FRC Forum Highlighted Posts of this week

Quarantine suggestions for the up coming flu
-Flu spreads in waves of 3-5 months w/ 3 months in between (THIS MAY CHANGE WITH THE NEW SUPER FLU)
-Self-quarantine for 90-120 days / wave
-Govt effort to supply food and water at 10% at best
-Outside dirty, inside clean; Boy in the Bubble concept
-Shelter w/ good seal
-Clear brush and undergrowth 100 feet parameter around the house
-Heat pump forced air cooling/heat to filter out virus/microbes
-Water reservoir covered, pool, tubs and barrels, then disinfected
-Any source of standing water or body of water is a contaminate. Remove birdbaths, old tires and/or fill puddles. Virus lives in water for days, influenza lives on hands 5 min.
-Neither bird feeders nor outside chickens
-Food supply, 1year/person
-Vacuum w/ bags that filter for allergens
-No eating from outside gardens, only preserved food
-Indoor sprouts, fluorescent lights for indoor growing plants vegetables
-Bleach for water disinfectant (10 drops/gallon) and medicinal wound care (½ sterile water ½ bleach)
-Hand cleaners soap and alcohol based
-Running water for washing hands, not standing water
-Face masks N-95 and goggles for outside
-No individual contact less than 8 feet (NO hand shakes etc) social distancing
-Animals inside space and same consideration
-Dogs and cats immunizations kept up (any stray dog will be shot)
-Water repellent clothing w/ hood when outside (large garbage bags)
-Toilet bowl cleaner tablets for inside standing water (tidy-bowl etc)
-No contact w/ people within 8 feet, viruses jumps 5+ ft
-If an exchange is required drop item in spot i.e. porch and leave then the receiver can pick up the item i.e. soup, firewood etc. (This was the practice during the 1918 influenza)
-Keep dust to minimum, dusters, wet wipes. Sneeze into elbow
-Keep surfaces clean w/ disinfectant
-Bake items coming into house for 20 min at 325+ degrees (Microwave is best)
-Good hygiene; Wash hands thoroughly and frequently after contact from outside world
-Once one individual leaves and breaks quarantine, cannot return to re-infect rest of
Household. No group meetings parties’ weddings funerals church etc
-Only burn wood that is stored under protective covering and dry, if wet -> contaminated
-Wallpaper ceiling, walls and windows w/ foil in one safe room to insulate and retain heat
-UV lighting on surfaces (can cause skin cancer)
-No washing cars by hand
-Flies and mosquitoes out, don’t leave windows, doors open, screens are not an option
-Bug Zappers are either a really good idea because they kill bugs or a real bad idea because they attract bugs
-Handling mail, wear gloves and bake mail before opening it (e-mail best)
-Analogue phone for when power goes out
-supply for diarrhea and/or cold remedies

-Homemade Gatorade
1 tsp Lite Salt (source of potassium)
1/3 tsp Baking Soda
10 tsp sugar in 1 qt water
OR
1 tsp salt
3 tsp sugar
1 qt water

-Turnips, clover and potatoes good crops for cold weather
-copper wool to keep out Mice
-Garbage bags to wear punch holes in sides and put arm through, good for warmth and as a disposable barrier from the outdoors
-Vitamins
-Wash down entryways w/ bleach or cleaner
-Keep shoes outside
-Pressure cooker and microwave to disinfect food
-Grow inside food is best, outside root veggies only (nuke and wash)
-Cage animal, not range free (rabbits)
-Dishwasher sterilizes
-Dishcloth dirtiest item in household
-Shopping cart handles dirtiest item in public
-Magazines dirtiest item in doctor’s office
-Purse is exposed to everything, along with the morning coffee mug that follows you around at work
-Do not share pens, combs etc.
-Tarp and duct tape corpses, bury deep at home if possible
-Remove moss from roof, harbors bacteria and virus (mushroom too)
-Streams, lakes, ponds, marshes, rivers source of contamination
-Keep outside dry, no watering lawn
-Rain, Snow, Mist, and fog are also carriers for the virus…

