Colorized transmission electron micrograph of Avian influenza A H5N1 viruses (seen in gold). Image provided by CDC/C. Goldsmith, J. Katz, and S. Zaki.

Home Food Preservation

I am deeply grateful to the food science professionals and hobbyists who diligently maintained the ancient art of food preservation so that they could be shared with you in this resource. While universally practiced by our ancestors and carefully handed down from generation to generation, the technology of saving food during the growing season or when it was in surplus for those when it was dear has become a lost art. Some of the methods presented here are pre-historic in their antiquity. The ability to preserve surplus food was the keystone upon which the great agrarian empires of Egypt and Rome were founded. These techniques made large-scale agriculture possible that was the basis of power and wealth for these great civilizations.

Food preservation was crucial to staving off starvation for our ancestors and is one of the reasons it was so highly conserved for so long. The methods explained in these resources has had a pervasive impact on the survival of our species and contributed to the very existence of each one of us by supporting the life and health of those who came before us. To think that technology as important as these, so crucial to the survival of our species, could become forgotten over the course of a couple of generations is astounding. The power of modern food production and processing, refrigeration and the low cost of these foods compared to the past have entirely supplanted these ancient methods for most of us. I wonder if it is wise for use to cast aside these methods that took so long to perfect and were the basis of so much human progress over millennia and coming to rely so totally on our present high-tech system?

Since I enjoy vegetable gardening, it is common to have a surplus of succulent produce and herbs each summer. The need to manage these gave me the incentive to learn a few of these methods. I find it satisfying and personally rewarding to learn and use some of these techniques. The imperatives of pandemic influenza provided me with a whole new interest in this topic and resulted in my researching it much more thoroughly. The fruits on this search have been preserved for you in the resource. As you will see, nutritionists and food scientists working at major state universities, agricultural extension services, and cooperatives developed the majority of these presentations. They are the keeper of these arts for us and without their diligent work; they might have been lost to us forever. For this important work, we owe them our thanks.

Grattan Woodson, MD, FACP

Meat Preservation Methods

Venison From Field To Table UGA 2004.pdf: This 14-page guide, Venison from Field to Table: Getting the Most Out of Your Deer, provides exactly what the name implies. It was written by A. Estes Reynolds, Extension Food Scientist and James A. Christian, Former Extension Food Scientist with the University of Georgia.
“Be Prepared Don’t let the enthusiasm of the hunt interfere with getting ready for handling your deer in the field. You should be prepared for the kill. Be sure to take along the following:
1. Eight to ten feet of quarter-inch rope to drag the deer from the woods. 2. A sharp hunting knife (four- to six-inch blade) to field dress the deer. 3. A yard of string to tag the deer and tie the bung. 4. A plastic bag to hold the heart and liver. 5. Several clean towels or cloths to clean out the excess blood or intestinal contents of the body cavity and dry your cold, wet hands.
Field Dressing
Use care when field dressing the deer. Contaminating the carcass with intestinal contents, getting hair all over the meat and getting soil, leaves and trash in the body cavity are some of the most common errors hunters make. Keep the carcass as clean as possible and follow these steps to produce the delicious venison meat you expect.”

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Aging Venison in Warm Weather Univ WI 2003.pdf: Dennis Buege, Extension Meat Specialist and the University of Wisconsin at Madison, has written this 2003 article on aging venison in warm weather.

“When warm weather is forecast for the normally cool (or cold) gun deer hunting season, questions arise about how long hunters can safely ‘age’ their bagged deer under warmer than usual weather conditions. Below is some perspective on that situation. Aging is very important to improving the tenderness of beef, and may have a similar beneficial effect in deer. During aging proteolytic enzymes naturally present in the meat breakdown or weaken muscle proteins, making the meat tenderer. In beef the greatest improvement in tenderness occurs during the first 7 days after slaughter, but beef is often aged up to 14 days in many of our smaller plants to improve tenderness.”

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Jerky Drying Univ IL 2002.pdf: “Drying Jerky: Jerky can be made from almost any LEAN meat, including beef, pork, venison or smoked turkey breast. Raw poultry is generally not recommended for making home made jerky because of texture and flavor of the finished product. Because of the possibility of microorganism contamination, special steps need to be taken to prevent foodborne illness. If pork or wild game is used to make jerky, the meat should be treated to kill the trichinella parasite (this causes trichinosis) before it is sliced and marinated.”

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Manual on simple methods of meat preservation UN 1990.pdf: The UN sponsored and wrote this 96-page booklet on traditional meat preservation techniques that do not require electricity for use in third-world nations.
“While this publication is mainly intended to disseminate information on traditional methods of meat preservation in Africa for teachers and instructors, it also addresses aspects of hygienic slaughtering under rural conditions. Reference is also made to FAO’s work on small-scale slaughterhouses, raw materials for preserved meat, principles of meat preservation by thermal treatment, packaging methods and basic methods of quality control.”

