Popular Articles
Today Week Month Year


The healthy prepper: A guide to keeping fruits fresh without canning
By Michelle Simmons // Nov 05, 2018

Eating fruits and vegetables is one of the most important ways to keep yourself healthy and surviving, but not when they are canned. The process of canning kills the nutrition and eliminates the real freshness of the food. Storing your produce or keeping them fresh for longer without compromising their nutritional content, so here are ways to keep food fresh without canning. (h/t to PreppersWill.com)

Brighteon.TV

  • Store them fresh: Fresh storage is a method that requires the least amount of preparation and effort. This works well for vegetables such as onions and garlic. You can take the plant directly and store them. The key to this method is to cure these vegetables properly before storing them. To cure them properly, you have to leave them out in a single layer or hang them in bunches in a warm, dry, and airy place like a garage. Your garlic and onions will be ready to be stored in crates and boxes after two weeks.
  • Put them in the fridge: This method is the easiest way to store sturdy vegetables like carrots and beets. With this method, your produce can last until the end of the winter season. Harvest your vegetables during late fall, right before winter starts and the temperature gets freezing. Do not remove the soil from the roots, pack them into plastic bags, and put them on the bottom shelf of the fridge.
  • Place them in the freezer: Storing vegetables in the freezer can prolong their shelf life. However, you have to steam or blanch them first. The best types of freezers for this purpose are chest freezers. This is because regular kitchen freezers have a defrost cycle, which can lower the food quality after a while and shorten the storage time from a year or shorter.
  • Ferment them: There are some fruits and vegetables that may require more preparation and effort to maintain their freshness when storing. Fermentation can prolong the shelf life of produce for up to a year. Fermented foods also retain much more nutritional benefits compared to canning, at the same time providing good bacteria in the gut. Some fruits and vegetables that can be fermented include cucumbers, cabbages, carrots, lemons, and mangoes. In fermentation, temperature and container play a crucial role. The best temperature for fermentation is 68 to 72 degrees Fahrenheit. Containers should also be properly sealed to ensure low oxygen levels.
  • Dehydrate them: Dehydration is one of the oldest and easiest ways to store food. This process involves removing water from the food to make the food lighter. The lack of water in food also prevents the growth of bacteria, yeasts, or mold. Any type of fruit, vegetable, or herb can be dehydrated, but some needs to be blanched first before drying to prevent the enzyme reactions. This method is also particularly useful when traveling because it does not need refrigeration and the foods are light. (Related: What To Do With All Your Extra Produce And Herbs.)

Other ways to keep fruits and vegetables fresh for longer

In addition to the methods mentioned above, here are more tips to keep fruits and vegetables fresh for longer:

  • Give berries a hot bath for 30 seconds before storing them to kill mold spores and keep them fresher for longer.
  • Do not put tomatoes in the fridge. Instead, put them in a bowl lined with a paper towel.
  • Wrap your unwashed leafy green vegetables in a paper towel, put them in a plastic bag, then store in the fridge.
  • Give your lettuce an ice bath to refresh them.
  • Put your ripened bananas in the fridge.

Read more news stories on storing food by going to Preparedness.news.

Sources include:

PreppersWill.com

Inhabitat.com



Take Action:
Support NewsTarget by linking to this article from your website.
Permalink to this article:
Copy
Embed article link:
Copy
Reprinting this article:
Non-commercial use is permitted with credit to NewsTarget.com (including a clickable link).
Please contact us for more information.
Free Email Alerts
Get independent news alerts on natural cures, food lab tests, cannabis medicine, science, robotics, drones, privacy and more.

NewsTarget.com © 2022 All Rights Reserved. All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. NewsTarget.com is not responsible for content written by contributing authors. The information on this site is provided for educational and entertainment purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for professional advice of any kind. NewsTarget.com assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. Your use of this website indicates your agreement to these terms and those published on this site. All trademarks, registered trademarks and servicemarks mentioned on this site are the property of their respective owners.

This site uses cookies
News Target uses cookies to improve your experience on our site. By using this site, you agree to our privacy policy.
Learn More
Close
Get 100% real, uncensored news delivered straight to your inbox
You can unsubscribe at any time. Your email privacy is completely protected.