Why fruit preservation is important?
Fruit preservation techniques make fruit last longer.
Have you ever thrown your fruits or veggies just because they no longer look good? Do you tend to buy everything that you see in a grocery store?
First of all, please do not get carried away when you are shopping at the market, and second, if you do so, you better have a plan to save fruits. Proper fruit preservation techniques are good ways to enjoy fruits for a long time ahead.
In case you buy tons of fruits, all the fruits at the bottom will soon get smashed. If you do nothing, your fruits go to waste in a matter of a few days, and one day, you will be horrified upon seeing the nasty-looking wasted fruits. So the first strategy in fruit perversion techniques is that as soon as you get home, empty the top layer, separate the smashed ones and preserve them for other times.
Canning process
When it comes to fruit preservation techniques, canning is the first choice, but most people don’t know how to can fruit properly. Follow these steps and do the canning process correctly.
- Buy organic or farmers fruits.
- Get a bottle and wash it thoroughly. You can use warm water with soap to clean the bottle; after washing, let it dry.
- Cook the material; this step kills potential bacteria.
- Fill the bottle correctly, be careful not to fill the bottle to the top.
- remove the air bubble from plastic or wooden object like a chopstick. (when you fill the bottle, air bubbles appear.)
- Seal bottle, seal the lid as tight as possible. This part is vital. Bad sealing wastes your fruit as well as your time and effort.
Boiling
Boiling is a fruit preservation technique in which you immerse fruits or vegetables in water and heat the water until it bubbles up. For broccoli and pumpkin, boiling is recommended. All you need is to bring the water to a boil and put the fruits in boiling water. The duration of fruit boiling depends on the fruit’s size and type, but you can use a fork to check whether the fruit or vegetable is completely boiled.
Steaming
The steaming process involves heating the water to the boiling point and letting the evaporating steam heat up the food. This process kills the potential bacteria. Heating in steam is recommended for several vegetables like pumpkin.
Outdoor fruit drying tips
With this method, you can save money and try dried fruits with no chemical substances. You can easily build something like this that works as a solar dryer. (see the picture) Cut the fruit in half and put it on the homemade dryer.
Put a stick to hold the top, up. (see the picture)
Many people use screen doors. One on the top and one at the bottom. Very good for circling the airflow.
Salting
Salt has hypertonic properties that provide a difficult environment for bacteria to live in.
How is the Process?
Submerge the vegetables in a bowl of water and add salt (depending on the fruits or vegetables’ weight, add about 20 to 25 percent salt). Remove the moisture with a clean towel and store them in the refrigerator before serving the fruits and vegetables. Remove excess salt.
Freezing fruits
The Wrong method is to throw the fruits in a container and put them in the freezer. They will stick together, and it won’t be easy to separate them.
The right way is to Cut the fruit, put them on the plate separately, freeze them for about one night, and then throw them in a container and put them in the freezer, but this time, you have separated frozen fruit.
In case you don’t want your apples to turn brown during the freezing process. You can use water with sugar before freezing them. Coat your sliced and peeled apple with sugar water completely. Then freeze it overnight on a waxed paper, afterward transfer it into a container or plastic bag. Give it a try. It takes more time, but it worth it.
Here are some tips for preservation of some fruits
- Remove the garlic from the bag and put it in a dried bowl in a dark place with low humidity. Please do not put them in the refrigerator.
- Some fruits should be on the kitchen counter and some in the fridge. Apples and grapes should be in the refrigerator, but this is not the case with mangos, bananas or, tomatoes.
- Keep onions in a cool and dark place.
- Don’t ever wash mushrooms until ready to cook. Humidity destroys them. Please keep them in the paper bag with a branch of parsley. Why? Because it has antioxidant properties that prevent our mushrooms from getting spotted.
- If you only need half of a lemon. Do not throw away the other half. Salt it. If you do so, it stays for three days longer.
- If your potatoes are peeled and want them to stay a few days longer, put them in freshwater, add a few drops of vinegar, and place them in the fridge.
- If you want your bananas to stay fresh longer, cover the tail part with aluminum foil.
- Keep the bell pepper in a paper bag. Please don’t cut them until you are about to serve them.
- In general, keep your fruits clean.