AMISH CANNING AND PRESERVING COOKBOOK: The Complete Beginner's Guide to Learn to Make Soups, Sauces, Pickles, Relishes and More

By Josephine Fisher

From the outside looking in, the Amish appear to be simple people. They eschew any modern conveniences in favor of old-fashioned living. This lifestyle means no motorized vehicles, electronics, or most forms of technology developed after the 19th century. The rejection of advances in the rest of society sometimes includes ideals, viewpoints, pra

• Language: English
• Publisher: Josephine Fisher
• Release date: Jul 31, 2023
• ISBN: 9781088242612

Book preview

Introduction

From the outside looking in, the Amish appear to be simple people. They eschew any modern conveniences in favor of old-fashioned living. This lifestyle means no motorized vehicles, electronics, or most forms of technology developed after the 19th century. The rejection of advances in the rest of society sometimes includes ideals, viewpoints, practices, and programs developed as the rest of the world evolved. Since most Amish communities are located in the United States, they occasionally conflict with the state and federal governments.

When their traditions clash with the official laws and regulations in their jurisdiction, concessions are made on both sides. The United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agreed in 1961 that the Amish are exempt from paying taxes to the Federal Social Security program, and was codified by a law passed in 1965. Conversely, despite their insular nature, they are still subject to the United States criminal justice system. They will cooperate with local and federal law enforcement agencies when necessary, despite their preference for using religious bodies to handle legal conflicts.

Much of the motivation behind the Amish maintaining such insular communities stems from their difficult history at their inception. Originally, they were part of the Anabaptist movement in Switzerland during the 15th and 16th centuries. These were Protestant Christians who backed the Radical Reformation and later the Swiss Brethren. The Swiss Brethren were even more radical than many of their contemporaries, feeling that any religious reform successfully taking hold was not happening fast enough. Their rejection of the doctrine of infant baptism put them at odds with other major reformation factions, causing significant friction.

In 1693, a disagreement between leading Swiss Brethren figures initiated a schism. The first Mennonites were established during this schism and were the immediate forerunners of the modern-day Amish. Religious persecution drove the Mennonites farther and farther from their homeland, and they eventually sought a place in North America. It was believed that they would be free from persecution once they were across the Atlantic Ocean. The availability of great swathes of cheap land was too attractive an opportunity to pass up. When the Mennonites arrived in America, they settled in the northeast but spread out to the Midwest and far north throughout the 18th and 19th centuries.

The majority of Amish communities are found in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana, but significant populations reside in Wisconsin, New York, Michigan, Missouri, Kentucky, and Iowa. Some Amish enclaves are in Canada and Latin America. They all have a common adherence to traditional values and old world attitudes. A major aspect of these traditions is expressed in their food. They maintain an agrarian lifestyle, growing or raising their food, building homes or shops within their enclave, and sewing their clothing.

Since most Amish families don’t have a mechanical refrigerator, food preservation is a very common method used for storing excess food that would otherwise go bad. Meat can be cured, smoked, or salted; dairy products fermented to make cheese; and hops, barley, or certain fruits fermented to create beer or wine. Fruits and vegetables can be dried, pickled, or jellied to avoid spoilage. Different combinations of these items are cooked into soups, stews, or sauces. To store their food long-term, the Amish have adopted canning as a popular food preservation method.

You don’t have to live like the Amish to learn their recipes and techniques for canning and preserving food. Anyone can make food in the Amish style and utilize their low-tech canning and food preservation methods. It is a great way to ensure you have plenty of meals or additions to the main course prepared well in advance and without overstocking your refrigerator or freezer. These are time-tested options used for hundreds of years and will continue to be relevant far into the future.

Chapter 1

Introduction to Food

Canning and Preserving

Canning food for preservation began way back in 1809 when a French scientist named Nicolas Appert discovered the process after years of extensive research. He was searching for a method to preserve food to better feed the French army while on long campaigns, cutting down the need for constant fresh food sources, especially for long supply lines. His technique soon spread to other parts of Europe and beyond until it became one of the most common ways of food preservation. When the Amish traveled to the New World to escape the religious persecution they were undergoing in their homeland, they brought with them the art of canning and preserving food.

