Diastatic Malt Powder

"What on earth is diastatic malt powder?  How can it be a 'basic food storage' item if I've never even heard of it?  If I've never even heard of it, do I really need it?"

No, you probably don't really need it, but it can be a handy item to have.  It's a total DIY thing with a shorter shelf-life (like a couple of months), cheap to produce, and the world won't come to an end if you run out.  Unless, maybe, if you really pride yourself on your breads and you have a reputation to uphold.

Diastatic malt powder is usually produced from barley (only because barley is cheaper than wheat), and is added by mills to the bread flours they produce.   It is used in baking breads to impart a natural sweetness, so you need a little less sugar or honey, and it makes crusts a little browner and shinier.  On its own it has a bit of a bitter aftertaste (who actually goes around taste-testing bits of flour?), which is not noticed when mixed with other ingredients and baked.

However, diastatic malt powder is also made very easily with wheat.  This, and because it helps make a better loaf of bread, qualifies it to be considered part of basic food storage.

So how does one go about making diastatic malt powder?  Well, sit down.  Get comfortable.  This explanation is going to take all of about 60 seconds.  That is, if English is your second language and you have to look up half the words.  Otherwise, skip the sit down and get comfortable parts.

For detailed instructions on sprouting wheat, see here.  If you're familiar with sprouting:

• Soak 1 cup of wheat for 6-12 hours.
• Drain and rinse and drain again.
• Rinse and drain every 6-8 hours (three times daily).
• Continue for 2-3 days until sprout roots are as long as the wheat berry.

At this point, spread the sprouted wheat on a baking sheet or a dehydrator tray.  Set the temperature to 110-120 degrees.  (If the temperature goes much above 125, you will produce non-diastatic malt powder.  The enzymes will be killed, and your powder will do nothing to promote a better rise in your bread.)  This will take about eight hours.  The sprouted wheat must be completely and thoroughly dry, just like the wheat berries you started with.

At this point, it's time to grind the dried, sprouted berries.  You can run them through your grain grinder, but bear in mind, if your sprouted, dried wheat is not completely and thoroughly dry, you will gum up your mill.  I prefer to use a blender just to be safe--and a regular cheap blender-that-you-got-at-a-garage-sale-after-someone-else-got-it-at-Walmart will work just fine. Coffee grinders also work. 

Congratulations!  You are now the proud parent of diastatic malt powder!

Store your diastatic malt powder in the refrigerator.  (Just keep as cool as possible post-collapse.)  Use within six months.

When you are making bread, replace 1 teaspoon of sugar with 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of diastatic malt powder.  To do its job properly, the diastatic malt powder must be mixed in with the yeast while it proofs.  Use only 1/2 to 1 teaspoon per loaf of bread or 3 cups of flour.  Do not use more, or your dough will become sticky and not rise as well.

How does diastatic malt powder work?  The dried and powdered sprouted wheat (or barley, but the barley must be whole grain--pearled barley will not sprout) contains enzymes that help break down starch into sugar, which the yeast then feeds on.  The active enzymes in diastatic malt promote full and efficient growth of the yeast throughout the fermentation process, helping the dough to be smoother and rise higher.  It's especially useful in doughs with a long rise or fermentation process.

Links to related posts:
Wheat
Bread
Sprouting Wheat
Dough Enhancer   

For further information (all articles accessed 6 March 2019):
https://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-malt-powder.htm
https://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/diastatic-malt-powder-16-oz
http://www.nyx.net/~dgreenw/whatisdiastaticmalt.html
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/38089/diastatic-malt-powder

21 june 2019

96-hour Emergency Kit, part 2

Last week we presented part 1 of the 96-hour emergency kit.  This is part 2.


