Preservation Techniques

7/31/2019 Preservation Techniques

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Chapter 5 Food: Page 4

Food Preserva tion Techniques

Let's say that you have just acquired a fresh kill. But it is a

large animal (i.e., deer) and there is no electricity, so your

refrigerator and freezer are not options. You could build a fire and havea huge barbecue for your entire neighborhood. But you would rather preserve some of thismeat to feed your family during the coming months. Well, you can cut the meat into thinstrips and dry it or smoke it making jerky. Or if you have a pressure canner and a heatsource you can pressure can it. But first you will have to dress it!

Field D ressing

An animal must be field dressed or "gutted" immediatelyafter it is killedon the spot! Otherwise the meat will go bad very quickly.Even in very cold weather the inside of a large animal will stay warm for a long time after itdies. That heavy coat of fur that keeps the animal warm through the winter also keeps itsinsides warm for a long time after it has been killed. The digestive systems of all animalscontain billions of microorganisms that do no harm when the animals are alive. But whenthe blood ceases to circulate and the immune system ceases to function, thosemicroorganisms will cause the animal to deteriorate very rapidly. To protect the meat the"guts" have to be removed immediatelyin the fielda process known as field dressing.The process is essentially the same for all animals. As an example I will briefly describe the

basics of field dressing a deer. There are good videos available at hunting and outdoorstores that describe the process in detail, and a picture is worth a thousand words, as theysay, so if you don't already know how to field dress an animal I would recommend that youacquire such a video and learn how to do it now. One that I recommend in DVD format isPractical Game Processing and Deer Butchering by Timothy Flynn and Gary Zick. Don't waituntil you have a fresh kill on your hands. You will have to act quickly, which means thatyou will need to know what to do in advance.

If the animal is a buck, first cut off the genitals with a sharp knife. Then slit the underbellyof the animal from the genitals to the ribcage, being careful not to cut the intestines. Afteryour initial incision slip two fingers under the skin to hold the skin up slightly away from theintestines to keep from nipping them. Pull all of the organs out of the body cavity, usingyour knife to cut away anything that is attached. Save the liver. The kidneys will be locatedin the flank of the animal. These should be cut away and also saved. Under the rib cage is a

muscular diaphragm separating the abdominal cavity (which you just emptied) from thechest cavity. Cut around this diaphragm to remove the chest organs, which consists mostlyof the heart and lungs. Reach up inside the chest cavity as high into the throat as possiblewith your knife, and cut the windpipe and then pull all the organs of the chest out of theanimal in one mass. Save the heart. Rinse out the inside of the animal with cold waterbeing particularly careful to wash out any intestinal contents that may have leaked into thecarcass, which is now ready for transporting.


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Next, make slits behind the Achilles tendons of both rear legs so that you can hang theanimal upside down (as seen in the photograph above.) You can hasten the cooling down ofthe interior of the animal by propping open the internal cavity with a stick so that cold aircan get to the inside. The animal may now be skinned and butchered.

During normal times my preferred method for keeping meat is in my freezer. For ourpurposes, however, I will assume that electricity is not readily available so I will describetwo methods of preserving meat which require no refrigeration.

Smok ing Meat & Ma king Jerky

Before refrigeration people relied on salt and smoke to

preserve their meat. Most people lived on family farms and the "smoke house"was as familiar as the outhouse. Refrigeration changed the way we did a lot of things, butone thing it did not change was our taste for the flavor of smoked meat. Consequently,smokers are readily available today and recipes abound, including those for smoking yourmeat in your backyard grill. But one thing that nearly all of these recipes have in commonis: the meat is cooked and so the end product will require refrigeration.

To preserve meat that will not require refrigeration a process


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known as Hard Smoking is required. Hard smoked meat is similar tojerky. It contains a lot of salt, and it is smoked at a low temperature until there is very littlemoisture left in it. It is kind of like the dehydration method used for fruits and vegetables,but done with smoke and the addition of salt and usually other spices as well. The salthelps preserve the meat by inhibiting the growth of microorganisms. Sometimes the meatis so salty that you may even want to soak it for a few hours before eating it to removesome of the salt. (People used to save this water and reclaim the salt by allowing the waterto evaporate.)

