Cheapest way to store food?

[goneshooting]

Dry it yourself or buy it , other ?

 

[Leadeye]

Buy the food you normally eat, buy extra, rotate stock.

 

[GLOCKMAN23C]

Buy the food you normally eat, buy extra, rotate stock.

^^^This.^^^

You can supplement what you buy with a garden and canning/drying. All of which are time consuming and not necessarily cheap to get started in. The plus side is that they will pay for themselves fairly quickly and you will have better tasting options.

 

[JeepHammer]

Depends on what you are storing,
And for how long you want to store it...

DRY STORAGE,
WET STORAGE,
PRESSURE CANNED STORAGE

Keep in mind unless you want to spend a LOT OF TIME canning your own food, it's just more economical to buy extra at the store and rotate stock at home.
Buying 'Flats' instead of just single cans, making up a red 'Flag' and sticking it between flats/cans so you know when stocks need resupply is MUCH easier/cheaper than 'Home Canning',
And a really well stocked 'Pantry' saves you a crap load of money & effort in the long run.

Keep in mind a well stocked pantry IS EXACTLY WHAT YOU EAT NOW, and not some 'Survival' crap that the cardboard box tastes better...

Keep in mind high acid foods DO NOT store long term even in production cans.
Tomatoes WILL eat there way out of metal cans and usually sooner than later.

Store glass jars when possible, more expensive but lasts longer, and NEVER store a glass jar stacked, noting on top the jar EVER.
When glass jars are sealed & stacked, the seal can break, and weight will reseal the jar creating botulism, a horrible way to die and it's often undetected.
That 'Use By' date on cans/jars is usually the minimum length of time the seal is good for.
Stored correctly, not double stacked and the correct temp/humidity, the contents will last much longer.

Keep in mind that metal cans have a spray or dip liner and that lining decomposes into your food.
With glass jars that is reduced to lid sealers and an upright jar keeps those sealers from direct contact with your food.
Clean food is a priority at my house, the amount of additives/preservative chemicals I can't pronounce is zero, the amount of rat/insect parts or synthetic pesticides/herbicides/fungicides in my food is zero.
With glass jars there is typically zero heavy metals leaching into your food with extended storage.

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DRY STORAGE.

Your basic raw beans & rice need to be watertight, nothing more or less for SHORT term storage.
That is bags, jars, plastic or metal containers with a water tight seal.
Best stored in the winter since ambient humidity in the home is much less in the winter with a furnace running.

For long term storage, you MUST kill off fungus, bug eggs, etc before storage.
This means an oven safe canning jars, lid & ring.
Run the beans, rice etc up to about 250*F so anything alive is killed off, then simply seal the jar air tight so nothing bad can get in.
This is the same with corn meal, flour, etc.

Without at least heating to around 250*F THROUGHLY, you will have bug/fungus issues over time, and that's a guarantee.

Meat Protein.
There is jerky, there is 'Pemican', these are short term storage and MUST be kept dry/humidity sealed.
While jerky still has some meat fats and is more nutritious, the fats will eventually rot, and moisture will rot it.
Pemican is cooked sterile and is more or less completely dry. Provides protein but virtually no fats and is lousy for stews/soups which you will want to make in an emergency/SHTF situation.

A food dehydrator (or oven) will dry a lot of things, dehydrated food is a short term storage deal since it's not completely sterile and will eventually rot.
This is normally an over the winter thing, when humidity comes up in the spring/summer a lot of dehydrated food that's not sterile/sealed will go bad, and most home preservation isn't sterile/sealed.

What I can tell you is there isn't much better than a dried apple (rehydrated) pie in Jan or Feb when you have been living on mostly grains through the winter. Do it correctly (correct apple and right recipe) and it's better than any store bought pie you have ever had!

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WET PACKING.

