Tag: prepping

How to Cook Rice

Here are two standard methods for cooking rice:

Method 1 – Boiled Rice

  1. Per cup ( 8 oz / 200 g) of uncooked rice, bring to a boil in a large saucepan 2 cups (16 oz / 500 ml) of water
  2. Add 1 teaspoon of salt.
  3. Slowly pour rice in
  4. Then stir lightly, then cover the pot
  5. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes

Method 2 – Par-Boil Rice

  1. Heat 1 tablespoon of fat (such as oil or butter) in a large saucepan over medium-low heat.
  2. Pour in 1 cup (8 oz / 200 g) of uncooked rice, stir around to coat, and cook until rice turns a bit transparent, about 5 minutes. (Optional: for a nuttier tasting rice, brown the kernels a bit by cooking them a bit longer until they just start to brown.)
  3. Slowly pour in 2 cups (16 oz / 500 ml) of already boiling water from the kettle, stir in 1 teaspoon of salt if desired, cover, and then cook for 15 minutes.
  • For either method:

If all the water has gone but the rice is not yet tender, add a few tablespoons of boiling water, cover and cook a bit more; if water has remained but the rice is cooked, remove cover and cook a minute or two uncovered to allow water to evaporate until the water is gone.

Miscellaneous rice cooking tips

  • Don’t stir rice while it is cooking, as stirring it will make it sticky. (Risotto is the exception: you want it sticky.)
  • The wider the mouth on your pot, the better your rice will cook.
    If you have storage space for a rice steamer, they are inexpensive, and take all the stress out of cooking rice.
  • When reheating leftover rice in a microwave, add 1 teaspoon of water per cup (150 g / 4 oz) of cooked, leftover rice.
  • To make a soup thicker, throw in a few handfuls of leftover cooked rice towards the end.

25 LBS Rice is 275 servings of cooked rice
1 Pound uncooked = 11 servings cooked

Cooking Pinto Beans

  1. Sort beans and remove discolored beans and anything other than a bean
  2. Wash the sorted beans, put in pot, cover with water and soak for 6 hours to overnight
  3. Place on heat source and bring to a boil
  4. Let boil for 10 minutes stirring occasionally
  5. Reduce to a bare simmer, partly cover pot with lid, and cook for 1-1/2 to 2 hours
  6. Continue stirring occasionally.
  7. Make sure the beans are soft before removing from simmer

Equivalents and Measures

1 Pound Pinto Beans = 12 half-cup servings
100 servings = 8.33 pounds on pinto beans

One pound bag of dry beans = 2 cups dry beans
One pound bag of dry beans = 6 cups cooked beans, drained
One cup of dry beans = 3 cups cooked beans, drained
½ cup cooked beans, drained = 1 serving of beans
One 15-oz. can of beans = 1.75 cups cooked beans, drained
One 15-oz. can of beans = 3.5 servings of beans

Larger Scale, Cost Effective Water Purification (on the cheap)

Water Treatment With sodium dichloro-s-triazinetrione dihydrate

(Clorox Xtra Blue Pool Shock less than $5 at Wal Mart for a one pound container)

A 1 pound container will treat 75,000 gallons of water!

To treat smaller amounts, you need to make a bleach solution with a known quantity of chlorine. Also, there needs to be a little fudge factor so the amount of chlorine is slightly more than necessary to keep us from puking and crapping from some bug. Easy to use measurements are also required in a grid down situation as complicated formulas will lead to mistakes.

To make the “mother” bleach solution use 1/4 teaspoon granules in 1 quart of clean water.

To disinfect water with this solution: (solution, not granules!)

Use 1/2 cup (20 tsp) in 5 gallons
(1/2 cup is actually 24 tsp, but 20 tsp is plenty strong, 1/2 cup is used to make measuring easy.)
Use 4 tsp in 1 gallon
Use 1 tsp in 1 quart
Use 1/2 tsp in 1 pint

Stir or shake and let the bleach work.

Let treated water sit covered for a few hours if possible and then inspect. If chlorine smell is present, water is safe. If no chlorine smell is present, treat again. Once water is safe, it can sit uncovered for a while to reduce chlorine smell and taste. These amounts are slightly stronger than the accepted levels the World Health Organization recommends. Slightly stronger is better than too weak.

Easy peasy. I have these instructions in a heavy ziplock bag taped to each jug of this we have. I also have a 1/4 tsp, 1 tsp and a 1/2 cup measuring spoons/cup zip tied to the handles of the jugs. These came from a set that Walmart sells for 88 cents. I just threw the rest away and kept the ones I needed. Make sure if you do this that you use plastic, not metal spoons/cups.

I have multiples of this and multiples of the instructions. This and some saved large aspirin bottles or the like to split it up would be great bartering fodder.

Water Treatment with Calcium Hypochlorite (Pool Shock) 

To Make a Stock Chlorine Solution:

1 Teaspoon (approx 1/4 oz) for 1 Gallon of Water

To Disinfect Water:

– Use 3/4 ounce of Chlorine Solution to 1 Gallon of Water

– The Calcium Hypochlorite needs to be 68% or higher if it has other inert ingredients
– To get the chlorine taste out of the water, transfer it back and forth between containers to allow the gas to dissapate

NOTE: Place the Calcium Hypochlorite in a plastic bag and in a quart jar with a plastic lid. The compound is highly corrosive and should be stored in this manner to ensure it is safe from negative issues

Never Mix Calcium Hypochlorite with sodium dichloro-s-triazinetrione dihydrate!!

There are two known treatments to kill off microbes etc. in your water and keep it safe: Sodium dichloro-s-triazinetrione Dihydrate or Calcium Hypochlorite. Of the two, Sodium dichloro-s-triazinetrione Dihydrate is the preferred, and is EPA registered and NSF/ANSI certified for routine chlorination of drinking water. NOTE: From my reading, Sodium dichloro-s-triazinetrione Dihydrate is the same as Sodium dichloro-s-triazinetrioneHydrated.