# Hardtack



## Megamom134 (Jan 30, 2021)

Watching youtube videos on making hardtack they all end up with these perfect circles or squares of hardtack with their holes perfectly spaced. Mine look like I cut it with a sawzall and and a ice pick. Still, it is done and another batch stored away. There is a reason I don't do prepping videos.:vs_laugh:


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## Annie (Dec 5, 2015)

@Megamom134, do they taste okay?


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## Megamom134 (Jan 30, 2021)

I put dill in mine. To eat it I have to soak it pretty good in some tea or coffee, it is very hard but the taste isn't too bad actually. I am going to add some to each of our cars along with water in case we get stuck in a snow storm or who knows what but they should do well storing some in there, the rest will go into a mylar bag and into one of my buckets. It isn't something I would crave for a snack but in a hard time it will do.


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## Slippy (Nov 14, 2013)

Megamom134 said:


> Watching youtube videos on making hardtack they all end up with these perfect circles or squares of hardtack with their holes perfectly spaced. Mine look like I cut it with a sawzall and and a ice pick. Still, it is done and another batch stored away. There is a reason I don't do prepping videos.:vs_laugh:


A good skill to have!

(But we still mainly store what we eat and eat what we store!)


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## Nick (Nov 21, 2020)

You could try making some pemmican too. Great source of protein and lasts a long time.


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## Megamom134 (Jan 30, 2021)

I am making pemmican, I am waiting until Monday for that. I am also making portable soup. Mostly because I like doing this kind of thing and seeing how it works out. I make herbal oils and lotions, medicinal herb tinctures, etc. I just hate not having some type of project to work on while it is snowing and cold outside. I am in between books right now. Today I am making a herbal pain balm and my blueberries should be done in the dehydrator so I am going to get more potatoes ready.


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## SOCOM42 (Nov 9, 2012)

Megamom134 said:


> I put dill in mine. To eat it I have to soak it pretty good in some tea or coffee, it is very hard but the taste isn't too bad actually. I am going to add some to each of our cars along with water in case we get stuck in a snow storm or who knows what but they should do well storing some in there, the rest will go into a mylar bag and into one of my buckets. It isn't something I would crave for a snack but in a hard time it will do.


You have it right, if you have to soak it like you do.

The drier the better when storing it, even to the point of putting it in an oven just before packaging.

Was a mainstay used by union troops during the civil war along with rancid bacon.

For car use it is a good idea, myself I use lifeboat rations (about the same texture), honey, spam and sardines.

All are are impervious to temp changes.

Try using a rolling pizza cutter on them.


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## Megamom134 (Jan 30, 2021)

I have spam and sardines in my cars also with crackers I rotate out. The hard tack I could put under the tires if we get stuck in the snow.


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## Nick (Nov 21, 2020)

I didn't realize Spam was impervious to temperature change. Good to know. 

On a side note I'm baking up a whole bunch of hardtack as I don't have any in my stash. Also I have a bunch of oxygen absorbers that I need to use up. So I'm thinking about 100 lbs or so.


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## SOCOM42 (Nov 9, 2012)

Nick said:


> I didn't realize Spam was impervious to temperature change. Good to know.
> 
> On a side note I'm baking up a whole bunch of hardtack as I don't have any in my stash. Also I have a bunch of oxygen absorbers that I need to use up. So I'm thinking about 100 lbs or so.


Those "bricks" HAVE to HAVE the holes in them if you did not know that.

Best if the holes are in a 1/2"x1/2" pattern better if 3/8"x3/8" pattern.

I built a die to punch them all at once.

Desiccant is more important than O2 absorbers with this product.

I have had spam cans come out of -20F for days without a hitch.


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## Nick (Nov 21, 2020)

I plan on making them 1/2". And yes I did know about the holes, roughly 2 rows of 4 holes for a 3"×3" section. I actually made a tool to speed the process up myself. 

The one thing I don't know much about is using any additional flavor. I know you can add things, I'm just not sure what ingredients have what effect on LTS. 

I'll make most of them plain, but would like to experiment a little with some different flavors.


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## Megamom134 (Jan 30, 2021)

I know that there is no way I will live another 100 years so I added some herbs that I think might make them more eatable. Next batch is going to be garlic and herb, I was going to put the garlic in this batch, because you can't have too much garlic but had too many things I was working on and spaced it off. I love my garlic powder I make, it is so much better then store bought and should be great in hardtack.


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## Megamom134 (Jan 30, 2021)

Today I made a pain balm using some infused red pepper and cayenne pepper oil I infused, some st John's wort I infused and winter green and peppermint EO. My shoulder is killing me so I did the quick method so I can use it right away, and it works.


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## Nick (Nov 21, 2020)

Just wondering if anyone has used all natural sea salt in their hard tack recipe? Also curious as to what people add to their recipes for different flavors and how they effect the lts. I was planning on adding some garlic powder to some of mine which I assume would be fine but am not 100% sure. This is something I have no intention of rotating and will remain stored until if/when shtf.


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## Megamom134 (Jan 30, 2021)

I think if your using the powdered garlic it will be fine. As long as you used powdered or really dry things without any oils I would think it should last indefinitely also.


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## Nick (Nov 21, 2020)

Megamom134 said:


> I think if your using the powdered garlic it will be fine. As long as you used powdered or really dry things without any oils I would think it should last indefinitely also.


Thank you. I was thinking/hoping the same thing but am having a hard time finding any info on it. I can find countless different recipes but none of them mention how the different ingredients affect the lts.


