In a disaster situation OR with the hyper inflation that has already started, cooking time becomes an issue.  The smaller that you butcher meat, vegetables grains ect, the faster it will cook, RIGHT? And there for the less it will cost in energy / time to cook that food.

With that in mind, Beans especially those that you have had stored for a long time take awhile to cook. The older they are the longer it takes to cook and get soft, some don’t get soft even after hours of soaking/cooking. We have all experienced this. BUT the smaller the pieces, the less time it takes to cook.

Do you need a grain grinder to process grains, beans ect? While it does help you can also use your blender or one of those ‘magic bullet’ small grinders/puree devices. Put just a small amount of grain, beans, OR dehydrated product like carrots, celery, onions can be turned into flour. As you get more experience with the process you will find the best amount to process at a time. Many people then run the flour though a flour sifter or a screen sieve to have consistent sized flour pieces.

Once you have your ‘flour’ made and in whatever container you will store it in short term, you can start mixing your recipes. Personally I measure out the whole grain/beans to start with and then grind it all together for the batch of whatever I am making.

Here is one recipe I am experimenting with.

WWII German military “iron ration”

anything with bean flour… in large heavy pot, try minced bacon 1/2 lbs fried until mostly crisp, add one onion to taste minced fine, cook well caramelized then add pea flour until you have a stiff dough. roll into a sausage roll with waxed paper. This will store good at room temp for a few months… at point of use pinch off however much you want and add to boiling water, stir and you have pea soup in minutes. Serve with crackers. You  can add carrot flour too.

A variant is to take ham ½ lbs minced and add a half cup of lard and cook as above.

What are your thoughts and or hints along this line?