If only there was an app that went through our pantries to tell us what groceries we needed. But with all this technology, we have forgotten what it means to truly live off the land.
We can order groceries (Instacart) and food through Uber Eats, Grub Hub, and Door Dash right from our phones. Food preservation methods used by our ancestors have been forgotten since living off the land is foreign to many of us.
My Sunday ritual of throwing away a head of celery still surprises me…but, nonetheless, I throw away that vegetable every single week. My grandma knew how to store food.
She could keep onions in a panty hose for 6 months and knew how to keep the buggers out of her flour. Our ancestors were ingenious and could feed their families through the winter without stepping foot into a grocery store.
It involved salt, sand, fat and lots of items stored in the basement. Check out these 31 food storage methods from another time that can be used today.
You’ll be surprised by some of them and may pick up a trick or two. Who knows, you may even cut back on wasting some heads of celery.
1. BURY CARROTS IN DAMP SAND
Remove the greens from freshly-picked carrots. Place them in a bucket or other container with a lid, nestled in slightly-damp play sand, making sure the carrots don’t touch each other.
Store in a cold area around 35-40 degrees, and carrots will stay fresh and crisp for 4-6 months. Last year when I received a giant and inexpensive bag of carrots and had nowhere in the refrigerator to store them, I used this method and was astonished to pull a carrot out three months later only to find that it was still perfectly fresh.
2. STORE EGGS IN WATERGLASS (PICKLING LIME)
This one freaked out my kids. Waterglassing eggs is an age-old method of egg preservation.
Freshly-laid eggs that have not been washed or otherwise altered and are not cracked can be submerged in a solution of pickling lime to keep them fresh at room temperature for up to two years. To waterglass eggs, dissolve 1 oz. of pickling lime for each quart of cool water, then submerge eggs in airtight glass or ceramic containers.
Store at room temperature. The lime forms a protective layer around the pores of the egg, keeping bacteria and air from reaching the egg.
Store-bought eggs will not preserve this way because they are washed and lose their protective coating. Only waterglass farm-fresh eggs with intact shells that came directly from the coop and always cook them well before consumption.
3. HANG ONIONS IN OLD PANTYHOSE
This is a method I’ve seen recently, but it’s nothing new around our house. My mother does it and I’m pretty sure my grandmother did as well.
Slip one onion into the foot of a pair of pantyhose, then tie a knot in the pantyhose between the first and second onions. Continue slipping more onions onto the pantyhose, tying a knot after each one.
Hang in a cool, dry place and your onions will last up to 6 months. The trick is that each onion has its own mini-chamber for airflow.
Genius!
4. WRAP APPLES IN NEWSPAPER
Apples emit gases as they age, which encourages other apples to spoil. To maximize the storage life of your apples, wrap each one individually in newspaper.
Last year we received a bushel of free apples from a friend’s orchard. Being too tired to put in the work, I did NOT wrap them individually.
By Christmas, every single one was soft and brown. If stored individually-wrapped in a box in a cool area and checked weekly to remove any bad apples, you can keep apples in storage until March.
5. BRAID GARLIC FOR THE PANTRY
Once the necks of the garlic are dry, cure fresh garlic for two weeks and then braid the stalks together like pigtails. The garlic will be good for six to nine months without being refrigerated if you hang the braid in a dark pantry.
Just snip a head off whenever a recipe calls for it.
6. DRY HERBS UPSIDE DOWN IN BUNCHES
Once the dew has dried, cut the herbs and bundle them with twine. Then hang them upside down in a dark, dry area.
In two to three weeks, the leaves will dry and crumble easily. Strip them into jars so you can season your dishes year-round.
I started doing this every time I get home from the farmers market and have to deal with giant bunches of basil and parsley I can’t use before they go bad. Now I can’t bring myself to buy a $4 bottle of dried herbs.
The girls walk by the bundles of herbs hanging in the laundry room like that’s a normal thing. Which, in my house, it now is.