When you home can/preserve, there is an investment in processing equipment.
Like reloading, the initial investment is often substantial and will take time/use to show any signs of payback.
A 'Hot Packer' is for high acid foods like tomatoes, it's basically a boiling bath in a non-pressurized pot.
It's called 'Hot Packing' and the big pot you do it in is fairly cheap, and so are the canning jars/lids/rings.

Never, under any circumstances, try to 'Hot Pack' meat or other low acid foods.
The temperatures simply don't reach sterilization point and the food will rot in the jars.
High acid (and salt) will last several years, and low heat packing will keep the veggies from turning into mush.

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PRESSURE CANNING.

I started with a 'Cheap' Presto canner, a few jars at a time, mostly to figure out what recipes I like and what I don't like,
What we will & won't eat.
I like green beans with pearl onions and marble potatoes in them, green beans WITHOUT meat can be hot packed, while meat & potatoes MUST be pressure canned...

I get EXACTLY what I want, pasta sauce with meat, sausage gravy, ham & bean soup, veg/beef soup, beef stew in a jar, etc and all will live for YEARS, sometimes decades when stored correctly.
It's time consuming & labor intensive, and my canner for larger production costs over $500, but I get exactly what I want, what I eat now since we grow & can about all our own food,
We simply schedule for the harvest and make the time for the canning/preservation.

Keep in mind that canning jars can NOT be stacked, you can't allow weight on the life once sealed, so it takes up a little more room, but you know you have clean food, and it's exactly what you want to eat.
If you go this direction, consider it a 'Hobby' like reloading, buy the proper equipment and do the proper research, take the time to learn how, then what you like...
The big home canners hold their value like reloading machines do, simply because they are so functional and change very little, and canning jars/rings, and sometimes lids are re-useable.

Pressure canning will let you preserve meat an nearly anything else that rots since it's a sterilization & sealing process all in one.

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Home canning isn't for everyone, some won't take/don't have the time, some won't be smart enough to do it, some won't understand 'SELF Renewable/Sustainable' over consumable/finite resources.
If your goal is to have 6 days or 6 weeks worth of food for a disaster, then the grocery store is your best option.

If you want to feed yourself/family long term, year end, year out, then a garden, seed stocks, canning equipment the ONLY option that doesn't leave a 'Starving Time' between harvests, or between fall die off and spring greening.
Personally, the idea of starving two or three months every year doesn't appeal to me....

 

[indyjohn]

Ok Hammer, you have my attention. Would you take a minute and write about seed stock. My uneducated interpretation of any seeds bought for my garden are hybrid and because they are hybrid will not germinate. And I'm not even touching the conversation about the agricultural seed program.

 

[GLOCKMAN23C]

I've been under the impression that all green beans must be pressure canned. This is the way I've always done it, without meat. I do a cold pack, pour boiling water over and place in the pressure cooker.

 

[bwframe]

Lotsa ways to do it. I do a few of them for hobby, prepping, economy, etc.

I think Dave Canterbury's frequent quote of "live food doesn't spoil," is an interesting one.

 

[JeepHammer]

Ok Hammer, you have my attention. Would you take a minute and write about seed stock. My uneducated interpretation of any seeds bought for my garden are hybrid and because they are hybrid will not germinate. And I'm not even touching the conversation about the agricultural seed program.

Real simple, there are several seed catalogs that sell 'Heritage' seeds.
Another name is 'Heirloom' seeds.
They are good, old fashioned basic hybrid strains that have been around since mankind started farming.

People have made quite the business out of heritage seeds, not that the guns, ammo & bibles bunch has noticed...

https://www.amazon.com/Heritage-Veg...ocphy=9016597&hvtargid=pla-350515994351&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/Sustainable-...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=0HTK3W2Y4YAVA03NHJ0N

https://www.amazon.com/Vegetable-32...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=0HTK3W2Y4YAVA03NHJ0N

I personally browse the seed catalogs for things I haven't tried yet, see if I like them, and let them go to seed if I do like them, try replanting the next year. It's not like I have to plant an entire package each year, usually just a few plants to start with, and seeds easily last 4 or 5 years minimum...
Here is a link to 50 ot 60 seed catalogs suppliers in one spot....

https://www.thespruce.com/free-seed-catalogs-1357756

Keep in mind that people 'Collect' silver, they 'Collect' bullets, they 'Collect' every 'Survival' widget made, but they don't 'Collect' canning jars, lids, rings, don't have a hot packed or pressure canner, don't have seeds or a prepared garden bed, and don't even have books on gardening.

