A Case For Freezing and Not freezing

A Case For Freezing and Not freezing

‘Freezing and Not Freezing’: In a time of increasing economic difficulties, families are turning more and more to do-it-yourself efforts to save money – in the case of food preservation; to gain additional advantages in taste, safety, and security – and home food preservation is one of the leading areas in these efforts.

Sharon Astyk is a leading proponent of, and authority on, family food independence and security so it’s natural to look to her opinions such as those expressed in the Energy Bulletin (energybulletin.net) on 5/28/09 in her piece, “Freezing…and why not”. Here are some of her thoughts:

• “The two major objections to a freezer … food kept frozen would be better kept by other methods of preservation. This is not true across the board of course – “… if …”you have an electric stove, coal fired electricity” and “…a super-efficient sun frost freezer … and mostly use it to preserve foods for less than three months – …”
• Some other reasons for having a freezer would be if “…your freezer (is) enabling you to cut down on other things – such as trips to the store …” or you …“use your freezer to get rid of your fridge … since chest freezers are generally more efficient than your average fridge.”
• “But I really don’t want to encourage people to go out and begin relying on freezers if they don’t already have one, simply because the cost – economically and environmentally – is so very high..
• Moreover, in a freezer, your food is vulnerable in ways it isn’t in any other storage method.”
• “Statistically. …more than 20% of all food put in a freezer is lost to freezer burn and decay – …” and “ …home canned food gets wasted only 7% of the time.”
• “…Freezers are vulnerable to either localized … or widespread power outages. … if you keep your food in your freezer, sooner or later, you will probably have an extended power outage. Can you afford to lose hundreds of dollars worth of food?”
• “One way of mitigating this problem is to be good at pressure canning – if you have an alternate heat source, and are willing, when the power goes out, to spring into action to preserve anything that can be preserved, probably by pressure canning… This is a lot of work.”

At PrudentHome, we are enthusiastic advocates of the individual family developing the skills and means to preserve food without primary reliance on any method dependent on the electrical grid.

These alternate methods might include pressure canning, dehydration (drying), and pickling to name a few. These methods – more than one or two would be best – should be those geared to your individual family needs and resources taking into account things like your areas weather and your access to home grown foods.

Here are some resources we’ve found valuable in determining what food preservation methods to use and how to use them:

“Putting Food By (Plume)” by Beatrice Vaughn, et al (rated 5 stars at Amazon)

“Ball Blue Book of Preserving” (a traditional favorite – with good reason)

“Preserving Food without Freezing or Canning: Traditional Techniques Using Salt, Oil, Sugar, Alcohol, Vinegar, Drying, Cold Storage, and Lactic Fermentation” by The Gardeners and Farmers of Centre Terre Vivante, Deborah Madison, and Eliot Coleman (rated 4 ½ stars at Amazon)

We own books one and three and have access to book number two. We highly recommend then all.

Until next time; keep your eyes on the horizon as the weathers changing fast.