

I stockpile solar salt for the water softener/filter system, table salt with iodine, table salt without iodine, canning salt, and even some nasty looking rock salt for the ice cream maker. It's not too difficult to store a lot of salt. I pour table salt from the 25# bags from Costco into empty 2L soda bottles for storage. The solar salt is less expensive (not that any of it is spendy), and is stored in the double weight plastic bags until used. Kept dry, it should keep forever, or at least until needed.


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## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

Basic law (imho) of prepping.... if you have a worry now, 'kill' that worry, and buy/obtain a lifetime supply.

Salt is incredibly cheap.... it's almost like it's free, and they have to charge you for the shipping and the packaging. I can get a 50lb bag at the feed store for $5. That one bag would feed a lot of livestock, or a human family for years, if not decades. I've seen 25lb bags of 'human grade' salt, at Sams, for the same $5 or so. Nothing different tween the two, other than size.

I don't know how I'd separate out the salts from blood or organ meat... other than just using the dried blood as a 'saltener'? Luckily, I've got bags of salt squirreled away in the house, the barn, the prep shed, etc. Put them in the 4 gallon frosting buckets, pop the lid on, and bam, there's a decade worth of salt. (go through a pound container once a year).... brining or salting meat down? I'd readjust my stocks to cover a lifetime of that.

For prepping, if I see even a slim potential need of something, in a post-SHTF world, and it's relatively free right now, but might be impossible to find later, I buy it, and put it in a crate. Needs now can be satisfied for the cost of a meal out for the family, or a Starbucks coffee.... needs later will probably never be met, if one hesitates, and hopes one of their prepping neighbors have stocked what they forgot to, or thought it so innocuous as to never be thought about (grammarian nightmare? there....)


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## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

Forgot to mention... Stock ultra cheap salt now, and you're neighbors will love you later... salt has traditionally been very expensive, and Roman soldiers were paid with salt, thus the word 'salary'. Imagine getting a goat or calf, in exchange for a pound of impossible to acquire anywhere, salt...


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## Fennick (Apr 16, 2013)

willbuck1 said:


> If TSHTF I won't be worrying about potential future damage to my body. I'll be worrying about what I'm having for dinner tonight or six months from now.
> *If sufficient salt can be obtained from my diet then why is it necessary to provide salt blocks for livestock?*
> Low sodium is as dangerous as high sodium, probably more so and the effects will be noticeable a lot faster.


Livestock need salt too and human's own health depends on their animals' good health if humans are going to be eating the animals or their products. If salt is not provided to livestock they won't be able to find enough salt to satisfy their own dietary health needs. They don't eat the same variety of things that humans do and being confined to the farm they don't have the freedom to migrate to wilderness places where there are natural salt licks. Therefore it's necessary to provide salt to confined livestock.


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## secretcreek (Jan 24, 2010)

kycountry said:


> In a survival post shtf type thinking, remember most all large herbivores need salts and minerals. In many places, including Kentucky and surrounding states, there are natural deposits of these that can be found by following these herbivores to their 'salt licks'.
> 
> Deer is the main one I'm talking about based on the fact it is easy to identify their mineral licks because they will dig huge holes in order to recover the minerals from soil.


No one pays attetnion but we are lucky to have salt licks nearby. A nearby road is named Lickskillet. I have noted that there are seepy low spots near the small creek that flows at the base of the hills. I figure thats' a good place to dig a seep and evaporate for salt if I had to. This region used to be noted for it's salt production. A few miles west is where Daniel Boone and his men were captured by Ohio Shawnee, while on a salt evaporating trip away from Fort Boonesboro (KY/OH line).

Read up on pioneer salt evaporation techniques.

-scrt


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## Peggy (Feb 14, 2010)

Mom_of_Four said:


> I just did a search about iodine a few weeks ago, because we use mostly sea or kosher salt and I wondered if we'd be deficient. What I found is that a healthy thyroid needs about 150 micrograms of iodine per day. It's found in surprising places in our food, and it set my mind at ease.
> 
> 4 ounces of cranberries have 400 mcg.
> 
> ...


 SOOO , grow Cranberries!


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## michael ark (Dec 11, 2013)

You need to cure the meat to slow smoke it for long preservation so it can't develop bacteria while in the danger zone of 4 hours below 140f .I also agree cure and salt are not the same thing and not interchangeable. I like pink salt because it takes so little 4oz will do a 100 lb of meat or 2 teaspoons for 10 lb of meat. Here is a link to another discussion on curing with some links for some good reading .http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/livestock-forums/pigs/502791-curing-ham.html


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## terri9630 (Mar 12, 2012)

vicker said:


> You might check into raising crickets.  http://healthland.time.com/2013/08/21/why-eating-bugs-is-good-for-you-its-about-the-nutrients/
> They have great food value, are pretty easy to raise, and are way easier to preserve.


Crickets for the chickens. That'll work. Maybe. Don't know how well they'd do here, we don't have many wild ones.


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## michael ark (Dec 11, 2013)

elkhound said:


> look at amount of salt need for 5# of canadian bacon....5tbs....thats nothing...i done 20 plus pounds year before last and hardly used a handful.
> 
> 
> http://lpoli.50webs.com/index_files/Canadian%20Bacon-Len.pdf


I love that website . That's where i got the recipe for the garlic hot dogs pictured in all my posts. Morton make a few different cures i have had a 5 lb bag of smoked cure for year it only takes a little.


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## Farmer Willy (Aug 7, 2005)

I stock salt as a matter of course, but I expect in a pinch I could scrape enough to keep the place going from my hat and shirt (especially in the summer).

That, and the region is dotted with licks---Big Bone, Grants, Bluelick, Beaver come straight to mind. So, it could be boiled and got that way, just easier to go to the store and buy it in 25/50 lb bags.


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## unregistered353870 (Jan 16, 2013)

Just talked to my brother in Michigan...he mentioned his son-in-law just bought his winter supply of rock salt for his snow plowing business...200 tons at $88 a ton. I think a ton would last me a few lifetimes if I could stay close to it or at least one lifetime if I stashed it in many different areas I might end up.


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## GoldenCityMuse (Apr 15, 2009)

No has even mentioned recycling the salt you ingest!

Don't use an outhouse, save nightsoil.

But seriously, Texican has it right. For next to no moolah, and next to no time needed, stock up on it now. Cheaper than Dirt, almost. 2 liter plastic bottles are great, all plastic, so no corrosion, I've probably got a dozen in my basement here & there.

Believe you me, you won't have TIME to find a salt lick, travel by horses shank there, spend 2 months evaporating the saline water, and haul i tback on a travois. Ain't gonna happen for 98% of us. Don't make this harder than you have to.

Trading happens for a reason, and salt be certainly be traded if it comes to that.


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## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

Just laid in another 5 40# bags of solar salt today. At under $5 per bag, it's cheap insurance, and if the SneverHTF, I'll need it for the water softener anyway.


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