I'm not a canner. Gowd, I hate canning. I know how and have a canner, but, until the apocalypse, I'll pass. I store dry goods in my jars. The best storage tip I've gotten was actually pretty recent. Stick your beans, flour, rice, etc. in the freezer for 72 hours. It kills all weevil larve. The FDA has standards for how much shit they allow in your food. I say only ZERO is acceptable to me. I could do a post on how wrong that is..but, anyway, it's usually there in some small form. That's exactly why you get weevils in stored stuff. Gross, huu? So, freeze it, take it out, make sure it's dry and stick it in a canning jar, package and all and it will store for years. I can do the same thing with that organic yuppie flour I got for a buck a bag. I freeze tomatos whole. I wash them good first so I can toss them right in a stew. I line the bottom of my small freezer with the bags and set my frozen food on top. Saves room and lasts me a Winter. There's a jar of canned deer meat a friend shared with me. It looks disgusing, doesn't it? But, it's actually delicious and will make a good Winter stew with my frozen tomatos. I love when people share their venison because I'm not a hunter. I can barter with other skills though. Storing a little food isn't crazy, it's just common sense and costs little. Someday, I will find a vaccuum sealer at a yard sale and I will go to town on that.
11 comments:
My dad is a foodie purist. His father was a widower and was fixing dinner for us when I was a kid, a paella he learned to make in Spain. Everything was fine until my dad walked in and saw him picking weevils out of the rice..ACK! My poor dad flipped out!!! My grandpa Ralph didn't give a damn, he had canned food in his cupboards from the 1950s. My dad went out, bought new rice and we never had to eat Ralph's cooking again.
Beth
I had to do it when I was kid, or starve. It makes me a little sick to think about it.
I was bummed when I found out about immitation crab. I actually like it and miss it.
I think that is why my dad and aunt have food issues. He gets really stressed about food and being in control of it. You stay out of his kitchen and do clean up if you want to be helpful...and serve yourself quickly so he doesn't have to wait long to eat.
Beth
Weevils are already there. Flour is the worst. I like to store mine in the freezer. We eat alot of insects that we never know about. It would be impossible to get them all out. Freezing is the key. Evil weevils! But they won't kill you. & gnats? WTH? How did those damn gnats know you brought bananas home? Aren't they already on the bananas too? YUCK! Bugs.
rox
Gnats are one strange critter. Google them and read. I was curious awhile back and found out. Strange, strange critters.
So apparently, gnats do lay their eggs on the banana skin! Thus, invisible, and they hatch after we get them home. That figures! I am guessing it's somewhere around the brown tops, up in the cluster. Just a guess. Makes sense.
rox
Uhh huu. And it's the smell of the gas fruit produces that they need for breeding. They don't eat at all. Ever. Weird critters.
Interesting. I didn't know that about putting rice in the freezer.
I bought a 20-lb, I think, bag of rice when I was feeling particularly angsty, and now I know how to prepare it to put in those 2 liter bottles I've been saving. Cool.
We stew our tomatoes with basil garlic olive oil
etc then puree them and cool and put in zip lock bags (dollarama) then freeze....good for everything!!!Marilyn
The freezing tip was priceless to me. How do you prepare it in bottles?? Curious.
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