It seems that now more than ever, folks want to know what exactly is in their food and where exactly their food comes from.
Putting your trust in what a food label, clever marketing, or the internet says about your chow can come with risks. (Remember that delightful little catastrophe: diarrhea lettuce? 'Nuff said.)
With that in mind, it comes as no surprise that an interest in locally known and grown food has sparked across the country!
Whether that is accomplished through a balcony or backyard garden, a Saturday morning farmers market, or an especially ambitious trip to an independent grocery store, taking some level of control over your food sources is possible.
And better yet, there are all sorts of ways to capture the freshness of these foods for many months to come, some of the most popular methods being freezing, canning, and dehydrating.
Each option presents a unique set of advantages, disadvantages, and shelf life ranges — plus, these preservation methods can help you cut back on food waste and grocery spending, too!
Keep reading for a quick look at these food-storage solutions you can hack at home — and how they can complement your preparedness pantry.
Freezing
Of all the food preservation options available, freezing is one of the fastest and easiest!
Fruits, especially, are a fast 'n' easy freeze. A quick wash, maybe a chop or slice, then simply tuck 'em into an airtight container.
While vegetables can be frozen in the same way, a brief blanching will help preserve their flavor, look, and texture over time! To blanch vegetables, just steam or boil 'em for a bit, then immediately put 'em in ice water. This process deactivates the enzymes that lead to decay.
There are many more foods that can be frozen, which is one of the various advantages of freezing as a food-storage solution! But, as with anything, there are disadvantages, too:
Advantages
- Just about anything can be frozen! With a few exceptions, like leafy greens, potatoes, eggs, and some sauces, there are minimal limitations as to what can keep well in the freezer.
- Freezing food retains most of the qualities it possesses when fresh.
- For the most part, very little preparation is needed to freeze food. And special equipment is not needed at all.
- For most people, freezing is an incredibly accessible food preservation option!
Disadvantages
- Foods that need to be frozen, of course, require storage inside a freezer. That space is precious and often limited!
- If not stored or sealed properly, food can develop freezer burn and decrease in quality.
- Before frozen foods can be eaten, they must be thawed, which can take time.
- Freezers run on electricity, which makes them vulnerable to power outages and other disruptions.
Shelf Life
While you could technically eat most foods that have been frozen for years after the fact, the taste, texture, and smell would likely deter you!
As a general rule, it is best to consume frozen foods in a span of six to twelve months. Some meats, like cooked chicken and fatty fish, as well as breads and baked goods, are better within the first three months.
Canning
The canning process requires putting fresh food in jars, bottles, or cans, then applying the right amount of heat to eliminate the harmful microorganisms and inactive enzymes that often lead to spoilage and sickness.
As the container is heated, the air within it is pushed out — and once the container cools, a vacuum seal is created, preventing any air from getting back in and contaminating the food.
Now, the canning method you use depends on the food you plan to preserve:
- Water bath canning requires placing the food containers on a rack inside a big, deep pot filled with boiling water. It is best for high-acid foods like fruits, jams, pickles, and salsas.
- Pressure canning requires a special, locking pot to heat and seal the food containers with steam under controlled pressure. It is best for low-acid foods like vegetables, meats, and soups.
Regardless of the method applied, the canning process poses a number of both upsides and downsides:
Advantages
- Canning keeps seasonal fruits and vegetables fresh throughout the year.
- A wide variety of foods can be canned, from fruits and vegetables to salsas, spreads, meats, and nuts!
- Canned foods do not require electricity to store; they can be kept in a cupboard, pantry, bunker, and beyond.
- Because canned foods are already preserved, you can keep that space in your refrigerator and freezer freed up!
Disadvantages
- The canning process demands a lot of time, special equipment, and careful attention to detail and food safety.
- You cannot improvise with canning like you can while cooking a weeknight dinner! You need to follow a real, researched recipe and adjust for altitude.
Shelf Life
While foods canned at home can be consumed up to two years later, it is best to eat them within the first year. The sooner you enjoy your canned foods, the better the texture, flavor, and nutritional value will be!
Dehydrating
The dehydrating or drying process is intended to preserve food by eliminating moisture from the food.
While moisture is usually a preferable presence in most foods, it creates an environment for microorganisms to grow and thrive, causing food to spoil faster.
Dehydrating or drying food can be accomplished in a couple of ways depending on what you plan to preserve:
- One of the easiest methods is sun drying! But, it really only works for fruit, and it requires the right kind of climate: hot or warm temperatures, low humidity, and ideally, a breeze.
