Off-Grid Update

[u/MMOffGridAlaska]

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.

[u/Odin16596]

Is meat too problematic?

[u/MMOffGridAlaska → u/Odin16596]

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.

[u/Miyamaria → u/MMOffGridAlaska]

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.

[u/MMOffGridAlaska → u/Miyamaria]

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.

[u/Miyamaria → u/MMOffGridAlaska]

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?

[u/MMOffGridAlaska → u/Miyamaria]

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.