7. STORE POTATOES IN THE DARK (AND CURE THEM FIRST)
Potatoes should NEVER be stored next to onions. After harvesting, potatoes should be cured for two weeks in a dark, cool area so the skins will toughen.
Then, potatoes will keep for about 3 months instead of going bad in 2 weeks. Light turns them green and bitter.
Heat makes them sprout. Store them in a cardboard box, paper grocery bags, burlap sacks, etc.
Potatoes dislike light, warmth, and onions. No need for a root cellar, a basement, garage, or unheated pantry is fine.
8. MAKE SAUERKRAUT IN A CROCK
To make kraut: chop up a head of cabbage and mix it thoroughly with 1.5 tablespoons of salt. Pound with a meat tenderizer or wooden spoon to release the liquid, and there should be enough to cover the cabbage.
Put into a crock or large glass bowl or jar and cover with a plate to keep cabbage under the liquid. Cover the crock with a towel and let it sit on your counter for 2-4 weeks.
9. SALT-CURE BACON AT HOME
Cover a slab of pork belly in a mixture of kosher salt, brown sugar and pink curing salt, then leave it in the fridge for a week, turning it everyday. Rinse it off, cold-smoke it or fake it in the oven at a low temp and eat bacon for months to come.
For about nine bucks you can buy a package of bacon at the grocery store, but you’ll never eat another one after you try bacon you made yourself. Invest a weekend in bacon-curing and thank me later.
10. WAX-DIP CHEESE FOR AGING
Melt some food grade cheese wax in a double boiler and paint a thin coat over a block of sharp cheddar or gouda cheese. Then store it somewhere cool (basement, etc) and you’ll be amazed how much better your cheese will taste, how much longer it’ll last and how easy it is to prevent the growth of mold.
Cheeses stored this way will retain their moisture and develop in flavor for months (even years!) at a time.
11. CONFIT MEAT IN ITS OWN FAT
Confit is a preservation method where meats like duck legs, pork shoulders and chicken thighs are cooked in fat then stored under a blanket of fat to block out the air in the refrigerator. Simply scoop the cooked meat out of the pan and into a jar, cover them back up with the fat and store ’em in the refrigerator.
12. STORE BROWN SUGAR WITH A SLICE OF APPLE
Have you ever dug around in a hardened, compressed cube of brown sugar with a butter knife hoping to unearth enough for your banana bread recipe? If so, I pity you.
Instead, next time you notice your brown sugar has dried out, place a slice of apple or even bread in the container and seal it. The slice of apple will give up its moisture to the sugar and soften it right up, staying effective for weeks.
You’ll just have to replace the slice every couple of weeks or so. You’re welcome.
I wasted 35 years of my life before I learned this trick.
13. WRAP CELERY IN FOIL
The reason your celery goes limp in less than a week is because the plastic bag traps moisture while also restricting ethylene gas from escaping. For a crispier celery that can also last for a longer period of time, try wrapping your bunch in foil and put in the fridge.
This will keep it fresh for around 3-4 weeks.
I tried this out on a head of celery that I forgot about for two weeks, and it was still in great condition! The celery in the plastic bag next to it, however, had reached a level of sadness that I didn’t even think was possible for vegetables.
14. FREEZE NUTS TO STOP RANCIDITY
Nuts are loaded with natural oils which can turn rancid surprisingly quickly when they’re stored in a bowl in the pantry. The longer they’re kept at room temperature the worse this problem gets.
Refrigerating extends their lives but freezing them means you’ll be able to pull out a bag of pine nuts, pecans, almonds, or walnuts and use them long after their counter-top stashed counterparts have given up the ghost. I know this is true.
I’m a firm believer in freezing nuts now. Portion them into freezer bags so you can just take out as many as you need to bake with.
