Photo by Lara604 / Lara Schneider
Food safety guidelines in the U.S. tend to be very conservative. What I mean is that they’re designed to make sure there is the least possible chance of food illness, even if it means completely destroying the taste and nutrition of the food. That’s why most thanksgiving turkeys are dry. Same with pot roast … pork loin … lamb chops …
If you ask food scientists instead of policymakers, you’ll find out what it really takes to store and prepare food safely. Or, if you don’t want to spend several hours talking with someone who finds produce spoilage rates interesting … you could just check out the chart at the bottom of this page about root cellars.
I’d like to have that nice little root cellar up top. But I’d settle for this one.
Photo by Alan Gathman
Heck, I’d even go for this one, if I had the room.
Seen here, posted by mag
On my current budget, though, I’d probably be more in the market for this.
Photo by Colleen Taugher
Which would be okay, I guess. So long as I don’t get this.
[Cue Kristin telling me about the Pit of Despair.]
Want more like this? For more recipes like this, that you can hold right in your hands, and write on, take notes, tear pages out if you want (Gosh, you're tough on books, aren't you?) you might be interested in How To Cook Like Your Grandmother, 2nd edition, Illustrated. Or to learn your way around the kitchen, check out Starting From Scratch: The Owner's Manual for Your Kitchen.
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8 Comments
Root cellars are really “cool” and they have the most “earthy” smell. There was a root cellar under the house where I was born and, to this day, I can remember how it smelled!
Obviously no need for me to remind you of the Pit of Despair, since you seem to have remembered it all on your own. It’s pretty memorable, I must say.
Some people just dig holes in the ground and cover them with straw to store root vegetables, I think. The most primitive sort of root cellar.
I would LOVE a root cellar! I do have a small storage room that I keep closed off with a window cracked when it’s cold outside and that doubles as a sort of root cellar! I’m putting up extra sauerkraut and going to try to store my homemade Apple Cider in there is fall. (besides all the normal root veggies)
I did training for the local extension office to be a food safety volunteer this year, and I can tell you why the recommendations are so specific and aimed to be as safe as possible – so many people seem to lack any common sense about food safety and spoilage. Now I have a fairly low risk tolerance myself, most of the time I’d rather toss something questionable than risk it. But there are people out there who have no problem leaving the chili in a big pot on the stove and turning it on to heat up for lunch day after day! There are people who leave the easter ham out on the table all day with folks picking meat off of it, put it in the fridge for three weeks, then call to ask if it’s ok to freeze it for use later. I mean, ewww! Really, people?! Then there are people who go too far the other way – I got a call from a lady who bought organic lettuce and when she washed it there were bugs in it, so she didn’t think it was safe to eat. I thought the bugs were a good sign – no pesticides! But she didn’t believe me, and said she would throw it out. I guess that’s a sign of how far removed people are from having a real garden that they are afraid to eat food if bugs have touched it!
But actually our job is to answer people’s questions about food storage and safety. And of course the USDA has the strictest guidelines, and that’s what we have to recommend (even if we do it differently ourselves at home, that’s our business). But to advise people in the safest way possible is always best. And we do recommend safe canning procedures, and root cellars, we just offer tips on how to do so safely.
I would love to have a root cellar, but the water table is too high here – it would take a miracle of engineering to redirect the water around it.
Stephanie, I understand what you’re saying. In my second book I said:
I was talking about target cooking temperature, not storage, but the same principle applies. And I think people who do pay attention to what they’re doing also deserve a reasonable set of guidelines to follow.
I know, people just can’t be trusted to use their own common sense without risking someone getting sued for negligence, so they have to apply the recommendations for the dumbest possibility. For example, we recommend butter be stored in the fridge, not out at room temp. I have always used salted butter, and have always had it on the counter. We usually use it up before it is even close to getting rancid. But the gov’mnt can’t risk telling people ‘yeah, leave it out but throw it away if it goes bad’, because there are people who apparently can’t figure that out on their own?
Then again, I have a cousin who doesn’t want fresh eggs from our farm because ‘they came from a chicken’s butt’ – unlike the ones from the store, in her mind. So anything’s possible…
Oh my goodness! My husband and I were talking about building a root cellar. I have to show him the bus idea…. wait… maybe I’d better not. LOL
If you do, and he does, I’m totally taking credit for that.