I often undersalt the meals I make for my family when cooking because I have ruined a meal before by adding too much. The result is that nobody will eat it until they sprinkle a bunch of salt on it. If you put too much in then it is usually unsalvageable. It is difficult to make dry staples taste good without spice, sweeteners, or salt so it is necessary to store such things, salt being by far the most important. It is also one of the cheapest things you can buy for your storage that many people overlook.
I have countless 26oz containers of salt like the ones pictured above. They cost 50-75 cents a piece and so I just pick one or two up when I go to the store.
For most of the history of man salt has been used as money. Roman soldiers were paid in salt and that is where the term salary comes from. "Salis" is the Latin term for salt. So we can see from history that salt can be a valuable commodity. It is also used in the preservation of food, but I am not knowledgeable enough on that subject yet.
Store plenty of salt now while it is cheap and plentiful. You never know if it will become scarce and very desirable for food or trade. Comfort food becomes a chore to eat if it isn't flavorful. Oatmeal, wheat, and other dry goods are hard to eat when they are plain. Sugar is also relatively cheap and plentiful to buy. It makes bland food palatable and can be used to sweeten preserves, oatmeal, and make tasty treats for times when you need something to cheer you up. Store it in a dry container (Using oxygen absorbers if available) At the very least it should be kept in an airtight, food grade bucket.
Other spices I like to have stored are taco/chili seasoning, spices for pasta like basil and oregano. Watkins maple extract is good for making syrup with the afore mentioned sugar. It only takes a little bit of extract to make syrup and it is a comfort food for topping your pancakes or whatever. You can find other cheaper maple flavorings as well. Whatever spices you normally use, you should keep at least a year supply of it in your pantry so you can continue making food your family likes and reduce the stress of a difficult time.
Remember that salt and sugar should be considered a necessity and are cheap and easy to obtain now, but might not be so in the future. In a difficult time, you will probably have to forego the vegan or paleo diet for just trying to survive. Sorry. Later!
I messed up when I first started to stock my prepping pantry. I just stored the salt on the shelf as is. Wow, within a few short months they were all rock hard. I live off-grid, so no temperature control or dehumidifiers. Lesson learned. Now I empty each container into a vac seal bag and use my food saver. I then place those bags in buckets. Seasonings and spices sure are worth their weight in gold to me and it's easy to prep and store them (once you know how, haha).
Good to know. I live in Arizona and I don't have the moisture problems that many do.
@themerrylotus Great point! I will have to remember that and vacuum seal or seal in mylar bags! I live in a pretty humid area. Thanks for this tip!
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You are right. Everyone's tastes for salt vary, probably one of the things people are most picky about. Better to be short and add more in later than have too much. Great reminder to store salt. A necessary prep item that a lot of people don't place at the top of their lists, yet one of the easiest to store.
I think that if you use salt to preserve food in some way, you should have both iodised salt and non-iodised salt in your storage. Table salt is iodised, you need the iodine for your thyroid gland. However, the iodine in iodised salt can discolor the food that you're preserving, especially if you use it for canning. So having pickling salt or canning salt in your storage is also a good idea.
As for sugar, I'm picky, I only buy pure cane sugar, that way I know it's not made from GMO sugar beets. But that's just me.
Thank you. I did omit that about the iodised salt. One should buy both iodized and non iodized or sea salt for pickling and preserving.
Absolutely! Salt is a necessity that I think several Preppers over look. It's so cheap right now like you said so everyone stock up now! Great post!
Your right, i would also store Sea salt or himalayan salt NOW, it will be gold dust, especially himalayan salt!
Also if you are cooking instead of using it for preserving, look into Cosher salt... It is far superior!
I do have some kosher salt. I use it to barbecue and for grilling meat often.
I love it. Learn something new everyday...salis. I had no idea that was were the word salary came from. Sometimes I feel that salt would have been worth more than my paycheck. I am being sarcastic of course. It is true, can't have enough of this staple put back, and it can change an undesirable dish into tolerable. Which to me is huge for prepping.
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Salt Factoid: "Salt - Interesting Facts. Roman soldiers were sometimes paid in salt - which is where the word 'salary' comes from. Difficult to spend it in restaurants today though. Every cell in the body contains salt - an adult contains about 250 gr, equivalent to a box of Maldon Salt."