The Benefits

The main benefit of canning and preserving food is that you can stock up on a wide variety of food items to last many months or years without refrigeration. Since the Amish forgo electricity, and most non-mechanical refrigeration methods are limited in size and require external coolants like ice, having a reliable way to store harvested and cooked food is invaluable to their survival. Particularly during winter, which can be long and cold in western Pennsylvania, where numerous Pennsylvania Dutch Amish communities reside. Their ability to preserve food from spring to autumn prevents them from relying on a very limited diet.

The flexibility afforded by the canning and preserving process is another huge advantage. You can store and save fruits, vegetables, cooked meats, soups, sauces, and other food items that would otherwise have a limited lifespan. Most food begins to rot and decay relatively quickly when left untreated out in the open because microorganisms like fungi, bacteria, and yeast will feed on the food, causing it to break down and become rotten. Some microorganisms from the surrounding environment and others that naturally occur are attracted to unpreserved fresh food, breaking the food items down almost as soon as they are harvested. This process can take a few days until it becomes noticeable, but these microorganisms attack food almost immediately.

Refrigeration or freezing food can slow down or even halt the decaying process due to the cold temperatures affecting how quickly the microorganisms can grow and reproduce. While food will last longer if refrigerated, it doesn’t remain edible for much longer. Freezing food items can stop them from rotting, and the process will only begin again once they’re thawed. Unfortunately, freezing food has a downside. The moisture within the food becomes crystallized, and freezer burn might set in. This effectively cooks any parts of the food exposed to abundant crystallized water and often damages the nutrients. Eating food with too much freezer burn affects the taste and nutritional value. In some cases, it is dangerous and makes you sick.

Salting and curing food is one of the oldest methods of food preservation since it doesn’t take anything other than a large quantity of salt and a vessel to immerse the food. When salt is added to food, it draws out the moisture, which stops the microorganisms from thriving as they would naturally. However, it dries out the food, which changes its taste, texture, and consistency. Meat is one item commonly salted and cured, resulting in products like beef jerky. This method can also be used on fruits and vegetables, but they lose most of their juiciness due to the lack of moisture, which robs them of their most enjoyable flavors.

Similar to salting and curing, pickling food is another popular way of preserving it for longer periods. Pickling only requires vinegar or a mixture of vinegar, salt, and sugar. Vinegar has acids and other properties that serve as antimicrobial agents, stopping the growth or killing of microorganisms in the food. Immersing food in vinegar infuses it with a specific taste—the pickle flavor—which isn’t always preferred to other preservation techniques. While some people enjoy pickled food, it is often used as a garnish for other dishes, especially when sliced, diced, or minced into smaller pieces.

Canning food properly will preserve it for much longer than refrigerating or left out in the open. Canned foods won’t remain edible indefinitely, but their shelf life is adequate for keeping them good throughout the winter or for several years. Unlike freezing, salting, and curing food, canning won’t alter its natural flavor. The process involves using a strong enough heat to kill most microorganisms on or within the food and deactivates the enzymes that cause naturally-occurring microorganisms to return. Sealing the food in an airtight container prevents moisture or external microorganisms from destroying it.

Keeping a supply of preserved food to get you through an extended period without fresh food is advantageous regardless of where you live or your lifestyle. Those who dwell in rural areas don’t always have easy access to grocery stores or fresh food markets. People residing on a farm might have a large garden, crops, or livestock, but severe weather, disease, or natural disasters can cut them off as a dependable supply. Emergencies can happen to anyone at any moment, so even if you live in the middle of a large city or the dense suburbs surrounding it, you never know when you might suddenly lose access to power, running water, or natural gas. Canned food can be deployed to feed you and your family without the need for much more than an open flame. Some preserved foods won’t even require that.

Another benefit of canned food is its ease of storing or transporting it. Most containers used for canning and preserving food items can be held with one hand so that they won’t