A Quick Guide to Food Preservation
Interested in starting a home food business? Why not try food preservation? Fresh fruits, vegetables, fish, seafood, and meats can easily be turned into products that can keep longer and thus be good for selling. There’s a primer that can help you choose what method and what food items you can work with.
Preservations is one of the oldest technologies man has adapted for survival. Food, if left in natural conditions, rots and spoil due to the action of enzymes and microorganisms. With the use of heat, acid, salt, and sugar, food preservation aims to control or stop these natural occurring processes so that food can last longer. With modern technology, preservation extends it’s objectives wherein the physical state of food, color, flavor, and nutritive properties are also preserved.
There are many ways of preserving and most are quite simple that they can be accomplished in one’s own home. Preservation of food is one way of cutting down on wastage and promoting self-reliance. The fundamental principle underpinning the method is basically the same. Create an environment not suitable for microbial growth. This simple means to remove or reduce moisture in the food, acidity, seal and protect, and keep it at temperature above or below the survival range of microbes.
CANNING
A process requiring the heating of food to a specific temperature and holding the food at that temperature for a specific length of time. The food is to be placed in a special glass container that can withstand the heating process and as a result, a vacuum, is created hermetically sealing the food within.
Applicable Foods:
· Fruits, vegetables, meats, seafood, and some prepared food like jams and jellies.
Tools & Equipment:
· Canning jars and lids with a sealing compound.
· Stockpot or any deep metal pan or pressure cooker/autoclave with an accurate pressure gauge.
Type/Method:
· Boiling water bath – filled and sealed jars are kept submerged under boiling water and processed for a given time. Maybe used to process high acid food.
· Steam Pressure Canner – processes food under pressure at a temperature of 115 degrees centigrade, the only reliable method for low acid food.
Basic Guidelines:
1. 1.Fruits and vegetables that are mature and slightly under ripe are best for this method.
2. 2.Food less than 4.5 pH is best for boiling water baths. If the pH is more than this, an acid may be added in the form of lemon juice or vinegar.
3. 3.When processing at higher altitudes, processing time by five minutes for every additional 1,000 feet.
4. 4.Follow tested recipes and avoid modification in the processing method.
