Questions tagged [food-preservation]
Questions about LONG-TERM food storage such as canning, pickling, freezing, and drying.
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How long can I store a food in the pantry, refrigerator, or freezer?
How do I know if a given food or ingredient I have is still good, or if I should discard it?
How can I best preserve a food or ingredient?
This broad question is intended as a "general reference" ...
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How dangerous is it to refreeze meat that has been thawed?
I've often been told by people that I shouldn't refreeze meat (particularly hamburger meat) once it has been thawed. However, this seems a little silly to me. I can't imagine how meat that hasn't ...
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Can one preserve food by periodically heating it?
I get that keeping food temperature low will slow down chemical reactions and preserve food, but sometimes my sister preserves food by heating it every 6 hours or so (up to 1-2 days). Does this help ...
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What is the ideal fridge temperature
I notice that in both countries where I lived the fridges are kept at 6 or 7 °C (43-45 °F). When it would be colder, people find their drinks to cold, when served straight out of fridge (especially in ...
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Making "long(er)-life" homemade mayonnaise
Most recipes I've seen for mayonnaise suggest that homemade mayo should be kept in the fridge for no longer than between 3 and 5 days.
What techniques or ingredients can be used to increase the shelf-...
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Do you have to refrigerate Pickles?
So last weekend the wife and I got a huge jar of pickles at Costco. The thing is bigger than a gallon of milk (the wife really loves her pickles). There really isn't any room for it in the fridge, ...
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Preserve cut potatoes
I am going to cut some potatoes tonight for a dish I am going to make tomorrow. Will keeping the cut pieces in water immediately after cutting preserve them? There are suggestions at other websites ...
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How do I maximize the shelf life of my homemade hot sauce?
I am planning on putting this year's crop of hot peppers to use by trying my hand at making my own hot sauces.
I've never tried this before, but I've found a number of recipes on the Internet. ...
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Why do fridge temperature standards between US and other countries differ?
US recommendations always go for +4°C at most, and this would correlate with how the danger zone is defined in the pertinent literature.
In Germany, most literature (and also the specification next ...
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How long could a meat-based broth be held safely near 180F/82C?
This question is the flip-side of the commonly asked food temperature safety concerns. I'd like to know, if a meat-based soup stock (chicken/pork/beef/etc) were to be held constantly at a safe hot ...
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Do tinned foods go off (stale)?
This morning I found a tin of baked beans with a best before date of August 2014. A colleague of mine told me that it's perfectly safe to eat, and that tinned foods never go off.
Can this be true? Do ...
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How long does it take botulism spores to germinate in the fridge?
Based on this question, I started wondering how long I could keep an anerobic food in the fridge before I have to worry about botulism colonization. 1 day? 3 days? 2 months? Clearly it's not a ...
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How many times can you reuse bones to make broth?
I recently cooked a chicken and made chicken broth from the bones. I also kept a few pieces of meat to add to the broth to give it more flavor.
I know you can freeze the broth and use it for later ...
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How long can you keep chocolate, and what is the best way to store it?
For instance, I have some bars of Valrhona I use for chocolate tarts and pastries, but I haven't been doing the dessert thing in a while. How long does chocolate last before losing flavor (or does it)...
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What are the herbs that "dry" the best?
Some fresh herbs seem to retain their flavor better than others when dried; for example, dried parsley has very little flavor, but dried tarragon tastes reasonably close to fresh tarragon.
Which ...
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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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Can you preserve canned kidney beans so that they still have their shape?
I buy kidney beans in a can, but the amount is always too big. Normally, I throw away the leftover beans, thinking that freezing them will turn them into mush (thinking the water will expand and make ...
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What's the difference between jam, jelly, and preserves?
I assume the difference in name is due to their cooking processes, but am unsure what exactly makes them different.
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Why prevent apples from turning brown?
It's somewhat well-known that applying an acidic solution to sliced apples prevents them from turning brown as quickly. I believe that the primary motivation to prevent the "browning" is aesthetic: ...
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Can you water bath a cooked then cooled jam recipe?
I tried a peach jam recipe that is cooked then cooled to thicken without pectin (6+ hour cool time). The recipe says you can freeze it or can it. What would be the safest method to can it? I have ...
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How to make bread mould resistant?
With the bread I bake, they become mouldy within two weeks.
With the bread I bought from the supermarket, usually whole wheat, I would have the loaf gradually consumed and by the 6th week, it would ...
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What is the lowest temperature at which botulism spores are killed?
I am wondering if it's possible to pressure can low-acid foods in my Instant Pot. Now hear me out. I know it's not recommended because the highest pressure that can be guaranteed on it is 10.2 PSI, ...
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homemade chilli oil
I am making chilli oil using light olive oil, crushed chilli, dried garlic, dried fennel seeds and parsley. I have been making this for years. I am concerned about this Botulinum business. Should I ...
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How to store homemade bread?
