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Questions tagged [food-preservation]

Questions about LONG-TERM food storage such as canning, pickling, freezing, and drying.

This tag is meant as a catch-all term for all long-term food storage questions. Specific topics might include preparing fruit preserves, pickles, dried meat products (sausages or jerky, for example), freezing, and vacuum sealing.

If applicable, please also include tags indicating the type of food and the type of preservation, such as or .

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How long can I store a food in the pantry, refrigerator, or freezer?

How do I know if a given food or ingredient I have is still good, or if I should discard it? How can I best preserve a food or ingredient? This broad question is intended as a "general reference" question to quickly answer many how long will food…
derobert
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How dangerous is it to refreeze meat that has been thawed?

I've often been told by people that I shouldn't refreeze meat (particularly hamburger meat) once it has been thawed. However, this seems a little silly to me. I can't imagine how meat that hasn't been bought fresh and local could find its way to…
Daniel Bingham
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Does freezing butter or margarine change the properties?

I have a lot of butter & margarine and looking for ways to keep it for longer time. Will freezing them change melting point, flavor, or anything that could be undesirable when cooking? Update: We are now freezing our butter and margarine. It is a…
Justin Nathanael Waters
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Can my freezer be too cold?

The FDA recommends a freezer temperature of 0˚F (-18˚C). Warmer temperatures risk bacterial growth and quality problems. But what are the reasons not to set the freezer colder? My Bosch freezer can be set as low as -8˚F (-22˚C). The only downsides I…
Doug
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Can I make a neverending Soup in an instantpot?

I'm a truck driver, and I have a minifridge, a microwave, an Instant pot, and an electric water kettle on the truck with me. I've been experimenting with various ideas on how to best feed myself. So here's my version of the question. If I cook the…
Kenneth Chadwick
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Making "long(er)-life" homemade mayonnaise

Most recipes I've seen for mayonnaise suggest that homemade mayo should be kept in the fridge for no longer than between 3 and 5 days. What techniques or ingredients can be used to increase the shelf-life of homemade mayo? It's probably worth…
Rob
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Does cooking food inside a pressure cooker and then leaving it locked preserve it similar to canning?

I have made some food in my pressure cooker and left it in room temperature for over a week. When I opened it, there was no mold. I threw it out because it might have still been bad, but this got me thinking. Since canning is basically cooking food…
MatthewRock
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Can one preserve food by periodically heating it?

I get that keeping food temperature low will slow down chemical reactions and preserve food, but sometimes my sister preserves food by heating it every 6 hours or so (up to 1-2 days). Does this help preserving the food? If yes, how does it work? If…
Fitri
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Garlic with the olives... what happened?

Something strange (but nice) happened and I hope someone can explain. Here is the story: I had a glass jar of olives (Kalamata Pitted). They come in a "brine" with the ingredients listed as Kalamata Olives, Water, Salt, Vinegar, Extra Virgin Olive…
Hogan
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How can I get a very thick or viscous paste (e.g. caramel, ganache, thick mayonnaise) into small-necked squeeze bottles without heating it up?

This is a problem I've had with several types of food/sauce. I'll make a big batch of something like a thick caramel sauce or an extra-thick mayonnaise and it simply won't pass through a funnel into a squeeze bottle. I want to be able to transfer…
WackGet
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Are any retail vacuum-sealing systems worth the expense?

Living alone means that my leftovers tend to go a pretty long way, and I don't end up using raw ingredients as quickly as the supermarkets expect me to. For a while I've been considering investing in a vacuum-sealing system to avoid having to throw…
Aaronut
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How do I maximize the shelf life of my homemade hot sauce?

I am planning on putting this year's crop of hot peppers to use by trying my hand at making my own hot sauces. I've never tried this before, but I've found a number of recipes on the Internet. However, I'm concerned about shelf life, and the…
Beofett
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Can I freeze Milk?

After a bit of miscommunication, my wife and I ended up buying 6 litres of milk between us. I don't really want to waste it, so I'm wondering if it's safe to freeze some of it and defrost and use it later?
lomaxx
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Can we keep alcoholic beverages indefinitely?

I have some never opened alcoholic bottles under the kitchen sink and has been there for years. The are basically whiskey, vodka and bacardi. I always thought that alcoholic drink never go bad and even the taste doesn't spoil and can be kept for…
Jim
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Can I make pickled eggs that don't require refrigeration?

This time of year I have a ton of extra eggs. In the winter I have fewer. I have, therefore, been experimenting with egg preservation techniques. I like pickled eggs a lot. They aren't very versatile so they can't be my only preservation solution…
Sobachatina
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