Canning and food preservation: Water bath, pressure, drying, fermenting and more · Alt Ordo Systems Guide
Food preservation turns one summer's harvest into a year of meals. There are five main tools: canning in a boiling-water or pressure canner, fermenting, drying, freezing and cool storage. Each one stops spoilage a different way, and each food suits some methods and not others. The rule that matters most is simple and strict: low-acid foods such as green beans, corn and meat must be pressure canned, using a tested recipe, the right pressure for your altitude, and the full time. Get that right and the rest is practice.
This guide helps you pick the right method for each food, size a year of jars for your household, and can, ferment, dry and freeze the harvest on an off-grid kitchen, following tested USDA methods to the letter.
What's inside. 18 pages in 9 chapters (At a glance, Where it works, How it works, Size it, Parts and cost, Set it up and can, Run it, Rules and permits, How it connects), then the sources and a notes page. 8 numbered figures drawn for this guide. You also get a worked example with a fill-in worksheet, 10 numbered steps, a year-round calendar, and a troubleshooting table.
Three builds, costed line by line (typical US prices, October 2026):
- Bare-bones: $148–$227
- Standard: $731–$1,074
- Comfortable: $3,591–$4,594
Sourced and fact-checked. Facts and figures are cited to the 27 sources listed at the back, and the whole guide was fact-checked before release. General guidance, not engineering advice: your county and a qualified pro have the last word on your site.
Pairs with other Alt Ordo Systems Guides: The off-grid vegetable garden; Off-grid solar. For your county's permits and rules, see our county and state guides.
Instant PDF download. After checkout you get a download link by email. Letter-size pages, made to read on screen or print at home.