A home food preserving thread.

[coppice cutter]

39 minutes ago, Stere said:

Being peasant farmer is very hard toil physically. Its not  very healthly on the body to be spending long hrs doing the  same repetitives manual tasks of hand weeding crops etc.  I think he kind of glossed over that aspect.

 

Not sure about that.

 

Not many peasant farmers still on the go any more, but seems to be more unhealthy people on the go than ever.

 

Most of those I know on DLA/PIP or whatever it's called now, have never done a hard physical days work in their lives.*

 

But anyway, that would be an interesting debate for another place, no wish to derail another potentially useful and long running thread any further.

 

*edit* - probably worth adding that there will no doubt be some incapacitated due to a life spent working in the heavy industries of the past, which were both brutual and body killers. Although to be blunt, there's probably not many such people left!

Edited July 25, 2022 by coppice cutter

[Mrblue5000]

I would love to have met John Seymour, I think his daughter still lives here in Ireland.
My tip for food conservation is to rinse out and keep your empty dol mio jars and lids. They need to be washed properly and be sterilised in a hot oven before filling with jam etc. you know you have done it properly when you open the jar and hear a pop as the vacuum is released. Make sure the lids get washed and heated too, put them on hot. Don’t blame me if you get food poisoning! You didn’t clean them properly.

[coppice cutter]

Mrs CC, a nurse, approaches jar sterilisation at jam time with the same sort of clinical thoroughness that she approaches wound dressing or stitch removal.

 

I used to think it was ott, but probably not.

[sime42]

5 hours ago, kevinjohnsonmbe said:

Do like Sauerkraut!

 

I lavished out on a dehumidifier last year - predominantly for the surplus apple crop. 
 

I know the cost benefit ratio will not reach the benefit side until after a plutonium ½ life - and even that is dodgy if the elec keeps going up 😂, and that there are cheaper ways of preserving Apple, but the nipper loves the apple rings and that makes it all worthwhile. 
 

I did slow dry quite a load of 🌶 beside the fire one year while the Mrs had a pal staying. 
 

She looked like she’d been CS gassed!

 

That was worth it too 😂

I bought a food dehydrator years ago. I had big plans to dry all sorts of stuff. However, I bottled it as soon as I realised quite how many hours I'd have to have it on continuously for. All that lectric! I've never done a costing, though I suspect it may not actually be that expensive as it runs at quite a low temperature. Still, I only really use it for drying climbing beans, to eat and for sowing the following year.

 

We dry chillies by stringing them up in a front window. It's south facing so full sun all day. Works well. Not bought chillies for years.

[sime42]

1 hour ago, Mrblue5000 said:

I would love to have met John Seymour, I think his daughter still lives here in Ireland.
My tip for food conservation is to rinse out and keep your empty dol mio jars and lids. They need to be washed properly and be sterilised in a hot oven before filling with jam etc. you know you have done it properly when you open the jar and hear a pop as the vacuum is released. Make sure the lids get washed and heated too, put them on hot. Don’t blame me if you get food poisoning! You didn’t clean them properly.

I favour the Lydl or Aldi gherkin jars. They're a good size, seal very well and seem to last for years.

Proper sterilisation is obviously important but I reckon at the end of the day you're never going to harm yourself too much with fruit and vegetables. The only real danger is Botulism, but that's pretty rare, especially if things are heated well first or kept in an acidic environment, like vinegar or the lactic acid that's produced in Sauerkraut and similar fermented stuff.

Meat and fish on the other hand ...........

I'd love to try making something like salami, but haven't the balls for it. Or climate for that matter. 

 

[openspaceman]

3 hours ago, sime42 said:

The only real danger is Botulism, but that's pretty rare, especially if things are heated well first or kept in an acidic environment

I thought the problem with botulism was that it could grow in meat and produce toxins, cooking the meat killed the organism but the toxins were still present, Hence why not to reheat meat often.

 

Back to thread I made some baby marrow ( we have a glut but only the other veg that have survived the  dogs are spud and some feeble tomato plants) and cabbage sauerkraut. Never having eaten sauerkraut before I don't know what it should taste like but it is edible a spoonful at a time. I wish I had added some garlic.

[scbk]

In a dick strawbridge book there was pictures of a little solar dryer, basically a bit of tin painted black, an old window, and a cupboard.

Would love to give it a go for apple slices, don't know if it would work well in the north of scotland?

Edited July 25, 2022 by scbk

[PeteB]

Did a jar of red cabbage at the weekend, rinsed an old killer under a tap, 3 spoons of brown sugar cabbage sliced right thin, top up with malt vinegar and left to stand for a day before eating. Great with cheese or ham etc. Even nice in a sandwich!

[sime42]

13 hours ago, openspaceman said:

I thought the problem with botulism was that it could grow in meat and produce toxins, cooking the meat killed the organism but the toxins were still present, Hence why not to reheat meat often.

 

Back to thread I made some baby marrow ( we have a glut but only the other veg that have survived the  dogs are spud and some feeble tomato plants) and cabbage sauerkraut. Never having eaten sauerkraut before I don't know what it should taste like but it is edible a spoonful at a time. I wish I had added some garlic.

The other problems with botulism, apart from not being able cook away the toxins, is that you can not see, taste or smell it. I may be wrong but I had the idea that it could also grow on non meat foods,  anything where the acid level is too low.

 

Kimchi is like Sauerkraut with lots of garlic and chilli I think. Plus other potent things like fish sauce and dried shrimps. Not too sure about the latter two personally.

 

[Macpherson]

On 25/07/2022 at 09:56, coppice cutter said:

Sorry for the de-rail!

Top notch derail👍

 

Oh yes, and I made 12 pots of raspberry jam last week🙃

Edited July 26, 2022 by Macpherson