What method(s) do you use to preserve food?

[Durgan]

Processing Greens.

http://durgan.org/2017/June%202017/22%20June%202017%20First%20Harvest.%20Kale%20Collards%20Romaine/HTML/ 22 June 2017 First Harvest. Kale Collards Romaine
First produce (Kale,Collards,Romaine lettuce) from the garden for 2017 was harvested and processed into ten liters of slurry/juice. The lower leaves of the kale and collards were removed, and the Romaine was used whole. Quantity was 2 pounds of kale, 4 pounds of collards, and 4 pounds of Romaine. The material was washed cut into small pieces, about ten liters of water added and cooked until soft about 20 minutes. The cooked material was hand blended into a slurry, strained through a food mill of 2 mm mesh. Then the residue of the food mill was put through a Champion Juice to extract maximum nutrients. The processed juice was pressure canned in batches of seven at 15 PSI for 15 minutes for long term storage at room temperature. This is my main preserving method for all fruits and vegetables.

 

[Purrfluff]

What you do is place your servings of blanched greens into a freezer bag and then get a ladle and cover the greens with water. Try not to get the outside of the bag wet. Then completely seal the bag after squeezing out all of the air in the bag you can. Next place the bag upright onto a metal cookie sheet and freeze it. After freezing remove from the cookie sheet and find it a home in the freezer. I just put the hot greens into the bag and then put in the hot but not boiling water over the top making sure to cover the greens completely.
Not all pressure canners have gauges. Mirro for instance does not. The ones with gauges are a bit more difficult to maintain proper pressure IMO

Thank you, I'll try that. I assume you just defrost the block of icey greens when you want to use them? Is it better to let them defrost at room temperature or should they be nuked?

From what I've read in the Ball Blue Cook and at the National Center for Home Food Preservation is that if you use a pressure canner you've got use one with a dial gauge or a weighted gauge. Something to indicate you've hit the right pressure (usually 10 psi).

I, personally, wouldn't deviate from those guidelines but then again I am a little paranoid about botulism. I'm the guy who always dumps a little lemon juice into everything I'm going to can even if it's obviously acidic enough (e.g. pie cherries and gooseberries).

I found that dehydration worked pretty well on tomatoes. I've never tried it on greens but I'm sure it could be done. You could even make a powder out of the dehydrated stuff if you wished.

I had a crummy dehydrator so I got rid of it and haven't dehydrated since. I believe the ones that square/rectangular ones with trays that pull out are supposed to better than the circular ones with stackable trays.

 

[Chuck]

Thank you, I'll try that. I assume you just defrost the block of icey greens when you want to use them? Is it better to let them defrost at room temperature or should they be nuked?

From what I've read in the Ball Blue Cook and at the National Center for Home Food Preservation is that if you use a pressure canner you've got use one with a dial gauge or a weighted gauge. Something to indicate you've hit the right pressure (usually 10 psi).

I, personally, wouldn't deviate from those guidelines but then again I am a little paranoid about botulism. I'm the guy who always dumps a little lemon juice into everything I'm going to can even if it's obviously acidic enough (e.g. pie cherries and gooseberries).

I found that dehydration worked pretty well on tomatoes. I've never tried it on greens but I'm sure it could be done. You could even make a powder out of the dehydrated stuff if you wished.

I had a crummy dehydrator so I got rid of it and haven't dehydrated since. I believe the ones that square/rectangular ones with trays that pull out are supposed to better than the circular ones with stackable trays.

I normally just let the whole thing thaw out. It doesn't take long if you run warm water over the bag.
Your are exactly right. Most vegetable require 10 lbs of pressure, whether by weight or guage. I always put 1/2 teaspoon of salt and/or a tablespoon of lemon juice into everything I can. It is not required, doesn't affect the taste in a negative way but it somehow makes me feel a little better.
I have never dehydrated greens either although I have done tomatoes a couple of times in the past.

 

[Esther Knapicius]

the easy veggie that you can just clean/cut and freeze is the green pepper. just deseed. I like to only cut it in fourths then bag it, and then double bag several smaller bags. I just take out frozen pieces when ready to use and can cut them smaller while still frozen for whatever purpose . While not good for something like potato salad. they are good for soups, sauces, or to saute with onions, or other cooking situations.

 

[Durgan]

Yep, freezing is an excellent way to preserve many types of food. IIRC you are a flower person. What about when you go grocery shopping and something that you don't normally see is in season and reasonably priced and you really would like to enjoy it all during the year. Freezing works very for a moderate period of time but freezer space is limited. Well, canning allows you to do this. Many people are leery of canning due to the fact that in years past it was somewhat dangerous, you could contract botulism or some other disease. It is basically fool proof these days. Sure, it could be dangerous if you don't follow simple directions but both pressure canning and hot water bath canning are safe today. I am not trying to talk anyone into racing out and buying a pressure cooker/canner or a water bath pot. I am just trying to give everyone a little food for thought. Todays canning techniques are simple and easy to do. Remember that almost everything in a grocery store is canned. The food that they process is processed in the same basic way. About the only difference is in the size of their canning machines and in all of the junk that they add to the food.

Couldn't say it better.

 

[Esther Knapicius]

also like to freeze homemade broths. and leftover meat roasts to use up later in soups.

 

[Durgan]

Dehydrating.
I have almost enough Pressure Canned Juice for 2018/2019 season. I am revisiting dehydrating. My typical method is to dehydrate a product that has been juiced. This works fine and the end product is a good subject for storage for long term in jars or even vacuum packed. I am only concerned with plant products.

I use cookie sheets and my material is basically liquid. Sticking to the trays is a major issue. I am of the opinion that there is no way to prevent sticking. I am now wiping with olive oil or similar then pouring the material into the tray. This is the best all around method that I have found.

All the mats and inserts sold are still quite useless and difficult to clean and use also relatively expensive.

 

[La Garden]

Growing up in Wisconsin, most of the late summer and fall was canning time. A lot went into Grandma's old school root cellar. Cabbages, onions, carrots, potato sweet and regular, all kinds of squash and pumpkin. Also were a good amount of the canned stuff on shelves.
Do not see many root cellars these days.

 

[Durgan]

I am going on a dehydration endeavor. My route will to dehydrate and blend the dried product into a powder and store in sealed containers or vacuum packages. A few people do this for camping, I am going to expand on it.

Fresh will be the used when available. Seldom is meat used, so my effort will be on plant food.

I will start a new thread called Dehydrating and add to it over time.

 

[Esther Knapicius]

I use cookie sheets and my material is basically liquid. Sticking to the trays is a major issue. I am of the opinion that there is no way to prevent sticking. I am now wiping with olive oil or similar then pouring the material into the tray. This is the best all around method that I have found.

have you tried parchment paper?

 

[Durgan]

have you tried parchment paper?

Yes, parchment is not suitable. Olive oil applied with a Kleenex works just fine. I will be in full production this week.

 

[headfullofbees]

I eat too much and preserve it as body fat.

 

[vette-kid]

I'm glad I found this thread. I have an abundance of peppers. I have pickled some of the jalapenos, but may try freezing some. Would frozen jalapeno rings thanks suitable for sandwiches? Or does the freezing turn them into mush?

People grow, and preserve, their own food for many reasons. For me,a huge part of it is just the satisfaction of eating something grown and harvested by me. Kind of like changing my own oil, or building a piece of furniture. I could pay someone else to do it cheaper, but it's more satisfying this way. Except the veggies are more expensive and sprayed with who knows what before it makes it to my mouth.

But as I add more i need was to preserve it. I've even considered making jellies and jams to take advantage of produce sales!