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Preparation of Fruit Leathers and Meat Jerky CO State Univ 1994.pdf: The short 4 page paper making Fruit Leather and meat jerky was written by P. Kendall and J. Sofos of Colorado State University.
“Fruit leather is made by drying thin layers of pureed fruit in the oven or dehydrator. Sometimes called fruit rolls or taffies, fruit leathers make delicious, wholesome and nutritious high-energy snacks for backpackers, campers and active children. They are relatively light in weight, easy to prepare and a good way to use left-over canned fruit and slightly over-ripe fresh fruit.
Meat Jerky is made by drying thin strips of lean meat to about one-fourth its original weight. In the past, preparation and heating recommendations for jerky have been quite general. Recommendations have included drying in the sun, oven or dehydrator. Sun drying is no longer recommended due to a lack of steady controlled heat source (145°F) and the potential for contamination from animals, insects, dust and bacteria. Although drying in the oven or dehydrator allows for a safer product, illnesses in recent years due to Salmonella and Escherichia coli O157:H7 in homemade jerky products have raised questions about the safety of all methods of drying jerky products at home.”

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The Meat Smoking and Curing FAQ.pdf: Meat is cured for a couple of reasons…
“One is safety. When meat is cold smoked its temperature often stays in the danger zone for several hours or days. Many environmental factors of this treatment are such that the growth of dangerous bacteria is greatly accelerated. The curing of the meat inhibits this growth. The other reason is traditional preparation. There are many curing techniques that were developed in the days before refrigeration that are continued today for traditional reasons. A good example is corned beef.”

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Canning

Preserving Food, Boiling Water Canning, UGA 2005.pdf: The is the first of 2 articles on home canning by Elizabeth L. Andress, Ph.D., Professor and Extension Food Safety Specialist at the University of Georgia.
“Most boiling water canners are made of aluminum or porcelain-covered steel. They have fitted lids and removable racks that are either perforated or shaped wire racks. The canner must be deep enough so that at least one inch of briskly boiling water will be over the tops of jars during processing. Some boiling water canners do not have completely flat bottoms. A flat bottom must be used on an electric range. Either a flat or ridged bottom may be used on a gas burner. To ensure uniform processing of all jars with an electric range, the canner should be no more than 4 inches wider in diameter than the element on which it is heated.”

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Pressure Cooker Canning, UGA 2005.pdf: “Pressure canners for use in the home were extensively redesigned beginning in the 1970’s. Models made before the 1970’s were heavy-walled kettles with clamp-on or turn-on lids. They were fitted with a dial gauge, a vent port in the form of a petcock or covered with a counterweight, and a safety fuse. Modern pressure canners are lightweight, thin-walled kettles; most have turn-on lids fitted with gaskets.”

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Principals of Home Canning, USDA 1995.pdf: This electronic version of the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning was created by Utah State University Extension and reviewed by Charlotte Brennand, Extension Food and Nutrition Specialist at Utah State University in July 1995. It is a 27-page booklet that covers just about all there is to know about home canning.
“Why Can Foods? Canning can be a safe and economical way to preserve quality food at home. Disregarding the value of your labor, canning homegrown food may save you half the cost of buying commercially canned food. Canning favorite and special products to be enjoyed by family and friends is a fulfilling experience and a source of pride for many people. Many vegetables begin losing some of their vitamins when harvested. Nearly half the vitamins may be lost within a few days unless the fresh produce is cooled or preserved. Within 1 to 2 weeks, even refrigerated produce loses half or more of some of its vitamins. The heating process during canning destroys from one-third to one-half of vitamins A and C, thiamin, and riboflavin. Once canned, additional losses of these sensitive vitamins are from 5 to 20 percent each year. The amounts of other vitamins, however, are only slightly lower in canned compared with fresh food. If vegetables are handled properly and canned promptly after harvest, they can be more nutritious than fresh produce sold in local stores. The advantages of home canning are lost when you start with poor quality fresh foods; when jars fail to seal properly; when food spoils; and when flavors, texture, color, and nutrients deteriorate during prolonged storage. The information and guides that follow explain many of these problems and recommend ways to minimize them. ”

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Preserving Food, Canning Fruit. UGA 2000.pdf: “Organisms that cause food spoilage-molds, yeasts, and bacteria-are always present in air, water and soil. Enzymes that may cause undesirable changes in flavor, color and texture are present in raw fruits. When fruits are canned, they are heated hot enough and long enough to destroy spoilage organisms. This heating (or processing) also stops the action of enzymes. Because fruits have a high acid content, processing can be done in a boiling water bath canner”

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New Dietary Guidelines USDA 2005-1.pdf: (3.95 mb)