Favorite Method of Food Preservation

What is your preferred method of food preservation and WHY?

I’m thinking canning, fermenting, freezing, dehydrating, curing, and pickling, but I might miss some other options…

I don’t have lots of experience (yet) - but…

I find freezing the easiest method - but if the grid fails - a freezer is of no use.

We make lots of jams (both from fruits and vegetables), but since we’re using very little sugar- the shelf life of these jams is very short.

We sundry tomatoes, eggplants, zucchini’s and peppers and then keep them in olive oil… yummy.

And I hope to learn more from your experience on your favorite methods for preserving food… and why.

I haven't done it myself yet, but freeze drying seems like a promising option.

Pros:
Shelf stable for a very long time.
You can preserve almost anything this way. Veggies, fruit, even meat, milk, eggs, and premade meals!
Easy to do; just cut everything into 1/2 inch pieces/slices and turn the machine on.

Cons:
The machine is quite expensive ($2000-$5000) and Harvest Right is the only brand I know of.
It's pretty slow. Cycle times are 12-36 hours depending on how much water needs to be removed. This can be sped up by freezing the food in the freezer first so the machine can skip that step.
The machine takes electricity, but not much more than a refrigerator.
You need to buy oxygen absorbers for maximum shelf life, but a simple mason jar should keep it good for a few months to a year.

I like using a root cellar.  I can store hundreds of pounds of crops that want to make it through the winter (biennial) like potatoes, onions, carrots and beets.  I have good luck with apples as well.  Cool dark (not cold or extremely humid) works well for squash, sweet potatoes and garlic.

In reference to the title of this discussion, I don’t see that there is a “best method of food preservation”.  There are plenty of ways to save foods. Some are better suited to certain foods than others. Some fit the needs of certain situations better than others. And sometimes it’s simply the personal preference of the food saver themselves.

I almost didn’t read this discussion simply because of the word “best”.  I don’t think that in permaculture there is one best method to do anything. As permaculturalists tend to say….it depends.

Living in Hawaii, I don’t need the preserve a lot. Most things grow year around. But at times I have excess until the next harvest, so I will freeze or dry things that I don’t sell or trade. The seasonal things, like lilikoi, mangos, and other tropical fruits I will freeze or dry. Or I will give a friend a bucketful and let him make it into jam with the understanding  that I get a jar or two in return.

Excess meat gets frozen or smoked. Excess fish gets frozen or dried. A friend of mine cans meat and fish, so sometimes I will trade by supplying the meat and getting some canned back in return.

I don’t can nor freeze dry. Not because I don’t like it. It’s that I don’t have the set up and don’t really have the need.

Preserving food takes time. So I tend to manage my gardens so that I don’t have to end up spending days in the kitchen putting up food.  

Much depends upon the specific vegetable and how I want to use it. For example, I keep pint jars of dehydrated okra,corn, onions, celery, peas, green beans, and carrots by the kitchen range.  They are handy for using in soups, stews, etc.

Air-Dried/Cellar: Dry Beans, Nuts, Grains, Garlic, Yam, Potatoes, etc
Bee-Assisted Air-Dried: nectar into honey
Solar-Dried: aka dehydrated fruits, fruit leather, etc
Heat-Dried: aka electric dehydrators or fossil-fuel powered commercial dehydrators, all similar to solar-dehydration
Smoking: this is a variation on heat-dried with the additional smoke/soot used as a preservative/biocide+flavor enhancer
Freeze-Dried: water is evaporated by lowering the air pressure, all powered by electric

Preservatives: biocides are added as preservatives (alcohol/acids/salt/sugar/sulphur/nitrates/smoke/etc)
Alcohol-ing: water content is diluted by the addition of alcohol + alcohol is used as a preservative/biocide
Sugaring: this can be used to make syrup/jam/jelly/etc, water content is evaporated by heat and sugar is usually added
Salting: internal water content is forced out and diluted by salt + salt is used as preservative

