My list for winter...

[pack3tg0st]

Ok, so veggies are coming out, and it will soon be harvest time (sept-oct).

I figured its time for me to make a list of the shit I"m gonna need to make it until may of next year... stuff i'll need to keep my "eat local" thing going (I chose may because by the mid-end of may, we start seeing fresh veggies again, and I'll eat in season)

I was just going to do this at home on a piece of paper, but I figured at least someone out there in amkonland would appreciate having it posted here...

Consider this me motivating others to try and do the same thing I'm doing, while at the same time, showing everyone why I'm going to be on Amkon a lot less in the coming weeks :)

Anyway here's what I"m aiming for...

Canning:
60 Q tomato sauce - 48 Down!
20 Q stewed tomatoes - 16 Down...
[s:2r3u1nhg]20 Q green beans[/s:2r3u1nhg] DONE!
10 Q Beets
[s:2r3u1nhg]5 Q Dill pickles[/s:2r3u1nhg] DONE!
[s:2r3u1nhg]10 P Strawberry preserves[/s:2r3u1nhg] DONE!
20 Q Applesauce
10 Q Sauerkraut
[s:2r3u1nhg]5 Q peaches[/s:2r3u1nhg] DONE!

Freezer:

[s:2r3u1nhg]2 Gal bags blueberries[/s:2r3u1nhg] DONE!
[s:2r3u1nhg]1 Gal bag Rasperries[/s:2r3u1nhg] DONE!
[s:2r3u1nhg]1 Pint bag Black Rasperries[/s:2r3u1nhg] DONE!
[s:2r3u1nhg]10 Gal bags Sweet corn[/s:2r3u1nhg] DONE!
[s:2r3u1nhg]2 Gal bags Peas[/s:2r3u1nhg]
2 Gal bags Carrots

Added: Brocolli... my wife likes the shit... anyway, 6 Pints so far... she wants more though.

Root Cellar:

70 Lbs Potatoes - 20 lbs down... still need more
20 Lbs Sweet Potatoes
5 Bushels Apples
[s:2r3u1nhg]30 Lbs White Onion[/s:2r3u1nhg] Done!
[s:2r3u1nhg]30 Lbs Red Onion[/s:2r3u1nhg] Done!
[s:2r3u1nhg]10 lbs garlic[/s:2r3u1nhg] Done!
20 lbs Beets
10 lbs Turnips
10 lbs Rutabagas

Note: This doesn't include my meats and dried beans, which I'm already stocked up on...


I think thats about it... Lots of work for me coming up...

This is the first time I've ever tried to do enough to last through the winter... if all goes well, I won't have to buy food until next may...

This is for a family of four... two itty bitty kids... (4 and 2), so they don't eat much (yet)

Any ideas? should I up some of the quantities I"ll be using? I'm kind of in the dark on this one... I've canned and the likes, but this is the first I'll be eating exclusively local food, including veggies, through the entire winter...

edit: Updated list

edit: Updated again!

[WarlordZeroOne]

Pack, Good Luck with the food man that sounds like a full time job,keep us informed on yer progress interesting money-saving thought,wonder if Cog would have a go at that lol, i'll have to ask him,thats an awful lot of tin stuff pack.

[pack3tg0st]

hehe its a shitload of canning... thats for damn sure...

tonight I'm cranking out another 10 quarts of green beans, and a few quarts of peaches...

I'll probably make another batch of ice cream too... but that depends on how I feel after all the green beans...

edit: Ya know what, I can annotate on that main list what is complete and what isn't... that way progress can be shown :P

[KIWI]

how about a few pics of the operation pac,..........and good on ya, thats what ya call looking after the family (and half the neighbourhood Im sure).....skills mate :thumleft:

[pack3tg0st]

sure...

you looking for a "how to" or just pictures?

[Royal]

Are you praparing for something pack?

[pack3tg0st]

Are you praparing for something pack?

nah... just winter :P

Just figured all these years I was talking about the evils of corporate america, I was just as complacent as the rest of the population... so I said "fuck it"..

Figured it was about time for me to start walking the walk

Thus, I've moved to 100% local over the last few years...

This year, I got ambitious... and have only eaten food grown/raised within 100 miles of my house...

