Salt does not spoil if it stays dry, so a community can build a reserve of graded, labelled salt in sealed containers and issue it by weight against a record. The reserve matters more than the daily stock, because a season’s production can fail or a trade route close, and the parent article’s own budget of 1,040 to 1,870 lbs a year for 100 people is the amount a one-year reserve would have to cover.
Part of Salt Production & Sourcing
Salt storage and distribution is the holding of a dry, graded reserve and its issue to households, kitchens, curing and livestock by weight against a record.
Keep A Reserve, Not Just A Pantry
Salt production is seasonal, depends on weather or fuel, and can fail. Salt use is daily and cannot be paused. The gap is bridged by a store. The parent article says salt can be stored indefinitely if kept dry, so the store is cheap to hold once it exists, and the dry-keeping rules are in Keeping salt dry. A sensible target, a choice for the community, not a figure from the parent, is a year’s use in store before relying on a new season’s production.
The annual use in the parent’s table is 1,040 to 1,870 lbs for 100 people (the headline of 1,500-3,000 lbs in the same article does not match its own table; see Community salt rations). A one-year reserve is therefore that quantity again.
Store By Grade
Keep the grades separate and labelled (Purification & Grading):
- food salt, fine and coarse, in the driest store
- coarse, purified salt for meat curing, reserved for the autumn kill
- rough salt for hides and livestock, kept apart so it cannot reach food
Distribute By Weight
A ledger entry for every issue is the only way to know where the salt is going (Resource Ledgers). Weigh out each issue; do not issue by the scoop, which differs by grain size. Typical issues:
- Households: a regular weighed ration, monthly or seasonal
- The kitchen: a weekly draw by weight (Community Kitchen Design & Operation)
- The cure: a large issue in autumn, set by the weight of meat to be cured (Dry cure ratios and rub formulas)
- Livestock and hides: rough salt, at the rates in the rations article
What You Need
- A dry, lockable store room and sealed containers
- Labels, a scale with weights, and a ledger
- A person responsible for the store, and a second person for checks
Method: Run The Salt Store
Step 1: Receive new salt: weigh it, test and grade it, record the batch and source.
Step 2: Store it by grade, sealed, on shelves.
Step 3: Issue by weight against the ledger and sign each entry.
Step 4: Count the store each quarter and reconcile it with the ledger.
Step 5: Compare the remaining stock with the time to the next production season. If it is short, cut non-essential issues first.
Common Mistakes
- Counting only the current stock, with no reserve.
- Mixing grades in one container.
- Issuing by volume.
- No reconciliation, so losses go unnoticed.
Safety
A store of white powders is a store of hazards if it is not labelled
Salt, curing premix, lye, lime, saltpetre and cleaning powders look alike in a dark store. Keep them in different rooms or clearly separate cupboards, label in more than one way, and never store anything that is not food salt in a food-salt container.
What’s Next
- Learn next: Community salt rations — how much each person and animal is issued
- Combine with: Salt as trade commodity — what to do with a surplus