What are you preserving by less common methods?

[Bubblingbrooks]

There is an interesting dry fermentation method mentioned in the video on this thread.
http://www.sufficientself.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=8450

 

[ORChick]

I made some herbal butter today, to preserve some of the herb harvest. The first effort was an "Herbes de Provence" butter. I started with 1/2 cup/1 stick of unsalted butter at room temperature. I mixed in a clove of garlic that I had pureed (I used a morter and pestle, but a garlic press, or mincing very finely would work as well, or even a food processor), and a couple of teaspoons lemon juice. And then I added a Tbls or so each of finely minced, fresh thyme, rosemary, basil, savory, and marjoram. I scraped the mixture out onto a sheet of wax paper, and formed it into a roll. Its in the 'fridge now, but when it is firm I will overwrap it in aluminum foil, and store it in the freezer. (If I had some, I'd put the butter in small crocks, and cover them well before freezing).
The 2nd batch was similarly done, but with a large handful of finely minced parsley, a large pinch of lemon zest, and a teaspoon or so of lemon juice.
And the 3rd was made with a handful of minced basil, a clove of pureed garlic, and a large pinch of lemon zest. As this is sort of like pesto made with butter instead of oil I would have added some pinenuts or walnuts, chopped, if I had had any. And maybe some finely shredded Parmesan cheese (but then my DH wouldn't eat it :/). Made with nuts the butter will not keep as long, I have read. The nuts tend to mold, even in the freezer.
As you can see, this is endlessly variable. I don't use salt, but others might want to. One should be careful to make sure the herbs used are quite dry before mincing. These herbal butters are lovely with a pat put onto a piece of grilled meat or fish, or melted over veggies, or spread onto bread being used for a sandwich.
I have more herbs to harvest; I need to soften up some more butter

 

[ORChick]

The other day I got a large bag of carrots from the farm stand, too large for the 'fridge. Yesterday I bought a bag of clean sandbox sand, put it in a box, and buried the carrots in the damp sand. Its in a cool room, and I anticipate the carrots lasting for longer than they would in the 'fridge (they tend to mold there, I find). Kind of silly buying sand, but getting it from the beach would be difficult at best. And it will be re-usable for as long as I want to store roots. I'm thinking of doing the same thing with beets and turnips.

 

[moolie]

The other day I got a large bag of carrots from the farm stand, too large for the 'fridge. Yesterday I bought a bag of clean sandbox sand, put it in a box, and buried the carrots in the damp sand. Its in a cool room, and I anticipate the carrots lasting for longer than they would in the 'fridge (they tend to mold there, I find). Kind of silly buying sand, but getting it from the beach would be difficult at best. And it will be re-usable for as long as I want to store roots. I'm thinking of doing the same thing with beets and turnips.

I did this again this year, with carrots in a 5 gallon bucket--layer of sand, layer of carrots not touching, layer of sand etc. It works quite well in my basement

 

[AnnaRaven]

The other day I got a large bag of carrots from the farm stand, too large for the 'fridge. Yesterday I bought a bag of clean sandbox sand, put it in a box, and buried the carrots in the damp sand. Its in a cool room, and I anticipate the carrots lasting for longer than they would in the 'fridge (they tend to mold there, I find). Kind of silly buying sand, but getting it from the beach would be difficult at best. And it will be re-usable for as long as I want to store roots. I'm thinking of doing the same thing with beets and turnips.

Wow! What a fantastic idea! Thanks for posting it.

 

[ORChick]

The other day I got a large bag of carrots from the farm stand, too large for the 'fridge. Yesterday I bought a bag of clean sandbox sand, put it in a box, and buried the carrots in the damp sand. Its in a cool room, and I anticipate the carrots lasting for longer than they would in the 'fridge (they tend to mold there, I find). Kind of silly buying sand, but getting it from the beach would be difficult at best. And it will be re-usable for as long as I want to store roots. I'm thinking of doing the same thing with beets and turnips.

I dug into my box of carrots today for the first time in a month or so. I am very pleased with how well the carrots are keeping. I've found a few that have gotten mushy, but I rather fancy that they were not quite perfect when I buried them. For the most part they are fine - firm and crisp. -- We have had a relatively warm winter so far (for most of you, I imagine, our western Oregon winters are always relatively warm, but this year has been warmer than usual; we only had a small taste of the snow that troubled Seattle and Portland a few weeks ago); we had several long-ish stretches of 40* temps as our lows! But even so, the sand box in the dark corner of the garage has kept the carrots very nicely.
I had a horseradish root in the 'fridge last month that was getting a little soft. I buried it in the sand with the carrots, and today noticed that it is not at all soft, and has a few little shoots growing; the moisture in the sand plumped it back up. I think I'll plant it.

 

[AmericanHomesteader]

My mother use to can meat when we was growing up, she would fry it up and put the meat in canning jars and pour in some grease and put the lids on and turn them upside down and store them like that the meat never did spoil, she also had a large crock that she made kraut in and she would make salt pork in it too.

 

[ORChick]

My mother use to can meat when we was growing up, she would fry it up and put the meat in canning jars and pour in some grease and put the lids on and turn them upside down and store them like that the meat never did spoil, she also had a large crock that she made kraut in and she would make salt pork in it too.

I have done something similar with duck. I cook duck pieces in duck fat (I usually save the breasts for eating immediately), and put them in a small crock, covering completely with the melted duck fat (I add some home rendered lard if necessary). I cover the crock, and (lacking a cold cellar) keep it refrigerated. It can last for several months this way. And I have read of cooking up sausage patties, and also storing in fat like this.
I have also made Sauerkraut (see "What are you fermenting today?") with great success. Never tried salt pork though.

 

[moolie]

Storing cooked meat covered in fat is called "potting" and is a very old method of preservation

 

[ORChick]

Storing cooked meat covered in fat is called "potting" and is a very old method of preservation

Or, one could go all fancy and French, and call it "confit"