To keep from supporting the corporate assholes, and prop up my economy a bit, I am ramping up everything so that I don't have to buy a single meal that didn't come from within 100 miles of here... Wintertime included...

Thus, canning and the likes...

[pack3tg0st]

On a side note:

When I mean local, I mean LOCAL lol

This means most of what I cook and eat is made from scratch... 100% from scratch...

Ice Cream, Pizza, Flour, bread, cheese, yogurt... all from raw materials purchased from local farmers...

Its a sunovabitch to get started, but... holy hell is it educational, rewarding, and very interesting at the same time...

for instance... I never knew you could make riccotta cheese out of the whey left over from making mozzerella...

make some tomato sauce and pasta, and you have instant lasagne or ravioli!

Not only that... but when its done... I can actually pronounce all the ingredients that are in my food!

No Partially Hydrogenated bullshit oil or anything...

[Alessandra]

please add a "how to" for some of these. I'd love to get this info on paper just in case we 'fall off the grid'.

[pack3tg0st]

can do chii!

anything in particular?

should I start threads or just put em in here?

I just started the green beans in the pressure canner... so if ya want pictures... it'll have to be the peaches...

[Royal]

Nice. I commend your efforts. If things get rough, maybe we can do some trading. My astral hookers for some of your food...

[Alessandra]

can do chii!

anything in particular?

should I start threads or just put em in here?

I just started the green beans in the pressure canner... so if ya want pictures... it'll have to be the peaches...

Canning anything is always a good start to it. Some of us are lunkheads, and knowing this will help save food. Maybe share some recipes too.

[torbjon]

put up a case of oranges... marmalade. I know they ain't local. Do it anyway. And what's this 10 PINTS of strawberries bullshit? Are you fucking kidding me? That's a typo, right? You meant 10 QUARTS put up in pint bottles, right? okay, better, yer still gonna run outta jam come easter though... can never have too much jam.

Ever freeze soft fruits for duration before? Meats too for that matter... remember, I do have some small experience in that. Wrap yer meat 'till the cows come home and it's still gonna burn... quintuple bag yer fruit and veg and it still turns to mush on thaw... there's a secret though, and it works, really works, two year plus freezer life, even for blueberries.

the 'secret' is glazing.

Freeze your shit 'till it's Rock Hard. Don't worry 'bout wrapping it or anything just yet, only concern at this stage is that you can bust the stuff up into individual units after it is frozen solid.

clean yer sink. Fill it with ice water from the fridge. Put alla yer ice from the ice cube trays in there as well, along with a hefty dash of salt... say, a handful... (salt water freezes at a lower temp than plain water, thus you can get salty water colder than cold.)

Take a frozen hunk of meat (or fruit or veg) and DIP it into the ice water for one second, then pull it out, then dip it in again, etc. two, three,,, no more than five or six dips. You should be able to notice a thin layer of clear ice forming over the frozen hunk of stuff each time you dip it... kinda like making a candle....

that thin layer of ice is the Glaze, and it creates an Air Tight barrier between your product and the frozen environment you intend to stash it in for prolonged periods of time. That glaze is better than plastic wrap, better than zip lock, better than freezer paper, better than wet locks, better than tupperware...

Once the shit is glazed you can use less plastic/paper to wrap the stuff (save money) and it'll stay "fresher" longer (less loss of nutrients through dehydration, thus saving even more money) Do wrap the stuff some though, to help protect the glaze from getting chipped...

I'm not seeing any grain on yer list... no oats, wheat, millet, barely, rice, etc. etc. etc... oversight?

have fun...

porn time
twj

[pack3tg0st]

kk!

I'll take some pictures of the process with peaches, and post em in here :)

I might copy/paste my grandpa's recipe for Pickled/Dilly beans as well...

Pickling is easy :P

[pack3tg0st]

I'm not seeing any grain on yer list... no oats, wheat, millet, barely, rice, etc. etc. etc... oversight?


Nah, Not an oversight, I just consider my grains part of my brewing process...

thus, I keep 5 gal food grade buckets handy... keeps the critters out...

but I have 10 gal wheat (5 gal of two diff styles)... 5 gal of barley, 5 gal of rye, 5 gal of Bran, 10 gal of oatmeal...

[torbjon]

I'm not seeing any grain on yer list... no oats, wheat, millet, barely, rice, etc. etc. etc... oversight?