The smoked meats and jerky that you buy in stores today contain preservatives callednitrites, so their moisture content may be slightly higher and their salt content slightlylower. Their recommended shelf-life is one year. Nitrites are known to cause cancer so theirconsumption should be limited. The jerky that you make at home, if preserved properly,should keep indefinitely even without nitrites, but as with any preserved food its quality willdeteriorate over time. It would best be best to consume it within six months to a year.

Spices have been highly prized over the centuries, withcertain spices at times being worth more than their weight ingold. You might recall, from your American history class, that when ChristopherColumbus discovered the New World he was actually looking for a shorter trade with India,primarily for spices. We enjoy spices because they impart interesting flavors to our foods.But before the days of refrigeration they were also highly valued for their ability to preservefood. By using certain spices that have strong antimicrobial actions, we can reduce theamount of salt needed to preserve our meat, making it more palatable and healthier at thesame time.

Spices with antimicrobial action include garlic, ginger, black pepper, clove, oregano, thyme,

nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, bay leaves, mustard, rosemary, bishop's weed, chilli (alsocalled cayenne or red pepper), horseradish, cumin, black cumin, pomegranate seeds,onion, celery, geranium and many others. Some spices by themselves have weakantimicrobial effects that become much stronger when combined with other spices. (Thesecombinations are said to be synergistic, because the combination is greater than the sumof the individual parts.) Chili powder is a synergistic combination typically consisting of redpepper (cayenne), onion, paprika, garlic, cumin and oregano. Five-spice powder is asynergistic combination of pepper, cinnamon, anise, fennel and cloves. Most people thinkthat the combination of spices known as curry powder originated in India. But curry isactually a Western blend devised during colonial times combining the best spices fromIndia. Curry powder recipes vary slightly, but turmeric is always a key ingredient in theblend. The usual recipe for curry powder in the West consists of turmeric, cardamom,cumin, fenugreek and chilles. Other herbs that are commonly included in curry blendsinclude ginger, garlic, coriander, cloves, nutmeg, mustard, black pepper, fennel, and

others.

We can extend the shelf-life of our homemade jerky with thejudicious use of spices. Salt and pepper, either black or red,

are key ingredients. The other spices that I prefer include garlic, ginger, andturmeric. I also like the spice blends mentioned above, curry powder, chili powder and five-spice powder. If a liquid marinade is to be employed soy sauce may be used as the sourceof salt.


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Safety Precautions

Jerky is considered a very safe and effective method of

preserving meat. However, over the years a few incidents of food poisoning havebeen reported as a result of improperly cured jerky. This can be easily avoided if a fewcommonsense precautions are followed:

1) Cleanliness is rule number one. It begins in the field when the animal is field dressed orgutted. Try to keep the meat from coming into contact with the contents of the intestines.Rinse the inside of the animal thoroughly with water if possible.

2) Before preparing any food wash your hands thoroughly using soap and water. Use a mildchlorine bleach solution (one tablespoon of bleach to a gallon of water) to clean all surfaces

and materials that will come into contact with the meat. (By now it should be evident thatchlorine bleach is an important survival item that should be stored in sufficient quantities.)

3) The use an oven thermometer to insure that your smoker/dryer maintains the propertemperature is recommended.

4) Jerky must be completely dry, since bacteria require moisture to grow. Properly driedjerky should crack when bent in half, but not necessarily break into two pieces. Allow thejerky to cool to room temperature before testing.

5) Avoid Cross-Contamination by not allowing your finished product to come into contactwith surfaces that have been contaminated by raw meat

6) Store jerky in airtight jars or plastic bags to prevent it from absorbing moisture andbacteria from the air. Allow the jerky to cool to room temperature before placing it intoairtight containers.

7) If moisture appears on the inside of the storage container the jerky is not dry enough.Dry it longer.

Drying/ Smoking Temperatures

There are a lot of opinions regarding ideal drying/smoking temperatures. Some differencesof opinion are the result of safety concerns, and some have to do with what you intend to

do with the meat. Those who plan on storing their dried meats in a refrigerator or freezertend to cook their meat as well as dry it. It is important to remember that cooked meat isnot suitable for long term storage and must be stored in a refrigerator or freezer or elseeaten within a few days. When properly cured and dried, without cooking, meat will keepindefinitely, (although its quality will begin to deteriorate after a few months so it shouldprobably be eaten within a year.)

