Preservation 101

Plan ahead to preserve for the future.

See some common FAQs below!

If you had asked me 5 years a go (or even 2 years a go) if I’d be interested in learning how to preserve my own food, I’d have gaped in horror at something that sounded so primitive! This reaction largely would have been do to my lack of knowledge and not fully understanding what preserving my own food actually entailed.

For starters, you don’t have to actually grow your own food to preserve it! So if you’re thinking that you can’t do this because you don’t have a massive garden, you’d be dead wrong! If you’re lucky enough to have a massive garden, you can make sure the fruits of your labor don’t go to waste by preserving it somehow.

Depending what method of preservation you decide to utilize, preserving your food can be rather quick. It all boils down to picking the right method for the the right type of food to ensure you’re saving your food in a safe manner for you and your family! 

• What are the different Preservation methods?

  Whether you have a surplus of homegrown goodies or you’re experimenting with whatever fresh produce you’ve purchased, you can preserve them using a variety of methods:

  — Waterbathing

  — Pressure Canning

  — Dehydrating

  — Freeze Drying

  — Vacuum Sealing & Freezing

  — Refrigeration

  — Fermenting

  Note that the above is not a fully comprehensive list, rather some common methods.

• What's the difference between Water bath canning versus Pressure Canning?

  Both of these methods ensure bacteria cannot thrive and cause illness! It’s just a matter of contents going into your “cans’ or Mason jars that’s going to differ (oversimplifying here, I know).

  In its simplest, water bathing is used for canning foods that have a certain level of acidity whereas pressure canning doesn’t.

  When you water bath, the pH level should be at least 4.6. This is often accomplished using vinegar, lemon juice, or citric acid.

  Pressure canning doesn’t require any level of acidity – you can simply use water! The pressure canner allows a certain poundage of pressure to build up and helps kill any bacteria this way.

  Once both methods are done processing, it’s the period of your cans cooling that allow the cans to seal effectively, thus preserving your food for long-term storage.

• What are common waterbath canning items?

  Go-to and top items we can using this method in our house are for Pickles and Pickled Eggs!!!

  You can pickle just about anything – green beans, carrots, jalapeños, cucumbers, tomatoes, and, yes, even eggs! They’re all delicious.

  Don’t forget to take advantage of excess fruits because jams and jellies are great for this method as well.

• What can you pressure can?

  What can’t you pressure can is probably the better question! (Jams and jellies – now that I think about it – these would not work and would be a massive mess!)

  This is great if you want to simply preserve fresh produce with just a bit of canning salt. You can preserve meat this way as well!

  Pressure can full meals if you’d like. The temperatures and cook are high enough for this method that everything gets cooked through. As long as your jar seals, you shouldn’t need to worry about bacterial growth.

• Why Dehydrate?

  Aside from the obvious, that it allows you to preserve your food, it helps draw the moisture out of the food which helps prevent mold and deterioration of the food you’re preserving.

  If you’re dehydrating fruit, brace yourself! If enhances and concentrates those sugars and intensifies the deliciousness of that little fruit morsel!

  Store bought herbs are so expensive! If you have an herb garden or a few patio pots, grow your own herbs. This is a FANTASTIC way of preserving those!

  And, yes, you can dry meats! We’ve made some delicious candied bacon using our dehydrator!

• What is Fermentation?

  Think Kimchi! That may not help you much but this delectable cabbage dish is preserved with fermentation!

  It’s a way to inhibit bad bacteria growth (i.e. helps breakdown the sugars in the food that lead to bad bacteria) by introducing good bacteria growth. You do need to pay attention to the temperature and make sure your measurements (ex. salt and water) are accurate so make sure you’re using tested recipes if trying this preservation method.

• What are some reputable Resources?

  Blogs are always great! You can learn from those who have been using these methods for a good deal of time, but it’s always great to have reputable organization that further support the experiences you’re reading about! Below are a few quick links:

  National Center for Home Food Preservation

  Almanac – Center for Preserving Food

  Hunter College – NYC Food Policy Center

• When does Preserved food expire?

  This is a harder question to answer than the others. It’s going to depend on the method you’ve chosen to preserve your food.

  Generally speaking, your food will stay shelf safe for about a year.

  If you’ve chose to freeze the food, it should last about that long as well, as long as you’ve properly sealed the food first.

  When canning, it’s a great idea to sporadically check your lids. If the lid has popped, you want to discard that food as bacteria has likely begun to grow.

• What is the Easiest Preservation Method?

  Hands down, in my opinion, refrigeration and/or vacuum sealing and then throwing the item in the freezer!

  While these are easiest, the clearest downside with refrigeration is that the expiration date is rapidly increased in most cases.

  Freezing fresh veggies is a great way to preserve the crispness that is lost during the canning process. Of course, you want to freeze your meat, unless you’re going to dehydrate it for jerky.