Preserving Food Without Freezing or Canning by Deborah Madison

Preserving Food Without Freezing or Canning Reviews

• 
  Doris Jean

  I loved this book. It reviews some of the old traditional techniques for saving food which have been passed down for generations–until now, when this knowledge has been recently fading from our food culture. Big Food corporations have gradually usurped and replaced these methods with factory manufacturing and harsh laboratory chemicals at the expense of nutrients.
  
  I liked the root cellar instructions for trench silos, steamer silos, hanging, drying, and barrel storage. This is done in tune with the seasons at harvest time and gently preserves food until plants can begin to grown again in the spring. I saved the easy Provence olive storage method for the next time I have access to fresh olives. I have already used the the sun-drying and string-drying methods for vegetables and herbs and fruits successfully.
  
  There are salting, brining, pureeing, powdering, fermenting methods for various fruits, vegetables and meats which I use regularly. I adopted the oil preservation lessons I learned in this book and I now have many jars of food preserved in oil alone or vinegar alone or in both oil and vinegar. Vinegar pickling is not live fermentation since fermenting bacteria cannot reproduce in vinegar. I especially like to live-ferment vegetables using only brine (which is lacto-fermentation) and these lacto-bacilli support intestinal health. There are NO live probiotic bacilli in the vinegar pickles now sold to us in our grocery stores by Big Food manufacturers.
  
  I intend to try some of the recipes such as "Carob Honey" which is a way to make a sweet syrup from carob beans without adding sugar, and this natural sweetener was a favorite of biblical times and is still appreciated today as part of the food culture of Galilee, Israel. (The "St. John's Bread" of the bible was made with the carob bean.)
  
  I plan also to try several of the "no-added-sugar" simple recipes for jams and jellies which I saved. These recipes are simple and easy ways to preserve fresh fruit. One such was Pear Puree - made only with fresh pears; and there was an Apple-Quince Jelly recipe - made only with apples and quinces and one teaspoon of cinnamon.
  
  Food preservation traditions were developed long, long ago, long before machines and refrigerators and dehydrators and the like. Survivalists should enjoy this book tremendously, as well as anyone who wants to preserve nutrients in unprocessed food. I enjoy the simple, gentle and easy old-fashioned spirit of traditional food preservation.
• 
  Amy

  Okay, this book is soooo fun! I now have raw lemons on my shelf in my cold food storage! Should be good for a "VERY LONG TIME" according to the book. No cooking, no juicing, no peeling! Oh my goodness it was so easy, it was a little scary! OK maybe I'm being a giddy little school girl, but I can't help but be excited by the prospect of a fresh lemons for cooking or just for eating when the famine comes!!!!!
  This book teaches about Lactic Fermentation which is preserving foods with their own juices and a little bit of salt, you need a ceramin (stoneware) crock and you are on your way to preserving food without freezing or canning. WOW! I love discovering new secrets!
• 
  Beth

  If you made *nothing* from this collection of recipes, it would still be 100% worth a read. Fascinating recipes from organic gardeners all over France, many of which offer details that reveal the origin of the method, something about their family history, the taste of the gardener, etc. You gotta love the recipes that start off with "First get a clean, regular-sized barrel..." a BARREL! Many methods of preservation are introduced, included root cellars, lacto-fermentation, jams, fruit-in-booze, and many more. And the methods are sound; I've used many recipes and plan to try the rest.
  
• 
  Harley

  I checked this out from our public library and I'll definitely be purchasing a copy of my own. It is filled with various preservation techniques and recipes(except for freezing and canning) that were submitted to a gardening publication in France. Initially,I was mainly interested in the (lactic acid) fermentation section, but after reading through some of the preservation recipes for vinegar,salt,sugar and drying,that have been included,I decided I needed to add the title to my personal collection.
  Note:
  This is the original title, the second edition was released under a different name:
  Preserving Food without Freezing or Canning: Traditional Techniques Using Salt, Oil, Sugar, Alcohol, Vinegar, Drying, Cold Storage, and Lactic Fermentation.
  
• 
  Brad Belschner

  Sample recipes: rosehip jam with honey, sauerkraut made from whole cabbages, goat cheese in olive oil, green beans in a salt pot, apples dried with elderflowers, etc.
  
  This book wasn't what I expected, but it's really good nonetheless. It's not a systematic guide to food preservation; it's simply an organized collection of family recipes. The French organic gardening magazine, "Les Quatre Saisons du Jardinage", asked its readers to contribute their traditional recipes for preserving fruits and vegetables (without freezing or canning). This book is the result.
• 
  Lydia

  A useful reference for techniques and recipes.
• 
  Christel

  Anything I was interested in trying, I found was either too general to figure it out or missing some steps that made it safe. I've dehydrated tomatoes and then put them in oil. You can't just put something in oil. The other people who gave this a 2 star rating on Amazon said a lot of what I was thinking. So I'll keep searching for ways to do things. NOTE: I have put fresh fruit in alcohol and let it sit with whatever herbs and spices I wanted to add, strained it out, and then added simple syrup. Once I put the fruit into an already sweetened flavored liquor thinking it would be interesting, and the whole thing molded. Not always can you tell something's gone bad, and food poisoning is no fun, nor do you want to waste food.
• 
  Kathy Kenney

  Can't wait to own this book and to try some of the recipes. there are many wonderful techniques in this book for preserving food without freezing or canning. I will definitely be trying some of them with my tomatoes and peppers harvest this fall. I have yet to try any of the recipes, but, unlike other reviewers, I have no fears about preserving food with the methods described in this book as humans have been using these methods WAY longer than refrigerators have been in existence.
• 
  Emily Mellow

  I really liked the emphasis on preserving nutrition and vitality in foods. I am definitely making sun-dried tomatoes this summer, and I'm going to try more lacto-fermented veggies, including pickles. There were a lot of good ideas, but sadly no pictures. All the ideas were sent in by readers, and some may be questionable. Still, a great way to preserve family recipes and local preservation customs.
• 
  Mrs.