Because of the natural preservative nature of smoke, smoking meat can be safely done at alower temperature than that used when drying meat without smoke. Also, meat properlycured with salt and spices can be safely dried or smoked at a lower temperature. Ingeneral, I believe that it is best to use the lower temperatures, by using the smokingprocess rather than drying alone, and being sure to cure the meat with salt and spices


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beforehand.

The USDA recommends drying/smoking temperatures of 145o F for 7 hours or 155o for 4hours. Care should be taken not to exceed 155o F or the meat will get cooked rather thandried. Lower drying temperatures of 125o F for 10 hours or 135o F for 8 hours arerecommended by some, and I have even seen recommendations as low as 95o to 130o F.

I recomm end that you begin the drying process at a lowe r tempe rature, sayaround 125 o F, and then gradually increase it each hour until the m axim um

temperature of 145 o to 150 o F is reached for t he fina l hour or so. This will insurethat the mea t is thoroughly dried through and through w ithout getting cooked.

Check the me at for doneness by allowing a piece t o cool down and then bend it.

To convert degrees Fahrenheit to Celsius subtract 32, then multiply by five and divide by 9.Or use the following approximations:

95 35

100 38

105 41

110 43

115 46

120 49

125 52

130 54

135 57

140 60

145 63

150 66

155 68


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The Drying/ Smoking Process

Smoking the meat is not an absolute necessity, but in my

opinion it is highly desirablenot only because the smokeimparts a nice flavor to the meat, but more importantlybecause the smoke is a natural preservative. Jerky can be made inan ordinary oven by leaving the oven door open slightly to allow the moisture to escape. Itis important that the temperature does not exceed 155o F because you want to dry themeat rather than cook it. Cooked meat is not preserved. You should set an oventhermometer on the oven rack toward the back to monitor the heat. Obviously this is bestdone in the cold months of the year when the heat escaping from the oven can be used tohelp keep your house warm, rather than increasing your air conditioning bill.

Drying jerky can also be done in a food dehydrator. Again a thermometer may be advisableto monitor the heat. Even if your dehydrator has a temperature setting, these are ofteninaccurate. A solar dehydrator is also an option. The Native Americans (who taught theEuropean settlers about jerky in the first place) used to dry their meat in the open air andsun. In some cultures the meat is actually hung in the sun on the thorns of shrubs. So,despite a ll of these seemingly complicated instructions, never forget t hat makingjer ky is not rocket science!

As I have mentioned my favorite way to make jerky is in a smoker, using the naturalpreservative nature of the smoke to help preserve the meat. Ordinarily smokers contain apan of water, which helps keep the meat moist. However, the end product of most smokingrecipes will require refrigeration. Our intention is to use the hard smoking process to make

jerky, with a very low moisture content, that will keep indefinitely without refrigeration. So

skip the water! I also recommended that you monitor the temperature, keeping it below155o F, so that your meat will be dried rather than cooked. Many commercial smokers areavailable, using gas, charcoal or wood. They can also be easily made using inexpensivematerials.


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The recipes and directions that come with most smokers, like the one pictured above, willresult in the meat being cooked rather than hard smoked. The end product will requirerefrigeration. Our intention is to make jerky that will not require refrigeration, so we wantto use the hard smoking process which is accomplished by using smoke at a lowertemperature.

I have seen a very effective homemade smoker made by a deer hunter. He used hissmoker to process his entire deer into jerky in a matter of a couple of days. It consisted ofa large wooden box with screened shelves that would slide out. (If you make your ownsmoker or dryer don't use metal screens. They are galvanized with zinc which is notsuitable for contact with food.) He would dig a fire pit about 6 feet from the smoker. On topof the pit he put a 6 foot length of 6 inch galvanized vent pipe (the kind you use to ventyour furnace) on a slight incline leading from the fire pit to a hole in the lower side of thesmoke box. He would start a fire in the fire pit and then cover it with a piece of sheet metalto keep the fire smoldering and to direct the smoke through the vent pipe and into thesmoke box.


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Another ingenious method suitable for the cold months of the year makes use of a woodburning stove in your house, with the stove pipe running to the outside of your house andinto your smoker. Since smoke rises, the smoker must be at a higher level than your stove.Sufficient stove pipe should be used to insure that the smoke cools enough before enteringthe smoker, otherwise the meat could get cooked rather than dried. A heat reclaimer onthe stove pipe inside the house can also increase the efficiency of such a unit, further

reclaiming the heat for the house and cooling down the smoke sufficiently for the smoker atthe same time. This is the procedure that I use (illustrated in the photograph above) usinga wood stove in my basement with the stove pipe running through a basement window andinto my smoker on the outside. Needless to say great care should be taken to avoid settingyour house on fire. Never leave such a unit unattended!

