Effective food preservation is cornerstone to a succesful frugal homestead. Common food preservaton techniques include home canning, drying or deydrating, freezing, salt-curing, smoking, and fermenting. Milk is preserved by cheesmaking, and grains, beans and legumes stored properly have lengthy storage lives without further efforts.

When complete, this page will feature an overview of food preservation methods, with links and resources to related material.

Home Canning Recipes

Home canning is an excellent way to store the harvet's bounty in any season for use throughout the yhear. The home canner can safely preserve high-acid fruits in a waterbath with no need for a pressure canner. For low-acid vegetables and meats or grains, a pressure canner and strict adherence to canning requirements is crucial to avoid tainted food.

Home Canning Recipes and Information (to come):

• About Canning Tomatoes
• Green Tomatoes Canning Recipes
• Canning Salsa
• Canning Peaches
• Canning Green Beans
• Canning Vegetables
• Canning Appe Sauce
• Canning Roasted Peppers
• Canning Pumpkin
• How to Can Pears
• Tips on Pressure Canning

If you have never canned before, you may be aprehensive about the food safety issues involved. In this case, start with high-acid-content fruits such as berries, apples and peaches. Botchulism can not row in acidic enviroments and fruits are the safest items to can. Once you are ocnfident in this area, branch out to other food items, being sure to follow canning guidelines exactly.

Dehydrating

Food dehydrating is an excellent way to preserve tomatoes, apples, bananas and scores of other fruits and vegetables. The good thing about properly dehydrated foods is that they take up very little space and can be stored at room temperature. Other than slicing and preparing the fruit, there is very little work involved in the process. Sun or dry heat does most of the work.

Check back for:

• Dehydrating Fruit
• Dehydrating Food
• Dehydrating Apples
• Tips for Dehydrating Foods
• Food Dehydrating Recipes

Other Food Preservation Techniques

• Lactic acid fermentation
• Cheesemaking
• Beef Jerky

References:
https://elliotthomestead.com/make-cheese/
https://elliotthomestead.com/fermentools-contest/