© Copyright 2003, 2011 by Jack Eddington on behalf of all the authors. All rights reserved. You may use and copy this file as long as the contributors' names and this copyright and *all* disclaimers remain intact. You may not sell, trade or in any other way profit from all or any part(s) of this document or make any portion of this document part of anything sold, traded, etc. unless you are the author of the part(s) used. Plagiarism is naughty, even on the Internet.
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Latest Changes - All Parts
See the differences
file for a complete, chronologically ordered sequence of changes.
0. About Rec.Food.Preserving and this FAQ, Charter and Introduction
A. What is this FAQ? 1. General Info
This file is a compilation of shared knowledge and answers to frequently asked questions
of the group rec.food.preserving. As such, this file is updated as new information is
discovered and in answer to new questions that become frequently asked. FAQ versions can be
at the 'part' level or for the overall FAQ and are simply numbered sequentially. A new version occurs
when the FAQ is updated, not just because time has passed.
This FAQ also contains recipes. See each section/part for the recipes or look at Section VI (Part 9) for a list of all recipes. If you're reading this via your browser in HTML, you can use the Table of Contents links to jump to the any recipe directly. Ain't HTML grand?
Be a contributor--point out mistakes or send me new, updated information, write sections and reviews, provide us with new sources. All will be cited in this file. Please note, however, that all major changes or additions will need to be reviewed and agreed upon. This is not a single person's FAQ but a community FAQ for all of rec.food.preserving.
While every effort has been made to be clear, concise and accurate, no warranties are implied. How you use the information presented here is your business.
Last little comment--I'd be very unhappy if you used this file as a replacement for such classic publications as the Ball Blue Book, The USDA Canning Guide or Putting Food By. This FAQ is a *complement to* these sources, giving the reader the sense of who has what expertise in the newsgroup, providing you with some great online sources and sites, even giving you an international feel for what's out there in cyberspace. I've tried to give you the icing on the cake--its up to you to get the cake! [Stepping off the soapbox now.--LEB]
Return to TOC 2. Contributors
Contributors listed in alphabetical order:
Matt Albright, David G. Allbee Leslie Basel, Rachel Beckford, Jean Bergeron, Brian Bigler, Alan Blacklock, Michael Boddy, Mike Bowers, Susan Brewer, Norman Brown, Teresa Bruckner, Rick Buchanan, Daniel Burke, Ralph Burr Jennifer Cagle, Dave Calhoun, Tracy L. Carter, Robert Chislan, Naomi Counides, Mark Croenwett, Emily Dashiell, Richard De Castro Eric Decker, Al Durtschi Jack Eddington Diane Ferrell, Sandy Fifer, Derace Fridel H.B. Ghoddusi, Anne Louise Gockel, Lois Grassl, Patrick Grealish, Kate Gregory, Steve Gunnell Bess Halle, Diane Hamilton, James Harvey, Patricia Hill, Paul Hinrichs, M. Zoe Holbrooks, Dirk W. Howard, Garry Howard Imogen, Kevin Johnson, Stuart Johnson, Lynn E. Johnson-Conrad, The Joneses (Edrena) Kai, Deana D. Karas, Mary Keith, Colonel I.F. Khuntilanont-Philpott, Naera Kim, Henriette Kress, Betty Kohler, Steven Kostur, Al Kudsi, Mick Kunstelj John Laidler, Joan Lane, Larry London, Ron Lowe Linda Magee, Marie Martinek, Kathy Meade, Ron Meisenheimer, Linda Merinoff, Wendy Milner, Joshua H. Moffi, the Morgans, Scott Murman Daniel Nachbar, Louis "Butch" Nagel, Jean P. Nance, Carol Nelson, Richard Nielsen, Hank Nolle, Stephen Northcutt Nicole Okun, Paul Optiz, Lynn Otto Bob Pastorio, David Paxton, Gary Lee Phillips, Kim Pratt Cassandra Richardson, Jim Richardson, Phil Rozanski Barb Schaller, David Schwoegler, Clint Scott, Charles Scripter, Brenda Sharpe, George Shirley, David Sidwell, Doug Smart, Tom Sponheim, Michael Stallcup, Susan Hattie Steinsapir, Jean Sumption John Taylor, Michael Teifel, Connie TenClay, Richard Thead, Steven Tobin, Tanith Tyrr Logan Van Leigh Anna Welborne, Elaine C. White, Ellen Wickberg, Wolfgang, Kate Wrightson Gary Yandle Z Pegasus, Bobbi Zee, Zlotka, zxcvbob
Special mention is also hereby given to Leslie E. Basel for her core role in the founding of this newsgroup. Thank you Leslie.
Return to TOC 3. Where can I get this faq?
