Posted: 12/18/2010 8:39:23 AM EDT
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I've been thinking about a few things regarding survival food, canned foods in particular. I pack my lunch for work every day, and no matter what we have for leftovers, I will usually take them first because I hate eating sandwiches so often. I take my breaks in my truck, and not having a way to heat my food, I usually eat it cold. I've gotten quite used to it, and some things I now prefer that way, oddly-enough. Having a whole storeroom full of commercially-canned foods available, I am wondering what is palatable and what is not. Cold Spam works. So does cold baked beans with some cold canned brown bread and some cold canned red cabbage. Yum! I took a can of Dinty Moore Beef Stew into work one time and it was a real chore to get down in its cold state.
I'm thinking that this practice may be mundane in a way, but may help if one ever finds themself in need of some food and a fire is out of the question. Your thoughts? Do any of you have a food - other than the ubiquitous cold-pizza for breakfast - that you enjoy? |
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I always thought C-rations were disgusting when cold (exception: the egg one, you didn't have to scape the solidified grease off the top), it's a good thing they are no more. But, you know, if one is hungry.... I remember being attached to a tank platoon for a while, they forgot we were there and didn't send us any food. We were begging for left-over c-rats and were happy to get what we got.
My favorite cold canned meat is smoked oysters. Yummy. |
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First, you save fuel for other things (like heating). Second, in hard times, if people smell food cooking, they will come to beg or take by force. third, in good times it's probably technically a bit healthier. as i understand it your body burns a few more calories(yes it is probably a neglegable amount) digesting cold food than it does hot food. this would likely make cold water a negative calorie food, but does not make ice cream healthy  ...
ETA: being a kitchen manager and cook over the last 10 or so years i got pretty fed up with and tired of cooking on occation. most get tired of doing anything they do for years while collecting a paycheck, example, i know a mechanic that hates turning wrenches on his own vehicals and will take his own car to others for work. many nights after i got home dinner for me was a cold pop top can of "the chef" or some random cold pop top can of soup. shake, pop, eat. no fuss no muss. it was about sustenance not enjoyment, as there were plenty of times that food had lost most of it's enjoyment for me espicially if i had to make it. also when ArmedSuspect first open his shop and i was helping out a lot we didn't have a microwave for a while, cold cans it was. we used to laugh and call it zombie apocalypse diet training or something like that while thinking about the scene where the cast of resident evil 3 were playing canned food roulette with unlabled unmarked cans... K. |
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Have you ever given any thought to heating up your lunch on the manifold/engine compartment area of the truck? I used to run heavy equipment in a mine and we did this all the time. Eventually you'll be able to time how long it'll take to heat thoroughly. Place a can of soup, chili, or stew near the hottest area. I would wrap the item in two layers of aluminum foil to keep the dust out (mines have dusty conditions). Reheat burritos as well...  |
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Have you ever given any thought to heating up your lunch on the manifold/engine compartment area of the truck? I used to run heavy equipment in a mine and we did this all the time. Eventually you'll be able to time how long it'll take to heat thoroughly. Place a can of soup, chili, or stew near the hottest area. I would wrap the item in two layers of aluminum foil to keep the dust out (mines have dusty conditions). Reheat burritos as well... This is a great idea, but I only get a half-hour lunch. There is no chance of slipping out ahead of time to warm up the truck because the company that I work for is owned by a Jap company. Fucking militants. You can never tell who is watching. |
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I mostly eat cold canned food when I am working out in the field.
The usual is a can of tuna, or chicken, or the flavored tuna (Thai) and a can of veggies. Green beans, beats, and corn are fine cold. Once in awhile I'll get the smoked mussels or oysters, they are great cold. |
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I've been thinking about a few things regarding survival food, canned foods in particular. I pack my lunch for work every day, and no matter what we have for leftovers, I will usually take them first because I hate eating sandwiches so often. I take my breaks in my truck, and not having a way to heat my food, I usually eat it cold. I've gotten quite used to it, and some things I now prefer that way, oddly-enough. Having a whole storeroom full of commercially-canned foods available, I am wondering what is palatable and what is not. Cold Spam works. So does cold baked beans with some cold canned brown bread and some cold canned red cabbage. Yum! I took a can of Dinty Moore Beef Stew into work one time and it was a real chore to get down in its cold state. I'm thinking that this practice may be mundane in a way, but may help if one ever finds themself in need of some food and a fire is out of the question. Your thoughts? Do any of you have a food - other than the ubiquitous cold-pizza for breakfast - that you enjoy? Smoked/dried salmon dried moose/caribou |
| at least in summer time, you can heat up canned goods by leaving them on your dash. By lunch time, it will be ready to eat nice and hot. In some areas of the country, you might want to keep it in the floorboard so it doesn't get too hot and blow up or something. |
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Tuna in either pouches or cans is good cold.
Anything like Dinty Moore stew or anything that has a lot of fat in it won't be good cold because the fat will congeal. 
