How do you prepare your meat for the deep freezer and for future consumption, to minimize waste, facilitate preparation upon thawing, and to maximize your storage space? There are hundreds of “proprietary” methods and millions of old wives’ tales, but there are also common-sense tips and tricks that will wring the most efficiency out of your techniques, tools, and meat. Your goal is to minimize waste and produce the most usable and quickest-prepared meats while also avoiding over-the-top storage considerations. Ideally you will save money…

Without the use of a refrigerator the modern world would probably teeter on the edge of chaos (only kidding, but maybe not far off), as we have become so accustomed to having modern conveniences, that we forget what it may have been like to not have them. Even without widespread energy concerns and while we have our modern refrigerators, there may still be a good usage for root cellars and for preparing ourselves with the mentality that perpetuates things like root cellars.

Many of us who have gardens and orchards would like our family to eat more fruit and less junk food. We have tried putting our fruit and berries in bowls on the counter, in fruit salads, and on the table at mealtime, but people do not seem interested. So why not dry some of the
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Canning meat is no different than any other food you process. In fact, it may even be the easiest food to can, even though it takes a longer processing time. You may be timid about canning meats, and while care should certainly be taken in the processing of any food item, meat is no more
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Wheat is one of those ubiquitous foods that allow for so much variety, and packs an amazingly hefty protein and calorie punch too. Unless you need to find a gluten-free alternative (in which case you might want to think about tapioca), wheat will probably be a mainstay of your prepping plans. You can cook it
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Freezing our bountiful harvest is an easy way of preserving our produce, but the foods will not keep as long. In freezing the organisms that cause spoilage become inactive. However, they don’t die. The bacteria can’t grow as long as the produce remains frozen, but once it is thawed, they will begin growing once again.
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Freezing our bountiful harvest is an easy way of preserving our produce; but the foods will not keep as long. In freezing the organisms that cause spoiling become inactive, but don’t die. As long as the produce remains frozen the bacteria can’t grow, but once it is thawed they will begin growing once again. You
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The acidity of a vegetable determines whether is should be processed in a water bath canner or a pressure canner. Low-acid vegetables (in fact, any low-acid food) do not contain sufficient acidity to destroy Clostridium botulinum bacteria, the bacteria responsible for botulism. This illness is a rare, but serious, paralytic condition caused by the toxins
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If used following the manufacturer’s safety rules, pressure canners can be both safe and economical. Pressure canning is for preserving foods with low acid contents, and has been used for decades. All canners should have a removable rack to place jars on to allow the water to circulate around the jars, an automatic vent/cover lock,
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As we discussed in last week’s article, canning the food we harvest is among the oldest of ways to preserve our fruits, vegetables, and other foods so that our families can be fed during the long cold winters and right through the spring to the next year’s harvest. Some of us may never have canned
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