'Survival' is defined as a very big change in living situation in a very short period of time.
Sustainability is defined as adapting to the environment & resources you have at hand.
I choose to be sustainable, I can learn the rules of a new situation a LOT easier when I'm not worried where my next meal is coming from.
AND,
Putting bullets in a frying pan never goes well, and you can't stick a fork in the gravy after you boil 10,000 'widgets' a week.

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Grasses/weeds to corn, wheat, etc. cultivated for bigger seed heads and they reproduce just fine from seeds over countless generations.
They are still available, dispute Monsanto & ADMs best efforts.
It's not like the first humans found nice neat rows of fruits & vegetables ready to eat waiting for them....

There is a fight every year about corn around me, the non GMO guys don't want GMO planted around there non-GMO
And I can't plant my white sweet corn when ANY corn is planted around me.
It will cross pollinate with the field corn and I get a much less sweet, variegated hybrid strain that isn't 'White Sweet Corn' anymore.
It has to be a no corn in a mile year before I can plant my white sweet corn...
It's worth the effort, and I grow a crap load in the no corn years around me.

Potatoes are stupid easy to grow & store and have been a staple for centuries.
Cool, dry storage, like a buried garbage can, and sit an apple on a glass plate on top to prolong storage time.
Decomposing apples prolong potato life greatly, but doesn't work with any other produce.

There are about 50 common types of potatoes currently that will grow about anywhere, and along with turnups make for staples that kept Europe alive through several blights, wars, weather issues, etc.

A potato's self reproducing cycle and tolerance to environmental conditions makes it ideal for 'Survival' and resistant to cross pollination/hybrid issues.
ADM/Monsanto hasn't been able to inject a 'Terminator' gene into potatoes (yet).

EVERYONE *THINKS* they can go 'Hunter/Gatherer' again,
370 million people in this country and about 1/3 with firearms, or around 111 million with firearms, so 'Game' gets scarce real fast.
Reference the great depression when several spices went extinct in several states and had to be reintroduced.

Everyone *Thinks* they will forage for edibles, but actually have no idea what is edible, and don't take into account that hunter/gatherers ate everything, including boiled hides, bugs & worms, and still had a 'Starving Time' in late winter that continued to early spring.

And let's not forget they all had parasites, died from toxins in both plants animals/insects, and the average age was about 30 years old, and that's only if you survived the 50%+ death rate of infants/children...

*IF* you put the study in, buy the equipment, and do the work you are guaranteed a steady, safe food supply gardening/canning.
Keep in mind before the invention/implementation of canning in America around the time of the American 'Civil' war, people still starved to death over winter quite often, home canning virtually stopped that from happening.

What you can't convince people now is... It still works!
The science that worked then still works now.
It's just not an education that's 'Main Stream' anymore, but still available.

The idea of 'Decorative' plants/shrubs/trees shouldn't occur to you, unless it's a cash crop or attracts pollinators.
All fruit trees bloom, briar patches provide berries and attract pollinators, and they also provide security since no one in their right mind approaches through a briar thicket.
There is something to be said for the animals that are attracted by fruit trees & briar thickets, potential for providing meat.

Its up to you all how much you want to think it through and do, these are just basic ideas.

 

[JeepHammer]

Lotsa ways to do it. I do a few of them for hobby, prepping, economy, etc.

I think Dave Canterbury's frequent quote of "live food doesn't spoil," is an interesting one.