HOPE   

• Communication.  In a crisis, it's essential to know what actually happened.  Is this a local catastrophe, regional, or national?  Will assistance be coming (for others--we don't need it because we prepared, right?) today, tomorrow, next week, or never?  The answer to that will govern a lot of critical choices in the very near future.  Having a battery pack or solar charger for your cell phone may let you connect with the outside world, especially if phones require more power because the nearest cell towers are down.  As sometimes happens, regular cell and internet service may be down in a disaster, but text messages can get through. Likewise, sometimes services for one company will be down, but not another.  So include in your kit hard copies of phone numbers in case your phone isn’t working, but someone else’s is, even if you are one that normally memorizes phone numbers.  The stress of a disaster can turn a good brain to Jell-O.  Other options, and more reliable, are ham radios and two-way radios.  And then there is always pencil and paper.  
• Entertainment. In a stressful situation, people need to be able to de-stress, both individually and as a group.  There may be times when we just need a break, an opportunity to de-stress.  Each person in the group is required to have a game—preferably one that doesn’t require any supplies, only the ability to explain how it’s played.  Favorites in our family are murder (AKA assassin) and charades. Some favor puzzle books.  One person in our family is tasked with carrying a deck of cards. 
• Scriptures. As important as it is to feed the body, it's more important to be able to feed the spirit.  So we all carry small paperback copies of our scriptures, in a Ziploc bag.  
• Documents.  My husband carries the hard copy of important documents—birth certificates, social security cards, driver’s licenses, insurance policies, credit cards, etc, in a folder.  In addition, all of these documents and other important items are on thumb drives.   
• Money.  We all carry cash, in all small bills.  The children weren't open to taking that much cash out of their personal circulation, so they have cash from Mom and Dad--clearly labeled as Mom and Dad's cash--so that they do not spend it.

All items in the kit get packed in a heavy duty garbage bag in the backpack, so that the contents can be quickly removed in the event of a backpacking trip.  Foods are loaded as far as possible from fuels and toiletries to prevent smells tainting the food.

CONTAINERS  

So how do you plan to carry your kit?  What makes the most sense for your situation?  There are loads of options in cost and convenience, but for most, it comes down to your individual stage in life.

• Backpacks.   They hang easily in the garage and slip on your back when it's go time.  Lots of pockets make it easier to access something you want close at hand.  And padded straps make them a bit more comfortable to carry. 
• Buckets.  Plastic buckets are free from doughnut shops, and some of them smell pretty good, even after being washed out.  They're waterproof.  And you can replace the original lid, which can be a bit difficult to remove, with a gamma lid so that you can easily get into your bucket.  Unfortunately, buckets can be a little awkward to carry. 
• Totes.Ten- and eighteen-gallon totes, like those manufactured by Rubbermaid, hold more stuff, volume-wise, and are more suited for carrying with two hands.  This is perhaps the way to go for families with small children.  The kids go in the backpacks, and then the adults' hands are free to carry supplies.

When children have their own backpacks, it not only lightens the load for parents but also teaches children that preparedness and self-reliance are a way of life.  Though they can't carry everything, they can carry clothing, some snacks, and maybe even their own boo-boo kits.  If children are allowed to choose what foods go into their kits, especially their comfort foods, a disaster becomes less of an emergency and more of an adventure.  Comfort foods and special treats go a long way with children.

PURPOSE 

As you assemble kits for your family, plan for the most likely disasters.  Living on the side of a mountain, we don't worry about tsunamis, hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods.  We plan for wildfires and earthquakes.  However, most of the planning and packing is the same as for other disasters, with a few modifications.

Wildfire preparation begins each year in the spring, before fire season.  We check again with a friend about being able to take our animals to her property for a day or two.  Our fire kit includes water, dog leashes, two-way radios, and bright yellow t-shirts and bandanas. (In the Great Chicago Fire, families got separated.  Our thinking is that bright shirts will help us find each other a little more easily.) Of course, fires can happen at any time, but sometimes we have some warning.  When a thunderstorm is in the forecast, we dress appropriately.  The trailer gets hooked up, the cars are prepared for animals, rabbit carriers are ready to load, dog leashes in place, wallets and phones are in the car, and keys are in the ignition. 

If we were preparing for a tornado, many of those same things would be moved into the storm shelter, because there is advance notice of tornado weather.  If we were faced with a hurricane, I think we’d leave the area.  

My husband has his kit for getting home from work, and our college students are prepared to make it home from school.  