Nah, Not an oversight, I just consider my grains part of my brewing process...

thus, I keep 5 gal food grade buckets handy... keeps the critters out...

but I have 10 gal wheat (5 gal of two diff styles)... 5 gal of barley, 5 gal of rye, 5 gal of Bran, 10 gal of oatmeal...

oh good, had me worried there for a minute...

try your hand at glazing something... meat is easy and pretty much idiot proof (ie even if you do it 'wrong' you just end up with a frozen hunk of meat, no big deal)

the berries you gotta be FAST with as they are so small they will thaw out in just a few minutes... I would recommend trying a colander, china hat, deep fat fryer basket, something like that for the dipping phase...

good luck and have fun with it.

later mater
twj

[lala]

Great effort Pac . . . quite rewarding to, I'm sure . . . . read some where that you can keep pumkin if cut up deseeded and dipped in cornflour,then stored same as potates . . . I think it was in a old recipe book I've got somewhere . . .

Great idea about the freezing food, torbjon . . . I got a quick freeze, fridge/freezer this year . . . and thats what it does stop fruit going mushie . . . .meat keeps longer, something about the size of the ice freezing . . . . :D

[pack3tg0st]

try your hand at glazing something...

LOL I glaze my wife on occassion... does that count?


meat is easy and pretty much idiot proof (ie even if you do it 'wrong' you just end up with a frozen hunk of meat, no big deal)


Thanks for the tip man! I"ll give it a shot tomorrow!

[KIWI]

sure...

you looking for a "how to" or just pictures?

the whole 9 yards if you got the time pac............regards Torbs freezing, if you "blast" freeze, there is no time for the moisture inside to become ice-crystals, these are what then go on to damage the produce from the inside, severely degrading your quality.....freezer burn

huge effort pac.......again, hats off to ya :smokin:

[pack3tg0st]

kk, by request, here's canning peaches...

some of my pictures didn't turn out great... but here goes with the ones that turned out enough...

[attachment=0:2tkaolht]IMG_0008.JPG[/attachment:2tkaolht]

You'll need a big bowl full of ice... a big bowl on the stove full of boiling water... all the regular canning shit (pressure canner, jar pickie-uppie thingies, lid lifter) sterilized jars and lids (boil in water for a few mins, that'll take care of it), and of course peaches...

1) Peel the peaches... I know it sounds like a pain in the ass... but the skins really get tough when you store them for long periods of time... I put my peaches 2 or 3 at a time in boiling water... count to 30 and take them out.. immediately plunging them into cold water... then, the skin comes right off really easily...
[attachment=2:2tkaolht]IMG_0014.JPG[/attachment:2tkaolht]
[attachment=1:2tkaolht]IMG_0009.JPG[/attachment:2tkaolht]

cont...

[pack3tg0st]

[attachment=2:oybcrivi]IMG_0011.JPG[/attachment:oybcrivi]

Watch out when you peel the fuckers... they're slippery as shit without skin lol

anyway, cut into 8ths, or whatever size you prefer... and pack fairly tightly into the jars... I take an optional step here, and add a table spoon of ascorbic acid to each quart sized jar... (Ascorbic acid is vitamin C, and you can probably pick it up anywhere) This is just to preserve color, as I don't like to add sugar or sweeteners to my canned peaches...

[attachment=1:oybcrivi]IMG_0013.JPG[/attachment:oybcrivi]

Pour boiling water (or boiling water/sugar solution, depending on how you want your peaches) into the jars... filling up until just a quarter inch below the lip of the jar..

[attachment=0:oybcrivi]IMG_0018.JPG[/attachment:oybcrivi]
.
Cont...

[pack3tg0st]

use the magnetic lid lifter to lift a lid out of the boiling water (boiled for sterilization, remember?) and onto the jar... do not touch the bottom of the lid... I've got it down so I don't even need to touch the lid to put it on the jar...

[attachment=1:2249atvy]IMG_0019.JPG[/attachment:2249atvy]

Then place your jars in the pressure canner...

