Stocking Up: The Third Edition of America's Classic Preserving Guide

by Carol Hupping

Overview

The most comprehensive, up-to-date guide to harvesting, storing, preparing, and preserving foods of all kinds.

For the self-sufficient farmer or the urban weekend gardener, the third edition of Stocking Up is an invaluable addition to any kitchen. With detailed illustrations and easy-to-follow directions, this encyclopedic resource makes “stocking up” easy.

Follow step-by-step instructions for:

-Freezing, canning, drying, and preserving fruits, vegetables, meats, fish, and poultry

-Harvesting nuts, seeds, sprouts, fruits, and vegetables

-Preparing pickles, relishes, jams, jellies, butters, cheeses, and breads.

With more than 300 recipes for preservable foods—from old standards like casseroles, fruit leather, and ice cream to new favorites such as sun-dried tomatoes, herb vinegars, and salt- and sugar-free versions of basic fare, Stocking Up covers everything for the home cook. Hundreds of charts and illustrations simplify preserving chores and choices for everyone interested in stocking up on wholesome, natural foods.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780671693954
Publisher:	Atria Books
Publication date:	06/15/1990
Edition description:	Revised
Pages:	640
Sales rank:	1,108,270
Product dimensions:	7.38(w) x 9.25(h) x 1.60(d)

About the Author

Carol Hupping is the author of Stocking Up, a classic guide to preparing and preserving foods of all kinds.

Read an Excerpt

Choosing Vegetable and Fruit Varieties

As you page through any seed catalog, you'll discover that each vegetable and fruit is usually available in a number of varieties. Some may be particularly good for freezing; others maintain their quality best when canned. Certain varieties dry better than others, and some hold their flavor and texture well in underground storage. If you're planning to preserve a good part of your harvest, you'd do well to decide how you will be storing your garden surplus before you order your seeds, and then choose those fruit and vegetable varieties accordingly.

We've made that process a little easier for you here, by listing in the charts that follow those vegetables and fruits that are generally recognized as being best for freezing; canning; drying; pickling; juicing; turning into a sauce; making jam, jelly, and preserves; and keeping in some kind of cold storage, be it in a root cellar, basement, or outdoor storage area (noted here as "good keeper").

After each variety you'll find the name of seed companies that sell that variety. If your favorite seed company is not listed, forgive us. It does not necessarily mean that the company doesn't carry the variety in question; it merely means that we have only noted the larger and more popular seed companies that we are most familiar with. We know that some small companies sell some of the same varieties, and we also know that they may offer other varieties just as good for particular storage methods.

This is the third edition of Stocking Up, and the third time that we have extensively revised these charts. Each time we went back to the seed catalogs we were amazed at how much had changed since the last time, which only goes to show that the seed business is far from a static one. New varieties and hybrids are being developed all the time, so keep a lookout for varieties too new to make this present chart.

Copyright © 1986 by Rodale Press, Inc.