NOTES

• Pets.  With your documents, include proof of vaccinations and licensing to be able to take your pets to a shelter.  As laws vary by municipality, be aware of what is expected in your area.  With your emergency kits, be sure to have food and water for the animals. 
• Rotation.  Check your kit every six months, perhaps spring and fall to accommodate seasonal changes.  Summer clothes go into the pack in April, and winter clothes are substituted in October.  Change foods out as needed—freeze-dried items don't need to be replaced as often as dehydrated foods and nuts.  Battery-powered items are checked each time, and batteries and medications are rotated.
• Label.  Label everything.  In a stressful situation it can be hard to think.  Even doctors label everything in their emergency medical kits.   
• List.  Post a list somewhere convenient in the house, perhaps a closet door, to remind everyone  what needs to be grabbed and where it is.  Include a list of items that you want to take in case you are never coming back.
• Delegate. Delegating some of the assembly of the kits to family members makes the task more manageable.  
• Purchased kits.  These range from bare bones basics to super deluxe.  Bear in mind that purchased kits don’t include clothes and may not include other essentials.  Most omit sewing repair kits and the medical supplies are often lacking--they don't even include basic pain relievers or antibiotic ointment.  They don't include your personal medications or sanitary needs for women.  They definitely don’t include enough water.
• Pest-proofing.  Wool socks and mittens go in Ziploc bags to protect them from moths.  

People may disagree about contents and organization.  We’re all different.  We live in different situations, with wide-ranging geographical situations and climates, and we face different threats. There is definitely no one-size-fits-all approach to assembling a 96-hour kit.  Pray, plan, and with Heaven’s help we'll be able to do our best for our loved ones.

Links to related posts:
96-Hour Kit, part 1   
Wool Mittens   

For more information: 
72-hour kits  

05.09.19

Corn Tortillas

Once you've made masa from dent corn, you've actually done about 90% of the work for making corn tortillas.  You really have only the mixing and pressing (or rolling) and cooking left.

Corn Tortillas (using store-bought masa harina)

2 cups masa harina

1 cup warm water

1/2 teaspoon salt

Combine all ingredients and knead into a soft dough.  Cover with plastic and let rest 10-20 minutes.  Use a tortilla press or roll out and cook as described below. 

Corn Tortillas (using home nixtamalized dent corn as described here)

7 ounces nixtamalized dent corn
store-bought masa harina, as needed

water, as needed

After nixtamalizing the dent corn and removing the bran, transfer the corn to a food processor.  Process for about 10 minutes, adding water as needed to help process the corn, and scraping down the sides every other minute.  The dough is ready when there are no large chunks of corn and the texture is like thick hummus.  

Transfer the corn to a mixing bowl and add masa harina a little at a time, kneading it into the dough until it is the consistency of Play-Doh.  To test, roll a ball of dough and then press it between your fingers.  If the dough cracks, it's too dry.  If it sticks to your fingers, it's too wet. 

Hopefully you've got a tortilla press of some sort.  It will make the job go a whole lot faster.  If life is good, you're using an electric tortilla press.  If not, get a quart-size Ziploc freezer bag and cut the zipper and two sides off, so that only one side is intact.  (Wax paper does not work as well as a freezer bag.)  Place a golf-ball-size amount of dough in the bag, and put that inside your press and press down to make your tortillas or use a rolling pin.

Carefully peel the tortilla from the plastic and cook on a hot skillet, about 30-60 seconds on each side.

Stack in a clean towel to keep warm.  Serve immediately. 

Family reviews:  We're pretty sure we'll never be able to make these as well as the manufacturer does.  The taste is acceptable, but you know, we really prefer flour tortillas.  But if you need corn tortillas, or especially if you want to make tortilla chips, these recipes will work just fine.

