Powerhouse: Natural Food Preservation

We learned how to make fresh water last week, so this week in our Powerhouse science studies we talked about natural food preservation.

We found out that there are LOTS of ways to preserve foods by natural processes: freezing, canning, packing in oil, packing in salt brine, fermentation, smoking, salting, pickling, drying and sugaring.  In our class today we used two of these processes.  First we used the Powerhouse greenhouse to turn an apple into a chewy treat.  All we had to do was slice an apple into thin pieces, stick them on a wooden skewer and place them in the greenhouse.  Then we set them out in the hot (104 degrees)Texas sun for a while.

.... 8 hours later we had homemade fruit snacks, from the sun!

Okay, they didn't taste too good- but we could still eat them if we had too.

Next we tried out a little fermentation- making sauerkraut.

All we needed was some cabbage, some salt and a glass jar.  We put layers of shredded cabbage and salt into the jar, tightly packing them down after each layer.

A liquid started to collect on the top (that's the brine).

After a few hours the fermentation process started and we could observe small bubbles rising to the surface.

Now we have to wait 10 to 14 days for the fermentation process to stop (when the bubbles disappear) and then put it in the refrigerator for a month.  We'll try to remember to update on how it turns out!  

Next week in our Powerhouse class we will learn about heat absorbers and how to cool our house.