Food Expiration Dates

This is a recent story that I've seen run by several news outlets on food expiration dates:
http://www.today.com/news/confusing-sell-dates-food-may-be-costing-you-money-8C11339499

The bottom line is that most dates stamped on packages are just a guess of when products will be at their highest quality.  Most can be used far beyond the recommended date stamped on the package.  There are three exceptions to this.  Meat, dairy and formula have expiration dates that should be observed (they will say "exp." on the label).  Otherwise, in some cases, the products will be good for years beyond the "best by" or "sell by" dates.

A quote: "Broad Leib (lead author of the study from Harvard Law School's Food Law and Policy Clinic) said food can be totally safe well past the date, from cereal to salad dressing, even eggs. She said "use by" or "sell by" dates on a product have "nothing to do with safety at all. It's just a manufacturer's best guess of when that food is going to be the freshest and at the best quality."

Another quote:  "According to countless food safety experts, the National Food Lab, there's not been a single instance of food-borne illness or food poisoning linked with people eating food after that date," Broad Leib said."

Peach Juice

 

I've been processing food from my garden over the past month.  We've had an abundance of yummy food.  I finally figured out that boiling green beans on the stove-top is always superior to cooking them in the microwave (as demonstrated by my husband).  We've also been enjoying a bumper crop of cucumbers which I've served almost every night for dinner.  They are particularly good when chilled.

I tried an experiment this year.  We've had so many peaches.  So I tried juicing some in my steam juicer.  I followed the same process that I use when I juice grapes (link here: http://iprepared.blogspot.com/2010/10/canning-grape-juice.html).   The picture above shows the result.  I was so surprised to see the jars fill up with this candy-red colored juice.  It is NOT what I expected.  

Peach juice is interesting.  It has a rich peach smell mixed with a little bit of stinky feet.  I haven't tasted any out of these bottles, but after pulling all the juice I could, I did stir the peaches at the end and was able to pull one last quart.  It was pink and full of debris instead of red and clear like these jars.  I drank some and just couldn't get past the stinky-feet smell/taste.  As I discussed it with my husband, we realized that you don't often find peach juice on its own.  Usually it's in a blend or is spiced like a cider.  So we tried it with a little cinnamon and it made all the difference.  I think we're going to have some yummy spiced peach cider this fall!

Have you ever juiced peaches?  Did you drink it straight or blend it with another juice?  Have you tried a peach cider?

Canning Chicken

Our local stores have chicken breasts for $1.39 a pound this week so I pulled out my never-used-before pressure cooker and finally tried canning chicken. Knowing how to process and preserve your own foods is a great self-reliance skill. I admit, though, that I was a little nervous because of an infamous family story of my grandmother's pressure cooker blowing up while full of red beets (no one was hurt, but the walls were RED!).
I thawed the frozen chicken by placing it into a bowl of warm water for about 20 minutes. This is about five pounds of chicken. I did a total of 20 pounds.
When it was completely thawed, I trimmed off any fat on the chicken (which wasn't much). I then put the breasts into clean jars with about 1 inch of head space. I didn't add any water. I could have added a 1/2 teaspoon of salt, but because the chicken had already been injected with some broth, I choose not to add the salt.
After wiping the jar tops and fastening lids and rings onto the pint jars, I placed them into my pressure canner with 3 quarts of water and fastened the pressure-cooker lid (the water amount will vary - see your own manual for specific instructions). My 16-quart pressure canner states that it will process 10 pints at a time, but it really only did 8 - maybe because I used wide-mouth jars. Each jar held about one pound of chicken.

My pressure canner manual states to cook meats at 13 pounds of pressure (adjusted for my own altitude of 5700 feet above sea level) for 75 minutes (90 minutes for quarts).

I think this was the hardest part of processing the chicken. Every pressure canner works differently. I had to carefully read the manual several times. Make sure to read yours carefully for water amounts, pressure required, and processing times (always adjusting for altitude as described in your manual). I vented mine for 10 minutes, added the weight, brought up the pressure, processed for 75 minutes and then let the cooker drop pressure and cool. It required some watching to maintain the pressure at 13 pounds. By the third batch, I had a pretty good idea of where to set my stove top and was able to get some other things done.

This is the result! I did 20 pints of chicken (each pint is about one pound of chicken). Prepping the chicken was easy. Learning to use the pressure cooker was a little harder, but now that I've done it, I won't be hesitant to do it again!

Canning Grape Juice

It's been a busy few months as we've harvested our garden. The tomatoes, potatoes and squash were a bust, perhaps because of a cool spring and early summer. But, we had an abundant crop of raspberries, peaches, and apples. We've canned peaches, made several different batches of fruit leather (which is already gone), and just recently I canned grape juice.

Grape Juice

1. Pick grapes.
2. Prepare quart bottles. I washed mine in the dishwasher on a sani-rinse.
3. Fill basin of steamer approximately 3/4 full of water.
4. Rinse grapes, picking out leaves or debris. Leave grapes on the stems.

5. Place grapes into steamer. Pack, but don't press.
6. Bring water in basin to a boil. Turn down to medium heat.
7. After about 50 minutes, you will be able to fill one or two still-hot quart bottles.
8. Place flats on full bottles and finger-tighten the rings.
9. Check water in basin. Refill if necessary.



10. After an additional 20 to 40 minutes, you should be able to fill approximately three or four more bottles. Place flats and rings.
11. Process in a water bath for 5 minutes (adjust for elevation). The USDA also adds sugar (which is optional) and an additional step of refrigerating, straining and reheating the grape juice before processing in order to reduce tartaric acid. The tartaric acid crystals don't bother me, so I skip this step. I add my own sugar when using the juice.

Here is a link to official recipes and water bath times: UGA - Grape Juice.