  Very basic and simplistic. Recommend getting it from the library before you think about buying it.
• 
  Meredith

  Okay I feel really stupid but I didn't realize I guess that cookbooks counted...? I've read half a dozen canning and cooking etc preserving books this year, thumbing through recipes when I have time and never thought to put them down here.
  
  Aside from that this book is amazing. The recipes and suggestions and preserving techniques are fascinating and I am excited to start using them. The Meyer lemons in salt is particularly interesting, especially as I've seen it show up in several canning books as well. It's apparently used quite extensively in Mediterranean cooking and while I'm not a fan of lemons necessarily, I'm actually wanting to do this not only for the flavor but also I'm wondering how this preserving technique will affect the lemons.
  
  While I'm a firm believer in pH balanced water bath canning, I'm very excited to try these recipes and see how they work. The only reason this doesn't get five stars is because I am a little hesitant to stand by a lot of these recipes as it is incredibly dangerous to can food without thoroughly cooking the food and sterilizing the jars first. Other than that, great book I'd recommend it for canners and cooks alike!
• 
  Megan

  I have to admit that the title of this book had me raising an eyebrow, and when I told my grandmother about it, she was also a bit concerned but curious. Even if you don't prepare a single recipe in this book, it is great to read from a cultural anthropology point of view. It is also a great way to learn about the various cultural and historical methods of preserving foods.
  
  My grandmother has nothing to worry about. I can't wait to tell her how the book contained the same methods of preserving tomatoes, onions, and garlic long after the harvest when fresh vegetables were scarce (i.e., during WWII).
  
  While I don't plan on using every recipe for preserving in this book, I have definitely picked up some good bits of wisdom and lore on traditional food preservation methods.
  
  I definitely recommend this book for anyone who follows a non-traditional diet and/or for the cultural anthropologists out there.
• 
  Jessa

  Great info on food preservation
  
  This book has some really good info on food preservation. Some of the instructions are confusing or unclear, however. Overall it's quite good for anyone looking to get into food storage without using freezing or canning.
• 
  Jordan

  I loved the ideas, but it left me wanting so much more information: how do you tell if something has spoiled? Have the authors verified that each tip actually works? How do you make sure you don’t accidentally kill yourself from food poisoning????? 🤣
• 
  April

  I'm glad this book exists but won't be using any of the recipes.
• 
  George Hohbach

  This book is easy to read, well organized and the instructions are clear and simple. If you are interested in this topic, I can highly recommend this precious book.
• 
  LaDonna Harris

  I am learning and experimenting so much because of reading this book!
• 
  Juli Anna

  An unusual but excellent guide.
• 
  Cass

  The year I grew 30 cabbages in my garden, I tried making sauerkraut. It was good but too salty for our palates. If I had tried one of the recipes in this book, we may have like it better.
  
  This book is full of the 'old' ways of preserving food while retaining nutrients. Those of us who have been taught food preservation by canning and freezing might have a hard time eating green bean that are preserved by lactic fermination: String the beans, place them uncooked in jars and cover with cold water. Twenty-four hours later, discard this water and replace it with fresh water. Repeat 3 more times, every 24 hours. Move the jars to a cool, dark place. But the author does caution to be safe in the handling of the food and use the recipes as advised.
  
  I like the statement that is made about how "the scientific techniques produce dead foods and literally seal them in coffins." That is something to think about and makes me want to go buy this book (checked out this copy from the library) and try some of the recipes this growing season.
  
  I think one of the best things you could have to store garden produce would be a root cellar.
• 
  Laurla2

  interesting read, but a bit too daring for my paranoid self. i guess i'm with the FDA about not taking chances with botulism and such. lots of talk about canning stuff like jams without sealing the jars in a waterbath or pressure cooker.
  
  it does have an interesting section on burying food outdoors in root cellars and such. i'd just be afraid my dog or mice or voles would get into it, not to mention having to dig up a couple feet of snow whenever i'd want to access it. definitely not written with minnesota type winters in mind as it talks about leaving lettuce out in the garden all winter.
  
• 
  Meghan Fidler

  While some of the directions in this book are a little difficult to follow (all of the recipes were submitted by readers of a journal, and translation may also have added a difficulty), this book was filled with thing I had never before encountered. I can't wait to hunt down a basswood tree, actual linden flowers, and earthen pots for lactic fermentation! I adore that this was a 'ground up' cookbook, and that the respondents were older folk living in relatively rural areas. It's an entirely different way of preparing food.
• 
  G

  A great resource. The book is a compilation of many people giving their traditional methods. Some as simple as stringing apples slices on a string to dry. I have had fantastic results drying many foods with wood frame/black window screen frames we put together. I ran across a recommendation for the book from a site I was using for more Weston A Price 'style' recipes. I'm definitely enjoying these new foods.