15. STORE FLOUR WITH A BAY LEAF
There are oils present in dried bay leaves that help to deter pesky flour weevils. By adding two or three of these leaves to bags of flour, sugar, or dried beans, you’ll be helping to ensure they remain weevil-free.
16. HANG CURED HAMS IN A COOL CELLAR
Hams get saltier the longer you keep them. The flavor of the salt does mellow after a couple days, but overall, the flavor is better the longer you leave them.
This is how country hams are made in the south. It’s basically the same process used to make Italian prosciutto.
17. PICKLE EGGS IN VINEGAR BRINE
Hard boil and peel eggs then submerge in a mixture of vinegar, water, salt, sugar, and seasonings. They get that adorable pink color and soak up all of the brine.
They’ll keep for 3-4 months in the refrigerator. Pickled eggs are a traditional lunchbox food, and were formerly a staple in dive bars.
18. LARD-SEAL COOKED MEAT (POTTED MEAT)
Cook meat and shred or slice. Pack into a jar or crock and cover with melted lard.
The lard will create an anaerobic seal when it cools and hardens, preserving the meat. This was a very popular way to stretch that Sunday roast until Thursday before refrigeration came along.
Serve on toast.
19. BURY CABBAGE HEADS IN THE GARDEN
This is an amazing method that has been used by folks for ages. Right before hard freezes, dig up cabbages (roots still attached), dig a shallow trench outside, place cabbages upside down, cover with straw, then cover with a tarp.
This method will keep your cabbages fresh for 2-3 months. The ground stays warmer than the air.
My grandmother did this every fall, and every year the neighbors were mystified as to how she still had fresh cabbages so much longer than they did. They must’ve thought she had a secret garden gnome.
20. SMOKE MEAT FOR THE LONG HAUL
Smoked meats include jerky, summer sausage, other sausages, and hams. Cold smoking is the process that adds that distinctive flavor and adds preserving properties that allow meats to last longer than usual.
Meat will be cured, usually with salt, and cold-smoked then can be kept to dry in a cool place for weeks or even months. My husband loves to smoke meats.
In fact, each fall, he likes to dedicate an entire weekend to the process.
21. STORE SQUASH IN A SINGLE LAYER
Winter squash such as butternut and acorn should be stored in a cool and dry place in which they will not touch one another. You can lay them on a shelf in your basement or pantry, making sure to place space between each squash.
If one starts to rot, and they are touching, the rot will spread quickly. If cured properly, winter squash can last 4 to 6 months.
This is what every farmhouse pantry had wooden shelves on the walls for. Squash needs space.
I lay mine out on the basement workbench like very lumpy guests at a dinner party.
I was going to title this, Store your teenage hand-me-downs in the basement in a single layer. But, alas, that won’t do for squash.
22. MAKE PEMMICAN
Pemmican is a mixture of pulverized, dried meat and fat, and sometimes dried berries, that was commonly eaten by fur traders and native peoples. It’s like an original protein bar and can be preserved for years.
23. KEEP A SPRINGHOUSE
This is my favorite. If you happen to have a spring on your property, you can build a small structure over the spring and utilize it for refrigeration.
Cold, 50-degree water runs through the springhouse year-round and helps keep items like crocks of butter, milk, cheese, etc. This is a common sight in older homesteads and some are still functional after 150 years.
My husband has been informed of my dream to have a springhouse someday.
24. STORE COOKIES WITH A SLICE OF BREAD
Have you ever wondered why cookies go stale? It’s because they lose their moisture.
To combat this, store cookies with a piece of bread in the cookie tin. The cookies will absorb the moisture from the bread.
The bread will get stale but your cookies will be extra soft and yummy. Replace the bread every few days.
My teens inhale cookies so fast that I think this hack might be unnecessary in my house.
25. LAYER BEETS IN SAWDUST
This is an old-fashioned way to store beets. But basically, you’ll be using wood shavings/saw dust that’s been moistened slightly to store your beets in wooden crates in a cold basement or root cellar.