Fermenting/Outcompeting:beneficial/neutral microbes are cultured to outcompete and inhibit/poison spoilage microbes with alcohol/lactic acid/acetic acid/etc
Yeast-Alcohol cultures: Wine/Cider/Mead/Beer/Sake/etc, made from fruits and starchy grains/etc
Kefir-Lactic Acid cultures: Milk/Cheese ferments, Meat ferments, fruit/juice ferments, pickled vegetables ferment, sauces and condiment, etc
Pickle-Vinegar Acid cultures: Cucumber pickle ferments/etc
Tropical Mold-Koji culture: rice-amazake/sake ferment, miso, soy sauce, fish/meat sauce
Tropical Mold-Ragi culture: tape ketan, Peuyeum
Tropical Mold-Tempeh culture: sufu, tempeh, binds ingredients and creates a firm surface
Tropical Mold-Other culture: red yeast rice, etc
http://users.chariot.net.au/~dna/koji.html

Sterilization/canning: high temperature and pressure sterilization followed by exclusion of exterior microbe laden environments aka canning

Freezing: stops the growth of microbes, kills some parasites.
Personally I have a really hard time calling this preservation, because  All of the other preservation methods give us something that is ready to eat, with no/little prep except for this one.  

Curing meat and cheese is probably one of the most complex type of preservation, because it involves dehydration (air-drying/smoking/etc), bio-cides (salt/nitrates/smoke-soot/etc), and fermenting (lactic acid/koji/etc), and but it also gives them one of the most complex taste which I like alot. I also like tropical-mold ferments because the have interesting textures, taste and alot of bio-active medicinal compound that helps normalizes our digestive system (digestive enzyme/Glut-4/etc), heart (statin), neuro-transmitter, kidney and other organs.

The best preserved food is one you will use, however you preserved it.
Take drying many of you love it, I don't do it hardly at all.  My climate means the only possible method is using electric, and with over 90% humidity nearly all year keeping it dried is very hard, as soon as you open a jar you have to use the entire thing, just opening it will mean the rest of the contents will soften. And I don't use dried products other than fruit as a snack, and one large jar of dried mixed vegetables for soup and those don't have avery high priority.

We don't ever eat tinned meat so why would I can it? (even assuming I could buy jars/pressure caner which I can't) The same goes for vegetables, when I see the directions to can green beans, well that's so far past cooked they would go straight on the compost here.

I cannot stand lacto fermented food, it just tastes gone off, which of course it is, in a specific way. So again that's not something I would produce.


So what do I preserve? Well onions, garlic and potatoes go into the cellar we grow all of these for the entire year, our cool damp climate makes keeping them a doddle. Also down in the cellar are many jars of vinegar pickles we eat pickled vegetables every day, Danish Christmas dinner even has 2 types of picked vegetable and 0 fresh. I also make jam so sugar preserving and cordial which is also sugar. I salt green beans and if I find them cheap lemons. Meat is all in the freezer, I've tried dried hams etc, and it works fine, but he doesn't really like them.

So my methods by use;
Freezer
Vinegar
Sugar
Salt
Drying

S Bengi wrote:Air-Dried/Cellar: Dry Beans, Nuts, Grains, Garlic, Yam, Potatoes, etc

Wow… this is quite a detailed list…
Thank you so much.

I was wondering - which one of those methods you have experience with… and any tips and warnings you might have…

N. Neta wrote:
I was wondering - which one of those methods you have experience with… and any tips and warnings you might have…

I have used all of them except: Freeze-Dried, Tropical Mod-Ragi culture, Canning. I wouldn't say that I have cured meat, it as been more on the the side of aging/fermenting. For me making the months long miso was very interesting, with all the changing aroma that it produces as the months change, I threw away alot of what I made because I was unsure of what was really happening,  even though I gave it a good koji+kefir starter, my temps wasn't tropical throughout the process.

My biggest tip would be to use alot of starter, when you are fermenting. dip your hands, utensils, food and everything. If something is going to grow it should be the good microbes. You can even mist the air with it too.

My biggest surprise is how crunchy and bubbly/evanescence "pickles" can be when made with a water kefir starter.

For me it was alot of trial and error to get kefir-cheese flavor just right. Esp as the air temperature changes throughout the season. The biggest take away, keep it out of the fridge.  

S Bengi wrote:I have used all of them except: Freeze-Dried, Tropical Mod-Ragi culture, Canning.

Fantastic tips, S Bengi…
Thank you so much.

