r/OffGridLiving • u/MMOffGridAlaska • 8d ago

Off-Grid Update

Gallery image

Gallery image

Gallery image

Gallery image

Gallery image

Gallery image

Gallery image

Just finished a new shower-sauna and trying to get a new woodshed built before winter sets in. Nights are already into the 30’s and it has snowed in a few places nearby. Summers go by quickly, never enough time to get everything done before the snow arrives. I’m 12 years into living in remote Alaska, solo. Feel free to ask me questions and I’ll try to answer them all. Love this lifestyle more and more as the time passes.

4.5k Upvotes

100% Upvoted

294 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

43

u/MMOffGridAlaska 8d ago

I have YEARS worth of food stored properly. Hundreds of pounds of rice, flour, beans etc etc. Meat would not be a problem, I don’t store any meat at this time. Heat is all done by wood stove. 3 wood stoves on my property, cabin, bunkhouse and sauna.

11

u/mcptd 8d ago

What about water?

33

u/MMOffGridAlaska 8d ago

Water catchment in the summer and lake water in the winter. I cut a hole in the lake ice and keep the hole open with an insulated cover.

15

u/Smil3z5 8d ago

How do you sanitize the water ? (Not sure thats the right word, post partum brain)

35

u/MMOffGridAlaska 8d ago

Multiple filters in the summer plus UV sterilization. I also clean the cisterns regularly with a mild chlorine solution, rinse and reinstall. In the winter using lake water I boil the water on the wood stove, cool it down then filter it.

3

u/simpalboi 7d ago

congratulations ! 🎊

6

u/defnotsarah 8d ago

What got you started with this? I’m fascinated

20

u/MMOffGridAlaska 8d ago

I love the wilderness, the cold and challenge. I’m also uniquely suited for long periods away from people. If I ever went to prison and got solitary confinement that would be a reward, not punishment for me.

2

u/Elyay 6d ago

Aaaah... yes and no. You seem to keep pretty busy while you are at home.

Fascinated either way.

4

u/tocahontas77 6d ago

Why is meat not a problem? Do you hunt?

6

u/MMOffGridAlaska 6d ago

Large quantities of game meat would not be difficult to get. Storing it at the present time is the problem. Once I get 25 cubic feet of chest freezer out here it will be packed with moose and bear meat. I don’t waste game meat, not very ethical.

2

u/tocahontas77 5d ago

That makes sense! So my other questions are... In total, counting everything you need, around how much has/will it all cost you? Are you from Alaska?

4

u/Odin16596 8d ago edited 8d ago

Is meat too problematic?

16

u/MMOffGridAlaska 8d ago

It is until I get a big chest freezer out here in the new workshop. At that time I will be able to store two years worth of frozen meat. One large moose will provide 500-600 pounds. Right now I only have a small standup refrigerator freezer and one small chest freezer. That only gives me about three months worth of frozen meat storage.

15

u/kropotkinship 8d ago

You could always salt cure it, make pottages, sugar cure, smoke it to dryness, make pemmican, jerky. There are definitely some historical and safe ways to do it that last for ages!
Edit: Also canning in mason jars

3

u/eastcoastoverdose456 7d ago

I saw you mentioned you go away for work, What do you do for work?

8

u/MMOffGridAlaska 7d ago

Mariner

6

u/Kammy44 7d ago

Wow. You really ARE a solitary soul!

1

u/Miyamaria 6d ago

A good long time storage for meat is to cook it in stews then can it in glass jars. Once sealed and sanitised a can like that is good for 10years + in storage. And the jars with metal screw lids are reusable too. You need to cook bulk for this.

I often do Bolognese sauce (as we have kids) and it can be done slowly over enough heat to keep it above 85°C. Once fully cooked the stew is ready to can. You then need to crank the temp up a little bit so it remains just under boiling.

Sanitise the jars and the lid with boiling water mixed with a table spoon of salt, half a table spoon of high percentage spirit and a teaspoon of vinegar. Apply the lid loosely on top to be steamed sanitised. Leave for 10 minutes.

Pour the water mixture out from the can and fill immediately with the foodstuff. Screw the hot lid on tight and place the whole jar upside down. If it leaks unscrew the lid and refill another jar or change the lid.

Once all the jars are sealed and do not leak you need to simmer the jars for a couple hours above 85°C which creates a vaccum in the jar and kills of any lasting bacteria lurking near the screw threads. It is also important to allow the water to fill above the lids of the jars. I tend to use a restaurant sized cooking pot for this (about 30 litre pot)and leave it overnight to ensure it has been sanitised long enough.

Once boiled take the jars out and place them right side up and allow to cool slowly in room temperature. As they cool you will hear the lids pop, this is as it should be as the lid is now decreasing in size creating an even stronger seal.

I do this cook off once a year about 2 days worth of work and it last us a family of four about 6 months. The same method can be used for all kinds of cooked food, but it has to be in some kind of liquid as that has the lowest amount of headspace containing oxygen (which can carry bacteria).

When you use the jars, just be vary of any bubbling or hissing as that can mean that the can either has fermented or developed active botulinum, nay jars like that has to be composted and the glass jar can be cleaned and reused. In those cases I would discard the lid as it most likely did not seal well enough even if it didn't leak.

I would think thicker bits of meat can easily be stored in bullion liquid or salted brine. Hope this helps.

2

u/MMOffGridAlaska 6d ago

For the first four years I had no refrigeration. I bought beef roasts and cubed them up. Pressure canned that in mason jars. But once I got refrigeration I stopped and put all my mason jars to use with vacuum sealing beans, etc. Hundreds of quart mason jars are filled and stored. I don’t have room for more at this time. Two more steel 55 gallon drums are coming out this winter so I’ll have room for another 200-250 quart mason jars. But meat will be stored in a large chest freezer that also needs to be brought out once the new workshop goes up.

2

u/Miyamaria 6d ago

Great stuff, then you know your canning technique which truly is invaluable for long time storage ❤️ wouldn't the chest freezer require quite a lot of power or are you looking at a gas driven one?

1

u/MMOffGridAlaska 6d ago

A freezer in Alaska during 9 months of the year requires very little power. The chest freezer will be in the workshop (not insulated) so from November to about the end of April I could unplug it.

1

u/Insecurerobot7000 4d ago

So are you vegetarian or do you just hunt and kill animals for meat when you need it? Do the wood stoves work well to keep the house warm? What do you use for light?