The issue with that is two fold...
1. There has to be something living you can consume,
2. You have to find, catch, kill, dress & cook said 'Live Food', otherwise it's just wildlife.

Consider this,
At any given time there are 370 million people in the US.
30% of that population is armed, that's about 111 million people thinking the same way you are.
The 'Game' & livestock won't last long, just like it didn't last long during the great depression when there were only 123 million in the country.

I'm old enough to remember when there weren't any deer or turkey season in Indiana because the populations were just rebounding from extinction during the 1930s...
A with nearly as many firearm owners in the US now as there was entire population in the 1930s, exactly how long before the game is gone?

 

[rhino]

Ok Hammer, you have my attention. Would you take a minute and write about seed stock. My uneducated interpretation of any seeds bought for my garden are hybrid and because they are hybrid will not germinate. And I'm not even touching the conversation about the agricultural seed program.

That seeds from hybrids won't germinate is one of the biggest myths on the interwebs. People want to believe that the seeds from the fruits of hybrids are somehow inert, but that's usually not true.

Seeds you save from hybrid crops will germinate, but the results are unpredictable due to the plant carrying traits from two or more non-hybrid varieties. You may get the same thing or you may get a mix of plants that in varying degrees resemble the parent stock. That includes the amount fruit that is produced (or not). Eventually, if you keep doing it for multiple generations and segregating seeds based on traits of the plant that produced them Gregor Mendel-style, you'll get something that will consistently produce the same thing.

The advantage of legacy varieties is the predictability over generations. You also can't guarantee that 100% for several reasons, but in general they will be more consistent from the early generations onward.

 

[JeepHammer]

That seeds from hybrids won't germinate is one of the biggest myths on the interwebs. People want to believe that the seeds from the fruits of hybrids are somehow inert, but that's usually not true.

Seeds you save from hybrid crops will germinate, but the results are unpredictable due to the plant carrying traits from two or more non-hybrid varieties. You may get the same thing or you may get a mix of plants that in varying degrees resemble the parent stock. That includes the amount fruit that is produced (or not). Eventually, if you keep doing it for multiple generations and segregating seeds based on traits of the plant that produced them Gregor Mendel-style, you'll get something that will consistently produce the same thing.

The advantage of legacy varieties is the predictability over generations. You also can't guarantee that 100% for several reasons, but in general they will be more consistent from the early generations onward.

Pretty close, but not quite when talking seed stocks.

A bunch of seed stocks won't even cross pollinate with parent plants,
For instance, corn won't cross pollinate with the original grass strain it came from.

Enough generations of cross breeding a particular strain with another strain like it and you eventually eliminate the parent issues from 4:1 down to 1:1 in a maximum of 16 generations.

The Terminator gene CAN cross pollinate into your seed stock from GMO plants, corn is particularly susceptible which is why I protect my strain so closely.

You CAN wind up with a 'Mule', parentage that produces seeds that will germinate, but won't seed, which brings the line to a dead end.

I did some work for a strawberry producer some years ago that produced several hybrids and I just broke even because I spent so much time talking to and studying the research of the genetics department, it's crazy interesting what they came up with.
While the yellow & purple strawberries were the show stoppers, the research into fruit size, sugar content, water consumption, disease, fungus & insect resistance, etc was where the science was at.

Terminator genes are mostly (but not exclusively) in GMO crops, and that's so the production companies can keep a monopoly on the seed supply.
GPC & ADM wants big, starch heavy corn kernels that contain little else in the way of food value.
Starch is processed into sweetener (and it's NOT sugar no matter how many times you hear it) and into alcohol.
The only food value is in the corn germ, and that's pressed for oil and fed to livestock.
You can and will starve to death trying to survive on GMO corn, there isn't enough food value to sustain human life.