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The Best Long Storing Fats
The best fats for storage are those that are naturally resistant to oxidation or going rancid. There are several factors which effect this ability to oxidation.
1. The saturation of the individual fats, their ratio in the oil or grease.
a. Saturated fats are most resistant
b. Monounsaturated next resistant
c. Polyunsaturated the least resistant
2. The content of anti-oxidants (like vitamin E)
Animal fat such as tallow or lard are relatively high in saturated fats; meaning that in the fatty acid portion, all the carbon atoms are bound to two hydrogen atoms, and there are no double bonds. These are the weak points where oxidation will occur first. The elimination of double-bonds by adding hydrogen atoms is called saturation; as the degree of saturation increases. Oil may be hydrogenated to increase resistance to rancidity (oxidation) or to increases, the oil's viscosity and melting point.
From a survival view, here are some fats that you maybe considering storing or home producing and how they rate for storage.
Palm Oil
The palm oil is a prime cooking oil. Vegetable ghee is 100% palm oil colored with beta carotene and with some butter like flavorings added
Sheep Tallow
Sheep fat is processed from suet to tallow the same way as Beef Fat and is used as a substitute for Lard.
Beef Tallow
This fat was used to make candles, and as a lubricant, and by "fast food" restaurants for deep frying. Beef fat is the primary flavoring in beef and the purified white fat called tallow can be kept at room temperature much longer than many vegetables oils without spoiling.
Ghee
A very thoroughly clarified and purified butter fat that is can be kept at room temperature much longer than suet without spoiling. Used as a major cooking oil through much of India. Because it is so thoroughly purified of all moisture and solids it can be used at higher temperature and is much more resistant to rancidity than more casually purified clarified butter. Pots of ghee buried by nomads have been found in excellent condition even after a couple hundred years.
Lard [Pig Fat]
Once the most popular cooking and baking fat in America and Europe, lard is still by far the best fat for many baking uses such as pie crusts. The best lard to use for baking is called "leaf lard" which is made from the fat from around the pigs kidneys. Now that evil trans fats in vegetable shortening are claimed to be even more dangerous, pig is back in the running. Experts say the health implications for lard are about the same as for butter.
Schmaltz (rendered chicken or goose fat)
Used as a spread for bread and to cook chopped liver and potato pancakes. Goose fat is preferred for its flavor if available.
Coconut oil
It's 91% saturated fat (pig lard is just 43%). Saturated fats are supposed to clog your arteries with "bad" cholesterol. Unfortunately for "accepted medical knowledge" no clogging is found among those who use coconut oil every day for every meal, fine medium temperature frying oil, clear and devoid of any flavor that would interfere with the taste of the food being fried. Since it's solid at room temperature it can also be used as a shortening for baked goods. Coconut oil is highly resistant to rancidity and has an extremely low oxidation factor so it's highly durable as a deep fat oil, even more durable than beef tallow.
Vegetable Shortening
Crisco is made from hydrogenated cottonseed oil and, based on unverified claims (no FDA back then), was called a "healthier" substitute for Lard in baked goods. The main requirements for vegetable shortening are to be a fat solid at normal room temperature, devoid of flavor and made from plants, so vegetable oils, mostly cotton seed, soy and corn, are partially hydrogenated to achieve the right consistency. Unfortunately partially hydrogenated oils are evil trans fats, now considered the most dangerous type of fat, more dangerous even than evil saturated fats.
Olive oil
Pure Olive Oil is a superb multi-use oil. Use it the same as Extra Virgin wherever the distinctive flavor of ExV would overwhelm. It can be used for all moderate temperature sauté and braising applications and for moderate temperature deep frying, anything below 400°F. Stored in a cool place and out of direct sunlight. In tightly sealed glass bottles it will last up to a year. If stored below 50°F it will become cloudy, and if refrigerated, positively murky, but it will be unharmed and will clear up if allowed to rest at a warmer temperature.
Soy oil
Soy oil, along with corn oil, dominates the market for general purpose cooking oil sold in the supermarkets.
While serious health questions surround some soy products (soy milk and TVP (Textured Vegetable Protein)), soybean oil is widely considered safe. Because it is high in polyunsaturated fats and contains limited antioxidants it is more subject to rancidity than, say, olive oil or canola oil, so keep it in tightly sealed containers in a cool place away from direct sun and it should be good for 9 months or so.
Sunflower oil
Refined sunflower oil is a good all-around cooking oil but not as neutral in flavor. "Virgin" or "cold pressed" sunflower oils have a very low smoke point and should not be used for cooking. High in polyunsaturates, sunflower oil will go rancid faster than olive oil. Store it tightly sealed in a cool dark place and use it within 9 months.
Canola Oil (genetically modified or low erucic acid rapeseed)
Rapeseed / Canola is a member of the mustard / cabbage family. Unmodified rapeseed is high in erucic acid which has caused heart lesions in animals so is considered unfit for food. The genetically modified (by breeding, not gene splicing) canola version has under 2% erucic acid and is approved by the FDA (though it's rumored the approval cost Canada a bundle). The taste of canola oil is unobtrusive enough to be used as a general purpose oil. Canola oil is considered one of the more "heart friendly" oils, having a very high percentage of monounsaturated fats (though not as much as Olive Oil) and a very low percentage of saturated fats.