Links to related posts:

What To Do with All This Cornmeal

Flour Tortillas

96-Hour Emergency Kit, part 1

Just a reminder--Good Eats at the TEOTWAWKI Cafe, Vol 2, Condiments, Sauces, Seasonings, and More Using Food Storage is now available on Amazon. It's the fifth book compiled from the Prep School Daily blog, following the publication of Armageddon Pharmacy: Herbal Medicine When the Drugstore Is Closed earlier this year.  Other titles include Good Eats at the TEOTWAWKI Cafe:  Making the Most of Powdered Milk in Your Food Storage Program, Food Storage Made Fabulous:  Principles of Food Storage and Recipes So Fantastic Your Family Won't Realize There's a Crisis, and Bring Your Own Bandages:  Medicines and Supplies to Have on Hand Before Disaster Strikes.

 

For years now the federal government has been advising people to have a 72-hour kit in case of emergency.  Some states, most notably Utah, have counseled their citizens to plan for 96 hours before help arrives.  Recent disasters have demonstrated that it's taking rescuers longer to reach victims.  And as preppers, we don't plan on government coming to the rescue anyway.

There are numerous sites and lists online to get you thinking about building your emergency kits.  Some are pretty good.  A lot are dreadful.  Who actually thinks a packet of oatmeal or a stick of jerky and some hot chocolate is going to make an acceptable meal in a disaster?!?!  Apparently, more than a few.  I'm not talking about nutrition here.  For a day or two, we can let good nutrition slide, if necessary.  Calories will be most important.  And there's no way you're going to get sufficient calories, in a time of stress, from a packet of oatmeal and hot chocolate.

So when you look at these lists, the most important factor to keep in mind is that you must tailor your kit to your family and location.  Consider ages (infants and elderly), medical needs, location, and climate.  Some items are irrelevant—do you really need coins for phone booths and vending machines?  Some things just don’t apply—there's no fishing for miles and miles around, so there's no point in including fishing gear in our kits.  Fishing gear might be a great idea for your kits.

My husband and I have put a whole lot of kits together for our family in the last 30 years.  Fortunately, we've never had to use them, other than in camping and practice drills.  We have thrown a bit of gear away.  And that makes us sad. 

The first thing to share (not the first thing we learned, because it took us awhile) is that when building your kit you want to put absolutely everything in Ziploc bags.  This keeps everything looking new and usable.  Stuff that gets thrown in willy-nilly ends up looking dirty or just tired, and is much more likely to get wasted and thrown away.   It's easier to keep everything organized and to update what needs updating (like clothes for growing children), to rotate foods and batteries, and to find what you need when you need it when it is well-organized and clean. We feel better, physically and mentally, when we are clean.  Also, the bags will protect their contents from leaks of water, battery acids, and other liquids that are within the emergency pack, as well as water, insects, and dirt getting in from the outside.  Furthermore, the bags are easily labeled so that you know when items need to be rotated.  Everybody’s name is written on everything so that when something gets separated, it can go back to the right person.


SHELTER

• Clothing.  In a gallon-size Ziploc bag, one change minimum: 
• socks (pure wool to minimize potential problems with sweaty feet and/or athlete’s foot)
• underwear
• medical scrubs--they're lightweight, compact, loose-fitting (adjustable for growing teens and adults who may experience changes in waistline)   
• baseball cap
• sunglasses
• reading glasses
• mini sewing repair kit  (Mini Sewing Kit in a Straw)
• bandana (keeping dust and smoke out, sling, bandage, holding hair back, etc.)   
• Blankets.  In a gallon-size Ziploc bag:
• fleece blanket
• cheapie Mylar emergency blankets alone are not going to keep a body warm
• they tear too easily
• they suck the heat right out of you if they come in contact with your body
• they more effective if combined with a blanket, with the blanket next to the body and the Mylar on the outside
• rain poncho 
• when worn over everything will provide marginal protection to the Mylar blanket to keep it from tearing  
• sleeping bags 
• don't fit in our backpacks
• put in kitchen garbage bag, squeeze as much air out as possible, and twist tight
• store on shelves next to emergency packs
• grab if time permits
• Tent.  Our tents don’t fit in our emergency packs, but they are located right next to them in the garage to be grabbed if needed and if possible.  