The Heritages versions of corn are smaller ears, smaller kernels, but MUCH higher food value, and they don't 'Terminate'.
These aren't the 'Mule' hybrids the next generation won't germinate or won't produce ears if they do grow stalks.
While you can't live forever on corn alone, you can survive a good long time on NON-GMO corn because of the higher food value,
And this is why a LOT of livestock producers throw a fit when GMO cross pollinates with their heritage strains they feed livestock.
The food value goes down, and the production drops to nearly nothing because the cross pollination carried the terminator gene.

When Monsanto kills your heritage line, then you have to BUY livestock feed (from them) and you have to either burn down the fields and start over, or you have to keep buying seed stocks from them (at greatly increased cost) to feed your livestock,
AND,
Since you are now growing GMO, you are the problem for anyone in wind/pollen range... Spreading the problem.

If you live in farm country, this is nothing new.
Constant law suits which ADM/Monsanto has unlimited resources to win...
In third world countries Monsanto employs private armies to run out/drive down anyone that complains.

We all know who's doing what, ADM fixes prices (caught, convicted & fined, but fines & bribes are part of doing business),
Monsanto produces seed stock that was *Supposed* to work with a particular herbicide, which they make,
And a particular pesticide, which they make, and it was supposed to REDUCE the pesticides/herbicides needed.
The GMO terminator gene wasn't supposed to jump to heritage seed stocks, but it did immediately.

Now the 'Super' GMO genes jumped to weeds & insects, and it can take up to a dozen pesticides/herbicides to kill off the unwanted.
That's 10 more income stream for Monsanto, and a chemical cocktail in/on foods.
Keep in mind the government requires Monsanto to do its own 'Safety' testing (fox in charge of the hen house),
They don't even require Monsanto to test all the chemicals together to see what they morph into or how toxic that cocktail is.

When I say 'Clean Food', I don't mean dirt...

 

[JeepHammer]

I have written about raised garden beds before many times, and I've even hosted classes for collages & FFA high schoolers on the subject.

The deal with raised beds is stupid simple...
First off, soil control.
It's not 'Dirt', it's growing soil that's been prepared specifically for gardening.
Nutrients for specific plants, pH high, neutral or low depending on what you grow in that bed.

Since your soil nutrients are tailored for a specific crop type, you can grow much more densely populated and not reduce the production of each plant.
Less square feet to produce any specific amount of produce, or more produce on a smaller footprint.

Then there is drainage, while a little more water is needed overall, you don't drown or produce fungus problems with over saturated soil for some plants while trying to give enough water to there plants.

Insect & weeds are reduce to virtually zero if the bed is far enough up off the ground, and you use a net.
That simple barrier net keeps 99.9% of bugs/pests out of your produce patches.
And since you aren't growing field corn or beans here, it's very cost effective since pesticides, herbicides & fungicides are so greatly reduced,
AND!
You get MUCH cleaner food without all those chemicals...

Nets also allow you to keep natural pest control in place.
I use lady bugs & praying mantis quite often.
They are cheap, clean, 24/7 eating machines for the really small problems that get through nets, like aphids.
No aphids escape to re-infest, they get EVERY SINGLE ONE, and it doesn't take long either.

Just from personal experience, don't take the praying mantis egg nest out of the fridge and lay it on the kitchen counter or you will chase those little suckers for WEEKS around the house!

'Organic' doesn't mean 'Chrystal Gripping Hippie', organic means using what was used before petroleum based toxic chemicals.

EVERY farm kid got covered in chemicals in the 60s/70s/80s that are considered toxic waste at best today, and many are known cancer causing agents, birth defect causing agents, etc. today and haven't been made for decades, but we all live with a ticking time bomb inside us because of that exposure.
Do you REALLY want to hand that down to your children/grandchildren?