Several places. The best source is at
rfpFAQ.htm. The latest version will always be online. Check the
difference file posted to see whether any new parts added will
be useful to you. Alternatively, wait until it gets posted on the *last Sunday of the month* to the
newsgroups rec.food.preserving, misc.consumers.frugal-living, and misc.survivalism. During the summer and
fall months, reference to this FAQ is additionally posted mid-month.
Another way of getting this FAQ is to use Google and search for 'FAQ' while in 'Groups' and under the rec.food heirarchy or specifically in rec.food.preserving. Make sure you look at the most recent posting in order to assure getting the most recent FAQ reference.
As a last resort, you could, if you're desperate, email a request for it to jacke6835NOSPAM@yahoo.com. If you're interested in only one part, please specifiy which one. Note: this is NOT a recommended approach.
Since the total FAQ is large, you might want to check the companion post describing changes in parts, new additions, etc. before you download from any source. It is available at differences.htm
4. Info about the rec.food.preserving newsgroup
The newsgroup rec.food.preserving was created in August 1994. Discussions tend to be seasonal, following
the Northern Hemisphere growing season. We are a relatively small and focused group; expect about 50-60
posts/day during the height of canning season, 10-15 posts/day during the winter months.
Please keep in mind when reading posts in this newsgroup (or any newgroup for that matter) that there is a wide range of experience among those posting. Just because you've read it in the newsgroup doesn't make it right. Most mistakes are pointed out but you will still see some people say "it was good enough for my grandmother and nobody died so its good enough for me" or some such statement. Things change and we learn things. Take advantage of that new knowledge. Also, take a while to read the posts. After a few weeks, you should get an indication of who the 'experts' are and where their expertise lies. Then make use of that expertise.
Return to TOC 5. What to do if you don't have access to rec.food.preserving newsgroup?
If you don't have access to rec.food.preserving on your news server, the first thing to do is to politely
request it from your ISP (Internet Service Provider). Send an e-mail to support@myISP.com (replace with
your ISP name, which may not end with '.com') politely requesting the addition of rec.food.preserving. If
that doesn't work, you have a number of options:
If your ISP carries newsgroups, but they keep messages in your favorite newsgroups for half an hour, tops, then talk to your ISP's helpdesk. Ask them to keep articles for longer, for your favorite newsgroups.
If your ISP drops usenet posts left and right, leaving you with broken discussions and missing replies, then talk to your ISP's helpdesk. Ask them to check their usenet upstream, or to add a few more usenet peers, in order to get a more reliable usenet feed. If they don't seem to understand your problem ("News? That's on Yahoo, and then there's the BBC site, and there's also the New York Times..."), ask to talk with a system administrator, somebody who works in the server room. They know what usenet is, and they'll be able to help their own helpdesk help you.
Those are your choices, really, because as far as I know there's no email-to-usenet or usenet-to-email service anywhere on the web.
NOTE: Some of the above (#5) comes from Henriette Kress (thanks, Henriette!).
Rec.food.preserving is a newsgroup devoted to the discussion of recipes, equipment, and techniques of food preservation. Current food preservation techniques that rightly should be discussed in this forum include canning, freezing, dehydration, pickling, smoking, salting, and distilling. Foodstuffs are defined as produce (both fruits and vegetables), meat,fish, dairy products, culinary and medicinal herbs. Discussions should be limited to home-grown or home-preserved foods.
Return to TOCI have a refrigerator and live near 5 supermarkets. Why bother to preserve food?
If you have a successful garden or orchard, have a hunting or fishing license, like to gather wild foods, or know friends and neighbors that do, you will eventually be presented with an abundance of free foodstuffs. Check out the zucchini and the green tomato recipes in pickling for two common surpluses.
U-Pick sites, roadside stands, and farmers markets sell unusual varieties of produce at close to perfect ripeness, ready to be preserved. Even supermarket produce in season is abundant, cheap, and can be worth preserving.
If you have ever walked into an upscale food store, you might have noticed that dried foods, exotic jams, chutneys, marmalades, flavored vinegars, pickles, cheeses, cured and smoked meats, etc, all are expensive preserved foods. However, these items can be all be duplicated at home, given the ingredients, expertise, and time. And all of these foods make terrific gifts.
Commercially processed food can contain many ingredients that you might want to avoid, anything from MSG, BHA, BHT, to salt, sugar, or starchy thickeners. By preserving food yourself, you can control your diet.
Into recycling and reducing your garbage? If you can, you reuse your glass jars and rings, throwing away just the lids. However, most techniques require a fair amount of fresh clean water and take some electricity and time, so they aren't quite as cost saving as you might think.
Waiting for the apocalypse? What if you get hungry? On a different note, wouldn't you have wanted some home-preserved stuff while you were waiting out that last blizzard/hurricane/natural disaster?
Food preserving is fun. Many preserving recipes are family traditions, passed on through many generations. Often, the foods we preserve can tell us much about our past, so trading recipes can tell us about each other.
Return to TOCThe cook was a good cook, as all cooks go; and as all cooks go, she went. --Saki