Down to Earth

by Rhonda Hetzel

  Freezing will not preserve your food indefinitely. It stops the fast growth of bacteria, but the sooner you can eat the food, the better. Long-term freezing is not good for any food. Be guided by your freezer manual, but generally three months is a good rule to work by. That is the length of a season, so if you’re freezing to see you through winter, the three-month rule should work well.

  For the best results, keep your freezer below –18°C. While freezing will not kill the bacteria that cause botulism, if the bacteria are present, they cannot multiply and produce harmful toxins in a freezer kept at this temperature. The freezer that is inside your fridge usually isn’t cold enough for long-term storage. When we know we will be adding new foods to our freezer, I set the temperature lower twenty-four hours before adding the food. That allows the food to freeze faster. The faster food freezes, the less damage done to the cell wall structure of the food.

  We freeze meat that we buy in bulk, as well as small amounts of fish from the local fishing co-op. I have also been using my large chest freezer as a cool room for storing grains and dry goods. In our humid climate, especially in summer, it’s been a very good way of making sure bugs and mildew don’t spoil our food. I also freeze excess vegetables from our garden. Some plastic containers will crack when subjected to very low temperatures so make sure you have the right kind of container. Don’t freeze glass, as most of it will break.

  Blanching vegetables

  If you grow your own vegetables or buy cheap seasonal vegetables by the box you will get their full value by eating some fresh and freezing the rest. If you decide to freeze them you’ll need to do it when they’re still in their prime. If you know you’ll only store something for a couple of weeks, it doesn’t need to be blanched. But I tend to blanch all vegetables I freeze because I generally don’t know when they’ll be used. Blanching vegetables before freezing them inactivates enzymes that can spoil the food and it helps kills some microorganisms on the surface of the vegetables. Blanching will also collapse the vegetables a little and that helps pack more food into a small space. Garlic, onion and capsicum don’t need blanching. Peel the garlic and onions before freezing, and slice the capsicum and place in a plastic bag.

  ACTION PLAN: Blanching vegetables

  * Wash all the vegetables thoroughly, then peel and chop to a suitable size for cooking.

  * Prepare a deep pot of boiling water and have a colander and tongs ready.

  * Fill your kitchen sinks or large bowls with cold water and ice. It’s fine to use the same water for all the different vegetables.

  * Put small amounts of the vegetables into the boiling water and time them, from the moment the water returns to the boil. There is a blanching time list below but generally, greens are ready when they turn bright green. Dense vegetables like pumpkin and sweet potato should be cooked before freezing.

  * When blanching is complete, remove the vegetables from the boiling water and plunge them into the iced water to prevent overheating.

  * When the vegetables are cool, drain in a colander.

  BLANCHING TIMES FOR COMMON VEGETABLES

  Asparagus (whole): 2 minutes Fennel (whole): 3 minutes

  Beans (whole): 2–3 minutes Parsnips (chunks): 2–3 minutes

  Beetroot (whole): 5–10 minutes Peas (shelled): 1 minute

  Broccoli (florets): 3–4 minutes Snow peas (whole): 30 seconds

  Brussels sprouts (whole): 4–5 minutes Spinach, silverbeet and other green leaves (not lettuce): 2 minutes

  Cabbage (slices): 2–3 minutes

  Carrots (slices): 3 minutes Sweet corn (whole, small): 4 minutes

  Carrots (whole, small): 5 minutes Turnips (chunks): 2–3 minutes

  Cauliflower (florets): 4–5 minutes Zucchini (chunks): 2 minutes

  Wrapping food

  I always use freezer bags to store food in the freezer (you can buy these from the supermarket) but two layers of greaseproof paper is suitable for short-term storage.

  Place the food into the freezer bag and press gently to expel as much air as possible. If you can, move the contents of the bag around a little to make a flat, square package, so it will stack better in the freezer and will defrost faster. Small packs are better than big ones.

