FOOD PRESERVATION:

Methods for Munchies

This page offers a description of a variety of methods for preserving food and links to useful sites that generally describe in some detail these methods.

Food preservation basics:

On a scientific basis, food preservation can be broken down into two basic methods...Bactericidal and Bacteriostatic.
The links below will take you to a wide world of information about the two methods.

Choose, but choose wisely...

Bactericidal-adj : preventing infection by inhibiting the growth or action of microorganisms

These methods involve killing the microbes in food. These methods include:

Cooking

Canning

Irradiation & Sterilization

Pasteurization

Bacteriostatic-adj : of or relating to or causing bacteriostasis

These methods invlolve storing food or changing food so that it is a hostile environment for microbes. These methods include:

Drying

Freezing

Pickling

Salting/Curing

Smoking

Jamming/Jellying

On a less scientific basis, food preservation can be broken down into food groups. The section below will tell what methods
can be used with particular types of food.

Meats: The edible flesh of animals
Methods that are good for preserving meats include:
Cooking
Canning
Drying
Freezing
Salting/Curing
Smoking

Vegetables: A plant used or cultivated for food for man or domestic animals, as the cabbage, turnip, potato, bean, dandelion, etc.
Methods that are good for preserving vegetables include:
Cooking
Canning
Freezing
Pickling

Fruits: The pulpy, edible seed vessels of certain plants, especially those grown on branches above ground, as apples, oranges, grapes, melons, berries, etc.
Methods that are good for preserving fruits include:
Canning
Drying
Freezing
Jamming/Jellying

Grains: The fruit of certain grasses which furnish the chief food of man, as corn, wheat, rye, oats, etc., or the plants themselves
Methods that are good for preserving fruits include:
Drying

Applicability info for low-tech solutions

Bactericidal Methods

    Most of the cooking methods are applicable in third-world countries.
    The essential ingredients needed are a source of heat, water, a pot, and
    some food. The cooking methods are practical for daily consumption of
    food. If you want to get serious about preserving food to eat later, like in
    the months when there is no food to harvest, then canning is a good solution.
    The initial cost for many rural dwellers in third-world countries may be steep,
    but in the long run, it pays off.

Bateriostatic Methods

    All of these methods, with the exception of freezing, are extremely applicable.
    Drying, pickling, salting/curing, smoking, and jamming and jellying are all low-
    energy methods of preserving food and can be done anywhere in the world. Drying
    is probably the most feasible since it requires little attention and small storage space.
    Most people already dry much of their grain products. As with canning, there will
    be an initial cost for supplies to perform the other methods.