There is a variety of opinions regarding the best wood to burn in your smoker. I don't thinkit matters a lot, so use what you have available. Any hardwoods will do. Fruit trees likeapple will do very nicely. When I prune my fruit trees I save the trimmings to use for mysmoker. I have never used pine but I have heard others say that it should be avoided.


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Making Jerky

Select the leanest cuts of meat for making jerky and remove all visible fat. Fat does notpreserve well and can adversely affect the taste and quality of your jerky. For a productthat does not require refrigeration you are going to want to remove as much moisture fromthe meat as possible. This can be accomplished more easily by slicing the meat very thin.Slice the meat across the grain (at a right angle to long muscles) for the most tender jerky,or with the grain for a more chewy jerky. Cut it into strips no more than a quarter of aninch (6 mm) thick. This is more easily accomplished if the meat is slightly frozen.

Basic Brine recipe: Two cups of salt, 1 cup of sugar, 1 tsp. ground black pepper, 1/2 tsp.ground cloves, 1/2 tsp. of garlic powder and 1/2 tsp. of turmeric powder. Other herbs andspices may be used according to availability and tastes. The only ingredient that isabsolutely essential is the salt. To make a liquid for cold marinating or for a boiling

marinade add this dry mixture to 2 quarts of water. The mixture can be made slightlyweaker (more water) for a boiling marinade. For a dry marinade mix the dry ingredientswithout any liquids.

Cold Marinade

Soak the strips of meat in the marinade in a refrigerator overnight, or for at least threehours. This is most easily done in a plastic bag. At least once during the marinating processshake the bag and turn it over to insure that all the meat comes into contact with themarinade. After the meat has been marinated, remove it from the marinade, shake off theexcess and put it in the dryer or smoker. Some people are concerned about bacterialgrowth in the cold marinade. Certainly this step should be done in the refrigerator. Ifrefrigeration is not available, alternative methods include boiling marinade and dry

marinade.

Boiling Marinade

As an extra precaution, the USDA recommends that meat be precooked to at least 160o Fbefore drying. This is accomplished by skipping the cold marinade, and instead, the rawmeat is dipped into a boiling marinade until the it turns gray (one to two minutes.) Then itis dried or smoked as usual. Care should be taken not to cook the meat too much. No othermarinating is necessary because the heat causes the marinade to penetrate the meat veryrapidly. I don't think that such a precooking step is necessary, but a boiling marinade maybe a desirable alternative if your refrigerator is not working. I prefer the following drymarinating process instead.

Dry marinade

During a prolonged emergency the dry marinating process may be the best choice, not onlybecause it requires less energy, but also because it makes the most economical use of yourmarinade. The dry marinade is mixed well and sprinkled generously onto a large cuttingboard. The strips of meat are laid on the dry marinade, first one side and then the other, tocoat both sides well. Then a wooden mallet is used to pound the marinade into the meat. Ifyour refrigerator is working, or if it is very cold outdoors, the strips can be stacked oneupon the other, put in a plastic bag or closed container, and put in the cold for a few hoursor overnight to allow the dry marinade to soak into the meat. This step is not necessary,since you have pounded the marinade into the meat with the wooden hammer, so if the


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temperature is warm it may be best to immediately shake off the excess marinade and putthe strips in the smoker or dryer.

Pressure Canning Mea t

Canning meat in mason jars is also an effective way topreserve meat. Unlike tomatoes and fruits, which may be canned in a boiling waterbath, meats must be canned at the higher temperatures that are only achievable by apressure canner. Any pressure cooker can be used for pressure canning, but many pressurecookers are too small to be of much use in canning. A pressure canner is simply a pressurecooker that is large enough to hold a practical number of mason jars. It is certainly a goodinvestment if you are interested in pressure canning. Instructions for pressure canning canbe found with any good pressure canner and in many cookbooks as well. I will discusspressure canning in further detail in a later section of this chapter.

The photograph above shows a pressure cooker (on the left ) and a pressure canner. Either

may be used for pressure canning, although the canner is obviously more practical because itwill hold more jars. A pressure cooker is an essential appliance in our home because it allows

us to cook foods like whole brown rice in about a third of the time normally required.


