Questions tagged [food-preservation]
Questions about LONG-TERM food storage such as canning, pickling, freezing, and drying.
461 questions
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What are 'quick cook' beans?
I've been looking at recipes to prepare in bulk and store in mason jars for a few weeks. A company called Honeyville Farms sells a bunch of freeze dried stuff for this purpose, as well as 'quick cook' ...
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How to preserve food (sauces, dips etc in jars) like the industry does it? [duplicate]
The goal is to make spreads, dips, sauces, mayonnaise and the like in a way that it's as stable as store bought one.
When I buy a jar of mayonnaise, it's good for months, even if I use dirty spoons to ...
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What does this symbol (that looks like a triangle on top of a thermometer) mean?
I can't find a single explanation online, and image search engines did not help either. One theory is that this refers to a pressure cooker, but I am not sure. My intention is to vacuum seal the ...
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Marmalade mess up
I messed up and added the sugar to my fruit for the marmalade I'm making, before soaking, and cooking the fruit. I'm wondering if I can continue or have I ruined it?
The recipe calls for:
14 oz of ...
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Best lid for glass jar of chutney in apple vinegar for long term storage?
I intend to make a lot of chutney with raw garlic, herbs, green small hot peppers, salt, pepper, turmeric, all in apple vinegar. I want to store this chutney out of the fridge, in glass jars, for a ...
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Canning applesauce - water bath after the fact
On saturday, my wife and I canned a few bushels of apples by making applesauce. We did not, however, do a water bath afterwards - the hot contents of the sauce appeared to make a seal with the jars. ...
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I am attempting to preserve the shelf life of ice tea up to six months with citric acid, I need a perfected ratio?
I am attempting to preserve the shelf life of ice tea up to six months with citric acid, I need a perfected ratio?
I have tried several ratio, but still end up with molds in a week time not ...
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Can "Canning" be achieved with "vacuum sealed" bags?
Upon reading the question If I vacuum seal a food product like beef stew then boil it in the bag, would it keep un-refrigerated? and the answer provided https://cooking.stackexchange.com/a/69423/6279 ...
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Pressure Canning Chow Chow
I am canning chow chow and want to use my pressure canner. Can anyone tell me how many pounds as well as how long for pint and quart jars? Thank you
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Expired diet soda tastes bitter
I have a few cans of diet soda that with a best-before date in 2023, and while some of them taste more-or-less normal, others taste bitter, almost like alcoholic beverages.
Obviously, there's no ...
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Why does chocolate spread shortly taste less good once opened?
Chocolate-hazelnut spreads are said to have a relatively long shelf life even after being opened, e.g. 12 months for regular jars on the official FAQ for Nutella.
However, I personally find that once ...
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Can I vacuum seal my homemade bone broth in a Ball jar?
It appears you can purchase bone broth in cardboard containers that have a shelf-stable life for three or more months. If this is because of the absence of air in the container, for those broths that ...
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How can I keep fruit salad fresh longer
I eat every morning fresh fruit, so every morning I peel and cut it.
What can I do to prepare a big bowl and the fruit will stay fresh for a few days and which fruits are best to keep.
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How can I prevent mould when decanting tinned black olives into smaller jars?
I have noticed that when I open a jar of olives (we eat a lot) sometimes some mould starts to grow on the surface of the top layer of olives floating at the top of the brine and there is mould on the ...
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What is the maximal shelf life of UHT milk?
Wikipedia says that the shelf life of UHT milk is "typically" between 6 and 9 months.
Does it mean that UHT milk always falls in this range? Is there UHT milk which has a longer or shorter shelf ...
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How to improve the shelf life of my chocolate date spread?
I made a chocolate date spread which tastes good but didn't last a long time unrefrigerated. In about 10 days it started growing mold.
The only water in the recipe is the water used to soak the dried ...
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how to make fudge less melt-y in hot weather?
so, i'm making fudge for a family reunion soon, and i happen to live in a very hot, humid climate. the recipe I use is just condensed milk and chocolate since i'm pretty new to candy-making, but ...
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Pressure canning at odd pressures
I recently acquired a Presto pressure canner model 01781 (23-Quart) which comes with a weight designed to regulate it to 15 lbs of pressure. I also purchased a variable weight regulator (part 50332) ...
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How to choose a bag to carry lunch straight of the fridge? [closed]
I am interested in an isothermic bag to carry my lunch. What characteristics should I look for when looking for which one to buy?
If I understand correctly regardless of each one, adding ice packs is ...
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Does the volume of air in an air tight container affect food shelf life?
I'm specifically talking about storing tea bags here, but equally any other dried foods. I'm trying to switch to buying certain things in bulk, so I'm trying to understand some basic principles.
I ...
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How to ship bread or bread dough?
I've been thinking about starting a boutique mail order dinner roll business.
Dough
While I'd really like to ship dough and allow customers to bake (per roll) at their leisure, I'm beginning to think ...
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First time canning....forgot to sterilize my jar. Advice please!
I made a jalepeno/banana pepper relish from my garden two days ago and have since realized that I was supposed to sterilize the jar before doing this.
My fault for not researching enough at the ...
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Cutting the stems of banana instead of wrapping them when preserving them
I am searching for a ways to preserve the banana, and most of the time they said that I need to wrap the stems in a plastic or scotch tape so the gas wont come, they said that this gas is the reason ...
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Can my freezer be too cold?
The FDA recommends a freezer temperature of 0˚F (-18˚C). Warmer temperatures risk bacterial growth and quality problems. But what are the reasons not to set the freezer colder? My Bosch freezer can be ...
