Preserving Tips From The Natural Home

Preserving food is a lovely, old-fashioned way to make the most of seasonal produce and enjoy it year-round. In The Natural Home, Wendyl Nissen shares timeless wisdom on how to bottle, store, and protect your food so it remains safe, tasty, and nourishing.

Before the days of freezers, our grandparents would bottle and preserve their garden harvest when it was fresh and full of goodness. For months afterwards, their families would enjoy the results.

Today, preserving is still a wonderful alternative to freezing fruit and vegetables, often with better flavour and less waste. Even if you don’t have your own garden, you can buy produce in season at great prices and save a lot of money with just a little effort.

Preserving Tips with Wendyl from her book The Natural Home ...

Here are some hints and tips for getting the best out of preserving.

• The principle of preserving is to heat the food up to a high heat which then destroys any bacteria that might be present. You then need to get it into a sterilised jar, which then seals under a vacuum, meaning no bacteria can grow.

• Everything has to be clean, clean, clean, so wash your hands often and make sure your boards and utensils are washed and ready.

• Don’t include any rotten parts of the fruit or vegetable—cut them out to avoid bacteria getting in the mix.

• Adding lemon is a great idea as it makes the mix slightly acidic and therefore less likely to harbour germs.

• It is best to sterilise your jars at the same time as you are cooking up your recipe so that they are both hot at the same time. To sterilise your jars, wash in hot soapy water and rinse clean with hot water. Place the jars in an oven heated to 110°C and leave for five minutes. You can also place the metal rings in the oven but leave the seals out as the plastic will melt. Wash them thoroughly and pop them in some boiling water for a few minutes.

• For sauces and jams the easiest method to use is the hot method where you cook the food, pour it into hot sterilised jars, place the lids on and seal. As the food cools, a vacuum will be created causing the metal seal to pull inwards to form a concave shape. This is how you know your preserving has been successful.

• Another more old-fashioned method is called the overflow method. You place the food in sterilised jars and fill to the top so that it slightly overflows the jar. You then wipe the rim clean and seal the jar.

• If you are just wanting to pack fruit into a jar without cooking it first, you can do this using the water bath method. Simply pack the sterilised jars with raw fruit such as tomatoes or plums and cover each layer with a sugar-syrup solution, wine or juice. Seal the jar with vacuum seals, loosely screw on the metal bands and then place in a large saucepan or roasting dish filled with water so that it comes three-quarters of the way up the jars. Bring the water to the boil and cook for about 30 minutes. Once the syrup is bubbling and the fruit looks cooked, remove from the bath and screw the lids on as tightly as you can. When they cool a vacuum should form.

• You can also seal with paraffin wax, but you have to make extra sure there are no gaps left for air to enter and that the wax comes right to the top of the jar so that it is easy to get the wax off when you need to.

• When you have poured your food into the jars get a skewer and run it down inside the jars to release any air bubbles that might be in there, or alternatively thump the jar on the bench a few times.

• You can find second-hand jars and preserving equipment like pans in second-hand stores and op shops, but do buy the rings and lids new as they are most likely a bit rusty and could contaminate the food.

• If you are making a pickle or chutney, some people like to pour vinegar over the jars before filling to prevent fermentation.

• Be aware that you are preserving, not mummifying! Your jars will have a shelf life. Most jams and pickles will last for a year; chutneys and relishes for about 18 months. So make sure you date all your preserves, and if you are at all unsure about a jar discard the contents rather than take the risk.

• Try to use stainless-steel cookware as other metals can affect the flavour.

• Most recipes call for sugar in vast amounts and there’s a reason for this—it is a preservative. Don’t be tempted to replace it with another substance to save on calories.

• Keep all preserves in a cool, dark place. It’s tempting to have them all on display but you will only shorten their shelf life if you do.

• Make sure you are in a good mood. If you are rushing or don’t really feel like cooking your preserves, you will miss out on the joy of a few hours spent in the kitchen.

Please drop me an email if you are interested in purchasing this fantastic book. triona@greengoddesss.co.nz