Food Preservation and Canning #FoodBusinessReference

Food Preservation and Canning #FoodBusinessReference

The housewives would be doing valuable service to the country by preserving native foods at home for the following reasons:
1) Food preservation will improve the general health of the people by supplying a more varied and balanced diet.
2) It would prevent the waste of perishable foods by preserving them for future use.
3) It would stabilize prices by equalizing the food supply.
4) It would be a profitable way of spending one’s leisure.
5) It would lessen the amount of imported canned goods which can be easily produced here.

Principal Methods Used in Food Preservation Drying:

Drying is the first known method of preserving foods. It needs little apparatus and is applicable to many kinds of food. The principle involved is the reduction of the water content in a food to such a degree as to prevent it from spoiling. the general methods used in drying are:

1) Sunshine - food is usually sliced and spread to dry under the heat of the sun.
2) Artificial Heat - food is dried by exposing it to hot air, as in the oven.
3) Air Blast - food is dried by means of a fan driven by electricity, alcohol or kerosene.

Smoking:

This process of preserving is usually used with fish and meat. The material is first salted and exposed to smoke produced by slow-burning sawdust or shavings of the wood. The preserving chemical (creosote) present in the smoke prevents the growth of bacteria, aided by the drying which generally goes on at the same time.

Salting:

This method is one of the first known and practiced here. It is used both with animal and vegetable foods. The salt draws out the water content of the food and enters the tissues, thus making the food firmer and preventing decay. The two most important methods of salting are:

1) Dry Salting - The food is first mixed with salt to remove large amount of its moisture and then dried.
2) Brining - The food is packed in a container and covered with a solution of salt (brine) until used.

Pickling:

Pickling is applicable to foods that do not have much taste. Vinegar and condiments serve as preserving materials give delicious flavor and odor to the food. Two methods of pickling generally are used:

(a) Simple Pickling - Food is prepared, salted and preserved with vinegar and other condiments. These ingredients give the food a better taste and preserve it. Sugar is added to the vinegar when sweet-sour pickle is desired.

(b) Fermented Pickling - This is accomplished by curing the food with salt and allowing the lactic acid fermentation to develop for a few weeks. The following spices are used in this method - vinegar, pepper, cinnamon, clove, allspice, nutmeg, celery seed, caraway, coriander, turmeric and bay leaves.

Sugar as a Preservative:

Syrup in a concentrated form acts as a preservative and food products can be preserved either in dry sugar or in syrup which is made by dissolving the sugar in water. When fruits are preserved with much sugar, they are known as jelly, marmalade, jam, candy, or butter preserved according to their form and the method of preparation used.

Sterilization:

Foods decay, spoil or ferment because of the growth in them of living microscopic organisms called germs. These are the molds, yeasts and bacteria. In canning, the killing or destruction of all the germs (sterilization) is essential. Molds and yeasts are killed below boiling point, but bacteria, due to their spores, are not completely killed unless the food is cooked for five hours or about an hour for three consecutive days. Since water and air and food contain germs, complete sterilization is necessary to assure the preservation of foods.

Canning is a method of heating the food and sealing it in an air-tight container. The preservation is affected because: (a) Heat destroys chemical agents (enzymes) in the food which are beneficial in causing fruits and vegetables to ripen and meat to become tender, but its continuous action causes over-ripening.
(b) Canning destroys organisms from getting into the food after it is heated.
Canning is a method that can be used with success in the widest variety of foods. The advantage of canning is that the food can keep long and is always ready for use.

The methods of canning are named according to the main piece of equipment used in the process:

(1) Boiling water bath method
(2) Open kettle method
(3) Steamer or oven method
(4) Pressure-canner method.

The boiling water bath is used for fruits and vegetables to which a large amount of vinegar has been added. The pressure-canner method is used with other vegetables and meats. The oven and open-kettle methods do not give uniformly good results.

Terms in Food Preparation

Beat - to make a mixture smooth and introduce air by a brisk regular motion that lifts mixture over and over.
Blanch - to dip fruits or vegetables in hot water.
Blend - to mix two or more ingredients so that each loses its identity.
Chop - to cup up into small pieces with a knife.
Cream - to rub shortening and sugar with spoon against the sides of the bowl until creamy.
Cube - to cut in small cubes about 1/2-inch in size.
Dice - to cut in very small cubes about 1/4-inch in size.
Drain - to drip off excess moisture.
Garnish - to ornament with something bright and savory; something added for decoration.
Grate - to rub on a grater and produce particles as grated cheese.
Grind - to put through a food or meat chopper.
Marinate - to let food stand usually in French dressing until well seasoned.
Pare - to remove outer covering by cutting with a knife as with potatoes.
Peel - to pull of outer covering as with banana or oranges.
Shred - to put through a flour sifter or fine sieve.
Slice - to cut across a whole bread, meat or potatoes.
Strain - to filter big particles of food or foreign particles.
Toss - to lightly mix ingredients with two forks or a fork and a spoon.