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## Nick (Nov 21, 2020)

So I made my first batch/batches of hardtack. They seem to have came out pretty good.

If they're not good I can always use them as a throwing weapon considering how hard they are. 

I stuck with the original recipe for my first batch (I made about 40 lbs). I'll experiment a little on my next batch.

I did find a few different ways that people have supposedly used and tested the lts.

Basically most dry herbs & spices seem like they should be fine. I'm thinking of making some with a little sugar and vanilla extract to have some that are more like cookies. 

Also found you can mix cocoa powder and have chocolate hardtack. Might be worth trying. 

My next batch will be garlic & herb. This was my first tray, the rest that I did looked pretty much exactly the same.


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## bigwheel (Sep 22, 2014)

SOCOM42 said:


> Those "bricks" HAVE to HAVE the holes in them if you did not know that.
> 
> Best if the holes are in a 1/2"x1/2" pattern better if 3/8"x3/8" pattern.
> 
> ...


Good tips. Having clowned around in the jerky hobby for many years..I have reached the decision a paper towel or two make excellent and cheap dessicants. Half of one in a 4 oz pack of beef jerky keeps the mean old mold away. As does a small dessicant pack if you got one. Considering if the goods is pretty dry too prior to getting bagged up. Thinking it should work similar on hard tack perhaps prob just more moisture to absorb from a larger surface area. More paper towlels might be needed. lol.


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## SOCOM42 (Nov 9, 2012)

Nick said:


> Just wondering if anyone has used all natural sea salt in their hard tack recipe? Also curious as to what people add to their recipes for different flavors and how they effect the lts. I was planning on adding some garlic powder to some of mine which I assume would be fine but am not 100% sure. This is something I have no intention of rotating and will remain stored until if/when shtf.


You need the Iodine in regular table salt, none in sea salt, most of my cooking is done with sea salt or Himalayan pink salt.

Pink is much like sea salt chemically, have about 45 pounds left of it.

Just to let you know, I had a 5 gallon pail of coco powder go bad, you could smell the rancidity.

Was using it to make black bread, we were experimenting on making a shelf stable bread.


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## SOCOM42 (Nov 9, 2012)

bigwheel said:


> Good tips. Having clowned around in the jerky hobby for many years..I have reached the decision a paper towel or two make excellent and cheap dessicants. Half of one in a 4 oz pack of beef jerky keeps the mean old mold away. As does a small dessicant pack if you got one. Considering if the goods is pretty dry too prior to getting bagged up. Thinking it should work similar on hard tack perhaps prob just more moisture to absorb from a larger surface area. More paper towlels might be needed. lol.


The problem with paper towels in a closed storage is that the moisture can go in both direction.

I used silica jell as a primary and clay cat litter for bulk use.

Litter was new unused of course.

It is dried in an oven @ 375-400 degrees for 30 minutes.

Use as soon as it is cooled, put in pot or can and cover while cooling.

I put it in knee high stockings, tie off, again unused, then staple the stocking inside a commercial size paper coffee filter.


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## Nick (Nov 21, 2020)

SOCOM42 said:


> You need the Iodine in regular table salt, none in sea salt, most of my cooking is done with sea salt or Himalayan pink salt.
> 
> Pink is much like sea salt chemically, have about 45 pounds left of it.
> 
> ...


I thought that the iodine in salt loses it's potency over time. I had heard this when reading about just storing salt in general.

I assumed if that was the case that using iodized salt for hardtack would have the same result.

It said to use non iodized or Himalayan pink salt if using for LTS. I was going to get the Himalayan but it's pretty expensive.

Maybe I need to look into buying it in bulk.

I know cocoa itself can go bad, but I was thinking if it was used when still good to make the hardtack and then stored in Mylar it would be OK.

A lot of this stuff is fairly new to me and finding consistent information is actually pretty hard.

I read one place where it says this and this is fine, and then somewhere else it says they're not.

That being said I know you have been doing this for a long time and I'm assuming you know what works and what doesn't after decades of being able to actually test these things.

Some of the best info I've got here has been from stuff that you had posted. It's invaluable to have someone like you for this type of information.


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## SOCOM42 (Nov 9, 2012)

About 10-12 years ago we bought a pound of the pink, it was in a bottle, we liked it but as you said, expensive.

I found a place, which I don't remember, was selling it in bulk, bought a 50 pound sack of it for $50.00 plus shipping.

As I said I still have about 40-45 pounds of it left, will last the rest of my life, I still use the others for meals also.

Have a hand salt mill that sits on the kitchen table with the pink in it, was used with coarse sea salt before.

The pink goes good with a salad and on steak, will use it on my birthday steak tomorrow.:tango_face_grin:

I run it through a coffee mill for a fine grain size for cooking.

On the coco, no it will still turn rancid when baked in something, loaded with oil.

The iodine will oxidize in about 5-7 years but the salt will be fine, it never expires, and the iodine does not become toxic, just inert.

Lab grade crystalized iodine (reagent form) in an inert atmosphere will last for about 20 years without breakdown.

Hope this helps.


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## Nick (Nov 21, 2020)

It does help. Thank you and enjoy your steak. 

Happy Birthday!


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## Nick (Nov 21, 2020)

I seem to have found some pretty cheap. $4 for a 5 lb bag is a heck of a lot cheaper than I've seen it in local stores. I was in Walmart the other day and it was $8 for just a table sized container.

https://www.biglots.com/product/pin...MrSFu5rxmPmVkBDqIbxoCY4gQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds


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