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Sustainable Food Preservation, by Jen W.
A number of preparedness books and web sites talk about preserved food as
part of an emergency food storage plan. There can be immense satisfaction in
seeing
the rows and rows of gleaming canning jars, full of autumn’s bounty.
I’ve done it for years, and thoroughly enjoyed the fruits of my kitchen
labor. But what happens when Mason jar lids (which are supposed to be used
only once in canning) are no longer readily available? Unless you have the
more expensive European canning jars, with the reusable rubber gasket, you
may be out of luck. Or when you can’t spare the water, electricity,
or fuel to keep that water bath simmering for hours and hours (and you don’t
have a pressure canner or steam canner)? And while those #10 cans might be
handy for the first year of an emergency, freeze-drying requires a background
of high technology.
Then it’s time to turn to older methods of preserving food. Or you can
use these methods right along with canning to make things even easier (and
use the same jars). Old preserving methods fall into the following general
categories: salt, vinegar, fat/oil, sugar, alcohol, dehydration, fermentation,
and culturing.
Cover goat cheese rounds in a jar with oil, or feta with brine and you’ve
got cheese that will not need refrigeration. Some methods blend well with each
other, like making brine for cucumbers which then ferment right in the jar.
Six weeks later, dill pickles! Or combine sugar and alcohol to preserve chopped
fruit, for a great sauce on cakes or ice cream.
Salt – use dry on vegetables in layers, or a brine on chopped or shredded
vegetables to make pickles
Vinegar – an alternate method for pickles; also good for herbs and some
fruits (sweet & sour)
Fats/oil – cover thick sauces like pesto or tomato with a thin layer
to prevent mold; also, marinate fresh and dried vegetables, cheeses, and herbs
Sugar/honey – the most popular preservative; fruit butters and pastes
don’t need canning to stay fresh
Alcohol – make wines to capture herb and fruit flavors; cover fruit with
sugar and brandy
Dehydration – dry herbs, fruits, vegetables (including leafy greens like
chard and kale which can add some super nutrition to eggs, soups, stews, breads,
etc.), meats, and some cheeses at temperatures at or less than 120 Degrees
F. for greatest nutritional benefit
Fermentation – ferment whole, chopped, or shredded vegetables; juices
and fruits
Culturing – add some easily-found bacteria to make your own kombucha,
miso, soy sauce, tempeh, natto, kefir, yogurt, buttermilk, sour cream, and
most cheeses
Add to this list the concepts of root cellaring, when you store fruits and
vegetables in a cool place in your own home or garden instead of in a commercial
cold room with carbon dioxide; foraging for wild greens, fruits, and various
herbs; and four season gardening, when you keep growing those healthy greens
and root vegetables over the winter. Then you’ve got ways to keep your
family fed through the winter and spring (or some tough times), without having
to trust that the stores will stay fully stocked.
Of course, some of these ideas require a little time and patience before you
can reap the rewards. It’s helpful to believe that not everything has
to be boiled within an inch of its life or refrigerated every moment to be
safe to eat (of course, you should use your best judgment on when food is safe
and ‘throw it out when in doubt’). Maybe you’ll even stretch
your culinary horizons, as you discover what fabulous dishes and combinations
can be made from your preserved foods. It’s probable that you and your
household will be eating better than you ever have before.
Here are half a dozen items in my pantry right now, sitting on the shelf without
any refrigeration whatsoever:
Rewaxed cheese – you can buy a regular block of cheese from the store,
dip it in a really strong brine (salt and water), and let it sit out for a
day or two until it develops a rind. Then dip it in melted wax several times
(letting the wax harden between coats), and your cheese can be stored in a
cool area for several years. It will get harder and sharper as time goes on,
but that’s okay with me as long as I don’t have to do without cheese.
Canned butter – melt butter and simmer gently for five minutes. Then
pour into glass Mason jars (one pound will fill slightly more than a pint)
and cover
with a regular lid and ring. As the butter cools, it will create a seal on
the lid. Shake the butter every few minutes as it cools, to create a smoother
blend. Ghee is another butter product that will keep on a shelf (you remove
the milk solids after simmering longer).
Jerky – cut relatively lean meat into 1” cubes, then marinate overnight
in regular soy sauce and a sprinkling of black pepper (or any other sufficiently
salty marinade). Dehydrate at 120oF until the desired texture is reached (less
dry for snacks, more dry for long-term storage). Jerky can be rehydrated in
soups, stews, and creamed chipped beef on toast (among other things).
Pemmican – dry thin slices of lean beef until brittle; shred in a food
processor, blender, or mortar; then mix in equal proportions with liquid rendered
suet. Add some dried berries for extra vitamin C. Let cool and cut into bars.
Can be eaten as is for an excellent travel ration (a favorite of early Arctic
travelers), or used in soups and stews.
Sauerkraut – shred one cabbage and mix with 1 tbsp salt (caraway seeds
optional). Pack it tightly in a quart jar until the cabbage juice covers the
cabbage. Cover loosely for 3-4 days until the fermentation slows down. Then
tighten the lid and store for a month before eating. This works with all kinds
of shredded vegetables.
Pickles – put a couple of garlic cloves and some fresh/dried dill in
a quart jar, add some small cucumbers, and cover with a brine (about 2 tbsp
per quart of water). Cover loosely for 3-4 days until the fermentation slows
down. Then tighten the lid and store for six weeks before eating. This works
with carrot sticks, asparagus, and all kinds of other vegetables.
Vegetable Stock – chop or grind together 1 lb. each of leeks, tomatoes,
onions, turnips, parsley, and salt. You can also add carrots, celery, chard,
chervil, and other herbs and vegetables as desired (just keep the proportion
of salt the same).Let it stand overnight in a bowl, then remix and store in
jars. Store in a cool place and it will last for up to three years. Use for
a base in soups, sauces, stock, stir-fries, etc.
This is just the start; there are so many options for preserving food without
canning or freezing that one book would be hard-pressed to cover them all.
Personally, I haven’t really even explored all the ways to preserve meat,
like curing, smoking, and potting (covering with fat). Anyway, here are a few
books to get you started:
Keeping Food Fresh: Old World Techniques and Recipes (The Gardeners and Farmers
of Terre Vivante, Chelsea Green)
Dry It! You’ll Like It (Gen MacManiman, Living Foods Dehydrators)
Wild Fermentation (Sandor Katz, Chelsea Green)
Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition
and the Diet Dictocrats (Sally Fallon, New Trends Publishing)
Jerky (A.D. Livingston, The Lyons Press)
