Top 9 ways to preserve your fruits & vegetables

Is your refrigerator bursting at the seams with fresh fruits and vegetables?Preserving your fruits and veggies is an important step in ensuring that they stay fresh, nutritious, and delicious. Before they go bad, take a look at some of PostHarvest's favourite ways to preserve them. Whether you are preserving them by drying, pickling, fermenting, or canning, there are a number of different methods that you can use to preserve your favourite produce.

Here are our top nine tips for preserving your fruits and veggies:

1. Dehydrating

2. Freezing

3. Pickling

4. Fermenting

5. Canning

6. Air-tight storage

7. Preserves

8. Herb Vase

9. Repackage leafy greens

Dehydrating

Dehydrating food with the use of either a dehydrator or freeze dryer is one of the simplest and most efficient forms of home food preservation. Dehydrated food extends the shelf life while transforming the flavour and texture.

Dehydrating or freeze-drying fruits and vegetables also makes them lightweight and easy to store, making them a convenient option for on-the-go snacks or meals.There are a lot of various dehydrators on the market, so do your homework before purchasing one.Once you have a dehydrator, experiment with different recipes and techniques to find what works best for you.

Freezing

Freezing foods is another common form of food preservation/food storage.Make sure to freeze fresh produce at peak freshness for use later. For example, peeling and freezing brown, overripe bananas to use at a later time in smoothies.

You can freeze chop onions and spring onions inside an empty water bottle or re-sealable bag. Once they are frozen, simply shake or take out what you need and return the rest to the freezer.Store your chopped produce in the freezer to keep it fresh longer. You can either freeze your produce raw or blanch it first – this will help prevent browning or discolouration as well as preserving the nutrients in your frozen produce.

Freeze your fresh produce in olive oil or fat to create healthy and delicious frozen food treats. This is a great way to preserve berries, apples, peaches, mangoes – almost any fruit that you enjoy can be preserved this way!

Pickling

Pickling your fresh produce in a mason jar with a vinegar or brine is a great way to transform and preserve fruits and veggies. Not only does pickled produce in mason jars make for good storage space, but it's also a great snack that is both tasty and nutritious.Plus, pickled vegetables make for a great garnish on salads and sandwiches.

Fermenting

Fermented foods are not only a great form of food preservation but also a great dietary option for gut health. Unlike pickling, fermentation doesn’t require an added acidic liquid or heat and can be accomplished with as little as glass jars and salt as a natural preservative (although more typically goes into it).

It’s one of the oldest and most basic means of preserving food. The process typically takes longer than pickling and ultimately alters the food’s colour, flavour, and texture. Given the presence of organic acids brought on through the fermentation process, homemade fermented food can then be categorised as pickled and fermented. Fermented foods and drinks include things like sauerkraut, kimchi, kombucha, coconut yoghurt, miso, and tempeh.

Canning

The preservation methods outlined in this list offer excellent options, but when it comes to ensuring long-term preservation, canned foods stand out as one of the most effective approaches. Water bath canning is often the go-to method when thinking about preserving produce for later use; however, it's essential to note that it's not suitable for every type of food.

Water bath canning operates at a lower temperature compared to pressure canning, making it suitable only for foods with naturally high acidity, such as many fruits (including tomatoes). If you're adamant about water bath canning vegetables, it is possible, but you'll need to enhance their acidity by pickling them in vinegar or incorporating lemon juice. It's crucial to use a water bath canner only when your recipe explicitly calls for it to ensure the safety of your preserved food.

On the other hand, employing the pressure canning method for preserving fresh produce allows for long-term storage without the need for refrigeration, making it ideal for storage in less accessible pantries or cupboards. A pressure canner, equipped with a vent, a pressure gauge, and screw clamps, heats the food in canning jars to a temperature exceeding that of boiling water.

The fundamental rule is that all low-acid, or alkaline, foods must undergo processing in a pressure canner, not a boiling water bath. In practical terms, this means that any unpickled vegetable, including vegetable soup stocks, cannot be safely processed in a boiling water bath.

Airtight storage

Using an airtight container to keep your own food fresh for longer is a simple way to preserve food yet it is highly effective for more than one reason.Whether you're wanting to preserve food like berries, tomatoes, mushrooms, or herbs and spices, using an air-tight container will help keep your food fresh while also keeping produce items separate from other ethylene gas releasing produce.

Preserves

Try preserving your fruits and veggies by making preserves like jams, chutneys, sauces and compotes.The cooking process for these recipes often uses sugar as well as preservatives like pectin or citric acid to extend their timeframe for consumption – just be sure not to eat too much of these preserves as the nutritional value isn't as great for your health as some of the other methods listed to preserve food.

Herb Vase

Preserving fresh herbs is remarkably straightforward and constitutes one of the simplest forms of food preservation. To maintain the freshness of your herbs, consider wrapping damp paper towels around the bases of asparagus or herbs. Alternatively, try storing them upright in a glass containing approximately an inch of water. This method ensures hydration and effectively slows down the wilting process.

For soft herbs like parsley, coriander, dill, mint, and basil, store them upright at room temperature in a glass with cool water. An additional technique involves chopping any leftover herbs, placing them in an ice cube tray, filling it with water, and transferring it to the freezer. When needed, simply pop as many herb-filled cubes as required into your cooking.

Hard herbs, including rosemary, thyme, sage, and chives, have an extended lifespan when stored in the fridge. For optimal preservation, wrap them in dry kitchen paper before placing them into airtight containers or resealable bags. This method ensures their longevity and keeps them ready for use in your culinary endeavors.

Repackage leafy greens

To extend the freshness of bagged salad, consider transferring the leaves to a bowl or storage container. Place a couple of sheets of kitchen paper on top of the leaves and tightly wrap the entire arrangement with wax or cling wrap to minimize air exposure. This method helps maintain crispness and prevents the leaves from wilting in the fridge.

For whole lettuce, follow these steps to enhance longevity: remove individual leaves, soak them in a bowl of cold water for a few hours, rinse, shake off excess water (or use a salad spinner), and spread the leaves on a clean muslin or tea towel. Roll up the leaves in the cloth and place the bundle into a large, airtight food storage box, storing it in the refrigerator. This technique surprisingly prolongs the crispness and freshness of the leaves, providing you with a readily available supply of pre-washed greens for your salads.

Summary

Many of us are guilty of throwing away our fresh produce when we’ve bought too much and it begins to over-ripen. This, however, doesn’t have to be the case. Follow us on PostHarvest for more tips and free courses on how to be eco-friendly, and play your part in reducing food waste. You can also read more articles like this here. Whether your home food preservation is via drying, pickling, fermenting, canning, or freezing, there are many different methods available to help you keep your favourite produce fresh and delicious all year round.

So what are you waiting for? Start preserving those fruits and veggies today! Also, if you have more tips, comment below! We would love to hear from you.