  If you can twist the bag around and double it back over the food, do it. A double layer will help prevent freezer burn. Otherwise you could use two freezer bags, or wrap the food in greaseproof paper first, then place it in the freezer bag. Freezer bags can be washed and re-used if they’re not ripped.

  Freezing liquids

  Freezing is also a good way to store liquids like meat and vegetable stock, milk, or pasta and curry sauces. Food expands when it freezes so make sure you leave a small amount of headspace, but don’t leave too much as you don’t want a lot of air in the container. The larger the container, the more headspace you’ll need. For example, about 500 ml of liquid will require a headspace of about 12 mm. A litre of the same liquid in a 1-litre pack needs about 25 mm. If you’re freezing commercial milk straight from the shop, you will have to take a little bit out of the bottle to allow for expansion.

  If you have time, it’s best to defrost liquids in the fridge. Milk must be defrosted in the fridge, but juice can be left out to defrost if you don’t have time to let it defrost in the fridge. Stock, curry and pasta sauces can also be defrosted on the stove if you’ll be using them straight away.

  Freezer records

  It’s a very good idea to keep a record of what you have in your freezer. This will allow you to manage your frozen food effectively. A freezer, particularly a chest freezer, is a difficult space to manage and a record of what goes in, with the date, and what comes out, will give you an accurate freezer inventory at any time without you having to unpack it to see what’s at the bottom.

  Make sure you mark all bags or containers you put in the freezer with the type of food and the date it was frozen.

  IF THE POWER GOES OFF

  If you know the power will be off on a particular day, turn up the freezer the day before. Then, when the power goes off, unplug the freezer and cover it with blankets or quilts to insulate it. Don’t open the freezer until the power comes on again. When the power comes back on, plug the freezer in again and switch it on. A freezer will usually be able to keep food safe this way for two days.

  If power outages are frequent and long where you live, freezing large amounts of food might not turn out to be so frugal after all.

  In Australia, there is a long, fine tradition of homesteaders ‘putting up’ food – to see them through tougher times, and also because they were so far away from the shops. They would do it when the season was high and crops were plentiful. If you want to cook from scratch and consume fewer preservatives, preserving food is still a good skill to have. Used in conjunction with other methods of long-term storage, preserving will give you good food out of season, or allow you to have your favourite jam or tomato sauce ready in the cupboard.

  Most of the preserving I do is not to keep us going through the leaner seasons – our garden does that – it’s to make a delicious sauce from a glut of tomatoes, to make the most of a cheap or free box of peaches, or to make jams and relishes. All those things I make are family favourites now and all much tastier and cheaper than anything I can buy at the supermarket.

  People have been preserving food in jars for a long time, so many different methods have been developed. There is a small risk of botulism poisoning from incorrectly processed food, but serious problems are very rare. Most of the guidelines have been updated in the past twenty years, so don’t use an old preserving book or recipes. Please be guided by your thermometer, the newer information available and your common sense. If you intend to do a lot of preserving I encourage you to buy an up-to-date Australian preserving book or borrow one from the library. I recommend the Australian Women’s Weekly Preserves, which will probably be available at your local newsagent, bookshop or online.

  The simple kind of preserving I do is called water ba
th processing. The principle behind it is to make a jam, sauce or relish, or prepare fresh fruit such as peaches, then place the food in clean jars that will seal and be sterilised after being boiled in a pot for the required time. When food is processed in this way, the prolonged heat kills most bacteria and yeasts. It is suitable only for high-acid foods like tomatoes and rhubarb, and some foods to which acid, in the form of vinegar or lemon juice, has been added (such as jams and relish). You cannot process foods like meat, soup or low-acid vegetables such as corn, peas, beans or cucumber in a water bath. You can pickle cucumbers in vinegar, however – the vinegar adds the required acidity. Pickled cucumbers can be stored in the fridge for up to six months.