Beets can be stored this way for 4-6 months and remain firm. We tend to think of beets as a throw away veggie long before their expiration date has actually been met.
26. CAN WITH A BOILING WATER BATH
Pickles, jams, salsas and fruits are high-acid foods which means that you can process them in jars in a boiling water bath and they’ll be good to pull from your shelf for a year or more. Once the ‘ping’ has been accomplished, which happens when the lid has been successfully sealed, your food is ready to join the mason jar brigade.
My grandmother had the coolest looking pantry ever with a whole wall of multi-colored mason jars. I’m working on mine now and will surely one day recreate her masterpiece.
27. PRESSURE CAN LOW-ACID FOODS
Meats, soups, beans, plain vegetables are examples of foods that are not acidic and cannot be preserved in a water bath canner. In order for canning to be successful, the process needs to kill off any bad botulism spores and that requires a higher temp than can be accomplished in a water bath canner.
A pressure canner achieves these higher temps (240 degrees) and your food is then good to be stored for years. I know pressure canning takes more effort, a special and expensive pot, but eating homemade chili in February is well worth it.
Now, who wants to come help me get my pressure canner out of the basement, where it’s sharing space with a pile of Amazon boxes?
28. KEEP APPLES AWAY FROM POTATOES (THE SPROUTING KILLER)
Potatoes are highly susceptible to ethylene gas given off by apples so keep them stored separately, and I use my garage as my root cellar, potatoes by the back door and apples by the freezer, otherwise those spuds will sprout more quickly and your apples will be less than stellar and a bit mealy.
29. DEHYDRATE FRUIT ON SCREENS
You can dehydrate apples, pears, peaches, plums and other fruits by laying the slices on screens/racks in the sun or in your oven set on a very low temperature. Store them in jars and enjoy them out of hand for a year.
They’re much more economical to make than to buy and you know there’s not any sugar, preservatives or mystery oil added. My kids will inhale a jar of dehydrated apples in two days.
30. STORE BUTTER IN SALT WATER (BUTTER CROCK)
If you’ve never used a butter crock, this is a game-changer. Basically, you keep the butter covered with a thin layer of salted cold water which creates an air barrier around the butter.
The bacteria doesn’t like the salty environment either. It’s amazing.
As long as there’s salted water over it, the butter will keep indefinitely, AND it’s always soft and spreadable. It costs twenty bucks, and ours lives on the counter all year.
It’s wonderful to be able to pull out the butter and not have it shred our bread because it’s been sitting in the refrigerator.
31. LACTO-FERMENT PICKLES IN A CROCK
This one’s a bit more complicated: basically, it’s an ancient method of pickling cucumbers where beneficial bacteria turn them sour and preserve them naturally, not through the use of vinegar and canning. They keep for months in the refrigerator and taste incredible, being way more interesting and brighter than the sad, shelf-stable kind from the store, and they’re loaded with gut-healthy live cultures.
All you need are cucumbers, brine, some dill and garlic and then you have to leave them be for weeks.
All of these ideas come down to the same concept: control the air, temperature, and humidity, and you can store foods longer than you’d imagine. That’s what your fridge does automatically, and for only about two weeks.
Using pantyhose for your onions, a leftover butter container, and adding bay leaves to your flour costs nothing and will last six months. Wrapping your celery in tin foil will keep it crisp.
Placing a piece of apple in your brown sugar will keep it from turning into a rock. There’s a container that will allow you to keep butter in a crock on your COUNTER.
These are all skills that have been (unfortunately) lost. Other foods can be stored for much longer periods of time by learning other preservation methods: canning, smoking, crock pot fermenting…these would be more appropriate as a weekend project and certainly take a bit of doing.
But they’re methods and skills that should be remembered and learned.
These old-fashioned food preservation hacks will definitely come in handy around our house this winter.
Traditional food preservation methods are easier than you’d think. You don’t even need a root cellar.
Try them out this fall and enjoy your food longer.