This is the best comparison that I could find for rancidity resistance: Saturated fats are most resistant, Monounsaturated next resistant and Polyunsaturated the least resistant

Name.......Smoke°F........Sat......Monounsat...Polyunsat....Oxidation index (lower better for frying)
Coconut Oil.........350................. 92%......... 6%........... 2%........... 0.24......
Palm Kernel.............................. 82%......... 11%..........7%.......... 0.27
Butter.................300.................65%......... 30%......... 5%
Butter Ghee........375................ 65%......... 30%......... 5%
Beef Tallow.........420................. 52%..........43%.........5%........... 0.86
Palm...................420................ 51%......... 39%..........10%
Sheep Tallow.............................50%......... 41%...........9%
Lard (Pig).............360................44%......... 45%......... 11%..........1.7
Duck Fat..............375................ 33%......... 49%......... 13%
Chicken Fat..........375................32%......... 46%......... 22%
Goose Fat.............375............... 28%......... 57%..........11%
Cottonseed...........420............... 24%..........26%..........50%........ 5.4
Margerine.............325............... 20%......... 47%..........33%
Peanut....................450.............19%......... 48%......... 33%......... 3.7
Olive, "Pure"...........410............. 15%......... 75%......... 10%..........1.5
Soybean.................450............. 15%......... 23%..........62%..........7
Corn (Maize)..........450.............. 13%......... 29%......... 58%..........6.2
Sunflower...............450............. 12%......... 16%..........72%.........6.8
Canola...................400............. 7%........... 61%......... 32%..........5.5

Where to Buy
The best price I have found so far is from Oils by Nature. They pack in 5 gal. hi density plastic pails with a Nitrogen atmospheres to reduce rancidity for longer storage. Most vegetable oils (like corn or soybean) are light, about 7 lbs per gal. but coconut and palm kernel are 10.5 lb per gal. so go by weight not price per gallon when you compare prices.
Here are two that I am strongly considering (note that they fit between oils and shortenings and can reasonably be used for both):
Coconut Oil 92 Degree (Hydrogenated) This is a white semisolid fat which liquefies at 92F, 53lb pail $0.93/ lb $49.29
Palm Kernel Oil (Non-Hydrogenated) resemble those of coconut oil and interchangeably with coconut oil. Used in confectionery items. Semi-solid fat which liquefies at 73 to 84F, 53lb pail $ 0.74 / lb $39.22.

http://www.oilsbynature.com/product-category/oils.htm

I went back to "Oils By Nature" to finish off my Fat Storage and found the Food shortage has struck.

They used to carry 4 types of coconut oil including organic (the very best for storage) not they list only one and it is too pricy for me. Price & availability changing rapidly. 230gr

Coconut Oil 53lb. Pail $195
Palm Kernel Oil 53 lb. Pail $50
Palm Oil 50 lb. Pail $60.00

FYI, each pail supplies almost 1 1/2 years worth of fat for an adult.

http://frc4u.org/portal/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?834.last

Might want to check this one out also. It is about how much fats and oils you need. It made a previous Highlight blog entry.
http://frcforums.blogspot.com/2009/04/frc-forums-highlighted-post.html

New Hampshire Court orders Christian homeschooled girl to attend public school

A Christian homeschool girl in New Hampshire has been ordered into government-run public school for having "sincerely held" religious beliefs.

An attorney working with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) has filed motions with a New Hampshire court, asking it to reconsider its order to send the 10-year-old homeschooled girl into public school.

According to ADF allied attorney John Anthony Simmons, the court acknowledges that the girl in question is doing well socially and academically, but he adds that the court went too far when they determined that the girl's Christian faith was a "bit too sincerely held and must be sifted, tested by, and mixed among other worldviews."

Simmons contends that parents have a "fundamental right to make educational choices for their children." However, the girl's parents divorced in 1999, and she is now living with her mother who has been homeschooling the child since first grade. As part of the schooling, the young girl has been attending supplemental public school classes.

As part of parental custody hearings, a court-appointed guardian stated that the child reflected her mother's "rigidity" on questions of faith and added that girl's best interest would be served by exposure to a public school setting.

According to the New Hampshire Supreme Court, home-based education is an enduring American tradition and right. ADF concludes, based on that statement, that there is no legitimate legal basis for this latest court ruling.

OneNewsNow has contacted ADF attorney Simmons for further comment and is awaiting a response.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Education/Default.aspx?id=659638