Preserving food at home is a great way to extend your garden's harvest and to reduce food waste. While none of the practices we use to preserve foods are difficult, it is important to follow tested recipes and techniques to ensure that you—or your family—are not exposed to food-borne pathogens.
In order to be safe you should:
- Only used tested recipes
- Use a preservation technique appropriate for the type of food
- Make sure food and cooking areas are clean
- Don't eat anything you're in doubt about
- If you have questions about preserving food, ask us! (immg@ucanr.edu)
Preservation Techniques
Humans have been preserving food for thousands of years. As technology and knowledge have improved, the options available for home food preservation have multiplied and have been made more accessible.
While commercial operations have options far beyond residential kitchens, some common types of home food preservation are:
We have information and resources collected for these types, but other safe techniques exist such as fermentation and freeze drying. Some great publications are available from UC Davis at this link.
The internet has an abundance of information on food preservation techniques, but bear in mind that most of it is untested — and you likely won't be able to which is or isn't. Social media is a poor place to get reliable information in general, and with food preservation bad advice can be fatal. Links on this site have been vetted to be accurate.
As a rule, information shared by universities like the University of California and Cooperative Extension services around the USA, has been thoroughly tested for safety in a lab.
Pressure Gauge Testing
If you use a dial-gauge pressure canner, you should have the gauge tested annually to be sure the canner is reaching a safe pressure during canning.
We can test Presto gauges free of charge in the Farm Advisor's Office in Bishop. Please call (760) 873-7854 or email us at immg@ucanr.edu to make an appointment.
Live out of our area? Other county MFP programs also offer this service. Here is a list of locations.