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Is my fresh Rosemary still good?
I love using fresh herbs in my recipes, but unfortunately they usually go past their prime before I have a chance to finish them.
It’s easy to spot this because they go limp and lose their “crispness”....
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Do tinned anchovies need to be sold cold for food safety or quality reasons?
Anchovies, tinned or in glass, is sometimes kept and sold cold. I don't see that happen with other foods. Is there a food safety reason for this? If so, does it mean that they also need to be kept ...
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What to do with dehydrated potatoes tainted black?
I had many potatoes I wanted to preserve for a long time. Usually the potatoes I keep in my kitchen get rotten after a month or two (and I don't have a cellar to keep them cool), I decided to ...
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Fridge acceptable temperature cycle
The internet is full of information about the optimal temperature inside the fridge.
But every once in a while, the compressor has to stop, and the temperature begins to rise, and I failed to find how ...
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How do I prevent jams from turning brown?
I have been a jam maker for years. We live in an area of fresh fruit so it's always naturally sweet. I decrease the sugar in each recipe by at least 1 cup and I always add fresh lemon juice. My ...
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Why would someone want a 15" vacuum sealer over a 12"?
I am looking at a vacuum sealer. It seems pretty typical with a 12" seal bar. This is a Foodsaver type, and not a vacuum chamber. However, for a few more dollars (there's a sale) I can get a larger ...
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Why are my salt cured egg yolks still wet?
I've been trying to cure egg yolks in salt. They've been in it for 2 weeks now, but they are still too wet. At this stage they look more like a very thick paste than something I could actually grate ...
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Isothermic bags/food maintanance/safety
In regards to isothermic bags and using them to store lunch (e.g. at the office or while going for an excursion).
Is there anything to watch out in regards to food safety? I mean are they are meant to ...
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Discovered 2 eggs cracked in late stage of brining
One more week to go brining my salted chicken eggs. I just saw 2 eggs with cracks that were not there earlier. Do I need to take them out or will it be ok? I have 5 days left.
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Canned Stewed Tomatoes without lemon juice
I'm making stewed tomatoes & forgot to put the lemon juice in before sealing the jars. Will they still be ok or should i start over?
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How to preserve cotton candy
For this Christmas, we wanted to do a particular packaging for biscuits using cotton candy.
We have a machine to make it, and flavours to do different colors and flavourings.
Now, the problem is that ...
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Does a home produce refrigerator exist?
It seems there are many foods that store best at about 50℉ (10℃) storage temperatures and high humidity levels: herbs, peppers, tomatoes, etc. As it stands, I store tomatoes and some herbs on the ...
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Why do lentils turn gray in the fridge? [duplicate]
After cooking brown lentils, they come out in their usual light brown color. But after one day of refrigeration, they turn this color of gray. This has happened every time I save leftover lentils. Why ...
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How to tell if Koji rice is bad?
I have some store bought Cold Mountain brand Koji rice. On the container it says it keeps in the fridge for "6-12 months". I've had it for about 8 months, but can detect no change from when I bought ...
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Cultural practices regarding milk preservation through fermentation?
This peer reviewed article suggests that:
Fermentation has been used to preserve and store milk since the days of the Pharaohs
And also:
fermentation is considered a successful preserving method
...
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Can I process fermented pickles in a water bath?
I'm new to fermenting.
Can I safely process fermented dill pickles in a water bath to ensure a longer storage life?
I have made pickles in the past, using vinegar, and then processing for 20 minutes ...
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A blender that cans preserves to jars?
Do blenders exist that can cook and mix food so that it ends up in steamed jars automatically?
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Water bathing applesauce without the lid
I water bathed applesauce did everything
Right except, I didn’t put on the lid when
I was water bathing the applesauce in the pot. It’s been about a month since I did this but, my question is are they ...
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Canning tomato sauce without citric acid
I've seen similar posts but none that address how pressure canning changes the flavor. I am trying to make tomato sauce without citric acid because my mom is allergic to it and the foods that contain ...
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Pressure canning issue with weight and timing
I pressure canned 33 litres of applesauce at 5 lbs for 10 minutes but didn't know the timer doesn't start until the weight begins jiggling. Is this necessary for Apple sauce?
What's difficult about ...
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What is the effect of washing unbroken eggs?
I recall reading or watching something at one point that I apparently found credible enough to bother mentally filing away that suggested that if one washes off an invisibly thin outer layer of ...
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Canned (shelf stable) pickled eggs that don't require refrigeration?
Terminology: when I refer to "canned eggs", I'm referring to pickled/marinated eggs that have been processed, and can be stored at room temperature long term (i.e. shelf stable). When I refer to just "...
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Where can I purchase calcium disodium edta preservative?
I'm trying to make homemade mayonnaise with a longer shelf life. I see all the commercial brands list calcium disodium edta as a preservative so I was wondering where I could find this ingredient.
I ...
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Is there a way to extract & store garlic oil, without being infused with any other oil, such as olive? [duplicate]
Have attempted to find ways to extract & preserve straight garlic oil. Only info I have found, have "added" oils, such as olive. I just want to know if it is safe to extract the oil from ...
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Repackaging shelf-stable products
For products that start out shelf stable but are labeled "refrigerate after opening," I'm wondering if it's possible to safely return them to their shelf-stable status to save refrigerator space. A ...
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When to add preservative to hot sauce?
So I am currently trying on a recipe of homemade hot sauce, but I plan on adding either sodium benzoate or potassium sorbate as the preservative. I have figured out how much I would try using, but I ...
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