Page 14 - The Lost Book Preserving Food Naturally

The Lost Book of Preserving Food Naturally

Drying food is probably the oldest known means of preserving it, going back millennia.
Most grains are dried before use, often on the stalk. This probably gave our early

ancestors the idea of drying other grains, such as corn, which are not dried on the stalk.

Dried grains could be stored and often were, to provide a food source during drought.

One of the earliest recorded cases of this is found in the Bible. During the 19 Century
th
BC, Pharaoh had a pair of dreams, which warned of coming drought. These dreams were
interpreted by a Hebrew slave, Joseph, who was a prisoner at the time. This caused

Pharaoh to promote Joseph, making him Prime Minister of Egypt so that he could prepare

the nation for the coming drought. Joseph accomplished this by placing a levy on the grain

that was grown and storing up that grain to get them through the coming hard times.

Grains are still dried today, although unless you are planning on growing grain in your
backyard, you are unlikely to end up drying your own. This is handled at the commercial

level, where most of those grains are also ground into flour.

However, many other foods are dried today, both commercially and at home. Most foods

can be dried, including meats, vegetables and fruits. The process of drying the foods

provides a natural defense against bacteria. If the foods are then properly stored to
protect them from insects and rodents, they will keep for an extended time.

How does drying food preserve it? Bacteria need a moist environment to survive. As we

discussed when I was talking about salt, the loss of enough water will cause bacteria to

die. Just as osmosis will cause water to cross a membrane to equalize chemical or mineral

levels across the membrane, it will also cross a membrane when the moisture levels are
different. This makes dried food is a very inhospitable environment for bacteria to live

in.

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