Top ferments for prepping for the apocalypse

[u/Delam2]

What would your top choices be of ferments which:

1) Have a long shelf life without refrigeration
2) Provide nutrition & or energy
3) A tasty treat in a world of otherwise tinned foods, home farmed foods & foraged / hunted foods.

Am I the only one whose fermentation hobby has also turned into a resilience project?

Even if the most likely scenario I’m preparing for is extended powercuts & or a breakdown of international supply chains, having 10 jars of kimchi in storage just makes me feel better about the prospect!

[u/AlphabetSoupIsALie]

Just remember you can't have ferment without salt. Make sure you have lots of bulk salt stored. 

[u/fullstacksage → u/AlphabetSoupIsALie]

I live about 30 miles away from one of the largest solar salt facilities in the world. I think about this sometimes and it's definitely in my survival plan if shit hits the fan.

[u/animated-journey → u/AlphabetSoupIsALie]

If you have access to milk, you could ferment milk without needing salt (for yogurts or kefir). But procuring milk and pasteurizing it (boiling it) also presents its own challenge.

At least kefir ferments somewhat at room temperature, no need to control temperature like yogurt.

[u/Utter_cockwomble]

Wine. If it has sugar it can fermented to alcohol. Drink it as is, distill it, turn it to vinegar, use it for cleaning and disinfecting.

[u/bdevi8n → u/Utter_cockwomble]

Or cider

[u/Anomalous-Canadian]

I feel like soy sauce is a good one. The naturally fermented stuff can be aged like wine. Maybe miso? I’m not sure about storage more than about 5 years.

[u/Pitiful_Reality2973 → u/Anomalous-Canadian]

I think it all depends on salt and moisture content. Saltier and drier is going to be less prone to spoilage organisms. I've got homemade jars from 2021 in the fridge and it's gotten more complex over time; I would think the same would happen at root cellar temp, just maybe a little faster.

[u/portmandues]

Cured fermented meats like salami or cheese are both capable of long-term storage without refrigeration under the right conditions. Out of brine-based products, olives have one of the longest shelf lives and are a high-calorie food with some nutritional value.

[u/MuddyHallway → u/portmandues]

salami and a hard cheese are the real power couple here, both will just hang out in a cool cellar for ages and get better. olives are a good call too, pack a ton of calories in a small bite when everything else is bland cans

i've got about 8 jars of various krauts and kimchis myself, feels less like hoarding and more like edible insurance

[u/Curiosive → u/MuddyHallway]

You're not supposed to eat the cans, that's why they don't season them.

[u/Minarette-- → u/portmandues]

Warte warte warte. Ich fermentiere seit Jahren und habe noch nie von fermentierter Wurst gehört. Nicht das ich sie machen möchte, aber das ist ja witzig

[u/portmandues → u/Minarette--]

There's a wide variety of fermented meat products: https://archive.org/details/TheArtOfFermentation/page/n617/mode/2up

[u/Minarette-- → u/portmandues]

das klingt alles sehr grenzwertig für mich. Also geschmacklich

[u/morning_star984 → u/portmandues]

High calorie food? An olive has maybe 5 calories. A big bowl of 20 olives would only have about 100-150 calories.

[u/portmandues → u/morning_star984]

Compared to most other brined fermented foods they are. They're rich in fats and other nutrients. You can eat 100 calories of olives way easier than 100 calories of sauerkraut.

[u/tonegenerator]

Kimchi is great, but I suspect a better resource here is paocai - the Chinese practice of infinite lactofermented “pickles” using a crock with water airlock where you add new mixed vegetables and aromatics as you use the already-fermented ones. It seems more realistic to begin a routine like that than trying to produce a huge batch of something that will last possibly until the rest of your life. Of course you will need more fresh vegetables to rotate in after eating the fermented ones, but you’re going to need those regardless of what you do. I recommend watching all of the relevant shorts by @chilicrisp and @daywithmei on YT (probably TikTok too but I wouldn’t know). Both are specifically coming from a Sichuan perspective - but the basic techniques could be applied with other cultures’ flavor profiles. 

A great introduction https://youtube.com/shorts/fn1YtUXNDkg

120 year old ferment!  https://youtube.com/shorts/QPBygqSXq-c

[u/SilenceSeven]

I'm an active fermenter, but look into a pressure canner and here and there if you can find meat on sale you can, pressure can it so it will last for years without refrigereation. Chicken, pork, beef & fish can be easily preserved, but it has to be pressure canned, so it takes a little investment in a canner.

[u/psilome]

Fermented hot sauce and salsas. They provide vegetable vitamins and minerals (C, A, B6, E, K, folate, potassium, phosphorus) and good taste.