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Preserving the Bounty from your Orchard and

Garden

At the beginning of this chapter, in our discussion of food storage, Iintroduced several methods of food preservation to consider for yourlong-term storage needs, including dehydration, home-canning andfreezing. In this section we will take a closer look at these threemethods as they pertain to the preservation of your homegrownfoods.

Part 2 will follow

automatically in the

same window.

Dehydration

As we discussed earlier, dehydration requires the removal of

most of the water from the food using a drying techniqueinvolving air circulation and low levels of heat. Sometimes a fan isused but more often the circulation is produced by the simple effect of rising warm air. Mostdehydration units have an electrical element in the bottom to produce the heat. The unit isvented at the bottom and top. The hot air rises passing around and through the foods,which are placed on screens to allow maximum circulation. To insure adequate dehydrationthe foods are generally prepared for the drying process by slicing them very thin. The warmair picks up moisture from the food and carries it out the top of the unit, while cooler anddryer air flows in from the bottom. For best results the temperature should be raised verygradually over a period of hours. Otherwise the outside of the food could become dry,locking the moisture in the inside and preventing the food from drying completely.

Inexpensive food dehydration units for home use are readily available and are veryeffective. Solar energy also works very well as a heat source for dehydrating foods, andmany foods are dried simply by placing them out in the open air in a sunny location(preferably with some protection against insects.)

Dehydrated foods do not require refrigeration. Without moisture themicroorganisms that are responsible for food spoilage can not grow. Care must be taken toinsure that most of the water is removed or spoilage, usually from mold, could become aproblem. Dehydrated foods will keep for a year or longer when stored in airtight containersor plastic bags. The dryer the food the longer it will store. As with all preservationtechniques some nutritional value is lost during the drying process, but dehydrationremains one of the best ways to prepare food for storage without refrigeration orsterilization. Dried foods are light and compact making them ideal for backpacking and food

storage. You can restore dehydrated foods by soaking them in water for a few hours beforeusing them, but most dehydrated fruits are eaten as-is. You will probably want toreconstitute your dehydrated vegetables before eating them. Dehydrated vegetables aregreat for soups and stews.


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It is not necessary to peal fruits before dehydrating them, but pealed fruits will dry faster.This handy countertop apple peeler also cores the apples and slices them into very thenand uniform slices ideal for dehydration. You can also use it to slice and core your appleswithout pealing them. Thin and uniform slices will dry quicker and more efficiently.

The thinly sliced fruits or vegetables are placed on the screens in single layers, with no


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overlap, which allows for maximum air circulation. The temperature is set at the lowestsetting at first and then gradually increased over the next few hours to prevent the outside

of the fruit from drying first, locking moisture on the inside. The fruit or vegetable must bedried all the way through for proper preservation and storage preparation.

The dried fruits and vegetables are cooled to room temperature and then place in airtightcontainers such as plastic bags or glass jars. Glass jars could break in an earthquake soplastic storage containers may be preferable.

Canning

Canning requires the complete sterilization of the food and

container. The naturally occurring enzymes that would cause deterioration of the food

in time are also destroyed by the heat used in the canning process. Special glass jars (e.g.,Mason jars) and two-piece lids are used for home canning. The lids completely seal the jarswith a vacuum inside which keeps all microorganisms out. Properly canned foods will keepalmost indefinitely, but their quality begins to deteriorate after about a year so it isrecommended that they are consumed within a year or so.

Canning in a 10 minute boiling water bath is adequate for high-acid foods such as fruits,tomatoes and foods pickled in vinegar. Nonacid foods such as meat, fish, fowl andvegetables require a higher temperature which is obtainable only in a pressure canner.(The photograph above shows a boiling water bath canner on the left and a pressurecanner on the right.)

Complete instructions for home canning will be found in the instructions that will come withyour canning equipment or in any good canning recipe book. Some good canning books arelisted in the Additional Resources section at the end of this web site and under


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"Recommended Reading" at the bottom of this page. The first step for canning fruits ortomatoes in a boiling water bath involves sterilizing the glass jars by boiling them in water

for 10 minutes in a large pot. The lids are placed in a separate pan of water which isbrought to a simmer (180o F) but not boiled. At the same time that the jars are beingsterilized, the food is also sterilized by boiling it for 10 minutes in another pot. The hot foodis then added to the hot jars and the lids are placed on the jars with the bands screwed onfinger tight. The final processing involves boiling the jars of food for another 10 minutescompletely submerged in the boiling water bath. If you live more than 1,000 feet above sealevel you must increase the boiling time using the following formula: At 1-3,000 feet add 5min.; 3-6,000 add 10 min.; 6-8,000 add 15 min.; 8-10,000 add 20 min.

