Salt.

Article posted by rellgar on Doomsday Prepper Forum;


Storing Salt for Survival

How and why to store salt long term



Are you worth your weight in salt?

Have you ever given thought to how truly useful salt is? Salt was

something ancients killed for, traded around, and valued as much

as gold. You can purchase it today for pennies a pound and as a

prepper you should not only stock up, but store it properly.



Most people don't give a second thought to salt. They have some

in the cupboard and there it sits until dinnertime. Some people

do all they can to avoid it, but salt is vital to survival and an

important part of prepping. How much salt should you store?



Below are some tips for storing salt long term and for getting the

most from the salt in the prepper's pantry...



How to store salt long term

Storing salt for the long term is vital. Salt not only balances

electrolytes that regulates your heart rate and ensures proper

cell functions, but it can treat a variety of ailments. Salt can help

when there is no doctor to treat sore throats and ease dental

issues. As well, salt can help preppers make soap, clean up

around the homestead and to preserve food. Most importantly

salt can make bland food taste better.



How much salt to store?

Pioneers packed 10-lbs. of salt per person for their six month

journey along the Oregon trail, which is equivalent of ten Morton

iodized salt containers. As a general guide, with 10-lbs. of salt

you can cure around 200 lbs. of meat.



There are many kinds of salts for survival, including...

Canning and pickling salts

Iodized salt

Epsom salt (not for eating)

Pink Himalayan Salt

Sea salt and Celtic sea salt

Salt licks for livestock

You can purchase salt today for pennies a pound, and you

should. Here's why...



Prepping and Survival Uses of Salt

Preppers can purchase salt today for pennies a pound, and they

should in preparation for a society off the grid.



Prepper Salt Use #1: Electrolyte balance.

Salt is important for your body in terms of water retention and

electrolyte balance. Electrolytes are in your blood, urine and body

fluids and it's the electrolytes that help with muscle contraction.

Salt also has minerals vital to digestion. When the stuff hits the

fan, you'll need salt for electrolyte balance to:



Work around the homestead. Electrolyte balance is

important to preppers around the homestead in farming for

food, hunting or defending the homestead. You need to

restore electrolytes lost through sweating.The proper

electrolyte balance can keep you from getting heat stroke!

You can use oral rehydration salts and drinks, but when the

Gatorade runs out, you can make your own electrolyte drink.

See the salt and sugar electrolyte recipe below.

Keep well hydrated during illness. Electrolytes can help

promote a quicker recovery during illness. Diarhheal

medicines may be harmful for kids, but thankfully you can

make a salt and sugar drink and skip the meds. Managing

diarrheal dehydration is easy with the simple electrolyte

recipe below.

Salt and sugar electrolyte recipe:

6 level teaspoons of sugar

1/2 level teaspoon of salt

dissolved in 4 measuring cups of purified water.

Prepper Salt Use #2: Food preservation.

Aside from your body's need for salt, the most important reason

to store salt is for food preservation.



From salt cures to pickling and preserves, salt is immensely

useful as a food preservative. We need salt to preserve food.

Salt preserves food by inhibiting growth of germs in a process of

osmosis where the salt pushes water out of the microbial cells.



Curing meatsFrom curing salmon into gravlox to making

beef jerky, salt is the primary ingredient in curing meat and

fish. How much 200 lbs. of meat ~ 10 lbs of Kosher salt

Important: get canning salt! For pickling, use only pickling

salt because it has no additives. It's pure salt! Pure canning

and pickling salt has no additives or anti-caking ingredients

to darken pickles or cloud pickling liquid.

Right is Morton's canning and pickling salt. It's a pure

granulated salt, with no added preservatives or free-

flowing agents that you can use in cooking, canning or

pickling.



As a prepper, you'll want to keep salt close at hand in the

kitchen and not just for seasoning purposes.



Prepper Salt Use #3: Put out a fire.

As a fire extinguisher salt is invaluable with grease fires. As you

may know, water will only make a grease fire worse! Dousing salt

on a grease fire can effectively help you smother the flames.

.

See our list of fire suppression ideas for preppers.

Prepper salt use #4: Fireplace cleanup.

Salt is valuable for extinguishing a fire, but with salt you can

also clean up a fireplace. Salt helps with creosote buildup. You

see, creosote forms when warm air leaves the flue and the heavy

cool air gets at the bottom of a wood burner. When you douse

the flames with salt, your fire will burn out quickly. This means

you'll have less soot than if you let it smolder



Salt can remedy the problem. Spread a cup of table salt on the

coals or logs every week of use and it will cause the buildup to

flake off. Read more tips for cleaning the fireplace and chimney.



Prepper salt use #5: Bartering.

