Healthy Ways to Preserve Food

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There are times of great abundance when we have more food than we can consume. Meats, large fish or a bounty of fresh veggies, all can be kept for future use, and still retain their flavor as well as nutrients. Find out how…..
Recently got lucky with your fishing rod? Or had a bounty of earth’s produce in your garden? Even after sharing your good fortune with friends and relatives, there is still a large mound left over? Then this needs to be preserved, for times when you may miss these very foods that you have in abundance today. Jokes apart, it is sensible to know how to keep foods like meat, poultry and fish or vegetables fresh for longer periods of time. Some of the methods are pre-historic, perhaps nature’s own guidelines to be followed and the best known among them is freezing. In fact the best instances of frozen meat staying fresh for millennia have come to light in some lost forgotten human races in the continent. But here we are talking about preserving foods for a couple of months or weeks.

In most foods the high content of water makes them vulnerable to spoilage due to the growth of microorganisms in it, the activity of other food enzymes and the reactions with oxygen. In some cases, the loss of moisture also contributes to spoilage and decay. So the secret of good preservation is to ensure that there is zero presence of bacteria and other microorganisms in the food.

There are three basic methods of food preservation in its natural form (and no, we are not talking about artificial preservatives and additives here) - freezing food, drying or dehydrating it and canning foods. Of these canning is the most complicated because it involves a lot of maneuvers with temperatures, humidity etc which may not be easy for a householder to take care of.

In case of refrigeration, foods with high oil, acid or salt content keep best under refrigeration. But of course, the unwritten rule is to use the freshest foods, just ripe, not overripe. Preparations should be made in advance because there is limited time for the process to be completed.

In the case of meats, it is advisable to chill the slaughtered meats immediately, to prevent bacterial spoilage. Here chilling would mean keeping meats below a temperature of at least 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Even at this temperature, it is not a great idea to keep it refrigerated for long periods, canning it within a few days is better. A better idea would be to keep it at zero degrees or below zero degrees Fahrenheit, till it can be canned. Then it can be cut into smaller pieces and the canning can be done, if planned.

In case the kill is in the wilderness, and there is no facility of refrigeration available, can it - before the body heat goes. Remember, fresh meats have the greatest difficulty in freezing if the temperature is not proper, because of the presence of salts in the meat. Besides, for keeping meats frozen, make sure there is enough air circulation within the freezer, even after allowing for head space. The food should be neatly packed in compact bags and kept with some space between the bags.

Some vegetables can be blanched while some fruits and vegetables can be frozen raw. Usually fruits can be frozen as they are. Berries, cherries can be frozen on trays then packed in airtight bags. Some fruits can be preserved in syrup; some with some sugar sprinkled before freezing, make the syrup in their own juices. Apples, pears, peaches, and apricots discolor if frozen and thawed, unless some ascorbic acid is mixed in. An option is rubbing on lemon juice to keep them fresh, but then one must be ready to accept the tangy flavor of the lemon in the frozen fruits. So ascorbic acid from the chemists will do just beautifully. Fruits such as cooking apples, which are going to be used for cooking after whenever needed, can be steamed before freezing, not steam cooked, just steamed till hot. This kills the bacteria, but since it also softens the fruits, it is not a great option for fruits which will be consumed whole later on. Foods like tomatoes can be used only for cooking after thawing, so they can be frozen raw or pureed or steamed...it makes no difference. Of course, raw cherry tomatoes can be frozen whole and even larger tomatoes can be cut into quarters, seeds removed, and frozen.

Except for peppers, scallions and herbs, most vegetables require some cooking before they are frozen. In most cases, it is blanching – peas, cauliflower, carrot, all can be dipped in boiling water for a few seconds then plunged in ice cold water to retain freshness, before they are frozen. A microwave oven can also be used for just as good effects. But always remember to cool down the vegetables before freezing them.

The ancestor of food preservation is, however, sun drying..long before any other method came into use, foods were dried under the sun, wind and smoking fires, to last longer. The science behind it is to remove moisture from the food, so the growth of bacteria can be completely controlled. This method seems to be better than any other because it is faster, requires minimum equipment and the food still tastes good and is as nutritious. It also requires little storage space. The process of drying drains out their excess fat and as a result dried foods are high in fiber and carbohydrates but less in fat. But the catch is that the food should be COMPLETEY dried, or else spoilage may still occur.

In regions that get adequate sun and dry winds, outdoors drying is a good option, and gives us things as tasty as Italian sun dried tomatoes. In other places, indoor drying equipment can be used. The thing to remember is to select only the freshest produce. The fruits and most veggies too should be peeled, cut into quarters or halved, depending on the size, and then dried. In some cases, it may be blanched, cooked or dipped in salts.

The most complicated method of preserving food is canning. There are too many factors involved in this process and unfortunately each one is critical to the success of the process. The region, altitude, humidity, the shape of the can, the nature of the food, the space left as head space at the top of the jar…even the mindset of the canner…no, just joking. The rules to be followed vary with all these factors. Air bubbles need to be removed before the process is complete, the jars should be sterilized, wiped clean of any adhering food particles before the lid is placed on. The list of the Be- Careful’s is almost endless.

In case of meats and poultry, the cans or jars themselves must be heated for a specified amount of time to ensure the container is completely free of bacteria or any other microbes.

If the instructions say precook the meat, make sure it stays hot while it is being canned. If added liquid is required, add broth, juice or warm water. The jars should be vacuum sealed to disallow any air penetration.
In case of fish, though freezing is an easier alternative, canning also has some advantages. In the first place, it keeps the product moist and tenderizes the bones, so they too become edible.

But while canning, be sure to use a pressure canner and also that there are no traces of botulism food poisoning. Some fish may need to be boiled for a while before being canned. In any case, the fish always needs to be cleaned by dipping in brine for about an hour, since this removes any traces of blood too.

Preserving foods is not an easy process, there are always a string of instructions to be carefully followed, especially in case of canning. But if it is a success, then one can enjoy the taste and nutrition of foods long after too.