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Food Preservation & Cooking

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For storing food without refrigeration, salvage the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving for canning, a curing and smoking reference such as Charcuterie by Ruhlman or Home Smoking and Curing by Keith Erlandson, and The Art of Fermentation by Sandor Katz. Tested recipes matter most for canning and curing, where an error can poison people without any visible sign.

Part of Tier 2: Books That Save Lives This Year

Preservation turns a seasonal harvest into a year’s food, and the safe methods are the ones that were tested rather than improvised.

Three Families Of Method, Three Kinds Of Book

  • Canning. The Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving: pressure canning, water-bath canning and tested recipes. Canning stores food safely for years where there is no refrigeration.
  • Smoking, curing and drying. Charcuterie (Ruhlman) or Home Smoking and Curing (Keith Erlandson). Salt curing, smoking and drying preserved food for millennia before canning existed.
  • Fermentation. The Art of Fermentation (Sandor Katz). Sauerkraut, kimchi, pickles, yogurt, cheese, alcohol and vinegar. Fermentation preserves food, enhances nutrition and produces trade goods.

For the methods in outline, see Food Preservation.

Method: Using A Preservation Book

Step 1: Follow tested recipes exactly. Quantities, times and acidity are the safety margin.

Step 2: Match the method to the food. Low-acid foods need different treatment from acidic ones; the book states which.

Step 3: Keep the equipment list. Know in advance whether you need a pressure canner, jars, lids, salt or a smoker.

Step 4: Practise on a small batch. Make the mistakes before the harvest.

Common Mistakes

  • Improvising a canning recipe. The danger cannot be seen or smelled.
  • Reusing damaged jars or lids. The seal fails.
  • Skipping the salt measurements in curing. Too little spoils the food.

Safety

Wrongly preserved food can carry botulism toxin with no sign of spoilage

Low-acid food canned without correct pressure and time, or cured without the right salt, can contain a toxin that is deadly at small amounts and may not change the look, smell or taste. Follow tested instructions exactly, and discard swollen or leaking jars unopened.

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