Skandi Rogers wrote:So my methods by use;
Freezer
Vinegar
Sugar
Salt
Drying

Thank you for that , Skandi…
A quick question, though, I would like to preserve fruits (and vegetables) as jams, but use no sugar (health reasons).
Do you know how to replace all or most of the sugar (I heard about honey - but heating up honey makes it sugar…)?

You can use thickener such as chia seeds, gelatin, xanthan gum or water kefir grains as a pectin+sugar substitute.
Using a very good blender so that you add less water to the mix

N. Neta wrote:

Skandi Rogers wrote:So my methods by use;
Freezer
Vinegar
Sugar
Salt
Drying

Thank you for that , Skandi…
A quick question, though, I would like to preserve fruits (and vegetables) as jams, but use no sugar (health reasons).
Do you know how to replace all or most of the sugar (I heard about honey - but heating up honey makes it sugar…)?

You can make jam with no added sugar, add a bit of lemon juice if you're using a low acid fruit it will be safe to store in the jar but it will go mouldy quickly after you open it. You may not get a good set. S Bengi gives some good thickening ideas.

S Bengi wrote:You can use thickener such as chia seeds, gelatin, xanthan gum or water kefir grains as a pectin+sugar substitute.
Using a very good blender so that you add less water to the mix

That’s wonderful to know, S Bengi.
I’m especially would love to know how to use water kefir to replace pectin & sugar…
Could you guide me towards a resource or a recipe?

I don't think I have every seen a recipe before, but once you have too much water kefir grains, just add some syrup to  it then blend it and it, it will be a sweet jelly mess. I have also used it to make frozen dessert too even as a binder for ice-cream. I figured that there was so much good microbes I can't just let them go to waste.

‘The best preserved food is one you will use, however you preserved it.’

Love this. I’ve wasted a lot of preserved food by not eating it. Lol.

I’ve had lots of excess veg this year but managed to give it away. Not exactly preserving but perhaps the goodwill with neighbours and friends is a store for the future.

I'm not sure where the quote came from but it goes :
"The best place to store food is in the belly of a neighbour"

Skandi Rogers wrote:[You can make jam with no added sugar, add a bit of lemon juice if you're using a low acid fruit it will be safe to store in the jar but it will go mouldy quickly after you open it.

We’ve tried that today, Skandi.
Do I need to keep it before opening in the fridge, or can I keep it in a cool and dark place until opening?
I understand that after opening it needs to be kept in the fridge and consumed within a few days…

My FAVORITE way to preserve vegetables is freezing because it is quick, easy, and the odds of failure are almost nil.  I would highly recommend using the Foodsaver vacuum sealer however if you're going to freeze your veggies.  This method negates any freezer burn to my veggies that I always used to get before I purchased the Foodsaver.  I do still can my tomatoes to a great extent because I love how they look all red and fresh while sitting on the shelf during the cold winter months.  Same with lacto-fermented cucumber pickles, kraut, other various pickled items, and preserved lemon that sit beside my tomatoes.  

Joshua LeDuc wrote:My FAVORITE way to preserve vegetables is freezing because it is quick, easy, and the odds of failure are almost nil.

Totally agree, Joshua… freezing is my favorite way too… not only for vegetables, but also (or mainly) for summer fruits, which then I use in the winter in smoothies…
The only downside is in case of power outage, when a chest freezer full of produce can spoil…

Home canning and vacuum seal n  freezing for now.i have a dehydrator that I need to start using. I'll start canning the refrigerated and frozen foods if the electric goes out for to long.or if it looks like it won't come back on at all.

jim loggin wrote:I'll start canning the refrigerated and frozen foods if the electric goes out for to long.or if it looks like it won't come back on at all.

That’s actually a great idea, Jim…
I wonder if it would work for everything that’s in the fridge/freezer…🤔

All of the meats I have in the freezer  can be canned as is or cooked then canned..I might not want to try that with the fish thoe.on account I've never home canned fish before.

N. Neta wrote:

Joshua LeDuc wrote:My FAVORITE way to preserve vegetables is freezing because it is quick, easy, and the odds of failure are almost nil.

Totally agree, Joshua… freezing is my favorite way too… not only for vegetables, but also (or mainly) for summer fruits, which then I use in the winter in smoothies…
The only downside is in case of power outage, when a chest freezer full of produce can spoil…

Haha.  Great minds think alike!  You need to get a generator!

