Terms of Use
Please read this page before using Preservers Guide. It explains what this site is, what it isn't, and what we each expect from the other. We've written it in plain English on purpose.
1. What this site is
Preservers Guide is a free educational website about home food preservation — freezing, dehydrating, and fermenting food at home.
We are a publisher. We gather guidance that food safety authorities have already established, explain it clearly, and link you to the original source so you can read it yourself.
2. What this site is not
We are not food safety experts, scientists, doctors, or public health officials.
We do not create food safety rules. We report the rules that recognised authorities have set. Every safety figure on this site — salt concentrations, temperatures, blanching times, storage durations — comes from one of these organisations, and we tell you which one:
- The National Center for Home Food Preservation (NCHFP), University of Georgia
- The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
- University cooperative extension services
- The FDA Food Code
If you want the authoritative version of anything you read here, follow our links and read it at the source. We encourage that.
3. This is information, not advice
Nothing on this site is professional advice about food safety, nutrition, or health.
We don't know your kitchen, your equipment, your altitude, your ingredients, or your health situation. You are the only person who can judge whether something is right for you.
If you have a health condition, are pregnant, are preserving food for someone with a weakened immune system, or are unsure about anything — talk to a qualified professional or your local extension office. They can advise you. We can't.
4. Your responsibility
When you preserve food at home, you're responsible for what you make and what you eat.
That means:
- Read the original sources we link to
- Follow the guidance exactly — don't reduce salt, shorten times, or lower temperatures
- Check current official guidance for your region, since recommendations change
- Inspect food before you eat it
- If anything looks, smells, or tastes wrong, throw it out
5. Fermented food is not shelf-stable
This is important enough to say on its own.
Live-culture home ferments — sauerkraut, kimchi, brined pickles — must be refrigerated after active fermentation. They are not shelf-stable. Do not store them at room temperature long-term, and do not treat them as canned goods.
6. What we don't cover
We deliberately do not publish procedures for canning, pressure canning, meat curing, smoking, jerky, freeze-drying meat or dairy, or storing garlic or herbs in oil.
These methods carry risks we're not equipped to guide you through. If you want to do them, go to NCHFP or your local extension service. Please don't adapt anything on this site to those methods.
7. We try to be accurate, but we can't guarantee it
We check our figures against the sources we cite, and we correct mistakes when we find them.
But guidance gets updated, links break, and errors happen. We can't promise this site is complete, current, or error-free at any given moment. The original source always wins over what you read here.
Found a mistake? Please tell us at hi@preserversguide.com. We'll fix it.
8. Links to other websites
We link to food safety authorities, and sometimes to retailers. We don't control those sites and aren't responsible for what's on them.
9. How we make money
Some links on this site are affiliate links, mainly to Amazon. If you buy something through one, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. We also show advertising.
This never changes what we recommend or what safety guidance we report.
10. Limitation of liability
To the fullest extent permitted by law, Preservers Guide and its owners are not liable for any loss, injury, illness, or damage arising from your use of this site or from anything you make using information found here.
You use this site, and preserve food, at your own risk.
Some jurisdictions don't allow certain limitations of liability. Where that's the case, this section applies only as far as the law allows, and nothing here limits liability that cannot legally be limited.
11. Our content
The writing, photographs, and design on this site belong to us. You're welcome to link to us or quote a short passage with credit. Please don't republish our articles.
12. Not for commercial use
This site is for home food preservation only. If you're producing food to sell, you're subject to commercial food safety regulations that we don't cover. Contact your local health authority.
13. Changes to these terms
We may update this page. The date at the top shows when it last changed. Continuing to use the site means you accept the current version.
14. Contact
Questions about these terms: hi@preserversguide.com