[attachment=0:2249atvy]IMG_0021.JPG[/attachment:2249atvy]

The canning times vary depending on what your canning... but for peaches, I put the jars in boiling water at 5 PSI for 10 mins... after the canner gets up to pressure and you have cooked for 10 mins... turn of the heat... wait for the pressure to drop on the canner... this can take anywhere from 20-45 mins... but TRUST me, you do NOT want to fuck with steam under pressure...

After you remove from the canner, set on the counter to cool for 24 hours... after 24 hours, the lids of the cans should be "Sucked in" if a good seal was achieved...

If the lids still aren't sealed... some people re-process the jars... but its only about 1/20 jars that won't seal... so I just eat em :P

anyway, hope that makes sense... I haven't had coffee yet..

Maybe after a cup-o-joe, I"ll feel a little more coherent, and might go resize those pictures :P

[KIWI]

cool pac, :shock: got an apricot tree out back, the fucken thing loads up, they are the size of med peaches!.....theyre to spoilt round here mate, I spend all the time gathering and no fucka eats them!.......I give up and let them drop, creating a even worse job of hosing the shit of the path :roll: ......this year wil be different, theyre gonna get "Pack'd" :smokin:

[Lexion]

Plus, the pics are life-size.

:D

[boycotteverything]

and pray the electricity lasts through armageddon or we're really fucked.

[KIWI]

and pray the electricity lasts through armageddon or we're really fucked.

get a women , peaches in the dark.......nice :wink:

[boycotteverything]

all the women here froze their peaches off last winter.

[KIWI]

all the women here froze their peaches off last winter.

will its what they told you anyway :lol:

[WarlordZeroOne]

Good on ya Pack i like what you are doing,i hope come next spring we can still talk about this self sufficient money saving,also enjoy doing,try and keep a track on Man-hours pack be interesting the quantitys and man-hours,so good luck mate,keep on canning. there a song somewhere in that, keep on canning.lol

[boycotteverything]

all the women here froze their peaches off last winter.

will its what they told you anyway :lol:ya mean it might just be a rumor??

[pack3tg0st]

Ok, so I just shucked, braised, cut and bagged 6 dozen ears of sweet corn... I have a half bushel of Tomatoes to get my start on all the tomato shit tomorrow...

Amish guy told me he'd bring me a bushel of onions and a half bushel of Beets to the next farmers market next friday...

yah...

wife keeps adding shit to my list though... sigh...

Anyway... updated my list for those that wanted to watch my progress...

I'm thinking of another 6 dozen ears of corn before winter as well... my original estimate doesn't seem like a whole lot when its sitting in my freezer...

sigh... I"m supposed to make the kids ice cream for tomorrow night too... maybe I"ll wait till tomorrow to get that done... its been a long day.

[guinnessford]

10 Q Sauerkraut

A must have for Kowalski kielbasa!!!!

[skunk]

Packet, you're one of the most sustainability-minded posters. Ever heard of permaculture? I think you'd appreciate it.

Keep growing.

[pack3tg0st]

kinda the same idea in the long run that my wife and I were thinking about...

After we fix this victorian up, our next house will have at least 10 acres...

I was going to use heirloom seeds and perennials to get it so everything we ate (Except meat) would be grown/raised on our land...

right now, we don't have crap for land... the only thing I"m growin successfully is Hops for brewing... but I just put those plants in this year so I can't get a harvest off of them until next fall...

[torbjon]

Pack:

a) thumbs up and coolnees and all, but
b) eeknees, I Gotta comment on some stuff 'cause lives are at stake. Out of alla the things we chat about here, NOTHING is more important and safety critical than Food.

Just to clarify for other people, the "lid" is a two part component; there's a round flat 'lid' with a rubber (or, in days of yore, cork) gasket that seals the jar shut. The other part is the 'ring', which is threaded and screws onto the jar to help protect the 'lid'. The 'lid' HAS to be sterilized, (as pack said) the 'ring' doesn't. Doesn't hurt to boil the ring, it just doesn't have to be done. It's a time thing... time is money, time is survival, yadda yadda...