  A frugal set-up

  While there are plenty of jars and preserving units you can buy to help you preserve food in jars, you may be able to do it with what you already have in your home.

  You will need:

  A stockpot large enough for you to have at least an inch of water over the top of your tallest jar.

  A tea towel folded up to prevent the jars touching the hot bottom of the pot. Alternatively you could use newspaper or a round cake rack.

  A thermometer to clip to the side of the pot and monitor the temperature while the jars are in there. I use a milk thermometer that I bought for $15 at a kitchen store.

  Recycled jars to store the food in. Pop-top lids that have a thin ring of rubber on the inside are best – they will help you seal the jar. Some people advise against using recycled jars with metal lids but I have been using them for many years and have never had a problem. You must make your own decision on what equipment you use, but make sure you carefully check your jars and lids for damage. Don’t use jars larger than a litre, as there is no guarantee that the heat necessary to kill bacteria will penetrate into the middle of a firmly packed large jar. Also avoid jars with plastic lids, like Vegemite or peanut butter jars.

  Tongs to lift the jars out of the pot.

  The water bath method

  This method of processing is suitable for the frugal set-up with recycled jars or for a commercial processor and jars bought specifically for processing.

  ACTION PLAN: The water bath method

  Check and sterilise the jars

  * Before you start your preserving session, wash all your jars and lids and run your fingers around the rims to check for chips or cracks. Check the lids for dents, rust or holes. Never use damaged jars or lids.

  * Wash the jars, lids and tongs in warm soapy water and rinse in warm water, then place them in your oven set on 160˚C for twenty minutes. Keep the jars warm until you fill them. Hot food may crack the glass if you allow it to cool.

  Fill the jars

  * Now you are ready to deal with the contents of the jars. This can be either a recipe like jam or chutney that you cook and pour, hot, into the warm jar, or fruit that you add syrup to, or vegetables (pickles) that you add spiced vinegar to.

  * If you’re cooking jam, make it according to the recipe and, using a wide-mouth funnel, pack the jars to within about 7 mm of the jar top. This allows the contents to expand when boiling, without bursting out of the jar.

  * If you’re packing fruit or pickles, pack your jars firmly and neatly, using a packing stick or wooden spoon handle to remove any air bubbles. Air in the jar might cause mould to form when the jar is being stored.

  * When the jar is packed, pour syrup, fruit juice or water over the fruit (according to the recipe), or the spiced vinegar over the pickles, to within about 8 mm of the jar top. It is important not to change any preserving recipes because they’ll have correct levels of sugar, lemon juice or vinegar that assist with the preservation of the food.

  * If you’re using screw-on lids, screw them on fairly tightly, but not too tight, and wipe the jars to make sure no jam or syrup is on the outside.

  Heat, cool and store

  * Place the jars into your processor/pot that is half-filled with warm water, then add enough water to cover the jars by one or two inches of water.

  * Bring the processor/pot slowly up to the boil on a low heat – this will take 45–60 minutes. When it’s boiling gently, hold it at a slow boil for another 45 minutes for small jars, or 1 hour for larger jars.

  * When the time is up, use your tongs to remove the jars from the saucepan. Place them on a tea towel on the bench to cool slowly for 24 hours. The prolonged heat will form a vacuum in the jars.

  * When the jars are cool, check that all the lids (or the pop-tops, if your jars have them) are inverted. If you’re unsure, if the lid is not inverted, or if there has been a spillage, put that jar in the fridge and use it as soon as you can. All the jars must have a perfect seal to be stored in a cupboard.

  * For long-term storage, the jars should be stored in a cool dark cupboard. They will keep well for about a year without losing their nutrition. Don’t be tempted to display your jars on an open shelf. They will lose their colour.

  Simple syrup and spiced vinegar recipes

  SYRUP FOR FRUIT

  Light, medium and heavy refer to the amount of sugar in the syrup. Use whichever suits your taste.