After the boiling water bath the jars are removed and allowed to cool down. During thecooling process the lids should seal, which is indicated by an indentation in the center ofthe lid. Jars that are sealed are now ready for labeling and storage. Any jars that did notseal can be placed in the refrigerator for immediate consumption or boiled again in theboiling water bath. For jars that don't seal the problem will usually turn out to be foodbetween the rim of the jar and the lid, so the rim should be checked and wiped clean beforethe second attempt.

Some recipes call for additional ingredients. Most jellies, for example, will require pectinand sometimes lemon juice for acidity as well. You will probably also want to add sugar tomost fruits. Pectin usually comes with good recipes for making jellies and jams.

Pressure Canning

All meats, including fish and fowl, and foods that contain meat, such as stews, must beprocessed at 240o F (115o C), which is obtainable only with steam under 10 pounds ofpressure (psi.) This pressure must be increased if you live more than 1,000 feet above sealevel: At 1-2,000 feet use 11 psi; 2-4,000 use 12; 4-6,000 use 13; 6-8,000 use 14; 8-


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10,000 use 15. If your pressure canner uses a fixed weight that is only adjustable in 5 psiincrements use 15 psi if you live over 1,000 feet above sea level. It is not necessary to pre-

sterilize jars and lids when the processing time will exceed 10 minutes. Meat should be cutinto convenient sized chunks and precooked without flour until the red color changes tobrown. The jars are then packed with the meat and filled will boiling broth leaving a oneinch head space to allow for expansion.

Vegetables, due to their low acid content, will also require pressure canning but most onlyrequire a half inch head space in the jar. Starchy vegetables such as corn, peas and beanswill require a one inch head space for expansion. (Tomatoes, which are technically not avegetable, may be canned in a boiling water bath as described above for fruits.)

After packing the jars with food the lids are placed on and the bands are screwed on untilresistance is felt. The jars are then placed on the rack in the pressure canner in about twoquarts (2 l) of hot water. The cover is place on the pressure canner and the heat is turned

on high. The pressure regulator weight is left off or the petcock valve is left wide open toallow air to escape from the canner as the water comes to a boil. When the water starts toboil steam will begin escaping from the canner. Allow steam to escape for 10 minutes toeliminate all air pockets and then completely close the petcock valve or place the regulatorweight on the canner. It will take about 5 more minutes for the canner to reached fullpressure. After it becomes fully pressurized turn the heat down and begin timing. Usuallythe lowest setting is adequate to maintain the pressure. When canning meat, pint jarsshould be processed for 75 minutes and quart jars for 90. Dried beans should be soakedand cooked first and then processed for the same amount of time. Greens should also beprocessed for the same amount of time as meat, but most vegetables, such as asparagus,beets, and carrots, are best processed for 30 minutes for pints and 40 minutes for quarts.

Refer to your canning recipe book for additional instructions for the foods that you arecanning. Whether you are canning with a boiling water bath, or a pressure canner, the

instructions should be followed closely. If your canning instructions or recipes vary from thegeneral instructions given here, you should use the instructions that came with yourcanning equipment or recipe book. Food poisoning from home canning is rare, butimproperly canned foods can cause botulism which can be life-threatening. You do not needto worry as long as you follow the instructions carefully, particular with regard tosterilization procedures and processing times and temperatures.

(Part 2 will follow automatically in the above window.)

Freezing

Freezing is an easy and convenient method of foodpreservation. It is also very good at retaining the nutritionalvalue of your foods. To prepare fresh vegetables for freezing they must beblanched first to stop the enzymatic activity that can cause the nutritional value and qualityof your food to deteriorate. To blanch vegetables drop them into a pot of boiling water.Leave them for a minute or two to allow the water to come back to a boil. Then quickly stopthe cooking process by removing them from the boiling water and dropping them into icewater. Once cooled they are ready to put into freezer bags, squeezing as much air out ofthe bag as possible, and then into your freezer.