[u/GeneralDumbtomics]

If you want to prepare for something, prepare to help the people around you. Prepare to make your community persist. But more than preparing? Prevent. Instead of piling up 10 batches of kimchi (as delicious and nutritious as that is), go out into your community and make it better _now_.

[u/PrairieFire_withwind → u/GeneralDumbtomics]

So... Teach a fermentation and pickling class?

[u/GeneralDumbtomics → u/PrairieFire_withwind]

Sure. Or make 10 batches of kimchi and take it to people with food insecurity. I see so many geriatric folks who are not getting proper nutrition. There is literally no community that doesn’t need something. If you want to secure the future fix the present.

[u/PrairieFire_withwind → u/GeneralDumbtomics]

Oh i hate kimchi but i can totally hand out homemade sauerkraut all day long ...  

[u/GeneralDumbtomics → u/PrairieFire_withwind]

You get the point and that’s what matters.

[u/PrairieFire_withwind → u/GeneralDumbtomics]

Hey, i am the weirdo that hands out tomato starts every spring.  No one will turn down some tasty ferments from me.

And it IS a good idea.  Get people thinking about other ways to preserve.  I love my 'leftover fridge ferments'. Aka use up the veggies.

[u/rolyPolyCannoli → u/GeneralDumbtomics]

Gahdamnit, you are so right and reading your reply sparked some hope and motivation in me.

[u/HappyDJ → u/GeneralDumbtomics]

That’s cute that you think you can have any effect on climate change and the intense disruptions to society that it will cause. But ya, community is resilience.

[u/GeneralDumbtomics → u/HappyDJ]

You seem fun.

[u/Pitiful_Reality2973]

My fermentation hobby has been keeping me sane. I feel like I have the knowledge to preserve any type of harvest in multiple ways, so as long as I can get my hands on food, I can keep it from going bad.

I'm going to vote for miso (and other koji-salt-bean aged pastes) and plain old kraut. Kraut will last in a cellar raw for like a year or more if you keep it clean and maintained; you can waterbath can it and get like five years on top of that.

My next area of investigation is going to be plant-based cheeses & yogurts, because as much as I love dairy, I ain't milkin' no cows if the world ends. (But also because Alpha-gal is becoming more prevalent as ticks spread and I like being ahead of the curve)

[u/sevenredwrens → u/Pitiful_Reality2973]

Will you share more deets about what / where you’re learning about plant-based cheeses and yogurts?

[u/socialmedia-username]

Whatever you GROW in your garden and of which there's an excess. The point is to make your excess harvest last into the winter and not much beyond.  Otherwise freezing is best, then canning. 

[u/milkandgin]

Apple cider vinegar is easy and good for health. One could also keep starters of kiefer, sourdough, kombucha and yogurt going perpetually.

[u/ChaosMechanic]

I pick Mead. It checks all 3 of your boxes plus gives you a nice buzz to help you with those apocalyptic blues you are going to have.

[u/pebgc]

My dad and uncle made jarred olives for many years.

I am still eating jars sealed in 2003 and they are perfect. Stored in our basement

[u/BaylisAscaris]

I made a ton of pickled cucumbers because the garden produced too much and there isn't really a paletable way to preserve them otherwise. Also did kimchi and pickled radish pods, although both could be cooked and canned. I prefer having something fresh and crispy.

[u/Competitive_Swan_755]

Well, your completely out of luck with out salt. What is your plan to obtain it, beside stockpiling 1000 lbs now?

[u/Delam2 → u/Competitive_Swan_755]

I’m more interested in preparing ferments ahead of time, so I have a chance to build up my alternative sources of food.

[u/a_karma_sardine]

Home brewing would be a must, beer, wine and kombucha. Nutritious drinks that have long shelf lives.

Sourdough is another important one, for getting more energy out of grains, and just making bread nicer with airy textures.

Lastly, cultured milk products: cheese, yogurt, kefir, skyr, etc.. They give nutritious milk nearly endless shelf life, is good for the stomach and enriches life.

[u/Actias_Loonie]

What kind of water would be best to use in a off-grid situation? They recommend filtered water right now, but what if you don't have it?

[u/thejake1973]

Kimchi. Can be made from a variety of vegetables.

[u/bostongarden]

Sauerkraut

[u/IronPeter]

I don’t think fermentation is the c currently best process to preserve food for long time. It’s great for getting through the winter season probably, but not to have food for years.

I think canning is the real deal to extend shelf life of what you produce. At least that is what preppers focus on.

I’m happy to be wrong of course.