You don't HAVE to put the ring on before inserting the jars into the pressure cooker, that can be done after. Most people do put it on before, for convenience, speed up the process, etc... However, if you do put the ring on before the canning process, DON'T screw the thing down tight! Reasons for this follow:

the purpose of pressure in this process is two fold; one is to kill the little buggies that could kill you, (most living organisms have a hard time living at pressures greater than one atmosphere for prolonged periods of time) the other is to force the molecules of Air out of the jar.

by screwing the lid down Tight you are effectively sealing the jar Before the pressure process. This runs a double risk; you are reducing the efficiency of the overall process ie. the gauge on your pressure cooker reads ten pounds, but the actual pressure in the jar has only reached three pounds. Second, the jar could implode like a submerine running to crush depth... very messy, loss of product, waste of time...

I've canned Literally a ton of fruit and veg at home over the years without using a ring. If the process is done correctly, the lid will suck up to the jar so freeeeeeking tightly that you'll need a crowbar to pry it off. The ring is kind of a throw back to days of yore when Cork gaskets were in use. Cork gaskets just don't seal as well as rubber ones, and the ring helped to prolong the shelf life of the product. Today the ring seems to be primarily ornamental, And, it makes a nifty little 'crowbar' for prying the lid off. However, if you are going to be transporting the stuff rather than just sticking on the shelf or giving it to grandma for her to stick on her shelf then use the ring... it Does help to keep the lid from getting bumped off during transport.

You mentioned filling the jar with product, then filling the jar with liquid to about a quarter inch from the top of the jar... kinda right but kinda misleading. The purpose of this part of the process is to COVER the product with liquid. If there is any product sticking above the surface of the liquid, game over, you might as well not can. Also, a 'quarter inch' from the top of the jar is a bit too much, should only fill the jar with product / liquid to the Bottom of the threads on the jar, which is more like a half inch on a Kerr or Ball jar.

*sips*... let's see, what else... oh ya,

DON'T put the finished jars onto the counter top to cool! Basic science 101. You'll get unequal cooling and increase the chances of micro fractures in the glass around the base of the jar. Everything may seem 'peachy' today, but at some future point in time you go to grab that jar off the larder shelf and *Splooosh*, jar comes up in your hand, base of jar stays sitting on larder shelf, ooey gooey mess everywhere... also, Hot Glass on Cold Surface? Crrrrrack. Maybe even Kablooie. Got a scar on my thigh from that one. Use A Cooling Rack. If you don't have one, take the rack out of your oven and use that. (make sure it sits level, though)

The liquid itself... Ya, you don't Have to use syrups, even though most of the 'recipes' say so... This is another days of Yore thing, sugar is an Awesome preservative and will increase the shelf life of your product many fold. You don't have to use water, either, though. Try putting up some pears in mint tea... Yum Fucking Licious. You can use fruit juice, too (best of both worlds, that). The primary purpose of the liquid is to get the Air out of the jar. In fact, the whole purpose of canning is to get the air out of the jar (can).

Okay, this one blew my mind... 20 to 45 MINUTES to de-pressurize your system?? You're leaving your product under pressure for anywhere from 25 to 50 minutes??? yuck. talk about MUSH. Dude, every pressure system I've ever seen, from dinky little 2 quart home units to industrial 10,000 pound units, has a Manual blow off valve.

A = manual blow off
B = emergency blow off

http://www.torbtown.com/cooker.jpg

In theory, the way these things are supposed to work is that there is a bit of pipe coming out of the lid and sitting on top of that pipe like a cap is a Weight (thingy A). As the pressure inside the unit increases, it pushes against that weight, lifting it, and allows a bit of steam / pressure to escape so the lid doesn't blow off (which is just a big drag for everyone). If that unit should jam up or somehow fail, there's also a hole in the lid with a rubber cork nailed into it (thingy B) which is supposed to blow out Before the lid explodes... it's rare that Both systems will fail, but I've seen it happen twice in my life (Not a 'fear factor'! I think this is due primarily to the shear volume of home canning I've done over the years... sooner or later it's inevitable, right? Just be Respectful and Mindful... after all, that's a nice little bomb sitting on our stove tops, ya know?)

Get the lid to your cooker and play with the thingy A... it should pop off... never seen one where it Didn't pop off but my experience is Not all encompassing and I've Never used one manufactured in this century. If you've Never popped the thing off before it may take a bit of prying... you really should be able to pop the thing off and inspect the hole in the pipe that it sits upon to make sure said hole isn't obstructed... safety first, right?

