Survival and Emergency Preparedness

I finally can come up with better numbers. 5 pounds of flour can make slightly over 7 pounds of hard tack. The Civil war ration (smaller people) was one pound a day plus meat and greens/coffee. Yesterday I used 5 pounds of flour and another 5 pounds today. I will use another 5 pounds of flour tomorrow. The oven heat warms the house this Christmas. So, in three days, I will make 21 days of rations.

bdc wrote: ↑Mon Dec 23, 2019 9:45 pm I finally can come up with better numbers. 5 pounds of flour can make slightly over 7 pounds of hard tack. The Civil war ration (smaller people) was one pound a day plus meat and greens/coffee. Yesterday I used 5 pounds of flour and another 5 pounds today. I will use another 5 pounds of flour tomorrow. The oven heat warms the house this Christmas. So, in three days, I will make 21 days of rations.

Please share about how you go about making hardtack. I've been thinking about making some myself.

Today, you will learn how to make a food item that may save your life in an earthquake. It requires no refrigeration and lasts forever. Moreover, it is cheap to make. However, it will break your teeth.


It was the basic food stuff used by British sailors, French soldiers and the American Army through the Spanish-American War. It has many names: sea biscuit, hard tack, sailor's bread.

It was the chief foodstuff of armies until Napoleon Bonnaparte brilliantly had a contest to replace this item.
Naturally, the winner was a French scientist who revolutionized food preservation. And that is part of the story that you will learn a bit later.
The ingredients, with US measures:

2 cups flour
½ to ¾ cup water
½ tablespoon salt

Mix the flour and salt. Add water slowly as you stir. When the dough sticks together, dust it with flour and roll it out 1/3 inch thick. Cut into shapes. Poke many holes, but not all the way through the rolled dough. Bake at 250 degrees for 4 hours or later. Cool and store in zip lock bags.

The questions are what are the best salt and the best flour.

The best salt is Fleur de sel. Fleur de sel, literally "flower of salt," has been gathered on the island of Ré, off France's Atlantic coast, since the seventh century.

What is the best flour? King Arthur bread flour has been produced in Vermont since 1790.

How do you eat it? You crumble it up and put in coffee or a soup.

Thanks!

Man - hard makings, plus billion. That sounds like some easy to store mega meals!!!

We've made buckets with rice, beans and oatmeal. It's all easy enough and very cost effective. And 5 gallon buckets are cheap and locally obtainable.

How to Package Dry Foods in Mylar Bags for Long Term Storage

https://theprovidentprepper.org/how-to- ... m-storage/

Long Term Food Storage: Creative Solutions to Build a Critical Asset

https://theprovidentprepper.org/long-te ... cal-asset/