Jellies, Pickles and Meat, Oh My!

Preserves from Gardening Know How

When Did It All Start?

I don’t think most people realize how early civilizations started preserving foods. There is evidence dating that cultures in the Middle East started drying their food as early as 12,000 B.C. by using the hot sun. However, there are many different types of preserving which were discovered at different times, but this was the earliest and most simple form of persevering that we know of.

What Are The Different Types of Preserving?

There are a total of seven different types of food preserving: drying, freezing, fermenting, pickling, curing, jams and jellies and canning. Each has their own specific steps on how to preserve their products and can be dated back the locations of each culture that first started it.

Drying:

Drying can be dated back to 12,000 BC where the hot sun was used to dry out vegetables and fruits. Particularly the Romans where very fond of the dried fruits at this time. Still houses were built to help dry the fruits and vegetables in areas that weren’t hot enough (and in this case a fire was used to create that heat) or didn’t have strong enough sunlight.

Dried Fruit from USU Extension

Freezing:

Any geographic area where the temperatures reach below freezing usually used this method of preserving foods. We all know that keeping your food cold will increase it’s lifespan so it doesn’t spoil as quickly. People at the time used cellars, caves and cool streams until Albert T. Marshall invented the first mechanical refrigerator in 1899.

Frozen Peaches from The Peach Truck

Fermenting:

Thanks to the skills of ancient peoples to observe, we now can enjoy beer. Unlike the past two examples of preserving, fermenting was not invented by accidentally discovered. It was discovered when a few grains of barley were left out for awhile in the rain, and when grape juice was left out for way too long. Anthropologists believe that some people settled down from nomadic wonderers into farmers just to grow barley to make beer around 10,000 BC. Microorganisms are responsible for the beer and wine we drink because not only do they ferment the products, but produce vitamins as well.

Fermented Products from Heart Foundation

Pickling:

Either you like pickles or you don’t. Pickling is when you place your food into a jar full of usually vinegar (or other acids) and leave it there for a long time. Experts say that pickling could have very well originated when people would place their food in wine or beer to try and preserve it. These containers need to be made of stone or glass because vinegar is highly acidic with a low pH and will dissolve plastic and metal.

Pickled Okra from Simply Recipes

Curing:

Dehydration is what we know of as the earliest form of curing. The use of salt desiccates foods and it was also discovered around 1901 that certain salts could give meat the red color that we desire over the grey color. This special salt was called nitrites (saltpeter).

Cured Meat from Pinterest

Jam and Jelly:

I believe the most popular type of preserving is jams and jellies, it is what everyone automatically thinks of. Fruit plus some honey or sugar packed tightly into jars and then heating it is as simple as it gets. In northern climates, there isn’t enough sunlight to be able to dry the fruits, thats where we successfully learned to make fruit preserves.

Jams and Jellies from Facebook

Canning:

Canning is another extremely popular type of processing, and I’m willing to guess that most of American homes have a bunch of canned foods in their pantries. It’s just as simple as jams and jellies, you place the food into cans and is heated at a temperature that destroys the microorganisms and inactivates enzymes (so it doesn’t ferment and spoil). This is the newest form of preserving, discovered by Nicolas Appert in the 1790’s.

Canned Food from Masterclass

My Dad’s Own Recipe on Beef Jerky

Ever since my brother and I were kids (and we finally got a dehydrator), my dad would always make us homemade beef jerky. Totally not to brag or anything, but it’s the best beef jerky I’ve ever had.

Ingredients:

For each 1lb. of meat.
Meat partially frozen sliced 1/8” across the grain
(With the grain if you want really chewy jerky)
¼ – cup best Soy Sauce
¼ – cup water
½ t. Lawarys Seasoned Salt
½ t. Lawarys Seasoned Pepper
½ t. Course Ground Black Pepper
½ t. Smoked Salt or 1 T. Liquid Smoke
½ t. Best Hot Sauce
1 medium onion chopped
1 large clove garlic peeled/chopped

Directions:

Put everything but meat in a blender, and swirl until well chopped and blended.
Taste for seasonings. Then pour into a large bowl.
Slice the meat; use a meat slicer to get uniform cuts.
Place the meat in the bowl, and marinate overnight.
Spray the dehydrator trays with Pam, (really helps with the cleanup).

Stir the meat several times before using, and then just drain as you pull the meat out with a fork. No draining on paper towels. Place on the trays, lying as flat as possible, with about 1/8” between pieces.

Usually takes about 8 to 9 hours. If you like crunchy then leave in 2 more hours.
When you take the meat out place in a large bowl to equalize the moisture content.
Wait about an hour then either place in clean jars and seal or use Zip Lock bags, remove all possible air and seal. Bags can go into the freezer, jars in fridge.

Now you can also vary the flavoring by:
Sprinkling Course Ground black pepper onto the marinated meat once you place it on your trays.
Same with Chile Powder, or Cajun Seasoning or extra Hot sauce.
But do a few pieces first to see what suits you and your family or you will have too much inedible jerky.

Remember that you will lose a lot of weight; 4lbs. of meat will make 1 lb. of jerky.

We all love this recipe so much, but unfortunately the meat only lasts for a day. I wish I could include some pictures of the tasty treat that we make but my dad responded “you eat it too fast” when I asked him for some pictures. But my family preserves food ourselves a lot, mainly through freezing our fruits and also dehydrating meats. My grandparents on the other hand, use lots of pickling and canning methods, which they give to us occasionally.