We've lost the knowledge of preservation and fermentation, in S E Asia, it's a must to know how to handle preservation, spices, herbs, garlic, chili, smoking, drying and fermenting... How to reuse leftovers and add other ingredients and turn them into a slightly different dish.   And learning to PLAN ahead, see what's available at home, at what stage it is, what should/could be done with it to save it/make it last.... It's an art to follow the cycle of your raw ingredients, left-overs, and other foods. Aging meat and other foods can be seen as risky nowadays, because we've lost touch with what's really gone bad. But no one really realises how unhealthy some fridges can be, with forgotten stuff in some corner.

My favorite for meat is salt cured and smoked.  Nothing like grabbing a hunk of ham from the seller and fixing it for breakfast with some eggs.  I have finally gotten the bacon down to an art too.  Second would be fermenting.  Sauerkraut and pickles are a nice treat in the middle of winter.  I also can a huge amount of green beans, beets, carrots, and beef.  I only dry store garlic, onions, and potatoes.  I like eggs preserved in lime water too.  They sometimes have a slightly different taste, but is nice to have a bunch of eggs till the chickens pick up again in the spring.  Darn it, now I am hungry.

Lana Weldon wrote:We've lost the knowledge of preservation and fermentation, in S E Asia, it's a must to know how to handle preservation, spices, herbs, garlic, chili, smoking, drying and fermenting...

It’s a very good point, Lana…
Would you be willing to share about your food preservation experience?
That would be wonderful…

we freeze most foods & can a lot, because we can do it with modern appliances.
Turkeys are $0.49 a pound with a $25.00 order, so we have seven turkey in the freezer & could have had twice that many.
But I think beyond growing it & eating it fresh, the best way to preservation is vinegar, which you can make yourself.
I know of pickles peppers that sit on the shelf for five years & where still good ( we rotate all preserved food & you should too).
But this jar got misplaced & the whole jar was eaten without a problem.
Dehydration & Freeze Dry is good, but can be costly.
Hanging beans, root crops in the basement is less costly & you do not need power to do it.

At this point I mostly just freeze stuff because everything I process by canning or drying gets eaten almost immediately by my children. I made applesauce for two years and then gave up because I'd spend all day making it and canning it and it would be gone in two weeks. But in the other hand if I just leave the apples sitting there in a box in the fridge they will also be gone in 2-3 weeks so I might as well skip the work. My kids are voracious and eat over 20lbs of fruit a week.

And they will eat a ton of raw veggies where they barely nibble cooked so I am working on having something always growing in my garden. Hardy kale gets us through the coldest months and I'm looking into a hoop house and row covers to add a bit more variety.

I'd like to learn how to pickle things because most of the family loves pickles.

lots pf good suggestions here and they vary as per needs and environment..

like Skadi - i live in a very damp climate - i can dry and save seeds but that is about it - drying food is tricky..

i catch a lot of fish so i vaccum seal and freeze them... but there is the power problem..

i make refrigerator pickles with vinegar - i keep a batch of brine ready - it is a great way to "get stuff preserving".. hot peppers, cukes, carrots nasturtium seeds..etc...

but...."if you could pick only one.."

for me it would be pressure canning... the result can go on a shelf.. i have canned meat, fish, veg, broths chili etc..  it is the only way i know of to "preserve" anything reliably for a period of time that doesn't need any "care" afterwards..

that being said it IS time consuming and expensive.. if you go that route don't skimp on the canner

great responses all around! cheers!

Today, my favourite method of food preservation is freezing. Here’s why: 1) The harvest continues because I’m working alone, so it’s taking longer. 2) I’m running out of time. 3) blanching greens is easy. Boil a pot of water, add greens for 2 1/2 or 3 minutes, drain, and pack the greens for the freezer.
   For example, with only 9 hours of daylight right now, I have to get outside and get my healthy exercise, (2 hrs.), plus do whatever I can in the garden. Yesterday, I snipped a BIG basket of Jonathan Spero’s Siber Frill Kale variety.  I set it over night on my front step.  This morning I washed it, sorted it, stripped it and blanched in in less than 1 hour. Once it cools a bit I’ll bag and freeze it, which should only take a few minutes.
  Easy, cheap, and satisfying, and it sure beats paying $$ for store bought.

