BASIC JERKED MEAT
Works with venison or lean beef
1-2 tablespoons of sea salt
1 gallon of water
1 teaspoon of ground cayenne pepper (may be omitted)
Slice off any large fatty areas, then slice the meat into 1/2 wide strips, about 1/4 inch thick.
Add the pepper to the water and salt, or omit if you don't want the spice. Soak the raw meat in the brine for a few hours, then put the meat into a drier/dehydrator or an oven with a jerky rack and on the lowest setting.
SHIP'S BISCUIT
3 cups, whole wheat
pastry flour (closest flour we have to what they had in the 18th century)
1 cup whole wheat bran (they used a flour known as "ship's stuff" that was full of chaff)
Water
Make the whole into a stiff dough. Roll it out to about 1/4 inch thick, and using a round cutter (a biscuit cutter or an inverted 12-ounce tumbler works) cut out the biscuits into rounds. Then with a fork, poke a bunch of holes into the biscuits to help let out moisture. Place them on a baking sheet and bake at 200 degrees for a few hours until good and dry.
ROCKAHOMINY
I like to use dry, dent corn. Though you may find that 50 lbs. is a bit much, it's good to have several folks "go in on" a bag.
https://shop.honeyville.com/yellow-corn-50lb.html
I lb. of dry dent corn
One cast iron or steel skillet,
dry.
Metal bowl
A coffee mill
Add corn to the skillet to make a single layer, and heat the skillet. Brown the corn, and it may make a popping noise, and some kernels may "jump" but they won't pop like popcorn. When the kernels are browned, pour them into the metal bowl and repeat until the whole pound is finished.
You now have "parched" corn. This will keep for years if kept dry, and you can stop here if you wish.
To complete the process you grind the parched corn into meal with the coffee mill. You then have Rockahominy. It is not the same thing as cornmeal, nor toasted cornmeal, as the exterior of the kernals is all that are browned, which kills off any insect eggs that might be found in a kernel or two, as well as killing off fungus.
LD