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Preserving the Harvest A-to-Z (WIP)
Thegoblinchief:
This thread is currently a work in progress. I'm updating it and organizing it as I have time. In the meantime, hopefully the information presented is helpful to all Mustachians of the homesteading/radical homemaker stripes.
Introduction
In 2014 there was this thread about preserving the harvest. While this thread isn't technically throwing down a gauntlet, both its predecessor and the well-frequented gardening thread are in this subforum, so I'm putting it here for now. Mods, feel free to move it if you see fit.
What I hope to accomplish is presenting a guide to the best way to preserve the local bounty of fruits and vegetables, organized by type. I'm a big believer in trying to live within my own bio-region as much as possible. Even if you rely heavily on things imported from outside of your region, nearly every fruit/veg has a "peak" season where price is lowest and quality is highest. Learning to preserve and store food at its prime is an excellent hobby. It won't necessarily save a ton of money, but the quality of food heading into the lean winter months will blow your mind. For me, this is something I tally up on my emotional balance sheet more than my financial one.
Okay, let's get into this (again, sorry for slow updates) Post #0 will be Best Methods for Fruit
Apples
You have two main options here. First is to dry slices and make chips. If you don't have a dehydrator, I highly recommend the large Excalibur models. They're pricey but well worth it if you plan to preserve many things. Remove any bruises/blemishes, core, then slice 1/4" with a chef's knife. (Mandolines don't work very well because of the skin.) An apple corer can also cut ring slices quite effectively.
The second choice is canning applesauce. I'll get into the details further as I update.
Apricots
No personal experience preserving these but store-bought dried apricots are awesome, so I'd start there. Unless you're incredibly patient, after removing the pit they need to be sliced thinner.
Bananas
Not in my bio-region so I don't buy them, but if they were I'd dry them (1/4" slice).
Frozen bananas (hello Arrested Development) are an excellent treat.
Blackberries (and other large-seeded berries like muberry and raspberry)
Freeze in single layers on baking sheets to avoid clumping, then pack into bags for storage.
Blackberry jam can be canned. You can use a food mill to remove the seeds.
Blueberries
Freezing is your best option to preserve a fresh-like taste.
Canning can work.
Dried blueberries sound like a good idea but I find them very disappointing taste-wise.
Cherries
The main bottleneck here is pitting. I'm lucky enough to have a local orchard that allows you to run them through a high-speed mechanical pitter for a nominal fee. Once pitted:
Freezing works well. To prevent clumping, lay out on baking sheets in a single layer, place in freezer for at least an hour before packing into freezer bags.
Drying is also a good method. Unless you want them to take forever in the dehydrator, you will have to halve the pitted cherries.
I'll let others chime in about good canning recipes.
Citrus
Your main option is to preserve the peel for future flavoring. You can dry the peel plain, candy it, or preserve it in salt. Recipes abound.
Our own Erica has this handy guide. It's specific to lemon (ideally Meyer lemon) peel but many of the same principles apply: http://www.nwedible.com/ways-to-use-lemon-peel/
Currants
Canning them in preserves and jellies is well-known.
Personally, I'd dry them, at least based on the taste of both options I've had from the store.
Dates
No personal experience. I'm guessing drying is the best option.
Figs
--- Quote from: Erica/NWEdible on September 09, 2015, 11:20:48 AM ---Figs: drying is good, but it depends on the variety. Some have a thicker outer skin before the juicy seed cavity and these don't dry as well as the varieties with a thinner skin, in my experience. Up here, Desert King is a common variety, and these don't dry as nicely as something like Black Mission.
All figs make superior jam (but are borderline acid, so add some lemon juice), chutney, and sauce. Their flavor is particularly well paired with balsamic vinegar, cherries, thyme, or black pepper.
--- End quote ---
Grapes
If you grow your own, or live in a growing region, you could experiment with making your own raisins or grape jellies. I have no personal experience. The only vineyards here are exclusively for wine production.
Kiwi
No personal experience.
Melons
They can be dried or frozen, but honestly? I wouldn't bother. Enjoy them as the late summer, early fall local delicacy they are.
Nectarines
I haven't tried preserving these. From eating preserved products, drying, freezing, and canning are all equally good options. The first two will preserve more nutritional value.
Papaya
Not in my bio-region. Supposed to be good for drying.
Peaches
I haven't tried preserving these. From eating preserved products, drying, freezing, and canning are all equally good options. The first two will preserve more nutritional value.
Pears
I haven't tried preserving these. From eating preserved products, drying, freezing, and canning are all equally good options. The first two will preserve more nutritional value.
