Embarking on the journey to greater self-sufficiency in preserving food is an exciting endeavour, and these five essential tips serve as the perfect initiation into this wholesome practice.
Tips for Preserving Food
Crisp Cucumber Pickles:
Imagine the crunch of a perfectly preserved cucumber, a symphony of flavours encapsulated in a jar. Gather your cucumbers, three vibrant dill stems, two tablespoons of pepper grains, and three garlic cloves. In a culinary alchemy, mix equal parts white vinegar and water, adding a teaspoon of kosher salt for every two cups of the liquid. Let this concoction boil, creating a potion of preservation. As you layer your jar with cucumbers, dill, and garlic, pour the bubbling elixir into it. Seal the jar after cleaning the rim with vinegar, and the magic of cucumber pickles begins.
INGREDIENTS
Enough cucumbers to fill a jar
3 stems of dill
2 tbsp pepper grains
3 garlic cloves
500 ml vinegar
500 ml water
(Equal parts white vinegar and water)
1 tsp kosher salt x 2 cups of liquid
Freezing Brilliance:
Picture the vibrant colours and nutrients of your favourite vegetables, frozen in time. To achieve this, blanch your vegetables in hot water and then immerse them in an icy bath. This ritual not only retains their color but also preserves their nutritional value, ensuring a burst of freshness when you finally thaw them.
INGREDIENTS
2 x 1 L sealable jars
1 x cabbage head (red or green)
4 x cups of water
2 x tbsp coarse salt
Bay leaves
Caraway seeds
Peppercorn grains
Speedy Sauerkraut Symphony:
Enter the world of quick sauerkraut, a symphony of flavours encapsulated in a jar. Slice a cabbage head into thin pieces, weigh it, and add 3% of that weight in coarse salt. In a sterilized jar, layer your chosen spices, top it with cabbage, and create a brine by mixing water and salt. Use a weight to submerge the ingredients, and let the fermentation symphony commence.
Dehydrating Delights:
Envision the crispiness of air-dried or dehydrated food, a texture that tells tales of patience and preservation. Whether air-drying or using a dehydrator, aim for a crispy touch. For added allure, use herbs to craft infused oil or salt. Dehydrate at the minimum temperature for herbs, and slightly higher for fruits or vegetables, letting the flavours intensify as moisture bids adieu.
Fridge Storage Revelation:
Picture a side-by-side experiment with apples from your garden. One set is stored conventionally, the other sealed in a BIPOD, a guardian of freshness. After five days in the fridge, the revelation unfolds. The apples in the normal container show signs of wear, their taste a shadow of their former glory. Meanwhile, the BIPOD-protected apples remain a testament to freshness, as if plucked anew from the garden. A mere 30 seconds of vacuum sealing, is a world of difference in preservation.