Also:

A. If you aren't going to strain the juice, don't stir or push the grapes or you will get a lot of debris in your bottles.

B. After filling my quarts, I did stir the grapes in the pot and then let it cook a little longer. I saved that juice to strain and serve that day. Approximately two total quarts were taken after the grapes were stirred.

C. I had an apple box and a full shopping bag full of concord grapes. It yielded about 20 total quarts.

D. We reconstitute our juice with a little more than a full additional bottle of water and 1/2 to 1 cup of sugar. Each crop of grapes is different. Adjust to your own taste.

Fruit Leather

It's harvest time and I've got my hands full of extra fruit. Making fruit leather is an easy way to use up any fruit that isn't ideal for eating or canning. Here are my favorite two methods:

1) Hot Car Method

Make your fruit leather on a clear, hot day. It won't work if it's cloudy or too cool (less than 85 degrees). Puree any combination of fruit in your blender. Place parchment paper into a cookie sheet (cookie sheet must have edges). Spray parchment paper with Pam or wipe with vegetable oil. Pour pureed fruit onto parchment paper until it is about 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. If it is too thin it will break apart too easily. If it is too thick, it won't dry. Park your car out in the sun. Leave your cookie sheets in the car. It might take two days for the fruit to fully dry. Finish drying in a low-temp oven if it hasn't dried after two days.

2) Dehydrator Method:

Puree any variety of fruit in your blender. Spray or wipe fruit roll-up trays with Pam or vegetable oil. Pour fruit into trays until full. Turn on dehydrator to recommended temperature. It takes about 24 hours until they are dry. Don't bother to roll and wrap with plastic wrap if your house is like mine. I made my first batch two days ago and it's already gone.

These trays have (clockwise from the top) peaches mixed with applesauce, only peaches, and strawberries mixed with applesauce. I add 1 T. of lemon juice per blender-full of puree to help slow browning. Applesauce is a great extender. I buy it in #10 cans at Costco for about $4.

I dried this batch too long and it crackled apart. It still tastes good, but is harder to roll onto plastic wrap.

For more information: Dehydrating Foods At Home

dehydrating foods at home

Dehydrated (or dried) foods are different than the freeze-dried foods that I discussed in last week's post. They tend to have a firmer texture and exhibit more natural browining than freeze-dried foods. Dried foods store well, are easy to use and would be a great addition to any three-month supply. You can buy dried/dehydrated foods at the local grocery store.

The biggest advantage of dehydrated foods is that you can also dry and preserve your own foods at home. You can store many of your own garden herbs, vegetables and fruits this way. You can also purchase cheap seasonal produce and dry it at home. You don’t have to have a dehydrator to dry your foods. It can be an easy (fuel-less) method of food preservation and you can dehydrate almost anything – fruits, vegetables and meat (jerky)! You can make fruit leather, fruit chunks, banana chips, dried onions, tomato powder, sun-dried tomatoes, dried veggies, etc.

Basic Instructions

Cut parchment or freezer-wrap paper (glossy side up) into the shapes of your cookie sheets or Pyrex cake pans (do not use plastic wrap or waxed paper – they will melt and stick). For fruit leather, cut the paper to overlap up the sides of the pan. It's helpful if you lightly spray (and wipe to spread) a little vegetable oil spray to coat the paper. The dried food doesn't store as long, though, if you use oil. [In a pinch, when I didn't have any paper to line my trays with, I've used vegetable spray directly on the cookie sheet. The leather didn't peel off neatly, though.]

Thinly slice fruit or vegetables or puree for leather (recipe below). Place slices or fruit puree onto the trays and place in your car, oven, or in the sun (see below for instructions).

Easy Fruit Roll-Ups
Blend any combination of fruit in blender.

Optional:
berries (for color)
applesauce (for sweetness or to extend your fruit)
lemon juice (to keep fruit from browning)
honey (to balance the tartness of the lemon juice or to add sweetness)

Pour into pan (at least ¼ inch thick). You want it to be thicker than you think! Wrap finished fruit leather in plastic wrap. Store in a dark, cool place. (Mine never makes it to storage – my family loves it!)

Car Drying (my favorite)

My husband thought I was crazy the first time that I did this – but he’s a believer now. He laughed as I made apricot fruit leather and carried the trays out to place in the back of our old yellow Toyota Celica. He laughed until I carried beautiful trays of perfectly dried apricot leather into our house the next day. I remember my Mom doing this in our old brown Subaru.

It MUST be a completely sunny, warm day to do this (85 or above). If it is overcast at all, it won’t work. Move your car out into a sunny place on your driveway or in the street. If your car has tinted windows, then make sure you put the trays in the front seats. The trays do not have to be in the sun. Leave your windows up and leave the trays alone. I've even driven around town with trays in the back. Your car will smell wonderful! It can take up to 2 days for items to dry. If after 2 days, items are not done, then move to oven method to “finish.” This method doesn't work in very humid climates.

Sun Drying
On a dry, sunny day (at least 85 degrees), place thin slices onto trays and cover with cheesecloth (to keep the bugs off). Place in a sunny place (like on a porch). This method doesn't work in high humidity.

Oven Drying

Set your oven on the lowest temperature. The ideal temperature is 130 to 150 – any higher will cook it more than dehydrate it. Open your oven door slightly. Place oven-safe trays inside oven and check regularly. Oven drying can take many hours. Several times I've had to turn my oven off while I go to bed and turn it back on the next morning. I use this method to “finish” dehydrating if weather turns overcast with above methods.

Dehydrator

Mine cost about $45 and came with 4 trays. I have added trays and have purchased “fruit roll trays” because we use them so much. Instructions are included. This is an easy method – but has more upfront cost.