The best ways to preserve food for long-term storage

The most common forms of medieval food preservation were; fermenting, drying, salting, smoking and pickling. Except for fermenting, these methods all work by denying any bacteria that may be in the food the water it needs to reproduce, either by taking the water out, or by replacing it with vinegar.

The most common ways to preserve meat in the wild are drying with the sun, curing with salt, smoking, or a combination of the techniques. The goal of preservation is to remove moisture from the meat and create an environment that is inhospitable for microbial or bacterial growth.

• #1 Dehydrating. Dehydrating food can be done by using an oven, an electric dehydrator, or by the sun using a solar dehydrator.
• #2 Sun drying.
• #3 Drying.
• #4 Dry storage.
• #5 Canning.
• #6 Vacuum sealing.
• #7 Fermentation.
• #8 Salting.

What are the methods of food processing?

• Canning. The food is heated to a high temperature.
• Fermentation. The breakdown of sugars by bacteria, yeasts or other microorganisms under anaerobic conditions.
• Freezing.
• Modified atmosphere packaging.
• Pasteurisation.
• Smoking.
• Additives.
• Makes food edible.

Food processing methods fall into three categories: primary, secondary and tertiary.

Almost all food is processed in some way before it is eaten. Commercially, the main reasons to process food are to eliminate micro-organisms (which may cause disease) and to extend shelf life.

Ministry of Food Processing Industry (MoFPI) has launched the Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro food processing Enterprises (PMFME) scheme under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan with the aim to enhance the competitiveness of existing individual micro-enterprises in the unorganized segment of the food processing …

Food processing generally includes the basic preparation of foods, the alteration of a food product into another form (as in making preserves from fruit), and preservation and packaging techniques.

There are two common methods of salting: dry salting, whereby salt is applied directly onto the fish surface; and, brining, whereby the fish are immersed in a salt/water solution.

4. Different processing methods

• 1 Heating. The temperature of the food is raised to a level which inhibits the growth of bacteria, inactivates enzymes or even destroys viable bacteria.
• 2 Cooling.
• 3 Drying.
• 4 Salting.
• 5 Fermentation.
• 6 Food additives.

Processing makes food more edible, palatable and safe, and preserves it so it can be eaten beyond the harvest season. Food processing is also a tool that offers greater variety in foods and therefore increases the consumer’s choice.