I imagine that when your canning steam leaks out of the thingy A area, yes? The weight may even rock back and forth a bit, yes? Well, when your product has been under pressure for the proscribed amount of time, extinguish the heat source and pop that weight off (or just wiggle it or lift it or whatever so the steam / pressure can escape)

YES, it's Noisy, Hot, Steamy, and Scary, so do be careful, but Do It. *pokes*

Pressure not only kills the little buggies that kill us, it also Destroys the product you are canning. You are losing 'food value' for every second you keep your product under pressure. You do not want to keep our product under pressure any longer than you absolutely Have to.

Basically I see you killing yourself twice here Pack; you're wasting time in the de-pressurization process (time is money, time is survival) and you're destroying food value (turning a quart of product into half a quart of product due to prolonged exposure to pressure)

Lastly, I had to go 'huh?' when I saw your numbers (so many pounds of pressure for so many minutes) as your numbers didn't jive with mine... then I went 'duh'. Another science 101 moment. The amount of pressure required and the duration of the cook are 100% dependent upon Elevation. Your numbers are for peaches at Sea Level. (the numbers in my head are based upon 3500 feet above sea level as that is where I did the bulk of my home canning) There's pressure / cook-time charts for various products / elevations all over the internet and in cook books. Check 'em out before starting, there's some radical differences between sea level and elevation... as much as 15 minutes depending upon how stoned you are.... erm, how high you are.

oh, never mentioned, but something to keep in mind, food is photo sensitive. We're canning in glass jars... ergo store the shit in the Dark. Exposure to light (natural or artificial) degrades the product.

I know you are only doing this for the short haul (one season) but I've put up fruit and veg, even meat (ham hocks with green beans) and had stuff survive for over five years, no fatalities... still pretty fucking tasty, too. Some stuff even seems to get Better with age... I swear, pears in mint tea, on the shelf for a year... the color is funny but the flavor is to Die For.

keep 'em flying.
twj

[pack3tg0st]

hehe I'm using a pressure canner from my grandma... so I don't have manual pressure release... or even a nifty pressure gage...

Its got a rocker weight on top... and I have to sit and listen to it "tick" to get it just right lol

can't open it when its under that much pressure... My grandma's "little book" has all the cook times and stuff using that canner... the only issue I had was a batch of 4 quarts of Green beans that I forgot about... Turned the seeds brown (overcooked)... other than that, everything has always come out spiffy...

I usually take the weight off after about 10 mins (adding alittle more time for higher pressures... if you take it off too soon ya get a high pressure blast of steam to your hand... which still burns through an oven mitt BTW).

The instructions to the pressure cooker say 45... which I imagine is for safety issues so the manufacturer doesn't get in trouble or sued...

Oh, another note: If you plan on pickling (which is cake... salt + Vinagar = pickled) use about 1/8 - 1/4 tsp of Alum in each jar you can... Many recipes don't tell you this, but the Alum will help whatever your pickling to retain its "Crunchy"..



You leave more headspace than I do... although, I change the amount of headspace depending on what I"m doing based on grandma's notes :)

Good note on the "rings" and to make sure they aren't too tight... I usually hand tighten them down, then loosen them between 1/4 and 1/2 turn... and for storage reasons... make sure you take the damn rings off... they were just in water, and WILL rust 9/10 times... which makes it a motherfuck to get off the jar...

The important part that both Torb and I are trying to get across is STERILIZE THE FUCK OUTTA EVERYTHING THAT WILL TOUCH THE FOOD!... boil your jars... boil the lids... boil the liquid you're putting in the jars etc... make sure everything is as sterile as it can be...

Your food might not mold in jars and stuff, but poor sanatation leads to botulism...

nasty shit...

[Ducky]

Damn :shock:

I might even try my hand at this next month. You guys make it sound so easy. I've got all the equipment, now to get me some food to preserve.

Definately would like to try Torb's Apricot/mint concoction. I've got a mini-garden growing on my patio right now. No where near enough for what you guys mentioned, but plan on picking up some more fruits/veggies at the farmers market soon. My little herb garden is for medicinal and culinary, and believe it or not, I even have mint out there. :D

[pack3tg0st]

its really not tha ttough ducky...

just a little bit of attention to detail and a few hours of spare time and you can do all sorts of stuff...

only took me 2 hours or so last night to prepare 6 doz ears of corn for freezing... (taking it off the cob and into bags... )

people don't realize how easy it is actually... just repetative bullshit pretty much....

