Food prep and preservation
instruction, regulation, insurance, safety, etc
This aspect blends traditional food prep and preservation with modern
permaculture tools - covered in a sauce made from
gardening, homesteading, foraging and an optional bowl of veganism on the side.
These badges grew to something freakishly massive with a lot of minimum requirements. Eventually the minimum requirements grew to the point that there was no room left for optional stuff. This is why many amazing food prep and preservation techniques do not appear here. The following are strictly forbidden:
- Aluminum cookware
- Teflon and similar materials
- Microwave ovens
- Plastic touching the food, including cooking utensils and zip lock bags
This aspect is not about proving that you are a master chef, but that you can reliably convert a seasonal homestead harvest into a thousand good meals throughout the year. This is very similar to the
PEP badge with a couple things changed to make it more accessible to other locations.
Sand badge
Cast iron skillet (select one)
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Fry an egg so that it slides around
- Vegan option (do both)
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Stack of ten pancakes
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Hash browns that fully cover the skillet
Cook at least two cups grain (or pseudograin) in three different ways (please note that PEP requires all four ways)
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Stovetop
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Slow cooker
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Solar oven
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Rocket stove and haybox cooker
Dry food in a solar food dehydrator
Vinegar brine pickle something
Salt brine ferment/pickle something
Canning (select one)
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Water bath canning
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Steam canning
Cook stir fry
Make soup / stew / chowder
Make pizza
Bake 2 loaves of bread
Straw badge
Restarting a cast iron skillet
Food Preparation
Make 6 quarts of stock from veggie scraps
Cook and serve a pound of sunchokes
Soup - make 4 types of soup
- At least 1 is cooked on a
rocket stove or Dakota stove
Bake six things
- At least two things are baked in cast iron
Roast 4 pans of food
- At least one is done in cast iron
Fry 12 different things
- At least 3 things are fried on a rocket stove or Dakota stove and 6 are in cast iron
Open fire - cook 4 different things
- At least 1 item is buried in coals and another is cooked on a spit
Make two dairy foods:
- Vegan cheese, nut milk, hard cheese (counts as two), butter, powdered milk, yogurt, cream, cottage cheese, ice cream, soft cheeses or kefir
Make two condiments or salad dressings
Make two kinds of gravy
Grind two different grains into flour
Oils and Fats - press or render a quart of oil or fat
Food Preservation
Pressure can two different things
Water bath can three different types of food
Storing food in a living state (possibly in a
root cellar)
- At least 20 pounds of each food and at least six different species
Dry 6 different types of things - each type only once
Ferment four different types of things - At least one half gallon per type of fermented food
Process grain for storage
Wood badge
98% of the food for this badge is “organic or better”
75% of the food comes from homesteading or foraging, preferably from your own homestead
Preserve 1 million calories
- No more than 10% can be one type of thing (i.e. 500 qts of canned peaches)
- 10% bacon, 10% ham, 10% canned pork, is ok
- Must be at least 24 different types of food
- No more than 10% can be frozen
Prepare 800 plates of food
- “Plate” means a meal averaging 400 calories
Iron badge
99% of the food for this badge is “organic or better”
90% of the food comes from homesteading or foraging, preferably from your own homestead
Preserve 4 million calories
- Must be at least 48 different types of food
Prepare 3200 plates of food 
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