I am 88 years old and grew up in a family with 5 kids and little money. We weren't poor, I think I got an above average education, was never hungry or cold, always had a good place to live. We just didn't have any money. Dad was a butcher and a lot of our meat was the cuts no one else wanted. When he would butcher, at their farm, they would tell him that he could have the liver, heart, fatback, heads, tallow, leaf fat legs, etc, As a result I was taught how good that meat was when properly prepared. Smoked heart and tongue when sliced thin on home made whole wheat bread is very good. Just as good when pickled. Caution, a lot of the store bought salt pork isn't the old style. As in the modern ham and bacon, they use methods that don't lose 30 % or more of their fluids and take weeks to cure. Much of the commercial product must be kept refrigerated and has a limited storage life, One of my all time favorites is not eaten alone, but used to flavor other foods. Today you will have a hard time finding it in a store, but 200 years ago it was used by almost everyone, That is what we now call salt pork. It took the parts of a pig that were for all practical purposes unusable and created a whole set of useful dishes for the poor and for storage. The meat that had so much fat that it was not usable for bacon or frying was cut into chunks that were about 1 in thick and cured with salt. Dad never used cure for fatback, just salt. The cuts used were the belly pieces with to much fat and not good for bacon and the back pieces. It will keep for months and if in a cool dry place, for a year. Here is one description for preparing it from the raw pork. How to Make Salt Pork at Home (Recipe) This again reinforces the need for salt, plain old pure salt, no anti cake or iodine, just canning or sometimes kosher salt. You can't cure meat, pickle or ferment foods without it. Cheap now, stores for ever, and life saving and probably one of the best barter items if SHTF. I know people who swear by sea salt, and it has its advantages and it will be up to the individual decision as to which you store. Most seamen and many armies were fed on salt pork, It was cheap, when packed in salt in kegs, would keep for months and added both fat calories, which are needed to work and stay healthy, and flavor to the peas and beans which were also used. Mother used it in beans, fish soups, in a lot of other things. Here is a set of recipes for salt pork dishes. While they for example list it with beans, etc. You could use your storage foods as well. I have used in chili for example. It can be cooked for its fat as well. Cook up a little and use like bacon fat for cooking eggs or other pan frying, May want to look at article below on soaking to reduce salt content, How to Cook Sliced Salt Pork? - Chef's Resource 18 Savory Salt Pork Recipes for Every Occasion | Pan Mastery 18 Scrumptious Salt Pork Dishes for Busy Weeknights - Must Eat Food 25 Delicious Salt Pork Recipes to Try Today - Drizzle Me Skinny! The recipes give some idea of what can be done with salt pork and what different people have done with it over time, Salt pork is a high calorie food, being about 97 % fat. While we may complain about calories now, in a survival situation or trying to live thru a cold winter with minimum food, it could well mean the difference between life and death. A pound of salt pork has about 3400 calories, almost all fat calories. A pound of white rice has about 1600 calories, almost no fat calories. A pound of dry beans has about 1500 calories and almost no fat as well. I think that these numbers give you some idea of how important bacon, salt pork, and other fatty food could be in your long term survival. Given the fact that wild pigs are a natural resource now and given their reproductive and eating habits, may well be one of the first of the wild game to become available in the SHTF, the knowledge of how to cure hams, bacon, and salt pork, could be a good addition to your long term survival needs. The following post gives some idea of the need for fat. If your fat intake is less than 20 % of your total calorie intake, you can be malnourished even if you are eating enough calories. The American Natives used to call it the rabbit sickness when they didn't get enough fat in their diet. They knew that rabbit, most fishes, deer, etc, did not have enough fat for a healthy diet if they furnished the total meat source. There is a reason we crave butter, cheese, bacon, ham, etc. Our bodies know we need the fats. Grams of Fat: How Much Men and Women Need Daily