I made a bigger batch of bread than I was initially planning on, and I don't want it to go bad before I get a chance to eat it. Having it go stale isn't an issue (french toast, bread pudding), but ...
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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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Are any retail vacuum-sealing systems worth the expense?
Living alone means that my leftovers tend to go a pretty long way, and I don't end up using raw ingredients as quickly as the supermarkets expect me to.
For a while I've been considering investing in ...
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Can I freeze Milk?
After a bit of miscommunication, my wife and I ended up buying 6 litres of milk between us. I don't really want to waste it, so I'm wondering if it's safe to freeze some of it and defrost and use it ...
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Can I make pickled eggs that don't require refrigeration?
This time of year I have a ton of extra eggs. In the winter I have fewer. I have, therefore, been experimenting with egg preservation techniques.
I like pickled eggs a lot. They aren't very versatile ...
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Why don't dry bread crumbs spoil, when bread does?
Why don't store-bought bread crumbs spoil? Can you make your own bread crumbs and save them for later use? Will homemade breadcrumbs mold?
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Why peel tomatoes?
Everyone seems to think it is necessary to peel tomatoes before canning or freezing them. Since I do not peel tomatoes when I'm cooking with them (soups, salsa, etc.), I'm wondering if I can freeze ...
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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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How to store garlic?
When I buy garlic, I normally put it in a bowl on the kitchen counter or in the pantry, and then pop off cloves as need. Sometimes, if the garlic has been around for a while, I find what looks like ...
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Preserving culinary oils
I've been making a chili oil and green onion oil for my friends for months with a lot of interest in buying. I want to start selling it at farmers markets & stores but want to ensure it is ...
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Can I separate garlic into cloves for storage?
I bought jar for garlic but it can store only two bulbs with most place being wasted. Can I separate bulb into cloves and store them? Or will it significantly shorten the lifespan of garlic?
EDIT To ...
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Minimum procedure for sterilizing mason jars for canning
My wife and I are about to do some tomato canning tomorrow. We have a bunch of mason jars that we didn't have time to sterilize. She thinks that just washing them in hot water is enough. After ...
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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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How should I make jam out of coffee cherries or coffee cherry husks?
I would like to make a jam (or perhaps more like a preserve/conserve or even marmalade; see this question for distinction) out of either
the entire, whole coffee cherry (a.k.a. coffee berry; beans ...
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How to dry homemade pork sausages with proper humidity and temperature?
I am new to this and am attempting to dry some pork sausages. I was told to add a quarter pound of salt for every ten pounds of pork meat, which I did (I used ordinary table salt). I have the sausages ...
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How to remove individual steaks from a lump I mistakenly froze together?
I got a vacuum sealer and stored about 7 pieces of steak in 1 bag. I put it in the freezer and just now I decided to take out a couple of steaks to thaw out so I cut open the bag but all the steaks ...
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How to determine if canning is safe?
How can I tell if it is safe to can a particular homemade sauce? Is it just a function of pH and technique (pressure vs boiling water) or are there any other factors in play?
Specifically, I would ...
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Does canned tuna contain preservatives?
I want to know how the tuna can be kept for so long in a can. Do they use preservatives? Or is it just tuna and water (or oil or brine)?
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What flavorings do you use for sour pickles?
I'm making sour pickles (salt water brine, no vinegar) and do not have dill, so I've got garlic and black pepper.
What other suggestions do you have for flavorings?
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How long will fresh scallops keep in the refrigerator? [duplicate]
Today I bought one pound of fresh scallops from the seafood counter at the local market, but my dinner plans have changed - I am no longer planning to cook the scallops this evening and I don't ...
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Canning tomato sauce for the refrigerator
I buy 3000 gram jars of San Marzano plum tomatoes, and when I open one, I have a lot left over. This time, I made a basic marinara from the pureed de-seeded/de-stemmed tomatoes with oil, garlic, ...
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How to preserve the "sugar syrup" without using a cold storage?
I prepared the Gulab jamuns few days back. Now there is a lot of sugar syrup remaining, what's the way of preserving it without using the fridge?
One way is to boil it daily, but that'll consume a ...
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How long can a bottle of self-made basil sauce last without rotting?
I made a bottle of basil sauce by myself last year summer. It composed of basil leave, extra virgin olive oil, pine nuts, garlic and parmesan cheese.
It was kept in a glass bottle in the refrigerator,...
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Can I ferment pickles in the tropics?
I live in the tropics where the temperature mostly ranges from 28 to 33 degrees Celsius (82 to 91 Fahrenheit) or higher.
I want to try my hand at fermented pickles but most sources seem to claim ...
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can maple syrup be refrigerated after it was out for a few days?
I opened Adirondack pure maple syrup a few days ago. It didn't say to refrigerate, so I didn't. When I googled it, it said that it should be refrigerated. Can I still do that? If I may not use it ...
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What causes seals to fail when canning?
My husband made and canned pickles 1 week ago. Tonight he noticed the seals were popped on all but one jar. One other time the same thing happened when he canned green beans. What would be the cause ...
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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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