Preservation technique
12 techniques
- Cooking and heat treatment434Heating the food itself as a step in the process: boiling, steaming, roasting, baking, pasteurising or sterilising.
- Drying and dehydration129Removing water from food so spoilage organisms cannot grow: in the sun, in moving air, in a drying chamber held at a set humidity, or in a dehydrator.
- Salt curing90Preserving food with salt applied dry: rubbed on, packed in, layered through or mixed into the food, which is not left sitting in liquid.
- Maturing and ageing79Holding a food, usually somewhere cool, for days to years after the main process so its flavour and texture develop: ripening cheese, lagering beer, ageing wine, resting miso.
- Acidifying and pickling in vinegar62Lowering a food's acidity by adding vinegar, citric acid or another acid, rather than waiting for fermentation to make the acid.
- Brining55Holding food in salty water.
- Pressing39Squeezing liquid out of a food with weight or a press: whey from cheese curd, water from grated cassava, liquid from a mash.
- Smoking34Exposing food to wood smoke in a smokehouse or smoker.
- Curdling and coagulation28Setting milk into curd with rennet or acid, then cutting, draining or cooking the curd.
- Distillation6Heating a fermented liquid and condensing the vapour to separate alcohol from water and make a spirit.
- Alkaline treatment5Raising a food's pH with wood ash, lye, lime or baking soda.
- Sugar preserving4Keeping food in or with enough sugar that spoilage organisms cannot grow: jams, fruit pastes, candied fruit, syrups and spoon sweets.