Uncategorized

How Food Can Be Preserved.

Preserving food ensures that it lasts longer. This saves money in the long run as well as reducing unnecessary waste!

No food has an indefinite shelf life. But there are several ways with which you can preserve food for quite a while and stock up on it. Nowadays, people mainly work in the household with physical processes such as cooling, freezing or boiling. There are also chemical processes such as lactic acid fermentation, salting, sugaring, curing and smoking as well as soaking in acid, alcohol or other preserving solutions.

Below you can read an overview of the most common methods for preserving some popular foods and their possible storage times.

Procedure	Type of conservation	Food Category	Recommended Storage Time
Cool	Heat removal to +2 to +15 ° C, inhibition of microorganism growth	Butter, eggs, milk, fish, meat, fruit, vegetables	1 day to several months (3-4)
Freeze	Removal of heat down to -18 ° C or colder, interruption of microorganism growth and reduction of enzyme activity	Vegetables, fish, meat, fruit, baked goods, home-made dishes	A few months to a year
Boiling down	Heat exposure between 75 ° C and 100 ° C, partial killing of microorganisms, inhibition of microorganism growth, reduction of enzyme activity, partial killing of spores	Fruit and vegetable juices, jams, jams, jellies, chutneys	Up to 1 year
Drying (drying)	Heat supply, dehydration, inhibition of microorganism growth and enzyme activity	Dried fruits, legumes, herbs, cereals	Up to 1 year
Sugar	Added sugar, exposure to heat, dehydration, inhibition of microorganism growth	Jam, jam, jelly, fruit syrup, candied fruits	From a few months to a year
Souring	Adding vinegar or acetic acid, lowering the pH value, inhibiting the growth of microorganisms, killing microorganisms at high concentrations	Cucumbers, mixed pickles, fish, sweet and sour pickled fruits and vegetables	Several months (3-4)
Soaking in alcohol	Addition of alcohol, inhibition of microorganism growth, microorganisms die at high concentrations	Rum pot, fruits in alcohol	Several months (3-4)
Soaking in preserving solutions	Preventing the ingress of air (e.g. with lime, water glass, oil), inhibiting the growth of microorganisms	Eggs, herbs, sheep cheese	Weeks (2) to months (3)
Lactic acid fermentation	Formation of lactic acid by lactic acid bacteria, inhibition of the growth of other microorganisms, lowering of the pH value	Sauerkraut, sour beans, cucumber	Several months (3-4)
Salt	Addition of table salt, inhibition of the growth of microorganisms by removing water and partially killing microorganisms by nitrite	Fish, meat, meat products	Weeks (3) to months (3)
Curing	Adding curing salt, dehydration, inhibition of the growth of microorganisms and, in some cases, killing of microorganisms by nitrite	Meat, meat products	Several weeks (4)
Smoking	Addition of smoke and heat, dehydration, inhibition of the growth of microorganisms by dehydration and partial killing of microorganisms through bacteria-killing smoke ingredients	Meat, fish	Weeks (4) to months (4-6)