Storing salt for SHTF

Discussion in 'General Survival and Preparedness' started by bnmb, Jul 28, 2010.


  1. BTPost

    BTPost Stumpy Old Fart,Deadman Walking, Snow Monkey Moderator

    To be very technical about this... Magnesium Sulfate IS "A Salt", but in NOT what one normally considers common "Salt" which is Sodium Chloride.
    The definition of "A Salt" is a chemical that disassociates into its Component Ions, when put in solution. There are MANY Salts, made up of various chemical elements. .... YMMV.....
     
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  2. ozarkgoatman

    ozarkgoatman Resident goat herder

    I had to go look it up, yep your right and I stand corrected. It's been some time since I've been corrected. [respect]

    BWM
     
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  3. Wolfgang2000

    Wolfgang2000 Monkey++

    Cool I'll have to try that.
     
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  4. Wolfgang2000

    Wolfgang2000 Monkey++

    I also keep about 10 40 lbs bags of water softer salt on hand. It's plain old salt in pellet form, (the white bags that is). You may have to grind it up but it's still salt.
     
  5. Falcon15

    Falcon15 Falco Peregrinus

    You are correct. If ever you have questions about a specific form of salt, look up the MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet). It must list all ingredients. If it says Sodium Chloride 100%, you are good to go.
     
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  6. Motomom34

    Motomom34 Monkey+++

    I know that salt is a valuable thing to have stored. I read Alas Babylon and they had an issue of lack of salt. I have always wondered what I would do if I ran out. Nearest body of salt water is the salt lake. Thanks to @kckndrgn for posting that eating an animal thyriod can give you the iodine you need. I know that is I run out of salt there is something that I could eat to keep me healthy.

    Please note there are more uses for salt then just cooking. there are 14,000 uses for salt here are some
     
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  7. Brokor

    Brokor Live Free or Cry Moderator Site Supporter+++ Founding Member

    I have a feed store about two blocks from me. All the salt in the world.

    Yeah, if ya'll like shopping at Costco and Sam's, take advantage. The nearest to me is about 50 miles away or more, and I never really like going in those places anyway.
     
  8. Ganado

    Ganado Monkey+++

    I'm on salt this week for preps so i revived this thread... I've been looking at other preservation methods than canning or drying.

    I don't know where people get the idea that mineral salt and sea salt have more iodine. I guess they just 'believe' without research. So imma go with 'they have faith' in salt iodine content. I'm holding a special place in my heart for these type of people who 'want things to be true' vs doing their homework.
    +++++++++
    The truth about sea salt | MNN - Mother Nature Network

    Sea salt may lower your sodium intake
    Although it has been reported that sea salt has less sodium than table salt, it’s not true. They both contain the same amount of sodium chloride by weight. However, sea salt has more flavor impact and so most people use less of it. The minerals enhance its flavor, and its larger grains deliver salty bursts in food, rather than the overall saltiness of fine table salt.

    A note on iodine
    Iodine is crucial for thyroid health and proper cognitive development, and its addition to salt slashed rates of iodine deficiency dramatically. But new evidence suggests that people are getting less iodine in their diets these days. Psychology Today reported last year that until recently, about 25 percent of the iodine in the diet came from wheat (because iodine was used in the processing of flour). With a change in commercial flour production, bromide is now used, which not only decreases the iodine we consume, but it may actually block the activity of the iodine we are getting elsewhere.

    In addition, a University of Texas at Arlington study published by the American Chemical Society found varying degrees of actual iodine in iodized salt, with many of the samples having much less iodine than the amount listed or recommended. Add in that only one-fifth of the salt consumed in the United States is iodized, and you can understand the potential for a perfect storm for iodine deficiency.

    So if you opt for sea salt, there are companies (like Hain and Morton) that fortify their sea salt with iodine. As well, whatever salt you use, make a point to eat iodine-rich foods. (See this list of foods with high iodine content from the Office of Dietary Supplements at the National Institutes of Health for guidance.)
    ++++++++++++
    I use a variety of salt in cooking but that is for flavor and mineral content. You cant beat iodized sodium chloralhydrate for basic food consumption. However in food preservation iodine doesnt seem to be a good additive.

    I was hoping to be able to stock one kind of salt. But I am not thinking I need both iodized and un- iodized.

    AND THEN there was Morton's Salt Selection Guide.
    Morton Salt |

    Salt Selection Guide


    I had no idea there were so many kinds of salt grades. My hand grinder plan is looking a bit cumbersome. Everything it seems, including salt needs some thought and a plan.
     
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  9. ditch witch

    ditch witch I do stupid crap, so you don't have to

    I have so much salt... I probably have 50 pounds of just pickling salt.
     
  10. Ganado

    Ganado Monkey+++

    (n)i have pickling as well but i was looking at curing.... im still studying on this... I just hate canning meat. the smell.... and if it goes bad... the smell.... [​IMG]
     
  11. ditch witch

    ditch witch I do stupid crap, so you don't have to

    For curing bacon and ham I use Prague pink salt and kosher salt. I really need to get more of the Prague curing salt too, am nearly out. I really need to learn more about curing meat in general tho, the kind of cures that let you hang it in a cool place instead of requiring a cooler. I've got a board on Pinterest covered with pins of that sort.... just need to go through and actually read them now.
     
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  12. Ganado

    Ganado Monkey+++

    Cooking with/Seasoning with – Including baking baking in the figures, a couple of pounds of salt would see ou thru most of the year.

    Preserving meat – This one is trickier to figure, but then I thought, what if I assume I want to preserve a half a cow? That’s as good a place as any to start. That would be on average 200 pounds of dressed meat.

    we’ll say that 150 pounds of it is fit for preserving. If we are using a curing mix that calls for 2 cups of salt per pound of beef, that’s 300 cups of salt. (appx 150 lbs of salt)

    Pickling veggies – things like kimchi, pickling cucumbers and dilly beans. THe things you need a crockpot for or just to can in jars. Vegetable preservation could easily take a couple of pounds of salt to pickle a large crop. I think you’d find that after a couple of pounds of salt, jars and space will be your limiting factors, not stored salt. Because I eat alot of fermented foods I figured 5 lbs of kosher or www.realsalt.com . Note the salt from real salt will make a cloudy brine but doesn't affect the taste.

    Barter -If you bought it in the small pound containers from the grocery store, it’s around 44 cents, and already portioned out into a convenient amount. Keeping them away from water would be the hardest part. But, definitely worth a thought.

    In the Mediterranean area, including Ancient Rome, salt was even used for money. The word salary comes from the Latin word for salt, because they paid people in salt. -wiki

    Decideing between Kosher salt, and Pickling salt and Iodized salt. Split it to match how your family eats salt. SThen ofcourse putting in water proof containers.

    has anyone else spreadsheeted this out? Below is how mine looks atm on a per person basis. Im a little high on eating salt but I figure that is ok and cold be used for barter. I have block salt for animals and because its cheap. I do have diamond pellet salt for the water filter system that isn't included in my storage sheet.

    Salt - Iodized lbs 10.0
    Salt - Himalyan lbs 10.0
    Salt - Sea www.realsalt.com lbs 10.0
    Salt - Celtic lbs 10.0
    Salt - kosher for canning lbs 10.0
    Salt - blocks lbs 10.0
    Salt - Curing for bacon lbs 130.0
    Salt - Rock lbs 260.0
     
  13. Mountain mama

    Mountain mama Monkey++

    I store 5 gallon buckets of both iodized table salt and sea salt. They both are important, and there are so many uses for salt. I have a store nearby that sells both types in 40lb bags.
     
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