Homemade Feed Recipe

[U_Stormcrow]

If a worse case scenario happens, a pressure cooker won’t work.

But a Waterbath canner will.
You can preserve with the WB method most anything using correct times. (Which can be done on a fire pit.)

And before you go attacking me that it’s not usda safe or whatever.
Until this year I was raised that you only Pres. Can meats & low acidity stuff. WB the things that are “safe” per the “rule” books.
But if you look into other cultures, our ancestors, etc…you’ll find that pressure canning is more often a novelty & WB a staple. (Some countries can’t even get PC; to get one in Canada is exorbitant priced.) They also don’t have some gov agency telling them specific recipes are only safe.

So if a worse case scenario hits, you should be comfortable w doing WB for all given you have access to fresh water. (Which after using for canning you can use to wash dishes, sanitize, etc…)

Just some more food for thought.

Why won't a pressure cooker work? Its nothing but a pot, a tight fitting lid, and a weight. Yes, eventually, the silicone seal will fail - but that's a LONG time off.

Did you have something else in mind than one of these???

A water bath canner is nothing but a stockpot, and a way to keep the (non water) contents from sitting directly on the bottom.

 

[BlessedChaosHomestead]

Why won't a pressure cooker work? Its nothing but a pot, a tight fitting lid, and a weight. Yes, eventually, the silicone seal will fail - but that's a LONG time off.

Did you have something else in mind than one of these???

View attachment 3185007

A water bath canner is nothing but a stockpot, and a way to keep the (non water) contents from sitting directly on the bottom.

Yes. The simple version is pressure cooker can’t can properly.
You need one that is a dedicated pressure canner; you can also cook with that.

As for WB yeah, I guess you can use a stock pot, but the WB I have is actually wider than my stock pot to hold jars and the rack. But they’re not that expensive anyway.

This one is similar to mine:

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Why is it that the basic pressure cooker can't can (assuming you have the correct weight, I undersatand most only come with one now???) We have a monster from the 70s, used to make stock in it all the time, cans plenty fine with the heavier weight. Currently packed up.

I know the small ones don't work. Not enough mass, can't hold the higher pressures, but I thought the old monsters were fine.

 

[BlessedChaosHomestead]

Why is it that the basic pressure cooker can't can (assuming you have the correct weight, I undersatand most only come with one now???) We have a monster from the 70s, used to make stock in it all the time, cans plenty fine with the heavier weight. Currently packed up.

I know the small ones don't work. Not enough mass, can't hold the higher pressures, but I thought the old monsters were fine.

That’s probably the difference there, made in the 70’s versus cheap crap nowadays. (Unless yours was a pressure canner/cooker.)

::shrugs::
Lol

 

[Zeoliter]

A standard Presto pressure canner will also work in a grid-down scenario. I plan on getting a pressure canner and a water bath canner though.

 

[BlessedChaosHomestead]

A standard Presto pressure canner will also work in a grid-down scenario. I plan on getting a pressure canner and a water bath canner though.

I have both!

But now that I’m thinking about it….can you use a pressure canner over an open fire??

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I have both!

But now that I’m thinking about it….can you use a pressure canner over an open fire??

If you know what you are doing, you can cook an egg on a paper bag over an open fire. It's an annoying Boy Scout thing.

But you can absolutely bed down a pile of coals, set your cast iron griddle on that, and your aluminum canner on top. Or save your griddle and use any flat heavy piece of iron you can lay hands on. A flat piece of iron turns a campfire into a stove top.

 

[Zeoliter]

This is the recipe I came up with so far:

31% winter wheat
30% brown rice
25% soybeans
10% peas
3% oyster shell
1% dried seaweed

19% protein and 6.2% fat. I see no way to get the fat down and keep the protein high with the types of food that you'd grow yourself. I guess normally fishmeal would be used.

I would also supplement with mealworms as I have a nice little farm going. Started off with 2000 mealworms and they all pupated and now have maybe 1500 darkling beetles in 2 boxes. I'm switching out the tray underneath every 2 weeks so hopefully will start to have countless mealworms soon.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

This is the recipe I came up with so far:

31% winter wheat
30% brown rice
25% soybeans
10% peas
3% oyster shell
1% dried seaweed

19% protein and 6.2% fat. I see no way to get the fat down and keep the protein high with the types of food that you'd grow yourself. I guess normally fishmeal would be used.

I would also supplement with mealworms as I have a nice little farm going. Started off with 2000 mealworms and they all pupated and now have maybe 1500 darkling beetles in 2 boxes. I'm switching out the tray underneath every 2 weeks so hopefully will start to have countless mealworms soon.

If you extract some of the oil from the soybeans....


Which is why soy meal is so common in commercial feeds. Not only is it cheap and nutritious, but extracting all that oil actually improves its value as a feed by reducing the excess fat concerns.

 

[Zeoliter]

Interesting. I could definitely get some kind of oil press. Could even make sunflower oil from it.