Hi Russ,
I was fascinated to read the article you linked. Having just brought in a surplus of apples and other fruit, Linda and I have been trying to conserve what we can for the winter. It becomes a tricky equation to get 'cheap' food (no matter how organic, pure, and uncintaminated) and then spend a fortune on freezers and electricity to preserve it. So we're experimenting with preserving in the old-fashioned (but still unbeatable) Kilner-type jars.
It's odd. I remember 'when I were a lad' (40+ years ago) that my family spent hours slaving over a hot preserving pan, and we had rows of jars containing loads of fruit. I wondered at the time why we never did the same with vegetables. Storing root cops in 'clamps' always seemed a bit 'hit and miss', and we had some disasters when lovingly raised crops were stored, tended, and later to be retrieved, only to find that rats, or sometimes rabbits, had got them first!
All these recollections came flooding back when I began researching where to get Kilner jars and all the kit. Memories of jars in the oven, pressure cooker or preserving pan, and the ritual of cleaning, filling, and sealing jars all made better sense. And the riddle of 'why not vegetables?' was answered. Fruit contains natural acids that enable preservation at 'domestic' temperatures. Vegetables, meat, and other produce needs higher temperatures that only a pressure canner can achieve. And the very next day, I read your linked article.
I gather America has been 'home pressure-canning' for generations, but it's an unknown science here. I'd be keen to know more about what presure canners are available here in Blighty, availability and costs, etc. I'll start looking and report back, but if anyone has info, I'd appreciate it. Just a by-the-way, for any readers unaware of the fact, 'Home Canning' usually involves storing in glass jars, like Kilner jars. I don't know if Kilner jars would do, but they appear much the same.
There are some gruesome tales of botulism and other serious menaces that kill the unwary when home-canning goes wrong. But then, those of us who don't grow and raise everything we eat imbibe lots of nasties that nature, multinational companies and questionable farming practices put in our food.... Just a thought....
Linda and I recently acquired a motor-caravan, and will be touring Europe in it after the serious harvesting is done. It was therefore with a mixture of reasons that I bought a brand new decent-sized generator dirt cheap off e-bay. It may help with the motor-caravanning if we find ourselves needing power (which is not necessarily likely, for any who know about these things), but it also provides a back-up if we get a serious power cut. It's big enough to run the fridges and freezers at home, provide lights and keep the (gas) heating going. In which case, doubtless all the family will come round to share the comforts, and we'll break out some of the food stores to feed them, too. It's what it's all about perhaps? Reading the article you linked, I sensed it's exactly what the author would do in the circumstances. And probably most of us who are actually bothered about things that matter.
Cheers
Sunny John