FUEL and LIGHT

• Fire.  The fire starter kit includes, all in a snack-size Ziploc bag:  
• matches, strike anywhere (seal in plastic drinking straw to keep them waterproof--instructions here)
• tea light candles
• large birthday candles
• fire starters (we use petroleum jelly-cotton ball fire starters, in their own baggie)
• lighter    
• two hand warmers
• Sterno cans 
• don't have to gather sticks and kindling
• they light easily
• the flame is easily controlled
• the flame is quickly extinguished 
• Light.  
• headlamp
• handheld flashlight
• batteries (stored separately, in a plastic baggie, and rotated every six months)

PERSONAL SAFETY

• whistle
• pocketknife
• pepper spray

WATER 

• Bottled water.  Six to eight ½ liter water bottles
• six bottles for women, eight for men
• additional cases of water bottles are stored right next to our kits, ready to be loaded into our personal kits when necessary 
• Filters. One personal water purifier each  
• Water purification tablets 
• Katadyn Micropur water purification tablets
• 100% effective against bacteria, viruses, Giardia, and Cryptosporidium 
• Juice boxes.  two juice boxes per person
• instant carbohydrates
• change from drinking plain water
• emergency sugar source

FOOD

There are a few factors to keep in mind when planning what foods you are going to carry.  On a normal day, men consume an average of 2500 calories, women 2000 calories.  However, during a time of stress, such as any situation where we are packing up our emergency kits may constitute, we need up to 1000 calories more just to compensate for mental stress and moderate physical exertion.  And we will need a whole lot more calories for cold temperatures or strenuous physical exertion.  Without adequate calories it is hard to think and people become much more easily irritated.  Believe it or not, this is not a good combination in a time of crisis.  

In addition to planning for adequate calories, we want food that is ready to eat or requires only hot water, and food that is lightweight in case it has to be carried a long distance.  Before packing any food in your kits, make sure you actually like it.  Ready-to-eat food ideas include canned soups, pastas, beans, and meats.  MREs can be eaten as is or heated (some actually have an MRE heater with them).  Dried fruits, fruit rolls, jerky, nuts, crackers, peanut butter, and trail mix are all relatively lightweight and calorie-dense.  Water can be boiled for hot cocoa, instant oatmeal, instant soups, freeze-dried entrees, and ramen.  

In a time of stress, comfort foods are going to be really important (and provide some extra calories as well). We’ve packed hard candy, fishy crackers, gummy bears, gum, chocolate, chewy peanut butter granola bars.  You should include whatever your personal comfort foods are, and especially comfort foods for small children.

HYGIENE 

• Toiletries.  
• In a sandwich-sized Ziploc:
• washcloth
• hand sanitizer
• toothpaste/toothbrush/floss pics
• soap
• deodorant
• comb
• lotion
• ponytail holders
• emery board/nail clippers
• lip balm
• mosquito repellent wipes
• sunscreen 
• In a quart-size Ziploc bag
• 40-count package of baby wipes (ten per day--three for a daily “shower”, seven for handwashing)
• sanitary stuff (girls)
• toilet paper  
• First aid.  Each person has his personalized Boo-Boo Kit. 

The boo-boo kits are customized for each family member.  In our family, we have two that are subject to ulcers, one who lacks a spleen, one diabetic, and two that may experience moderate to severe gastrointestinal distress when stressed.  Their personal medications are added to their kits.

SPECIAL NEEDS

As you build your kits, don’t forget to plan for special needs of your family members.  Infants, small children, and the elderly will all have their own particular dietary and hygiene requirements.  As noted previously, we have people with medical challenges in our family.  One requires a special diet, so his food is entirely different from what is packed for the rest of us.  My husband is a type-1 diabetic, so we have a portable solar cooler for all the insulin, not just an emergency supply.  The year’s supply of insulin that we have built up is the most precious commodity in this house and one that is expensive to replace (and which insurance won’t cover), so it goes where we go.  Make sure you have plans to meet your own family members’ medical needs.

Related posts:
96-Hour Kit, checklist only  
96-Hour Kit, part 2
Boo-Boo Kit  
Katadyn Micropur Tablets  

For more information:
One-page 72-hour kit checklist, bare bones
PreppersSurvive.com checklist, better

 05.02.19