[torbjon]

dude, I had the same cooker, and that rocker weight IS the 'manual blow off valve'. I couldn't find a picture of an old cooker quickly, just grabbed the first pic I found with the weight on it for illustration...

what the fuck are you doing using you HAND to pop the thing?? *rolls eyes* All the home cookers I used were Presto, and their weights had a little wire hoopy thingy on top... stuck a fork in the wire and lift. Busted the wire on one of 'em... instead of trying to fix it, just used a pair of tongs to pop that one.

You're using something more like this, yes?

http://www.torbtown.com/presto.jpg

perhaps a larger, 'kettle' as opposed to the 'pot' version, but the lid principle is the same, right?

query: does the weight have a little peg that raises up as the system pressurizes? And does the peg have little lines on it (probably three, one line per five pounds, fifteen pounds max)?

and you 'eyeball' the pressure by how many lines are showing, and regulate pressure by regulating the heat OR giving that little peg a tap to let some pressure out, yes?

so?

tap that peg! vent some pressure that way before popping the weight off if popping the weight off at full pressure makes you nervous...

I'm having a real hard time believing that the 'little book' doesn't mention SOME way to de-pressurize the system in a hurry... 'the book' advocating that you Wait for the system to cool and de-pressurize slowly is whack... that's a real waste of Energy (have to re-heat everything again) a waste of time (time is money) and there's not a soft fruit in the World that enjoys a 45 minute cook time... that's just insane.

sorry to be getting so hot and bothered about this, but this subject is like, My Life. Not a boast, not a brag, and most certainly Not a slam against grandma or the 'little book' but, 25 years of doing this at home, followed by 10 years of doing it commercially / industrially, followed by a stint at the cullinary institute... if it's a choice between "food" versus "sex+drugs+rock'n'roll", as much as Love the latter, the former has been my god of choice, and Worship her I do...

as near as I can tell, you're killing the food,,,, and tha's killin' me comrade...

think I'd sleep better knowing you were throwing live human babies with kittens into the trash compactor than over cookin' the fruit and veg...

in fact, I Know I would.

having ranted that, just know that I'm proud of you, respect you, and am so very glad that you are even doing this and sharing with us. Despite the fact that you are (inadvertently) pissing on my god, she's YOUR GOD TOO, so, as long as You feel cool and groovy and happy about it, then all is cool. After all, You're the one that is going to have to eat that stuff, not me. As long as you feel good about, then all is as it should be.

now do try the mint tea with the pears, truly, knock your socks off.

[pack3tg0st]

lol oh I know where you're coming from man, and no hard feelings on my end :P

this is the weight on top of my cooker (found a link online cause my cellphone pictures kept coming up all wobbly)

http://i15.ebayimg.com/08/i/001/55/f3/70d3_2.JPG

The canner itself has no safety valves... no "pressure relief" or anything... its an old motherfucker... The kind that everyone tells you not to use because it could explode... the lid is smooth except for the nipple that the rocker goes on...

Old school to the max...

yah, I need to get a new one, but this thing fits like 8 quart sized jars... replacing it with a modern one would cost about 100-120 bucks... which I might do this winter...

the weight has 3 settings... 5-10-15 lbs... and you carefully monitor the proper heat by listening to how many times it "rocks"... once you get the rocking down to about 3-5 times per min or so... you've got it nailed...

I don't leave it in afterwards for the full 45 mins... thats just what the instructions suggest... Like I said, I usually pull it off at about 15 mins for low pressure, upwards of 25 or more for the higher pressures...

the one time I tried to pull off the rocker less than 10 mins after cooking, I got scalded something fierce... the steam burnt me right through the oven mitt... (no wire to pick it up with)

meh, everything has turned out so far... I've only needed it for green beans so far (I have a 7 gal water bath for everything else... I also boil my wort for beer in it!)

out of all the cans of green beans, only one batch turned out overcooked... but that was because I was drinking and forgot... left it on for 5-10 mins too long...

now, about your mint tea... I don't have a whole lot of tea (just standard iced tea)... what do you think it would taste like with some "bruised" mint leafs in there...