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There is one obvious disadvantage to freezing which we

discussed at the beginning of this chapter. When theelectricity goes off so does your freezer, unless you haveinvested in a gasoline or propane-powered generator. If you area hunter or have a garden and prefer freezing to other preservation techniques that is fine.Hopefully, during an emergency, you will be able to consume the foods in your freezerbefore they spoil. But you should also have a stash of foods that do not require freezing forthose longer emergencies.

If you do use a freezer to store some of your food,

remember that loss of power does not have to mean the lossof your food, even if you don't have a generator. The food in a full

freestanding freezer will be safe for about two days after the power goes out, providing youdon't open the door too much. A chest-type freezer is much more desirable than an uprightfreezer. Cold air is heavier than warm air, and the cold air tends to stay in a chest-typefreezer longer. When you open the door of an upright freezer all of the cold air "falls out" ofthe freezer in a matter of seconds. A half-full freezer will keep your frozen foods safe forabout one day after the power goes off. If your freezer isn't full, group the frozen foodstogether forming a pyramid so that they can protect each other. Put meat and poultry toone side so their juices won't contaminate the other foods when they begin to thaw. (Dothis beforehand because when the power goes off you will want to have the freezer dooropen as little as possible.) Remember that the foods at greatest risk are meat, poultry andfoods containing dairy products such as milk, cream, sour cream and soft cheese.

If your freezer is not full, it is a very good idea to fill some of

the empty space with plastic bottles filled about threequarters full of water. (Don't fill the bottles completely because water expandsas it is freezes.) Two and three liter soda bottles work great. Once the water is frozen, itwon't take any additional energy to keep it that way, and the fuller your freezer is the moreefficiently it will operate. When the power goes out your frozen foods will remain frozenmuch longer (the same as if your freezer were filled with frozen foods.) The frozen bottledwater may also serve as emergency drinking water.


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Conservation of Food

Food can be thought of as a form of stored energy. Plants storeenergy from the sun and animals get it from plants. Since the beginning of life, survival hasdepended on the organisms ability to efficiently use and conserve energy.

Until recent years humans have by necessity been conservative users of energy, but theavailability of cheap and abundant fossil fuels has changed that. Chemical fertilizers madefrom natural gas and farm equipment powered by diesel fuel has allowed industrializednations to produce an abundance of inexpensive food. People at one end of the nation havebeen able to enjoy fresh foods that were grown at the other end, and at extremely lowcosts thanks to refrigerated trucks. After decades of such a cheap energy bonanza,Americans, and others living in industrialized regions, have developed wasteful habits.

It has been estimated that American families throw out from

8 to 20% of the food they buy. That adds up to about $4.5 billion worth ofwasted food a year. But even more is wasted by food wholesalers, distributors andretailers. Billions of dollars worth of good foodfrom the slightly bruised apple to themisshapen zucchiniis simply thrown out. One broken egg and the whole dozen isdiscarded! As a result of this waste, grocery store dumpsters are often loaded with goodfood, which many economically-minded people have discovered, some even going as far asmaking regular forages through grocery store dumpsters to reclaim some of this discardedbounty.

As a result of decades of abundant cheap energy, we have come to expect our grocerystores to be stocked with fresh produce regardless of the season.

During a prolonged emergency we will need to discard ourwasteful habits rather than our good food. Foods that we cannot eat


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can be used to fatten up livestock, which will provide a source of protein. We can compostwhat the animals won't eat to recycle the nutrients and minerals back into the garden,

eliminating the need for chemical fertilizers.

During an emergency there will be many other ways that you can conserve food, especiallyif you have made a few preparations. For example, when a large animal is butchered thereis likely to be a great deal of meat that you will not be able to consume immediately. If youare without electricity you will not be able to freeze it either. However, if you have a heatsource you may be able to pressure can some of the meat. Meat is cooked in the process ofpressure canning so it will be ready to eat right out of the mason jar. Meat can also besalted, smoked or dried and made into jerky. This can even be done using solar energy.

Most Americans give little thought to food conservation. Experience has shown that oldhabits are hard to break, so even during lean times there will be individuals who will wastegood food while going hungry. Their loss may be your gain, if you are willing to scrounge.

Recently a deer was struck and killed by an automobile down the street from my home. Aneighbor witnessed the accident and, being a deer hunter, knew exactly what to do. Thatmeat did not go to waste

Preservation Techniques

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