[Lilith]

Went to town today to see if I could get the local butcher or pharmacist to order me some Saltpeter (Potassium Nitrate). When I asked the Butcher in our grocery store, he said, "I don't even know what you would use it for." This guy is a third generation butcher who's grandfather opened the store back when the town was still young! My grandmother (who is well into alzheimer's) raves about his grandfather's hams "You just can't beat a Cook's Ham". She insists on buying a ham from that store then complains about how they "just aren't how they used to be". How in the world can you loose a family tradition like that over just 3 generations? Then for the butcher (in his late 50's now) doesn't even know the main ingredient in making hams? I'm surrounded mindless, commercialized, walking zombies!

It gets better - I still have the pharmacist right? While he was helping people fill their prescriptions, I looked on the shelves to see if I can find a bottle of Saltpeter - no such luck, but he should be able to order it right? So, I ask him if he can order me about 1lb of Food Grade Saltpeter. He says, let me check, and goes to the back. While I am patiently waiting, the sheriff comes in, I smile and say hi, ask about his kids. But, instead of answering me, he tells me he is here to talk to me in an official capacity. He informs me about the legalities of making fireworks and explosives, and how much trouble I could get into. I was confused to the point where he paused and asked me what do you need Saltpeter for? I showed him the old instructions I found for curing hams and bacon. He literally turned the color of fresh raspberries, and called the pharmacist to the counter. He instructed the pharmacist to order me some Saltpeter, and asked me to drop off a small slab of bacon to his place when I was done smoking it - because he would love to try it. He made his apology and went back to work. The stupid pharmacist still refused to order it claiming it is just not available anymore.

When did people get so nosey and dumb that a gal can't even try to order ingredients to cure home grown meats? How did the world go from growing all their own foods to relying on supermarkets at every level? In the 1930's most people still grew most of their own foods, but only 80 years later people don't even know how to feed themselves anymore. And when someone does know how to feed themselves, it is met with suspicion, resentment, and accusation.

There are a lot of people out there that think there is going to be a global zombie apocalypse. Well folks, hang onto your hats, because the zombie apocalypse is upon us! People have traded their freedoms and survival for convince and mediocrity. The world is full of brainless zombies who do exactly what they are told to do and believe they have a good life - because that is what they have been led to believe. At the end of the day, they are still eating crappy ham and bacon!

 

[mnn2501]

Of course you could always order online

http://www.sciencecompany.com/-P165...tent=NC-8794&gclid=CP3c6-fX8MECFZCFaQodbU4A9Q

or

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&ke...vptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_2avot7aubq_b

 

[elkhound]

preach it sister....people will starve and freeze to death while watching deer in a meadow surrounded by forest with dead trees for a fire.


i done a thread awhile back titled out of the fruit loop box....you cant ask a question to employees of stores about anything if its not by code or by the manual....they are so lost about how to do things or to rethink to make something work ******* style.


morton tender quick you can get from grocery stores and off ebay easy enough to help with your problem.it has both nitrate and nitrite for bacteria growth.you can also find the pink cure..not to be confused with pink Himalayan salt....it use to be on amazon or you use to could.

 

[elkhound]

http://www.mortonsalt.com/for-your-...g-and-pickling-salts/178/morton-tender-quick/


mortons on line store

http://morton.elsstore.com/retailer....asp?storeID=118E3132AD8349CDBCB34DF64BCCEBB9


you might find this site of interest

http://lpoli.50webs.com/Sausage recipes.htm#DRY

 

[Lilith]

Thanks Elkhound! I knew about the tender quick, and have quite a bit stocked up for curing wild game. Looks like it will have to do for the bacon off this pig. Good thing there are 3 more to butcher, so I can try it this time and try the old way next time.
I thought I lived in what was left of the wild west, but there doesn't seem to be any wild left except when it comes to making shine and shooting guns. I'll defo check out those links!

 

[Explorer]

I used to buy it at the hardware store in the 50's to make black gunpowder.

 

[happycat47111]

I would pay money to have seen that conversation with the sheriff.

This summer when I was getting jars to can with, people remarked on it. "Oh, what are you canning?" We're in Eastern Ky, and a lot of people still do have gardens here or at least remember when it was done regularly. But I stumped the cashiers AND my MIL of all people when I said I was going to can potatoes, then a few months later, pintos. (BTW, home-canned pintos are some of the best danged beans you have ever eaten in your life.) I was left scratching my head because I've seen canned potatoes and beans (have some on the shelf in the pantry, even) in the store. My MIL has used canned potatoes from the grocery store before. Um. Okay. I guess doing that at home makes it foreign. *wanders away, shaking head*

We've ramped up our prepping lately because I think it's going to get bad, soon, and I want to practice what I'm preaching now. And it surprises me the people who look at what we are doing and comment about how when the SHTF, they'll just go to the store and stock up then. Okey doke.

Common sense? Dying commodity. Gone, baby, gone.

 

[Lilith]

I'm with you Happycat common sense is a dying commodity. The conversation with the sheriff was nothing remarkable. I live near a very small town and grew up here. My Mom used to babysit him when he was just a tot, and I returned the favor with his kids before they started school. I guess that's why he personally chose to handle the situation; he knew that it was entirely possible I was planning to make black powder lmao!
I too see things slipping at a dramatic rate! IDK how we ever survived before learning these skills! My sister came over to help butcher the pig I am curing today, and I asked her what she is going to do if the SHTF - she said she is coming to my house! I quickly printed off the letter from the other thread, and she promised to make more of an effort to build up a stock pile, but asked if she could keep it with mine, because she was coming here anyways. Duh, I agreed. She is sending me $50 a month to help build our emergency food and medical. What better could you ask for? I know people trying to prep on less that's for sure! She also agreed to help with butchering and curing more often so when she arrives, being good with a rifle and providing meat is not her only skills (even tho that is a really good one to start with). I guess I got at least one zombie to wake up this week.