Table of Contents

Contents

Introduction

Vegetables and Fruits

Choosing Vegetable and Fruit Varieties

Harvesting Vegetables and Fruits

harvesting vegetables

harvesting fruits

handling food after harvest

Freezing Vegetables and Fruits

containers to use for freezing

freezer organization

thawing vegetables and fruits

how and why to blanch vegetables

blanching in a microwave

blanching in a pressure canner

steps to follow for freezing vegetables

preparing vegetables for freezing

freezing grape leaves

freezing fruits

preparing fruits for freezing

what to do if the freezer stops running

freezing herbs

Canning Vegetables and Fruits

sterilizing food

choosing and preparing your vegetables and fruits

headspace

canners

closures

tin cans

raw packs and hot packs

checking seals

labeling

storing canned foods

spoiled food

canning fruits

step-by-step processing of fruits, tomatoes, and pickled vegetables

step-by-step processing of vegetables

Drying Vegetables and Fruits

why drying works

nutritional value

preparing food for drying

blanching

drying vegetables

sun-dried tomatoes

special techniques for drying peas, beans, and corn

drying fruits

don't microwave your food dry

temperature and ventilation

drying outdoors

drying indoors

oven drying

home dryers

electrical dryers

stovetop dryers

solar dryers

our solar dryer

a low-cost indoor dryer

when your food is dry

storing

freeze-drying: good, but not at home

rehydrating

cooking dried vegetables and fruits

using dried foods

fruit purée

fruit and vegetable flour

fruit leather

herbs

Underground Storage

vegetables

fruits

good storage conditions

where to store your stash

storage containers

Pickles and Relishes

salt-free pickles

ingredients

equipment

canning pickled foods

step-by-step directions for canning in a boiling-water bath

storing pickles

brine curing

Euell Gibbons's dill crock

if your pickles fail

signs of spoilage

sauerkraut

pickles

pickled vegetables

relishes

pickled fruits

chutneys

mustards

Jams, Jellies, and Fruit Butters

jams and jellies with honey

cooked-down and pectin jams and jellies

homemade pectin

extracting juice for jellies

jams and preserves from frozen fruit

jelly tests

if your jellied fruits fail

uncooked jams and jellies

using artificial sweetener

using low-methoxyl pectin

filling and sealing containers

step-by-step directions for canning in a boiling-water bath

making fruit butters

fruit butters

jams

jellies

preserves

conserves

marmalades

Juicing Your Harvest

tomato and fruit juices

steam-juicing fruits

using juicers

apple cider

turning apple cider into vinegar

herb vinegars

pickling with homemade vinegar

juices

Vegetable and Fruit Recipes

Dairy Foods

Storing Milk, Cream, and Eggs

freezing milk and cream

eggs

old-fashioned storage methods

freezing eggs

Homemade Butter

separating the cream

chilling and ripening the cream

churning

taking off the buttermilk

washing and working the butter

butter in a blender

in a food processor

using an electric mixer

using a glass jar

if you have trouble

salting and storing butter

butters

Homemade Cheeses

equipment

ingredients

storing cheeses

cottage cheese

ricotta

cream cheese

plain, semihard cheese

cheddar cheese

Homemade Yogurt and Other Fermented Milk Products

yogurt

a thicker yogurt

using a yogurt maker

making yogurt in the oven

in a covered casserole

in a thermos

what can go wrong

yogurt cream cheese

kefir

piima

Homemade Ice Creams

hand-cranked

electrically cranked

freezer ice cream

sherbet and sorbet

how-to's

adding fruits and nuts

storing

ice creams

sherbets and ices (sorbets)

Dairy Recipes

Meats, Poultry, and Fish

Preparing Meats and Poultry for Storage

butchering your own meat

preparing wild meats

if you're having your meat butchered

headcheese and other pressed meats

rendering lard

sausage

poultry

Freezing Meats and Poultry

freezing in bulk

what wraps to use

freezing combination dishes

freezing soup stock

quick freezing

thawing and cooking frozen meat and poultry

Canning and Drying Meats and Poultry

canning equipment

canning jars and cans

step-by-step directions for canning

signs of spoilage

storage

directions for processing meats

drying meats

salt alert

Preparing and Storing Fish

cleaning and dressing fin fish

clams, oysters, mussels, and scallops

crabs, lobsters, and crayfish

shrimp

freezing fresh-caught fish

thawing and cooking frozen fish

extending the refrigerator life of fish

canning

fish recipes

drying

Meat and Poultry Recipes

Nuts, Seeds, Grains, and Sprouts

Nuts and Seeds

harvesting tree nuts

hulling

drying

cracking

harvesting and curing peanuts

storing shelled nuts

sunflower seeds

pumpkin seeds

nut and seed butters

Grains

really fresh flour

storing bread

freezing baked bread

thawing bread

making breads moister

freezing unbaked bread dough

storing store-bought grains

harvesting and storing your own grains

Sprouts

the how-to's

storing and using sprouts

diastatic malt

sprouts' vital statistics

Nut, Seed, Grain, and Sprout Recipes

Appendix

books, booklets, supplies

Index