Wasteland Survivalist: A Scientific Guide to Post-Apocalyptic Survival

By evening, the bear meat had cooled down.

Gu Lang carefully removed the meat from the bone, following the natural texture of the muscle groups.

Bones are a breeding ground for bacteria and take up a lot of space, so they need to be discarded.

Gu Lang retrieved the coarse salt and seasonings from the car and began to marinate the fresh meat.

This step is very important; refined iodized salt cannot be used, otherwise it will produce an unpleasant taste.

After cutting the meat into strips about 3 cm thick, mix and rub it thoroughly with plenty of salt and spices in a bowl.

The meat chunks, coated with salt, were tightly packed in a ceramic jar, with another layer of salt sprinkled on top of each layer.

After marinating for 18 hours, Gu Lang took the meat out.

Rinse off the surface bloodstains and excess salt with clean, cold water.

Use a cloth to absorb the surface moisture, then hang it on a clothes rack to dry until a dry film forms on the surface of the meat.

Smoking is divided into two stages: low-temperature drying and formal smoking.

Firewood is lit in the fire source room, and the temperature in the fumigation chamber begins to rise.

Gu Lang put his hand into the incense room and felt it was hot after 6 seconds.

"The temperature has reached about 60 degrees Celsius, so we can start drying."

Four hours later, the meat gradually changed from red to light pink, and the surface shrank and dried.

Once the surface of the meat has dried and set, it's ready for smoking.

Gu Lang increased the heat, raising the temperature of the fumigation chamber to around 75 degrees Celsius.

If you reach out and hold your hand for 3 seconds, you will feel the heat.

He continued to add prepared hardwood blocks or sawdust to ensure a constant stream of thin blue smoke.

White smoke usually indicates incomplete combustion, which will produce a bitter taste.

Four hours later, he took out a piece of bear meat.

The smoked meat chunks have lost most of their moisture and have a hard surface.

Upon cutting it open, the inside is a uniform coffee color, just like the surface.

After four days, the smoked bear meat was finally ready.

From the three smoking pits, Gulang harvested a total of 25 kilograms of dried bear meat.

It is only one-tenth of the original weight of a black bear.

A live bear weighing over 200 kilograms was bled, its head, claws, internal organs, and skinned.

The remaining carcass meat weighs at most a little over 100 kilograms.

After removing the bones, cartilage, and fur, it weighs only about 60 kilograms.

Fresh meat contains about 70% water, while smoking reduces the water content to below 15%.

The last bit of dried meat was reduced to this weight.

The post-smoking treatment is equally important.

Gu Lang hung the smoked dried meat in a cool, well-ventilated place to cool naturally.

If placed directly into a sealed container, the residual heat will condense into water droplets, leading to mold growth.

Moisture is the enemy of smoked meat; it must be stored in a cool, dry, and well-ventilated environment.

Next, he needs to regularly check the jerky to see if it has softened, become moldy, or developed an off-odor.

If it softens due to moisture, it needs to be removed and smoked again.

As for the taste of the meat, Gu Lang has already tasted it.

He took the ribs out separately and grilled them with bear fat.

Because of its thick layer of fat, this bear doesn't taste dry.

After marinating, the gamey smell isn't too strong, and the taste is similar to beef.

However, the more mature the black bear, the tougher and harder its meat becomes to chew.

Especially when cooked well-done, the meat becomes even firmer.

Wild animals contain a large number of parasites, so they must be thoroughly cooked before consumption.

Furthermore, smoking and air-drying cannot completely kill trichinella larvae that may be present in bear meat.

Smoked jerky also needs to be boiled for at least 30 minutes before consumption.

This ensures that the core temperature reaches above 70°C, completely killing all parasites.

Gu Lang wasn't very interested in bear paws, one of the "Eight Delicacies," and simply discarded them.

From a modern perspective, bear paw is a symbolic concept.

Its "deliciousness" is a result of its scarcity, high cost, and complex process.

For modern people, it's more of an imagined experience.

It's not worth the time and effort spent for such a small amount of collagen.

While waiting for the smoked meat to air dry, he began to check the tanning process of the fur.

Gu Lang had already pre-processed the bear skin on the first day.

He sprinkled coarse salt inside the fur to preserve it.

Next, carefully scrape away any remaining meat and fat from the inside of the skin with a knife, ensuring it remains intact.

Soak the hides in clean water for more than 5 hours to soften them.

Then find baking soda and make a bowl of alkaline water, and use a brush to clean the dirt and degrease.

The tanning method chosen is the alum salt tanning method, which is common in rural America.

The tanning solution is made up of alum, salt and water in a ratio of 3:1:6.

The bear skin had been soaking in tanning solution for three days.

The concentration of the tanning solution should not be too high at the beginning; 1 part of the original solution needs to be diluted with 7 parts of water.

Next, increase the concentration of the stock solution daily to prevent the skin from shrinking suddenly.

Gulang turns the fur over every few hours to ensure even tanning.

At this point, the tanning process is completely finished, and only the post-processing and shaping work remains.

He made a wooden frame and stretched the fur with rope.

Place it in a well-ventilated place to air dry, along with the dried meat.

On the morning of the fifth day, the fur was about 80% dry. He took off the fur and rubbed it repeatedly until it was soft.

By evening, the fur had dried completely.

He took out some sandpaper, sanded the leather, and applied a layer of fat-reducing agent.

Oil tanning can increase the suppleness and luster of leather.

The fatliquoring agent consists of bear brain fluid, bear oil, and olive oil.

On the morning of the sixth day, Gulang tested the tanning effect.

He gripped a corner of the leather, and the leather surface turned white and opaque, proving that the fur had been tanned.

After putting away the bear skin, Gu Lang found some plastic storage boxes in the forest farm dormitory.

I made some ventilation holes and did some simple modifications.

After tearing off a few pages from the books, I wrapped the dried meat in paper.

"That's all we can do for now. We'll put them in vacuum bags when we have the chance."

Gu Lang packed the dried meat into boxes and loaded them into the car.

The workload during this period was not heavy, and he finally finished resting and could continue his journey south as planned.

Stepping outside, a faint smell of sulfur filled the air.

Visibility in the surrounding area also decreased significantly.

The world seems to be gradually shrouded in a monotonous gray filter.

A fine layer of black ash had settled on the car body, and it felt somewhat rough to the touch.

Gu Lang leaned closer to observe carefully.

Besides the ash, it also contained tiny, angular glassy and mineral fragments.

"Volcanic ash?"

Gu Lang launched the drone, climbing to a higher altitude to survey the distant environment.

His pupils contracted sharply as the drone's camera turned southeast.

On the distant horizon, amidst the mountains of the Changbai Mountains.

A thick, gray-black column of smoke rose from the ground and shot straight into the sky.

It spreads high in the sky, forming a giant mushroom cloud that blots out the sun and keeps rolling and expanding.