The stomach is the center and origin of civilization. Even if you wanted to drop everything, move to the woods and live as a hermit. One thing is certain: You will need food.
The problem with food is that it goes bad, normally this is an easy to problem to solve with a refrigerator but when going off-grid a refrigerator is a very expensive luxury. Keep reading and see 11 Food storage secrets we have prepared for you when you go off-grid.
When living off-grid, get to know these 11 food storage secrets :
- The location is king. Depending on where you are, off-grid food storage can be relatively easy or extremely challenging.
- Get to know your caloric needs and budget. Living off-grid means limited resources and thus there is a need to optimize what you store.
- The ancients had refrigerators. They’re called Zeers or in English the pot-in-pot fridge.
- If you live in the northern hemisphere the larder should be in the north side of the building. This position receives the least amount of sunlight.
- If you live in an area that experiences winter, make sure your canned goods are in a temperature-stable area. Frozen cans can get damaged due to the expansion of its contents.
- One secret to off-grid food storage is living like a peasant. Limiting your diet to what peasants eat involves less meat and means much more simpler food storage and keeping
- Some food can be converted to another type thru fermentation, popular examples include beer, wine, and liquor.
- Jars like the ancients used are versatile and can be used for cooking, storage, and fermentation (amphora/tapayan)
- Learn to dry your food. Drying is an ancient food preservation technique and can be done even with just your car.
- Live with the principle of FIFO. First in, First out.
- When storing potatoes, do not place them in an area that sunlight can get to. Potatoes turn green and become poisonous.
Phew! That was a lot to take in about off-grid food storage. Understand that food is essential for any existence we want to make sure that you stay safe and healthy when storing food for future use. Read more below as we elaborate the 11 secrets listed above.
Off-Grid Food Storage Secrets
The simple truth about the world we live in today is that we have grown accustomed to abundance. Food storage and food scarcity is no longer an issue (for most parts of the world). Simple food preservation and storage techniques have been lost or are no longer practiced because there really is no need. A refrigerator will solve all food storage solution problems in modern society and you do not have a fridge, meals good for one serving are available automatically either thru microwave food or even food delivery services.
Going off-grid presents a lot of challenges when it comes to storing food. Food becomes a science. There is a need to thing not just about what food you are eating but also how to store it and how to make sure that it will still be safe for consumption.
The Basics
Food storage off grid has been the normal way of storage for most of human history. Ancient people had simple diets and menus due to the fact that they had to make do with the fact that food naturally spoils. Drying, Fermenting, Smoking, and Canning are some of the most basic food preservation methods, by preserving food, this allows you to store them for future use.
The trick to off-grid food storage is working with what you get. Temperature, sunlight, and even humidity will all play a major factor which is why the first secret int his guide is about location. Places that experience winter has easier food storage options at the cost of more difficult access to food sources whereas in the tropics food can be foraged freely in a forest but spoilage happens right away due to the more humid and hotter temperatures.
Some research on how the ancients stored their food will go a long way. For example, a pot-in-pot or zeer is basically just that: Two puts, one smaller and inside the other, in between the two is sand. This sand is wet with water and as the water evaporates it cools the inner pot.
Lastly, a simple secret is your caloric needs. Most people eat more calories than they need in a given day. Understand the amount of calories you need in order to better plan your food storage. You might be surprised how much calorie you are over-consuming in a given day.
The Mental Game
One big secret about off-grid food storage is that it’s not only about storing food as well, it’s about adapting your life, your diet, and your mentality towards food when going off-grid. We take for granted so many things in our daily lives. Going off-grid means making some changes especially when it comes to diet. In order to store food in an off-grid scenario, understand that certain foodstuffs need to be heavily reduced or even alternate sources of it are more desirable in the long run.
A good example would be meat. Meat is difficult to store without freezing. To store meat long term it either has to be dried, cured, smoked or a combination of those listed. Conditioning yourself not to rely on meat for food and as a protein source is a good way to be better at off-grid food storage.
Recommended: The Ultimate Guide to Living Off The Grid
Food is now slow, thought out affair. When going off-grid, storing food is no longer simple. Keep this in mind always to make the off-grid food storage easy and convenient. FIFO (First In, First out) is a principle in accounting but is also applied to food. Always consume food that was stored first. This way, there is no need to throw out food because you are always going through them in the order that they came in.
Food Science
A basic understanding of food science and botany is the greatest secret you can know when it comes to off-grid food storage. Food changes over time, some of these changes are desirable to prolong the shelf life of food or even to make it still usable over a period of time.
For vegetables, the same can be said. As stated above, potatoes, when exposed to sunlight, become poisonous. Get to know the food you store and the possible changes they go through to understand how to better store them. Did you know that improperly prepared cassava has deadly cyanide in it? Harmless foodstuff becomes extremely dangerous when improperly stored. Always remember to practice safety first when it comes to something as vital as food.
Rediscovering the Past
In summary off-grid, food storage is not a simple task. We have grown accustomed to just chucking our food stuff inside a refrigerator and calling it a day. When going off-grid, there will be a lot of challenges that are needed to be overcome to safely store food. The greatest challenge of storing food is, of course, accepting the fact that by going off grid, we need to look into the past and even live like the ancients did to make it sustainable and safe.