Salt is an easy-to-store and inexpensive bartering item in that

would serve a prepper well in a long-term survival scenario.



Make sure to transfer the salt to water tight container, such as

masons jar, food-grade buckets, Mylar bags and the like. You

don't want moisture to degrade your salt in storage or wash away.



Prepper Salt Use #6: Disinfectant for cutting boards.

Salt is a natural cleaning agent and abrasive. Rub cutting boards

with salt and a damp cloth to improve the appearance after

washing them in soap and water.



Prepper salt use #7: Cleaning cast iron pans.

Salt is one way to clean your cast iron cookware as it provides a

food-based

Combine salt and vinegar into a paste to clean copper and

brass.

Clean metal sink stains (combine salt, baking soda into a

paste).

Simply use salt and nothing else:



Prepper Salt Use #8: Removing poultry pin-feathers.

Got chickens? Rubbing the chicken with salt will help

homesteaders with the task of removing pin-feathers.



Prepper Salt Use #9: Peeling eggs.

Okay, this is just a fun use of salt. Did you know boiled eggs will

peel more easily when boiled in salt water?



Prepper Salt Use #10: Testing a bad egg.

Did you know salt is useful for testing the freshness of your

eggs? Mix two cups of water with four teaspoons salt until the

salt dissolves, then place the egg in question in the solution. A

fresh egg sinks; conversely, a bad egg floats.



Prepper Salt Use #11: Cleaning up an egg mess.

An egg dropped on the floor is a sticky problem. The idea of using

eggs to help with the mess is one passed on down the

generations. Use salt to clean up egg spills.



Prepper Salt Use #12: Pest control.

Salt drives ants away, and is a cruel death for slugs.

Learn more about how preppers get rid of bugs naturally.

Prepper Salt Use #13: Boiling water.

You can't stare at a pot of water to make it boil faster, but you

can add salt to it! Adding salt to water makes the water boil

faster, which often reduces cooking time saving valuable fuel.

Adding salt to pasta also will help reduce the gelatin starch in the

pasta. And you can never add too much salt to pasta because

pasta has a limit to salt absorption.



Prepper Salt Use #14: Dish washing.

Want to get rid of the brown gunk at the bottom of your porcelain

tea cups? Use salt to grind the stains away. The salt is abrasive

enough to clean, yet gentle on your fine China. Salt also helps

you clean a glass by scouring at the bottom. The trick is to use

ice in combination. This dish washing secret (ice and salt) will

help you rinse your coffee stained glass.

Yes, salt will also help you clean tea stains in your cups.

Pour salt to the bottom of tea cups to scrub. Real Simple

magazine offers another solution to clean your tea stained

cups (along with other insights to all natural cleaning:

"Sprinkle salt on the outside of a lemon peel; rub the

affected area till clean."

Prepper Salt Use #15: Thawing and melting ice.

Salt will certainly help clear the icy roads. And for preppers living

in cold regions, know that salt will help dry your clothes in

Winter. Use salt in the final laundry rinse if hanging your clothes

on the line outside.



Prepper Salt Use #16: Attracting wild game.

Every living thing needs salt. Use salt not only for your livestock,

but set out salt licks for attracting wild game.



A salt lick is for use with horses, cattle, or as a hunting game

lure. The Himalayan rock salt lick, pictures right, is filled with

essential vitamins and minerals that animals both crave and need.



Prepper Salt Use #17: Varied medicinal uses.

Humans need salt to live! The sodium content of salt helps your

body function properly. Salt not only assists your muscles and

nerves, but sodium helps your body regulate blood pressure.



As well, all animals need salt. Without salt, quiet simply, the

cells in your body would die. Salt contains chloride and sodium

ions, and all living things need these components in small

quantities.

Dental treatment: Salt eases dental problems, which is why

Dentists recommend swishing with a warm salt water

solution. Salt acts as an isotonic.



Diuretic. Salt can aid in relieving diarrhea when combined with a

simple sugar and water solution, making it a fundamental part of

a long term survival plan. However, the first option should always

be a commercially prepared drink to restore electrolytes. Salt acts

as an electrolyte and this carries charges, or messages, to

different parts of the body to tell cells what to do. Electrolytes

are the electric charge that tells your lungs to breath and your

muscles to move, and it also control your blood pressure.

Antibacterial. Salt is a topical treatment / an antibacterial

agent. It kills bacteria!

Diluted, salt works as a mild antiseptic.

Get a cut at the beach? Head to the salty waters and

let it dry naturally. The salt helps dry your wound.

Salt and a drop of water can help relieve bee stings

Oral relief. Soothes sore throats. (Grandma says to stir 1/2

teaspoon salt in an 8-ounce glass of warm water.)

Pregnancy. Salt intake during pregnancy can reduce mental

retardation at birth.

