Baked beans...

[Deeps]

My point with the 5.6 / 4 cans per day is that if we store meat then it means we have to store less of anything else. Put another way, for the same storage space we could store more calories, and therefore store more day's worth, if we store meat.

I don't have a problem with beans - rather just pointing out that lots of the food preps I hear about (especially on the dehydrating thread) (fruit, veg, beans/pulses, rice/pasta) don't include a calorie count, which quite possibly means that the preps are not as good as intended. The best method I've seen so far for getting enough calories is eating meat.

So meat plays a vital role in my food preps and I'm just explaining my reasoning to see from your responses whether it is sound.

As an example of a possible alternative, Sainsbury's macaroni cheese has a high calorie count, but it tastes utterly disgusting. I've bought pretty much every can going in all aisles, and nothing beats meat, but canned curries are fantastic, with fish not bad either. Everything else is pretty awful for calories (especially fruit and veg), such that you'd need to eat a huge amount to get 2k per day.

If there are vegetarians or vegans on here, what do you eat to get calories? Brambles said walnuts (thanks!) so I researched those, and 100g of walnuts are about 654 calories, lasting 6 months in the fridge and 1 year in the freezer (but much less in a pantry or cupboard). Any way of storing nuts for significantly longer? Bear in mind the average shelf life for the cans mentioned above are at least 2 years.

You've banged this drum before I think mate, its not just calories that count. A large percentage of the world get by on less than 2K calories and not a great deal of meat, they have a harder lot than most of us too. A lot will depend on what you expect to prep for, or more specifically how long. Jansman has covered a lot of it already but if you're planning on staying put then why not eat as normally as you can ? If you're running off to the woods then dehydrated meals would be better, less weighty and bulky. There's more to life than spam.

[BlinkingCory]

Seth, try eating tinned meat for a week then come back
Myself and the mrs ate nothing but preps in our camper for a week.
Tinned meat became a minority after 3 days.
We loved tinned and dried fruit and veg.
Pasta and tom/putanesca sauce was a delight.
After 5 days a tin of meat looked like mud, whereas beans were nice with toast.
Tinned fruit was a godsend.

[itsybitsy]

I don't have a problem with beans - rather just pointing out that lots of the food preps I hear about (especially on the dehydrating thread) (fruit, veg, beans/pulses, rice/pasta) don't include a calorie count, which quite possibly means that the preps are not as good as intended. The best method I've seen so far for getting enough calories is eating meat.

So meat plays a vital role in my food preps and I'm just explaining my reasoning to see from your responses whether it is sound.

Well, actually, what you said in your original post was 'preppers need to eat meat' so you weren't just referring to yourself as far as I can see. Don't try and backtrack now that people are responding in a way that doesn't concur with your own personal viewpoint.

[Brambles]

I don't have a problem with beans - rather just pointing out that lots of the food preps I hear about (especially on the dehydrating thread) (fruit, veg, beans/pulses, rice/pasta) don't include a calorie count, which quite possibly means that the preps are not as good as intended. The best method I've seen so far for getting enough calories is eating meat.

So meat plays a vital role in my food preps and I'm just explaining my reasoning to see from your responses whether it is sound.

As an example of a possible alternative, Sainsbury's macaroni cheese has a high calorie count, but it tastes utterly disgusting. I've bought pretty much every can going in all aisles, and nothing beats meat, but canned curries are fantastic, with fish not bad either. Everything else is pretty awful for calories (especially fruit and veg), such that you'd need to eat a huge amount to get 2k per day.

If there are vegetarians or vegans on here, what do you eat to get calories? Brambles said walnuts (thanks!) so I researched those, and 100g of walnuts are about 654 calories, lasting 6 months in the fridge and 1 year in the freezer (but much less in a pantry or cupboard). Any way of storing nuts for significantly longer? Bear in mind the average shelf life for the cans mentioned above are at least 2 years.

I believe the problem here is twofold. 1. You are concentrating on tinned food and 2. You seem to have fixated on calories.

Now if it were purely to get calories, I suggest you store Olive Oil, Vegetable oil, Sunflower Oil, Ghee, Coconut oil, in fact any type of edible oil in quantity. It beats meat hands down for calorie content.

However, most of us here have a balanced approach to our food storage. Speaking for myself calorie content is not uppermost as I usually have a varied food store which is regularly rotated. My usual diet is varied and balanced and the same can be said for my food storage. I store what I normally eat, just in different forms and it doesn't include Beans and Sausages in any quantity. I call that stuff 'dirty' food, things I get an urge for once in a while and that is instantly gratified after the second or third mouthful.