  Ingredients

  light – 1 cup sugar to 3 cups water makes 3½ cups of syrup

  medium – 1 cup sugar to 2 cups water makes 2½ cups of syrup

  heavy – 1 cup sugar to 1 cup water makes 1¾ cups of syrup

  Method

  Add the sugar and water to a saucepan and bring to the boil. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

  You could use fruit juice, honey, molasses or golden syrup instead of sugar, but it will add another flavour to your fruit. Fruit may also be preserved in plain water but it won’t keep as well as that preserved in a sweet liquid. Artificial sweeteners are not recommended for preserving as they develop a bitter taste over time.

  SPICED VINEGAR FOR PICKLES

  Good-quality vinegar needs to be used for preserving, with an acid content of at least 5 per cent. Brown malt, white, balsamic, white wine, red wine or apple cider vinegar are all good to use.

  Ingredients

  1½ cups vinegar

  ¾ cup water

  ¾ cup sugar

  ½ teaspoon peppercorns

  ½ teaspoon mustard seeds

  ¼ teaspoon pure salt

  2 bay leaves

  Method

  Place all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Simmer for 5 minutes.

  Remove from heat and allow to cool. Strain off the chunky bits with a sieve before using.

  Fruit and vegetables

  If you’re not growing your own food, the best way to buy fruit and vegetables is seasonally. Eating what is in season will give you the freshest and possibly the cheapest food. It is really difficult to know what is in season when you’re shopping at a mainstream supermarket because most of the fruit and vegetables will look fresh, even when they’re not. Sometimes apples will be months old and just out of storage; tomatoes might be weeks old and if you’re not a gardener yourself it’s difficult to know the signs to look for. If you can, shop at local markets and ask the seller when the produce was picked. If you can’t do that, and supermarkets are your only option, do some research on what is in season in your area, and also be guided by price. Tomatoes and bananas are warm-weather crops so in summer, when they’re in season, they’re cheaper. In winter, when berries, spinach, broccoli, cabbages and kale thrive, they’re cheaper.

  It’s easy to find out online what is in season in your area – check the resources at the back of the book for suggestions. Print out the information you find and keep it in your household management journal.

  Supermarkets

  Before you rush off to fill up your stockpile cupboard, do a bit of research and find out which is your closest and cheapest supermarket. That will be your base supermarket. For me it’s Aldi, as their prices seem to be consistently lower than those at Woolworths and Coles. We buy as much as we can there. I always read the labels to see where the produce is
from. If there is a choice, we buy produce from our own state; if not, and we’re shopping at Aldi – a German supermarket – we buy Australian or German (Hanno is German and I used to live there, so I feel very comfortable buying their products). I never buy food imported from China, as there are lots of questions about the growing practices used there. My next favoured supermarket is my local IGA. It’s close to where I do my voluntary work, and that is where I top up on fresh foods like milk, dairy and fruit and vegetables if we aren’t growing them at home.

  If you can, shop at local markets and ask the seller when the produce was picked.

  You will find that most supermarkets have a large stable of groceries and food that they put on special regularly over a period of about three months. All those foods will be on special at various times during those three months and you should try to work out when your supermarket cycles their specials. When something you need comes on special, if it can be stored safely, buy as much as you need to carry you through until it comes on special again, or as much as you can afford.

  Be aware that not everything you buy will go on special. Things like vanilla extract, baking supplies and unprocessed products rarely do. You should buy those items at your cheapest supermarket or bulk food store. In some towns and cities, bulk food stores offer a great service. You can buy bulk bread flour, as well as all the other flours, a wide variety of dried fruits and nuts, tea and coffee, spices, grains like rice and wheat, and pulses such as beans and dried peas. These places are generally cheaper because you don’t pay for extravagant packaging. If you can find such a shop close by, it will probably be cheaper to buy as many products as you can from there. You can also take your own containers or bags to these stores to save on taking plastic bags home.