Persimmons
No personal experience. From what I've read, the challenge is getting ones that are dead ripe. Persimmons have a way of going from bitterly astringent to candy-sweet overnight.
Pineapple
Not in my bio-region but if they were, I'd dry them.
Plums
Drying works.
Cooking down into a plum or sauce is a VERY versatile condiment all on its own, or as a base for many sweet-savory Asian or BBQ type sauces and glazes.
Rhubarb
Culinarily, this is typically classified as a fruit. Typically I've chopped rhubarb and frozen it.
If I had enough of a harvest that freezer space looked a premium, I'd dry the slices. Rhubarb is excellent in jams/jellies/preserves but I find the taste is best when the sauce is fresh, not after it's been canned. YMMV.
Strawberries
Dried strawberries are worth the price of a large dehydrator alone.
For a basic strawberry jam, I really like the one printed in the book "Canning for a New Generation". With really prime, local fruit I have found very little sugar is necessary.
Thegoblinchief:
This reply will the the home for vegetables
Asparagus
Beans (Shelled/Dry)
You want these to be completely dry before trying to shell and store. Depending on the variety and your climate, they may dry down on the vines, or you may need to pull the plants and hang them up in an out of the way spot (garage or basement) to dry further. Carol Deppe's book The Resilient Gardener has excellent info on varieties and how to winnow large quantities.
Beans (Green)
I do not have personal experience with canning beans.
I like green beans both dried and frozen. Both methods require blanching in a boiling water bath for about 2-3 minutes first.
Another method many like is pickling them, either as a lacto-fermented pickle or as a brined pickle (e.g. "Dilly Beans").
Broccoli
After some discussion below, you can blanch and freeze broccoli but thawed broccoli just isn't the same as fresh. It's watery and kind of blah. Eat what you can fresh, find more during the winter at winter farmer's markets, and "preserve" it via cooked uses (cream of broccoli soup, casseroles, etc.).
Carrots
Store fresh in either fridge or a root cellar.
Dehydration is another option with good eating results.
Peas (Snap or Shelled)
Freezing, after blanching for 2 minutes, is the best method for both kinds of pea. Freezing retains the sweetness of a freshly picked pea far better than drying or canning.
If you only want to extend the season a few weeks, I've seen recipes for refrigerator-pickled snap peas that look good but haven't been able to try yet.
Peppers (Hot)
Dry them whole or halved. The choice whether to de-seed them is up to you. Some recipes and uses call for the peppers to be seedless, others whole.
Peppers (Sweet/Mild)
You can remove seeds, slice/dice and either freeze or dry.
For deeper, more complex flavor, consider charring on the grill or roasting in the oven before freezing/drying. Be warned: the peppers will be quite messy/sticky to work with.
Potatoes
Ideally you will have a space that functions as a cool, moist enough root cellar to preserve these fresh. Failing that, you can dry potatoes either raw (must be cooked before eating) or cooked (hash browns are supposed to taste exactly like potato chips when dehydrated).
Tomatoes
These preserve very well any way you do it - canned, dried, or frozen and cooked into sauce/dishes later.
Zucchini
Dried 'chips' are a very tasty snack eaten out of hand. They can also be rehydrated in winter soups and stews.
I also like shredding zucchini and measuring the correct portion for batches of zucchini bread into freezer bags.
Winter Squash/Pumpkins
The main option here is to roast in the oven, scoop out the flesh, and puree it. The puree can be frozen or dried as leather. In the US, at least, it is not considered safe to can using home equipment.
Another option is to dry the raw flesh in slices or diced up. This allows you the option to cook into a puree OR use the squash in dishes that need the flesh whole, not pureed. I haven't (yet) experimented with this but hope to soon.
Erica/NWEdible:
Following!
Thegoblinchief:
The list of different fruits should be mostly complete now.
Please, anyone, feel free to start posting experiences/recipes/tips. This will help me get the guide updated faster!
Penny Lane:
Well, we are in the thick of this up here! V. timely!
I have been preserving my produce (or food from the farmers market) for 25 years now, but every year I learn something different to do. Of course the dewpoint is in the upper 60's this week, so not the best week to have simmering pots.
This year, the bumper crop of 2 kinds of plums demands various treatments; I am drying some, making preserves and canning/freezing whole fruit. I never use as much sugar as most recipes call for.
Hedgerow jelly. The idea for this came from my current fave preserving book from the River Cafe in London. I used my wild apples, beach plums, elderberries, blackberries,rosehips and black cherries-- all from my yard.
Will follow, GC, thanks for doing this!
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