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Food Preservation

nepoulter


 

Here in Wisconsin, where the growing season is short, we need to preserve the food grown during the summer to avoid waste and stay edible until spring. Or at least this used to be common. Now grocery stores take much of the necessity out of preserving the food we grow, even out of growing food ourselves in the first place. If you are still a home grower, preserving food can be a way to save produce for multiple seasons, reconnect with traditional food preparations, a fun weekend project or a little bit of each.


 

There are many different ways to preserve foods, including: freezing, canning, fermenting, pickling, smoking/curing and drying. The high water content in fresh foods is what makes them perishable, so most preservation methods are focused on addressing this issue. The food and desired result will determine the method you use. For example, cucumbers make great pickles, but don’t freeze well. There are specific rules for each food, so it’s important to do your research before preserving large batches of anything if you want the best and safe results.


Preservation Methods:


Preservation of food by lowering the temperature to 0 degrees Fahrenheit, is the freezing method. By freezing the water inside the food, harmful bacteria is unable to grow, decomposition halts and the nutrients are preserved. For these reasons, freezing is the preferred preservation method for Farmshed’s Frozen Assets. However, most frozen fruits and vegetables will not thaw back to their original freshness, due to the damage that freezing does to the cells that provide structure within the food. Frozen fruits, however, work great for sauces and in baking. Some vegetables may defrost in their original fresh condition, like corn, but others, like tomatoes, are best used in soups and sauces after thawing. Many vegetables require blanching, a quick dunking into boiling water, before being frozen to partially cook the food to preserve the color and quality of the vegetable. Blanching times vary, so it’s important to check what’s best for the specific vegetable you’re working with.



Canning, sealing food in a can or jar, combines many factors to help make it nearly impossible for bacteria to spoil your food. By using fresh, clean foods, creating a vacuum, and adding acid, you help ensure your food remains safe to eat all year. There are two types of canning: water canning and pressure canning. Water canning requires no specialized equipment other than a large pot. Pressure canning is a little more technical and requires a pressure canner to raise the pressure and temperature of the jars to sterilize the contents and create a strong seal. Most fruits and tomatoes can be water canned due to their naturally high acid content, but other vegetables, pastas and meats must be pressure canned. Double check what is required of your product before canning.

A good way to experiment with canning is this Apple Butter Recipe, which can be made in the crockpot and quickly water canned for a delicious treat that will last about one year. It may seem like there’s a lot of sugar in recipes like these, but sugar is the main preservative in most homemade jams. It helps absorb the water in the fruit and set the jam. Sugar in any jam recipe can be reduced safely, so long as you correctly seal the jars using water canning. However, the jam may be runny and not retain its quality as long.



Fermenting is a traditional practice that preserves food by creating a salty environment to cultivate lactic acid producing bacteria. These bacteria are safe for human consumption and the lactic acid produced prevents harmful bacteria from growing. Fermentation is the process of introducing ‘good’ bacteria that feed on the sugar and starch in the food to produce either alcohol or acid. Sauerkraut, beer, cheese, yogurt, coffee, salami, sourdough and kimchi are all examples of fermented foods. Fermented foods are great for your gut, being a good source of probiotics. Easy foods to try fermenting first are Sauerkraut or Kimchi, both are forms of fermented cabbage, the first German, the latter Korean. Be sure to taste them as they ferment so you can refrigerate them at the level of tang you prefer.



Pickling preserves foods by using vinegar to raise their acidity. This is usually done with vegetables, although you can also pickle fruits, eggs, meat and fish. The end taste for pickled and fermented foods have a similar acidic tang, but the process is very different. Some “pickles” can be made using a fermentation process by adding a different acid in the beginning of the process. A pickling recipe will always call for vinegar and fermenting recipe may not, as the acidity comes from the lactic acid produced by the ‘good bacteria.’

There are a couple different ways to make pickled vegetables and you’ll get different results from each. Refrigerator pickles are by far the easiest and require no canning. They are made by pouring brine over a jar full of sliced or whole veggies and placing them in the refrigerator. The downside is you have to eat them within 2 months and they need to stay refrigerated. If you’re wary of canning but still want pickles, check out these Easy Refrigerator Dill Pickles. The other type, canned pickles, needs to be water canned and can be stored in the pantry after. These canned pickles can be stored for up to a year, but be sure to stick to the exact time in the water canner. Boiling water too long will make your pickles lose their crunch.



Traditionally reserved for meats, smoking helps protect the food in various ways. First, the heat of the smoke kills bacteria. The smoke itself has an antimicrobial effect, meaning it reduces the growth of bacteria and other microbes. The heat of the smoke dries the outer layer of the meat, creating a physical barrier to spoilage. Curing is another method usually reserved for meats that involves treating cuts with a salt solution or packing them in dry salt. For more information and how-to, click here.


Drying preserves food by removing enough water so bacteria cannot spoil it. This can be done in a food dehydrator, a low heat oven or sometimes just by hanging plants from the ceiling. In most cases, drying should be done at 140 degrees Fahrenheit or below to avoid cooking it, drying the outside too fast and trapping moisture inside. Some foods, like fruit, have enough sugar and acidity to dry outside in the sun, but most do better in a warm, dry indoor environment. Dried foods can be rehydrated. A great example of delicious dried foods are these Cinnamon Apple Chips.



Food preservation is a great element to add to your kitchen skills, and can be a lot of fun to experiment with. Once you know the fundamental basics of canning, drying or pickling, it's easy to tweak a recipe to your liking. Whether you're a master or a beginner, I hope you found a little inspiration tucked within this page.


Stay curious,

Neena


 

Upcoming Events:


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phone ::  715.204.7201

address ::  1220 Briggs Ct

Stevens Point, WI 54481

Farmshed’s mission is to grow a resilient local food economy.

We partner with family and cooperatively owned farms and local food businesses throughout the region to ensure everyone in our community can choose healthy and delicious food. 

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