 

[KIT.S]

Yeah, try making maraschino cherries at home! I have an ancient recipe from the Extension Service from Oregon State Univ, but the ingredients seem to now be banned. I don't have it with me to tell you the specifics, but have the hardest time getting supplies from the pharmacists. Last time I was successful, I bought a LOT because I figured maybe common sense would once again be prevalent when I ran out. Frankly, now I doubt it, but at least I have a lot of cherries canned.
Kit

 

[BlackFeather]

So what is wrong with making explosives? That was the fun part of chemistry class. It is the same as guns, it is not the gun or explosive that is the problem but the intent of the person. If a person is determined to destroy something up he will find a way, the same as if some one is determined to murder he doesn't need a gun a baseball bat will do. I better watch out Governor Cuomo will kick me out of New York for not being liberal enough. He already said us conservatives were not welcome. We always used sodium nitrite for preserving.

 

[Harry Chickpea]

Governments that are in fear ban anything they think can be used against them. Re-read that until it sinks in. The more the fear, the stricter the bans.

You can't make decent corn beef or pastrami without saltpeter - AND around here you can't even get real pastrami from a brisket because the delis now use a pushed homogenized frankenmeat that is nothing more than flavored $12/lb hot dog filling. Another use of saltpeter, if you look at sensitive tooth toothpaste, the active ingredient is a teeny amount of saltpeter - which is an excuse to double or treble the price over regular toothpaste. Yeah, I keep a little. As an effective explosive black powder is terribly weak and I wouldn't waste it. (Besides, I got a great laugh as a kid when my older brother had some black powder he was making get away from him and burn our picnic table, much to the irritation of my dad.)

There is a cross-linked social equation I recognized over thirty years ago relating to energy, populations, and the progress of civilization and science.

I believe that it was Arthur C. Clark who succinctly put it that you can tell the stage of development of a civilization by the amount of power it consumes. Advanced civilizations use huge amounts of energy compared to simple ones.

There is no question but what our civilization is more technologically advanced overall than even a few years ago. Consider that the average Roman had the power of his own body and maybe a horse to do his bidding. Now consider that the average $100 push lawnmower has a three horsepower engine (which because of the way that Watt defined horsepower is the same as the power of one real horse being worked) and the same homeowner has a car sitting in the drive with an engine containing more power than any team of Roman horses. That doesn't even count appliances, tools, heaters, etc..

Look up Coral Castle in Florida and see what one 100lb man did with an 8 horsepower engine and some chains - without any outside help - - - and then he MOVED it down the street alone - more than 50 years ago. As individuals we are MUCH more powerful than we think.

If you were to graph how much energy an adult individual in the U.S. has had available over the past 200 years, you would see a graph that started to do a vertical climb around 1900 and has never stopped.

Now also understand that the population has increased and you can recognize the growing fear of governments. The drive to take power away is disguised but relentless. If you look at it, it is everywhere. Gasoline efficiency reduces the quantity of gasoline per person. The shift to electric cars removes volatile fuel entirely to where at some point in the future gasoline can be banned. Miniaturization allows smaller devices that use less energy and are less easily repurposed. Bans on burning garbage or burning in general make it easier to spot people who are non-compliant. Child services gives great access to families that might be on the fringe (whatever the current fringe is, based on fear).

 

[7thswan]

Yeah, try making maraschino cherries at home! I have an ancient recipe from the Extension Service from Oregon State Univ, but the ingredients seem to now be banned. I don't have it with me to tell you the specifics, but have the hardest time getting supplies from the pharmacists. Last time I was successful, I bought a LOT because I figured maybe common sense would once again be prevalent when I ran out. Frankly, now I doubt it, but at least I have a lot of cherries canned.
Kit

Probably Red dye #4.

 

[whiterock]

There is a whole lot of things that we don't know anymore that were common knowledge a couple generations ago. Sad thing to me, and I am almost as ignorant as anyone else is. If you didn't grow up knowin it, you don't know what you don't know.
Ed

 

[Space Cowboy]

Not only is Potassium Nitrate banned because of "terrosists" making explosives, it also has an unfortunate effect on the males species. Note the "common" name for it....

SC

 

[Lilith]

LOL Space Cowboy - I am married, so there might be a genuine reason I would want to cure with saltpeter in relation to my husband He was in the Army, and when he retired and his diet changed .... I just might want to go back to how things used to be, you never know. J/K

 

[SJSFarm]

Whiterock, yes! I was talking to people about canning. They had no idea meat could be canned. Then I was speaking with my dad (he's in his 70's) he didn't know either! That really surprised me.

 

[whiterock]

My dad, who would be 106 now if alive, told me once about canning meat, said it was a poor excuse for meat, he was picky about meat. I was young enough to think metal cans and asked how they did it, he just shrugged his shoulders and said canned it.

There are so many things I would like to know how to do, but I don't know what they are. Never heard of them or thought of them, whatever the cause /reason. Many of us, if not most, are in that same situation. I know a lot of how things were done, but way too much has fallen from the general knowledge base.

 

[Lilith]

Not knowing how to do something is a far cry from never stopping to think about it.
For a butcher to not know that saltpeter can be used to cure meat is like a contractor who doesn't know what draw knife is for. They should call themselves a meat cutter and a laborer.

 

[Eagle-eye]

Go ahead and order it online. Though you might be put on the no fly list, the bacon would be worth it.

 

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

I would ask him where it says in the law book making black , brown or white powder is Illegal when done right the most dangerous part is making the charcoal , wet process powder making that is

and you should inform him if you didn't want food grade you could just buy stump remover to make your own powder