Questions tagged [food-preservation]
Questions about LONG-TERM food storage such as canning, pickling, freezing, and drying.
461 questions
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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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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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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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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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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 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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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 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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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What additional uses are there for a food dehydrator?
Recently browsing a certain online website I've discovered the cost of food dehydrators has fallen considerably since they first came to market. Realising that I may incur the wrath of my other half ...
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How to tell whether citrus marmalade is overcooked
I only ate commercially made citrus marmalades before and from this experience know that there may be variations in thickness, color and taste.
The kumquat marmalade I made came out thicker than ...
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How to preserve a sugar, oil free homemade chocolate spread? [duplicate]
I'm starting to make a business of selling homemade sugar and oil free chocolate spread, which will be sweetened with dates.
My ingredients are:
Sugar free cocoa powder
Hazelnuts
Dates
And water.
I do ...
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1
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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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Can we keep alcoholic beverages indefinitely?
I have some never opened alcoholic bottles under the kitchen sink and has been there for years. The are basically whiskey, vodka and bacardi.
I always thought that alcoholic drink never go bad and ...
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Unopened wine bottles kept in fridge. Are they still good?
I have a couple of bottles of wine in my fridge that have never been opened (original packaging) and have been there for ~3 years.
Would that mean that the wine have become worse and hence should ...
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How to label jars so the label comes off easily?
I have made several batches of jam over this summer and would like to label the jars.
I am printing the labels on my laser printer for a more professional look. Also, I want to reuse the jars, so ...
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2
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Can salt and sugar be used simultaenously to preserve food?
For example, Amla (Indian gooseberries) can be preserved by candying them in sugar, or preserving them in brine and vinegar.
However, the candying makes them too sweet and preserving in salt makes ...
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Making jelly using erythritol & monk fruit extract in place of sugar
I'm making jelly. The box of pectin says not to reduce the sugar or it can cause 'set failure'. I want to use 'erythritol w/ monk fruit extract' in place of sugar (purchased from Costco). Will that ...
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Preserving simple syrup for room temperature storage and use
I make and keep simple syrup on hand to use in my coffee.
Sometimes I will finish it fast enough but other times it starts growing mold before I have used it all up.
This guide that gets referenced a ...
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How to decode some less common food Expiration Manufactured codes (US)? [closed]
How do I decode these codes?
206 X4A1 14:57 and 206V
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Preserving beef stock concentrate
I've been looking for the most convenient way to preserve stock at room temperature. It seems that Bovril preserves just containing a 14% of salt, while every powdered product contains 50% of salt. I ...
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Why remove blossom ends for canned tomatoes / marinara sauce?
I was looking at recipes for canning marinara sauce and the Ball jar's recipe notes to remove the blossom end from the tomatoes.
In trying to search for the rationale I couldn't find anything. The ...
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Garlic with the olives... what happened?
Something strange (but nice) happened and I hope someone can explain.
Here is the story: I had a glass jar of olives (Kalamata Pitted). They come in a "brine" with the ingredients listed ...
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2
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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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Does cooking food inside a pressure cooker and then leaving it locked preserve it similar to canning?
I have made some food in my pressure cooker and left it in room temperature for over a week. When I opened it, there was no mold. I threw it out because it might have still been bad, but this got me ...
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Can I freeze ice cream base before creaming it?
I recently acquired an ice cream maker, and successfully used it to make sone chocolate and coffee ice cream. The ice cream maker is actively cooled, but I doubt it makes a different.
Most ice cream ...
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Is it advisable to cook cilantro or mint leaves and store them, instead of blanching them?
The problem:
The grocer only agrees to give a large bunch of cilantro (coriander) or mint leaves, and I need it to last a month or more, because I don't use the herbs as frequently.
What I've tried ...
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Cloudy sediment in home canned pickles
I've home-canned some pickled vegetables recently and there is a cloudy sediment in the brine. I'd like to know what causes it and how to prevent it.
It is not spoilage. It only seems to affect the ...
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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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Packaging/Bottling and Uncooked Hot Sauce
Forgive me for the post being long! I make a buffalo sauce/marinade that all my friends and family rave about. I’d love to be able to give some to them to keep in the pantry, especially the ones that ...
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How do pastry shops get away with displaying cream filled pastries without a display fridge? [closed]
I see many French and Italian pastry shops displaying and serving pastries that are filled with creams and custards, but these were not stored in a display fridge.
Don't all these need fridges because ...
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Can flavoured syrups be dried to powder, and if so how?
I've made some rather good ginger syrup by simmering chopped ginger root in equal parts sugar and water, then straining. I made rather a lot, nearly half a litre, and used less than planned. Most is ...
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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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Best way to preserve guanciale (or other cured meats) in the fridge
I have a 1.2 KG piece of guanciale currently still vacuum sealed. It will take a few months to eat so, once opened, what should it be wrapped it in to maximize it's lifespan in the fridge?
Are the ...
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Food preservation in refrigerator [duplicate]
I am an international student in France and as I live alone, products are put in fridge for later use after being opened. Two months in and I never had a problem with storing food in it but today I ...
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