More than 20 people came to our first Independent Preserving talk at the start of April. It was an awesome night!
We struggles to describe the session in advance; it wasn’t until after we had it that we figured out what the night was ‘about’: the fundamentals of filling a pantry.
We spoke about many different styles of preserving, showed the key concepts and equipment that we use for each. The techniques we discussed included:
- Waterbath preserving
- Pressure canning
- Fermenting
- Dehydrating
- Curing
- Freezing/ Fridge
- Infusing
My emphasis with each of these techniques is that they are best used to compliment one another. We rarely do one style at a time and by knowing the different techniques we can make 2-3 different types of preserves (often quicker than the time it takes to make one).
The audience was a tonne of fun. They asked lots of questions, shared their passion and excitement and curiosity around learning more about preserving. The knowledge level varied but each shared that they learned something they were excited about and many were trying something new by the following weekend!
We may have been the first preserving course/ lecture that also included a beer pyramid. Here’s Aaron (one of a few culprit’s who contributed to it) standing by his proud achievement.
The evening was a hyper two-way conversation as we shared our knowledge and people asked questions. A lot of people seemed surprised by how interested they had become in dehydration. Pressure canning was interesting to many but most concluded that the investment in a pressure canner was a lower priority than some of the other methods.
As I shared the techniques I found myself really pining for a larger freezer. We have an apartment-sized fridge with a small freezer and a deep-freeze would definitely change the way we eat. Alas, that will have to wait!
My highlight of the evening was interacting with our guests. The group of strangers were a little tentative when they first entered – by the end of the night we were a united group sharing laughter, knowledge and excitement.
A giant thanks to Kensington Brewing for sponsoring us as well as F’Coffee for accommodating us!