2012年9月24日 星期一

Equipping the Homestead - Homesteading Supplies for the Kitchen


If you're just getting started building a homestead, there are some homesteading supplies for the kitchen you may want to put on your list. Just like in any kitchen, plates, bowls, glasses, cutlery, a knife set et al are still going to be used. But there are some additional items that are used in the process of cooking and food storage that you will find valuable. Some of the items you may already have and use, and some you may not.

For cooking and baking, having non electric hand tools will be invaluable in the event of power outage. Some hand tools for your list are a can opener, hand beater (think egg beater), grain mill (useful for coffee as well as grains), manual meat grinder, juicer, rolling pin, grater, potato masher, strainer, wire whisk, non-electric yogurt maker, bread toaster, knife sharpener, potato peeler, nut chopper, garlic press, and a flour sifter. This is not an inclusive list, but will get you started.

Having the ability to prepare and cook your own food under any circumstances is invaluable. Containers for cooking that will last and be usable with or without electricity would include, but not be limited to, cast iron pots and pans, a dutch oven, a solar oven, a stock pot, crockery or enamel ware, stainless steel and ceramic bowls, a roasting pan, cooling racks, broiler pan, cast iron teapot, and a stove top coffee percolator.

Preserving the food you have, especially from your own garden, is a critical element to homesteading and one for which there are more homesteading supplies needed. One way to preserve food is to dehydrate it. A good electric dehydrator will help you preserve a lot of food fairly quickly, but it would also be wise to have a non electric dehydration method just in case. Canning is another excellent way to preserve the bounty of your garden. There are two basic method for canning, water bath and pressure. A pressure cooker/canner is an essential element to canning and is necessary for low acid foods and meats. If you had to only have one way to can, pressure canning would be it since you are able to can all kinds of food in a pressure canner.

A water bath canner is also good, it is inexpensive and useful, just cannot be used for all types of canning. Aside from a pressure canner and a water bath canner additional canning supplies include jars, lids, jar top funnels, cooling racks, jar tongs, and a pressure gauge.

As mentioned, it is entirely possible that you already have some of these items, but making yourself a shopping list would be a good step to fully equipping your homestead kitchen.




http://www.urbanhomesteadingtoday.com is a website that is focused on urban homesteading and the topics relevant to how to develop your own homestead. It is a place where you can join the journey, and learn to become more self reliant and less dependent on our currently over taxed support systems.





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