Also, things like granola bars and such can get ridiculously hard in cold weather (and can turn into mush in hot). FYI, gazpacho is cold soup. Some of it is good, some not so much. And, when it arrives at your table, don't blow on it like regular soup. Had a friend do that. Makes you look like a tourist. 
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at least in summer time, you can heat up canned goods by leaving them on your dash. By lunch time, it will be ready to eat nice and hot. In some areas of the country, you might want to keep it in the floorboard so it doesn't get too hot and blow up or something. Story Time: Once, long ago, some friends and I would get together for our annual smokeout. Being adults, and having kids were not conducive to flights of fancy concerning marijuana, and we would get together annually to sequester ourselves at a remote campsite somewhere to drink heavily, bust each others balls around the campfire, and rock the ganj. We were all sitting around the fire roasting hotdogs, and other various forms of meat on a stick, and my brother pulls a can of Hormel Chili out of his pack and sets it in the fire. I noticed that he didnt open it or even poke a hole in it, and I said, "Hey man, you got to put a hole in it to relieve pressure buildup." My brother waved me off, saying he'd pull it out before it got too hot. One of the other guys said he wasnt good at pulling out and thats why he had two kids already, and the moment was lost. Anyway, more beers and more hotdogs later, and BOOM! That can exploded and showered all of us with hot beans and chili grease. It was awesome. My bro, being closest to the can, was covered. We were out in the middle of BFE nowhere, with no chance to clean up. I never laughed so hard in all my life. That was 20 years ago, and I still bust my brother's balls about that. Good times. |
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Have you ever given any thought to heating up your lunch on the manifold/engine compartment area of the truck? I used to run heavy equipment in a mine and we did this all the time. Eventually you'll be able to time how long it'll take to heat thoroughly. Place a can of soup, chili, or stew near the hottest area. I would wrap the item in two layers of aluminum foil to keep the dust out (mines have dusty conditions). Reheat burritos as well... This is a great idea, but I only get a half-hour lunch. There is no chance of slipping out ahead of time to warm up the truck because the company that I work for is owned by a Jap company. Fucking militants. You can never tell who is watching. What you need is a small inverter, and a small crock pot. We often run our crock pot off of the inverter for a few hours, and have never had any trouble starting our truck yet. This is a diesel truck with two batteries, so your mileage may differ. |
| No offense but most here have never been truly hungry and it shows. If you can eat it it can be eaten cold- provided its not uncooked chicken or pork... It it gets bad enough you'll be happy with anything to stick in you gut and you will not be wasting any energy on heating food. |
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i've actully had good luck with uncooked chicken a lot of times.
not raw exactly but not cooked either. cut the raw bird meat into thin strips 1/4"X1/4" and how ever long. marinate in your choice of sauce, or apply dry rub. dehydrate or set out in the sun until the meat is brittle hard. store, eat, enjoy... it'll be brittle to bite and shatter if dropped on the floor, but when you chew turns to the consistency of the beef jerky in the snuff type can. different but good... jamaican jerk heavy on the vinegar and hotpeppers with plenty of salt and onion will be tasty as hell if you have a good recipe. this also will help alter the PH level and keep bacteria from growing, in addition to the removal of almost all moisture it'll be safe and keep quite a while... i've done this quite a few times and always had good luk and never gotten sick, but make sure you dry it throughly and completely!.. K. |
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While I agree eating your food cold is a good idea for saving fuel, time, etc. Sometimes, esp. in SHTF times, a hot meal can be a real morale booster Agree 100% on the morale-boosting effects of a nice fire and a hot meal. I just wanted to see how many people were prepared to eat it cold if necessary. Last night I was thinking about Mel Gibson in The Road Warrior eating a can of cold dog food. Probably the ultimate TEOTWAWKI cold meal ever! |
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While I agree eating your food cold is a good idea for saving fuel, time, etc. Sometimes, esp. in SHTF times, a hot meal can be a real morale booster This.....and after it hits....and the canned food is gone.....cooking will be the only safe way to consume some foods. any "chef boy r d" taste pretty much the same hot as cold......the little canned temollies (spell)......and remakablly...the canned corned beef isn't bad....kinda weird texture....pasty with chunks of meat.....but is good on crackers. |
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While I agree eating your food cold is a good idea for saving fuel, time, etc. Sometimes, esp. in SHTF times, a hot meal can be a real morale booster Agree 100% on the morale-boosting effects of a nice fire and a hot meal. I just wanted to see how many people were prepared to eat it cold if necessary. Last night I was thinking about Mel Gibson in The Road Warrior eating a can of cold dog food. Probably the ultimate TEOTWAWKI cold meal ever! prepared or not....if it's food....and you're hungry....hot....cold.....you'll probably be indifferent....
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Well, if you are really hungry and there is no canned food, you are best off making soup/stew with what you have. You don't loose anything like grease during the cooking process. Being partially broken down, it is more surface area to the walls of the gut and it gives you a head start on digestion.
Essentially, you retain more energy in the food, make it safe to eat, and you use less energy digesting it. |
