Maybe you’ve been stranded far out in the wild for a while, feeding on mollusk and fishes from the sea and other kinds of survival food. Now, after so many trials and misses, you finally hunted down a game. After preparing and sorting the game, the next hurdle may be: how do you cook and make your meat ready to eat?

There are several ways to cook meat, and by the end of this article, you will find your preference. Your choice may be based on what method makes the meat most edible or based on the measure of nutrition it offers.

Ready? Let’s get to it.

1. Boiling

It would help if you had a pot or similar container to boil your meat. Otherwise, you could use a rock with an indented center, as long as the stone is dry. Avoid using a rock with a lot of moisture, as too much heat can make it explode. Another alternative to reach is a sturdy piece of wood that is hollowed out.

You can use the stone boiling method to suspend your container over the fire. Here, you will use hot coal to heat the stones until they’re satisfactorily searing. Place your food container next to the stone bed and add the hot rocks to the meat and water until they boil. Cover the container with some lids of tree bark and do not open except to remove or add more stones. This method guarantees a slow and steady boil and helps retain the most nutrition.

2. Broiling

Sear the flesh before broiling to seal in the juices containing nutrients. Then use a branch to form a kind of skewer. Run this beneath the backbone, and taking a cue from the preceding method, suspend the meat over the hot coal.

3. Mud Baking

This method is perfect for fish and birds. With mud baking, you don’t need to skin, scale or pluck before cooking the meat as they come off when removing the mud. Pack your bird or fish in the clay-like ground using a tight seal, so the meat doesn’t dry out and to preserve the juices. Put your mud-covered meat inside the coal of fire.

When the cooking is done, pull out the meat with a stick. This method takes up to twenty minutes if you’re cooking a medium-sized bird or trout, assuming your coal is blazing hot.

4. Leaf-Baking

Leaf-baking is another method to bake meat and keep the nutrition intact. Here, reap the beef in a leaf and place it on hot coals. This way, the leaf cooks meat while protecting and seasoning it. Seaweed is an excellent choice for baking clams and mussels. Ensure the leaf you want to use is edible enough if in doubt.

5. Sun Drying

Sun-drying involves using heat from the sun to dry, especially to preserve it. If you don’t smoke or dry the meat, it is best to eat the meat at once to eliminate any chance of the meat spoiling or making you sick. Cut the beef into thin, long strips and drape over a line fastened to two trees. The meat should neither touch its underside nor another meat. It can take days to dry, and when it does, it becomes dark and brittle.

It’s essential to get the most nutrition from your survival food. The methods above will help you achieve this.