Paul Steer wrote:Today, my favourite method of food preservation is freezing. Here’s why: 1) The harvest continues because I’m working alone, so it’s taking longer. 2) I’m running out of time. 3) blanching greens is easy. Boil a pot of water, add greens for 2 1/2 or 3 minutes, drain, and pack the greens for the freezer.
   For example, with only 9 hours of daylight right now, I have to get outside and get my healthy exercise, (2 hrs.), plus do whatever I can in the garden. Yesterday, I snipped a BIG basket of Jonathan Spero’s Siber Frill Kale variety.  I set it over night on my front step.  This morning I washed it, sorted it, stripped it and blanched in in less than 1 hour. Once it cools a bit I’ll bag and freeze it, which should only take a few minutes.
  Easy, cheap, and satisfying, and it sure beats paying $$ for store bought.

Oooh, that is such pretty kale! I've never bothered freezing kale since it stays green in my garden year round. How do you eat your kale after it's in the freezer? (Like what recipes?)

I like freezing the best, canning comes second, and storing as fat on my body comes next.

I now have some serious canning ahead of me.i got me 5 hole chickens today.gonna cook  one at a time.then start the canning once their all cooked.

Jenny Wright wrote:...And they will eat a ton of raw veggies where they barely nibble cooked so I am working on having something always growing in my garden. Hardy kale gets us through the coldest months and I'm looking into a hoop house and row covers to add a bit more variety.  

Eliot Coleman's Four Season Harvest book inspired me to grow "Napoli" carrots in the greenhouse in winter. They are indeed as sweet in the winter as he says they are. I think several other root vegetables overwinter in the ground nicely too, if your climate is not tooo very cold

jim loggin wrote:All of the meats I have in the freezer  can be canned as is or cooked then canned..I might not want to try that with the fish thoe.on account I've never home canned fish before.

Simple Living Alaska has some videos on preserving their fish, using brines, smoking, and canning:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsiaR-q8SBE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgVMAnVaeQA

hi, just wondering if anybody has a read an article  comparing  the different methods of preserving and  measured the available nutrients before and after, specifically  all soft fruit, rosa rugosa, elderberries, hawthorne ,apples and maybe afew examples of green vegetables ,kale, sprouts,carrots.There are obviously lots of different methods, i am  interested in alcohol and fermenting.  Thanks, Stephen

Paul Steer wrote:Today, my favourite method of food preservation is freezing. Here’s why: 1) The harvest continues because I’m working alone, so it’s taking longer. 2) I’m running out of time. 3) blanching greens is easy. Boil a pot of water, add greens for 2 1/2 or 3 minutes, drain, and pack the greens for the freezer.

Can you, Paul (or someone else) explain why you need to blanch the greens before freezing, and is it necessary for other vegetables or fruits?
So far I’m just cutting whatever fruit or vegetable I want to freeze, put in a ziplock bag, and into the freezer, without further processing… am I doing it wrong?

N. Neta wrote:

Paul Steer wrote:Today, my favourite method of food preservation is freezing. Here’s why: 1) The harvest continues because I’m working alone, so it’s taking longer. 2) I’m running out of time. 3) blanching greens is easy. Boil a pot of water, add greens for 2 1/2 or 3 minutes, drain, and pack the greens for the freezer.

Can you, Paul (or someone else) explain why you need to blanch the greens before freezing, and is it necessary for other vegetables or fruits?
So far I’m just cutting whatever fruit or vegetable I want to freeze, put in a ziplock bag, and into the freezer, without further processing… am I doing it wrong?

Blanching your vegetables before you freeze them breaks down an enzyme that makes the veggies tougher and more bitter when frozen for a long time.  If you are using your veggies in a couple of weeks to a month couple of months it is not big deal.  If you dig it out 7 months later you may notice the difference.  

Hot and humid Florida… so sun drying, dehydrating, fermenting and picking. Right now, that’s it.

I am vegan currently but if I start fishing locally to supplement my diet, I would be very interested in tackling salting, drying, and smoking.

If I ever catch a snake, perhaps jerky could be made.