Keep in mind these are the very same people that told you smoking didn't cause lung cancer, heart disease, birth defect, and for nearly half a century they sold cigarettes as 'Medicinal', actually supposed to be good for you.
They ground asbestos into 'Baby Powder', which is exactly the right size to penetrate the deepest into lung tissue.
Before Roman times, the Greeks knew lead would make you insane, and yet lead was used to solder/seal FOOD CANS until the 1960s.
Today, BPA is used as a liner in almost all food cans. The history of BPA is a birth control hormone that created horrendous birth defects, it was tested as a chemical warfare agent.
The ONLY reason BPA is being reduced in metal canned goods in the US is exports, many countries have banned it and BPA lined cans are barred from import, and it's cheaper for the company to use a non-banned liner in the cans.

I choose NOT to wait and see what else winds up on the banned/cancer/birth defect list simply because if you garden, it's so easy NOT to use the chemicals in the first place...
When I do use heavy metals/chemicals I use them sparingly.
Heavy metals are persistent in the soil, so are a lot of chemicals, and I simply don't want the buildup in the soil.

It's up to you to do what you like, but I go a little different road than most.
It's not that I'm a self proclaimed 'Super Genius' (like Trump), I'm just a guy that connected a few dots, did a little research and figured out a way not to use many, if any chemicals or heavy metals.

Surplus parachutes are virtually nothing, last surplus auction locally they went for $30 for 500-1,000 pounds in bins.
Netting is extremely cheap, looks very professional and a raised garden bed is stupid simple to add a net to.
All you really need is a long stick to roll the net around so you can roll it up & move it.
95% of problems solved right there...
A water line/sprinkler solves another 4%.
The next 1% I can't call since it will be local (and usually self-inflicted in my case).

-----------

For the 'WW3' and SHTF bunch (making it 'Tacti-Cool'),

Raised garden beds make GREAT cover/bullet stops since the bottoms are full of gravel for drainage.
Raised garden beds can have SEALED PLASTIC BAGS of prepared soil from the local garden/farm store just waiting to be used.
Big ole chemical or biological attack (that gets the end of the world types attention) your soil is SEALED IN PLASTIC BAGS.
Tactical/Survival soil... (There is a million dollar marketing idea there somewhere!).
With black plastic or plywood over the raised beds, the UV/elements don't eat your plastic bags.

Consider it 'Tactical Prepping' for 'After World'...

 

[sngehl01]

I've been under the impression that all green beans must be pressure canned. This is the way I've always done it, without meat. I do a cold pack, pour boiling water over and place in the pressure cooker.

Same here, and thte first I can recall seeing someone suggest doing it otherwise. Interesting.

 

[bwframe]

The issue with that is two fold...
1. There has to be something living you can consume,
2. You have to find, catch, kill, dress & cook said 'Live Food', otherwise it's just wildlife.

Consider this,
At any given time there are 370 million people in the US.
30% of that population is armed, that's about 111 million people thinking the same way you are.
The 'Game' & livestock won't last long, just like it didn't last long during the great depression when there were only 123 million in the country.

I'm old enough to remember when there weren't any deer or turkey season in Indiana because the populations were just rebounding from extinction during the 1930s...
A with nearly as many firearm owners in the US now as there was entire population in the 1930s, exactly how long before the game is gone?

Oh, I agree wholeheartedly about the problems with the niave "I'll hunt to eat when SHTF," mentality. I'm not talking about that.

Canterbury was talking more along the lines of "live" food being live as in a variety of growing plants and contained creatures like cattle, chickens, goats, fish, etc.

More along the lines of surrounding your house with edible plants rather than decorative flowers and bushes. The same could be said for wrapping your head around the idea of your "pets" being considered walking food, in case they ever have to be.

The garlic, onions, tomatoes, peppers and horseradish you grow in the flower bed could well be an excellent seasoning or side for Fido stew. Fido, who also requires your edible food in SHTF.

 

[GLOCKMAN23C]

Oh, I agree wholeheartedly about the problems with the niave "I'll hunt to eat when SHTF," mentality. I'm not talking about that.

Canterbury was talking more along the lines of "live" food being live as in a variety of growing plants and contained creatures like cattle, chickens, goats, fish, etc.