In your OP you said
"Summary (but I'd be pleased to be educated / change my mind) : Preppers need to eat meat."

I don't agree. Meat although a good source of many nutrients the body needs, is not essential. You yourself mentioned how calorie dense Tinned Macaroni Cheese is, but because you don't like it, it seems we should all disregard it.

So maybe you should have said, as a prepper, you (sethorly) need to eat meat.

[Mortblanc]

As an American I can not understand the British obsession with beans, be they pork included or baked. Such an extensive comparison is disturbing. Why would anyone care?

I walk down the canned goods isle at the local store and they have wonderful choices in the same size and type can as "beans". I can have asparagus, six kinds of canned greens, green beans of half dozen varieties, corn both whole kernel and cream style, beets, mixed vegetables, sourkruat, and many others I have forgotten since my last pass down the isle. And the prices are all about the same!

I also keep many packages of rice, noodles and pasta meals of various flavors to add bulk to the diet as well as several types of dried beans and peas. (No burning extra fuel to cook dried foods is not a concern for me. I live in a rural area and there is plenty to burn here.)

My own storage is the same "normal" diet I eat daily. There are some canned meats and fish in the mix for normalcy during short term events.

If the world ceases to function properly for an extended time I will add fresh caught fish, small game and if possible some of the plentiful neighborhood deer to the canned and packaged fare. That is also normal food for me since a mess of fish and a squirrel or rabbit once a week is standard diet.

The thought of living on baked beans or pork and beans for more than one day is repulsive, unhealthy and unnecessary.

As to the calorie count??? You are not going to fall from starvation within the first month if you only get 1000 calories daily. For the average person taking in 1000 calories for a month or two and going about normal duties will put them right about normal weight on the doctor's chart.

The records kept during WW2 showed by medical record that if a person got 500 calories daily they would last 6 months.

[ForgeCorvus]

Here you go.
http://www.nutracheck.co.uk/CaloriesIn/#url
I'll grant that Baked Beans are only 0.81 C/gr (calories per gram), however there are better things then tinned meat to store if Calories are the only consideration

Sardines in brine 1.72 C/gr
Corned Beef 2 C/gr
Tinned Frankfurters 2.02 C/gr
Sardines in oil 2.2 C/gr
Spam 2.27C/gr
Tinned Cheese 2.54 C/gr
White sugar 4 C/gr
Coconut oil 5C/gr
Milk Chocolate 5.3 C/gr
Peanut butter (crunchy) 6.06 C/gr
Ghee 8.78C/gr


So, a lot of non-meat products contain more calories then meat on a gram for gram basis.

And if long term storage is the really important thing, Honey is 3C/gr


While some of us on here would probably love to live on 300 to 400 grams of chocolate a day (No names, no packdrill) its not something we should put our digestive system through

[grenfell]

As an American I can not understand the British obsession with beans, be they pork included or baked. Such an extensive comparison is disturbing. Why would anyone care?

I walk down the canned goods isle at the local store and they have wonderful choices in the same size and type can as "beans". I can have asparagus, six kinds of canned greens, green beans of half dozen varieties, corn both whole kernel and cream style, beets, mixed vegetables, sourkruat, and many others I have forgotten since my last pass down the isle. And the prices are all about the same!
.

With regards to beans I think there's an element of comfort food and it's partly generational. Beans on toast was something of a staple during the seventies when I was growing up. We all know (or should) that there is more choice nowadays in tastes , textures , nutrition and costs but some of us at least find ourselves being drawn back to baked beans. We quite often eat with my sister in law at the weekend and the meals are always varied and "fancy" , we have Chinese , Indian , fahijtas , stir fry or whatever but when her and my wife went to London a few weekends ago the thing I went for was beans on toast ( with a bit of grated cheese on top) .

[jansman]

Lovely! Have you tried all that plus some sliced tomato and fresh basil? We call it 'posh beans on toast'

[Deeps]

I add dehydrated onions to the beans to soak up the extra juice, lots of white pepper too. Cheese on top too and voila, bon appetit.

[Yorkshire Andy]

While some of us on here would probably love to live on 300 to 400 grams of chocolate a day (No names, no packdrill) its not something we should put our digestive system through

SHURUP.

does this mean I need to take this back?