Got Salt?

[AZ Prepper]

Got Salt?

http://vikingpreparedness.blogspot.c.../got-salt.html




Some time ago, I read a book titled, “Salt – A World History” by Mark Kurlansky. This is not a review of that excellent book but the book spurred me to action. It nicely laid out the history and importance of salt throughout time ended and after reading it, I ended up salting away a lot of salt.

Then today I read a Washington Post article, “FDA plans to limit amount of salt allowed in processed foods for health reasons” that lays out how the Nanny State is going to try and protect me from the salt shaker. I could go off on a tangent about .gov attempting to “protect me from myself” (actually it has little to do with protecting and a whole lot to do with controlling me...and you) but this blog entry is not about CONTROL – it’s about salt.

Right now people think in terms of limiting salt – not stocking it up. We have too much salt – why store it? Well the reason is this – you NEED it. Not only do we need salt to make our bodies work – we will also need it to preserve foods when things go south in a big way. And most of you cannot find a ready source of it should the Just In Time system fail. Think about it – where would you find natural salt? If you live on the coast you can get it from the sea. If you live near the Salt Flats you have a source there. Maybe you live in Jericho with a salt mine just outside of town. But most of us do not have easy access to natural salt. And that’s why the history of the stuff is so fascinating – caravans transported it for vast distances, battles were fought over control of salt sources, and so on.

You could drink the blood of critters you kill – if you can continue to obtain critters and if you could stomach it. There is, however, a better option – store it now.

Salt is cheap and you should buy a lot of it. You do not need a lot – but it makes an excellent barter item. It won’t “go bad”. If for some reason you fail to keep it dry and it forms a big rock – you can break it up with a hammer or grinder or brick…

I like buying the round cardboard cylinders of salt. I think they are in a readily barterable form. I get iodized and uniodized (which is used for canning and such)and store them in plastic buckets. They do not store efficiently that way and I may eventually move to something like a Tote bin with desiccant packs and a duct taped lid. Those containers are cheap but you can get even cheaper salt.

If you carefully read the contents of bags of rock salt used for salting sidewalks you can find rock salt that is pure salt. Sure, there may be some “impurities” in there but trust me – you won’t care later. Make sure though that your sidewalk melt doesn’t have weird chemicals in it. Sodium chloride (NaCl) is salt. Sometimes around this time of year you can find great deals at grocery and hardware stores where they are trying to clean out inventory. I found it in 25-pound bags for $2.50 each. A hundred pounds of salt for 10 bucks - pretty cool.

I know salt is used in water softeners but I don’t have one and so am not sure if that is a good type of salt to buy or not. You may want to investigate that option as well. But whatever you do - do not just read this and think, "hmm, good idea" and then continue on as if no action is necessary. Go and Do.

So…Got Salt?

[Sgt Prepper]

We have been using this Himalayan salt and absolutely cannot stand white table salt anymore:

http://www.saltworks.us/shop/product.asp?idProduct=373

Gourmet Sea Salts – Bulk & Wholesale
Himalayan Pink Salt (Fine Grain)
100% natural, Himalayan Pink Salt is one of the purest salts available on earth. Mined from deep in the Himalayan Mountains, this salt crystallized more than 200 million years ago and remains protected from modern-day pollution and impurities. It contains more than 84 trace minerals and none of the additives or aluminum compounds found in refined table salt. Himalayan Pink Salt is considered a gourmet food grade salt and is known for its healing and nutritional properties.

Fine grain Himalayan Pink Salt presents many exciting culinary uses. Add it to your translucent salt shaker where dinner guests and family will appreciate its lovely pink hue. Dip the rim of your drink glass in fine grain Himalayan Pink Salt to enhance the flavor of your favorite cocktails. Rub into meats, or sprinkle over vegetables before roasting or grilling. There are so many ways this pristine, all-natural Himalayan salt will add depth and dimension to your meals while offering nutritional benefits to the body.

[Oregon Pioneer]

There should not be any excuse for a ldsprepper not to have a supply of salt. A few years ago on a family trip to Salt Lake City I came up with the great idea that I might be able to save some money buying my salt there and then bring it back to my place in Oregon. I got three fifty pound salt blocks for $6 each and lugged them and a van full of kids back home to find the same salt blocks for $5 apiece at my farm supply store. Oh well, my kids love telling that story. In most states hunting off of salt licks is illegal, but if you're not a hunter and want to bring in the animals to look at, a salt lick will do it. Most permaculture/small farm types want to keep critters out of their gardens and orchards, but when the grocery stores close their doors an established salt lick might bring in the animal protein like a pied-piper.

For those of you in Utah a trip to the Great Salt Lake I imagine could net you all the salt you would want to scoop up in a bag. I understand the salt concentration in the upper part of the lake is saltier than the water in the south. When I go hiking along the Pacific coast of Oregon in the summer, I'll find dried sea salt where the ocean water washed up and dried on the rocks near the shore. It's pretty tedious work gathering it up, so in a survival situation I would want some salt already set aside. If you wish to harvest your own sea salt I would also make it a point to do it away from any cities or towns. I went to a food storage calculator to see how much they recommended for one person for a year and found it to be only three pounds. Again- there's no reason why you shouldn't have a year's supply of salt. It's the easiest thing to check off of your list.

[TexasMochi]

I have that book on my Amazon.com wishlist (to purchase for my husband who is a chef) :-) Another reason to have a good supply of salt is for curing meats as well as preserving vegetables (like Saurkraut) - it takes a decent amount of salt for these processes.

[fuzzy]

Doesn't salt used for curing meat need to be a certain kind? My wife said she remembered her father ordering a special kind of salt that was used for curing pork. Does anybody know for sure? If it's just regular salt, we're in good shape there. If not, we need to get busy (sigh, playing catch up again!) LOL

[Bro Jones]

Salt is such a necessity that it was used as currency in ancient times - thus the word "salary." This thread has touched on many uses, but it also has medicinal uses. Keep in mind that in a protracted survival situation without refridgeration or processed food, you will use a whole lot more salt than you do now ... especially if you are hunting and preserving hides and meat.

[DMGNUT]

I drive for a chemical distributor.
We deliver mostly bulk tanker loads, but do some smaller containerized stuff too, and even a bit in the realm of food grade items.
As some of you may know, everything that is (so called) "food grade", must have an expiration date.
Thus when the date arrives, anything we have on-hand is dumped.
Yes... even the 80# bags of Morton Table Salt.
I asked and was told to take what I wanted... so I picked up 20 of the 80# bags (Yes, that's 1600# of table salt... for free).
I gave away 15 bags and kept 5 for myself.
I'm officially, "good-to-go" on salt.