More along the lines of surrounding your house with edible plants rather than decorative flowers and bushes. The same could be said for wrapping your head around the idea of your "pets" being considered walking food, in case they ever have to be.

The garlic, onions, tomatoes, peppers and horseradish you grow in the flower bed could well be an excellent seasoning or side for Fido stew. Fido, who also requires your edible food in SHTF.

Too many would rather starve, and I know a few that would, than to eat their pet.

 

[bwframe]

Too many would rather starve, and I know a few that would, than to eat their pet.

Yes, they will starve along with all the rest of those unprepared. Then the rest of us will survive, eating the pet that they "just couldn't."

 

[rhino]

Yes, they will starve along with all the rest of those unprepared. Then the rest of us will survive, eating the pet that they "just couldn't."

Don't forget: Fido is keto-friendly!

 

[JeepHammer]

OK, but that takes prior planning...
And it's a 'Bug In' thing.
I don't plan on moving, or being moved, so I do the plantings & improvements, all aimed at sustainability.
Two old fat, disabled 60 year olds have about no chance in an all out, long term war zone, so our best option is to stay.

Besides, most likely this is just our retirement place, we'll garden, fish, watch wildlife until we kick the bucket and this place is just about perfect for that... Rocking chairs on the patio, fruit trees at the edges of the yard, places to fish a 1 minute golf cart ride away...
Almost zero utility costs, and farm land leased to produce income in old age. (Let someone else do the hard work!)

I personally didn't want 'Decorative' trees with low hanging limbs and thick trunks in my potential 'Field Of Fire', so fruit trees produce and they don't make real good cover.
They do draw deer like crazy, so much so they become pests in the fall.
Since the house is earth sheltered, we actually had deer fall off the roof into the patio a couple times, once while we were eating on the patio...
My wife was so upset I had to install a railing up there to keep deer from falling... (Stupid deer!)
The turkeys get so thick in the side yard they carpet the grass with crap. That's always fun to mow...

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When you think how previous generations ate, often only having meat once a week, having much less meat, this makes things MUCH more simple.
Small amounts of meat once a week will throw your system off until you get used to it, fiber tabs and multi-vitamins recommend!
No issues with that since they are cheap and have a long shelf life.

People think we are nuts because we can a lot of soup/stew.
It's quick, easy and nutritious, and since it's fully cooked in the jar, you *Could* eat it cold saving heating fuel. (Yuck!)
It's also a good way to get small amounts of meat into your diet without extra preparation.

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Just for the record,
A friend of mine swears by Keystone brand canned meats, particularly beef.
I've tried it and it does taste like beef without being bitter or stupid tough.
It's not real cheap, meat never is, but it allows you to have meat handy without home canning, and he buys his through an on line delivery service so it shows up on his front door even though it's not in the stores around here.
I'd look for free shipping, Walmat or Amazon or someplace.

He has meat chunks, ground beef & chicken from Keystone & he swears by it.

When you can pick it up at the local store, or have it delivered things get much more simple!

 

[Lex Concord]

Our local Walmart carries Keystone, and I can vouch for the chicken; beef is okay...haven't yet tried the turkey (not much of a turkey fan).

Regarding pemmican, you said "Pemican is cooked sterile and is more or less completely dry. Provides protein but virtually no fats and is lousy for stews/soups which you will want to make in an emergency/SHTF situation."

I had always been under the impression that "true" (i.e. native style) pemmican had good fat content due to one of the main ingredients being suet/tallow. Offerings like this are in line with that thinking https://discover.grasslandbeef.com/blog/pemmican-superfood-for-centuries/ (fat : protein == 2 : 1)

Is that the type of recipe to which you were referring, or is there another style?

 

[sshelton]

Idk about cheapest but we find it very convenient to just buy extra of the can stuff we normally buy. And pick up a case of inexpensive rural king water.