Learn more about prepping concerns during pregnancy.

Thyroid. Salt reduces goiters.



Today Americans get more than enough sodium and salt in their

diet (thanks in part to the commercially processed foods

available), which is probably why they take salt for granted. In a

world living off the grid; however, salt becomes increasingly

important to maintain life!



Prepper Salt Use #18: Removing wine and blood stains.

Cleaning up after zombie invasions is hard work! Seriously,

though, salt helps absorb the stains. Sprinkle, allow to set then

vacuum and apply a cold water rinse to help.How is removing

wine and blood stains a prepper use? Well, during the Great

Depression people made do with what they had, and removing

stains and repairing clothes would help prolong their usefulness.

Not all salt is the same!

Anne Lange, in her book, "The Prepper's Pantry, Building and

Thriving with Food Storage," recommends preppers stock 10-lbs.

per person of sea salt (page 71). All salt is from the sea, so this

recommendation doesn't divulge how much of each kind of salt to

stock. With so many kinds of salt, it's important to know how to

use them:



Sea salt. Natural sea salt does not have iodine.

Iodized salt. Iodized salt is a dietary mineral essential for

humans. Iodine helps prevent mental retardation. Humans

need iodized salt to avoid thyroid gland problems and goiter

and to help regulate fluid balance in the body.

Pickling salt. Preppers will need pickling salt to brine.

Pickling salt has no iodine in it because iodine oxidizes the

food and darkens them.

Meat tenderizing salts. Morton Curing Salts are perfectly

formulated. The Plain Sugar Cure Mix is for dry or sweet

pickle curing of meat, game, poultry, salmon, and other fish.

The Smoke Flavored is great for large cuts of meat like bacon

and hams. Only for dry curing, not for making a pickling

brine. The Tender Quick is a fast cure product used on

meats, game, poultry, salmon, and other fish. Use as a dry

cure or a pickling cure.

Kosher salt. True Kosher salt is blessed by a rabbi, but

there is more in the koshering process. The craggy crystals of

Kosher salt make it perfect for curing meat. Kosher salt is a

chef favorite because it dissolves quickly and disperses

flavors evenly.

Himalayan salt is a mineral-rich salt. Himalayan pink salt is

a miraculous and beautiful unrefined salt that will heal you

from the inside out

Cattle Salt. Ranchers need salt for their livestock, some is

mixed in the trough, and also there are salt blocks. Salt

blocks can be used to attract wild life!

Epsom salt. Not edible, Epsom salt is a prepper's best friend.

Salt isn't a spice?

Salt is a mineral (not a spice) with such a rich history in survival.

It was something ancients killed for, traded around, craved and

valued as much as gold. Look to history and you'll find salt was

an important commodity:



The Chinese, apparently invented salt, but it was so

expensive that the people extended its use with condiments

and that is how soy sauce was born.

In ancient biblical times, people used salt as a ceremonial

offering at burial.

Egyptians evaporated seawater from the Mediterranean Sea

and used salt as a valuable part of mummification.

Romans valued salt so highly that they paid soldiers in salt;

hence the word "salary" comes from the word salt. Likewise,

the term "worth its weight in salt" was also born of this

practice.

Why sea salt is important...

Salt of all types help the body retain water, but the healthiest

salt to buy includes salt with iodine, sea salt, and Himalayan salt

with minerals. Ordinary table salt is devoid of some 80 minerals!

Sea salt is the salt with the least processing: it is simply

evaporated from the ocean and includes the goodness of nature.

Another good natural salt to consider is baking soda, sodium

bicarbonate, specifically Bob's Red Mill baking soda, which is

aluminum free and helps control alkaline levels to restore proper

pH balance.



What more can you do with salt?



If you had no toothpaste you could brush your teeth with

salt.

If you have a straw broom, you help it last longer by soaking

the bristles in hot water mixed with salt.

If you have something rusted, salt can help with that too.

Salt can help you remove rust.

How will you find salt in the wild?

Salt is an important part of your diet and you may be wondering

how you'll find salt in the wild. The answer is surprisingly simple:

you'll find salt in your food. Salt is a natural part of such foods as

celery!



Where you'll find salt in the wild:

Beans: peanuts

Veggies: beetroot, carrots, celery, chard, potatoes, spinach

Meat: Ham

Milk

Seawater (learn how to make salt from seawater)

Seafood, tuna

Mineral deposits



You'll needs salt for many reasons, so it's best to stockpile some

iodized salt and some inexpensive salt for such things as

scrubbing pots



Happy endings...

Salt is one of the things you can't afford to overlook for your

health and for your sursvival. It can become your lifeline with

bartering. Best of all, salt lasts for ever. Like all good things;

however, salt in excess is harmful.