- Though most meats and vegetables are not recommended for sun drying, the exception is beans through vine drying. Simply leave the pods on the vine until the beans inside rattle!
- Another relatively easy option is oven drying, which can be used to preserve fruits, vegetables, meats, and herbs. Just thinly cut or slice the food, arrange it in a single layer on a rack or sheet, then keep it in the oven at a low temperature for hours.
- A more convenient method is using a food dehydrator. This machine targets moisture with a low-wattage heating element, as well as an air-circulating fan and vents. This environment is especially optimal for meats and vegetables, which need controlled conditions during the preservation process to prevent contamination. Small food dehydrators can be found for under one hundred dollars, while larger, more sophisticated machines can cost a couple hundred dollars.
No matter the dehydration or drying method you try, it is important to keep the pros and cons in mind:
Advantages
- With multiple methods to choose from, dehydration and drying are appealing and accessible.
- Dehydrated and dried foods end up being quite lightweight and compact, reducing the space they require to store and making them easy to transport wherever needed!
- The process concentrates and locks in flavor for a long time, as well as maintains most of the nutritional value of the food — up to 95% of it.
- Once the foods are already dehydrated or dried, no power is needed to store them.
Disadvantages
- It usually requires a little pre-preparation, like cutting and slicing and setting up baking sheets or racks.
- Even when using a food dehydrator, the dehydrating and drying process can take several hours. Depending on the type, thickness, and moisture of the food, it can be a day-long affair that demands constant checking in.
- In the end, the original texture of the food is altered. It can shrivel, shrink, harden, become crispy, or look like leather, depending on the food.
- Dehydrated and dried foods must be packaged airtight and stored in a cool, dark, and dry place to prevent the reabsorption of moisture.
Shelf Life
Foods that are dehydrated or dried at home can have a wide range of shelf life outcomes depending on the storage conditions. When stored in cool, dark, and dry conditions, dried foods can often last up to a year!
At 60°F, fruits can normally last a year. At 80°F, that timeframe drops to six months. Vegetables generally last half as long as fruits, with meats only lasting a couple of months.
Ultimately, the higher the temperature in a storage space, the shorter the shelf life becomes!
Filling the Gaps with Freeze-Dried Foods
Preserving fresh foods at home can be a fulfilling, rewarding, and even enjoyable task! But it also demands your time, a lot of effort, pantry or freezer space, and sometimes, special equipment.
Plus, even professionally preserved and packaged foods must eventually be used and replaced, meaning there will always be a rotation to maintain no matter what food you put in your pantry.
That said, professionally preserved and packaged foods are an excellent solution to filling the gaps in your emergency supply!
Consider Emergency Essentials #10 cans, as an example. Available in all sorts of varieties, these freeze-dried foods can step in and take the place of the foods that are difficult, expensive, or impractical to preserve yourself.
Combining these cans with your homemade salsas and jams, canned and pickled vegetables, frozen meats, and dried fruits allows you to curate a more complete collection of the ingredients and meals you love!
There is also the added benefit of unbeatable longevity. Professional-grade preservation ensures a shelf life that lasts decades instead of a couple months or years.
Pairing up your home-preserved foods with Emergency Essentials freeze-dried foods is the ultimate protection against the unexpected!
Well-Rounded Preparedness
Whether you produce your own produce or pick it up someplace else, you can lock in that lasting freshness 'n' flavor, dial back on wasted resources, and exercise some control over your food supply through freezing, canning, and dehydrating.
But, even though home-based food preservation is an excellent option to supplement your preparedness pantry, each option has its limitations. Freezing food depends on power, canning food requires special equipment, and dehydrating food demands a lot of time.
So, does this mean that you should just give up before you give any of it a shot? No! Never throw the baby out with the bathwater. Instead, develop an awareness of the gaps your supply might have, then find out how to fill 'em. This is why truly prepared people are resilient, too — they would never rely on just one solution for their survival!
Pairing the foods you preserve at home with professionally packaged staples that endure the decades will balance your nutritional needs, expand the ways you can fill your plate in an emergency, and keep your food fresh long after it would usually spoil.
One small step towards preparedness this season just might translate to a giant jump for the next season!
Have you tried any of these methods at home? Which is your favorite? If you have not yet attempted to preserve your own food, which option will you go for first?
Check in with The Essentials Blog each week for expert education, tips, and resources to make your shift to self-reliance as smooth as possible!