I'm going to give this shit a shot when pears come in... they should be ready in a week or so :P

[Lexion]

but that was because I was drinking and forgot to wear a condom...

Fixt.

:D

[pack3tg0st]

no no no lol

that was the first kid...

the second kid was the honeymoon :P

[Lexion]

the second kid was the honeymoon

That can be construed as
wrong, on so many levels.

:D

Giggity,
Lex

[pack3tg0st]

lol well... if you look at my kiddos birthdays...

December 19....

I got out of the military March 27th and moved in with my future wife...

Got married on Oct 31st...

kid was born July 16th following year...

impeccable timing isn't it?

[Lexion]

You missed my wit.

Think on it.

:D

[pack3tg0st]

no, I got it...

I intentionally pretended like I didn't get it :P

[pack3tg0st]

Fuck man.... my keg is downstairs...

Can you get me another brewskie man?

[Lexion]

On the way.

Courtesy a Boing 737.

Wait.....

[pack3tg0st]

lol nice!

i'll grab another pint and wait...

o wait...

DAMMIT! lol

[pack3tg0st]

another 7 doz ears of corn today....

got a bushel of Onions (red and yellow mixed)... gotta get those hanging up on the porch for a week... (for those that don't know, when onions come out of the ground, they don't have the "paper" layers... you have to leave them in the sun for a week to get that... which is needed before you can store it forever in the cellar)

Just got done with a bushel+ of tomatoes... have those mofo's on the stove cooking right now...

Slightly underestimated the sheer volume, so I have my brew kettle + stock pot on the stove cooking... once they condense enough, I'll mix em together for continuity... Then time to can!

Updating my winter list on the OP...

I'm getting there :P

[pack3tg0st]

got a shitload of squash (20 of em) for the root cellar last week...

and a half bushel of potatoes... (They're just starting)

the root cellar is starting to look a little more full these days... which is good...

anyway, thats the latest update... more to come after the market tomorrow...

[skunk]

How many days of food do you have stored?

[Lexion]

Do you eat what you're storing,
as you're storing ?

If not, what do you eat ?

Edit to add : My 2k post.
:D

[pack3tg0st]

lol somewhat lex... we're still getting fresh stuff here... so some of the stuff we eat is store-able... the other stuff is just fresh, with no chance of long term storage...

but once I put something in the root cellar, or can it... we don't touch it until after there's no more fresh stuff coming in...

[pack3tg0st]

14 pints of Stewed tomatoes...

14 pints of Whole tomatoes...

3 pints of pickled banana peppers...

I'm about halfway done processing the jars...

its been a long night lol

but... another 28 pints of tomatoes down...

Got another bushel to get outta my sisters garden tomorrow... probably another 28 out of those...

then I might be able to call it quits for tomatoes lol

i'll update my list :P

[pack3tg0st]

How many days of food do you have stored?

actually man, I have no idea lol

I did up a meal plan (on a 21 day rotation) so I'd know how much of what I needed...

I planned on eating stored food from mid-October to Mid may...

30 weeks I planned...

But, its hard to gauge how many days of food, because everything comes in at different times... (i.e. only have a half bushel of potatoes down there... sauerkrout isn't in yet... erm... yah... just some stuff that you would use on a daily basis, but haven't been completed yet... )

[GeneralStriker]

don't forget to pickle a couple of jars of bees. very good with pinot noir on a cold night.

[pack3tg0st]

ooh yah... pickled beets are epic :P

one of my favs :)

[Lexion]

He said bees.

[pack3tg0st]

so he did...

dammit

[pack3tg0st]

got a few beets... about 25 lbs of cabbage... a few more squash...

Thank god i'm done with tomatoes.

[pack3tg0st]

Anyone here care about sauerkraut?

I'll be making about 5 gallons of it later today...

if anyone cares... I'll see abou tdoing the pictures thing..

[Foxtrot Oscar]

Just don't mention the war.

Fox

[pack3tg0st]

Thought about making Kimchi...

But only have 1 crock...

wonder if its possible to make Kimchi in mason jars...

[Foxtrot Oscar]

Shall I delete the Kimchi post in the water thread now numbnutts?

:lol: Oooooowwww I see what you did thar!

Also. What's a mason jar (I'll look in a bit) and then ask A Korean.

Fox

[Foxtrot Oscar]

Mason jar should be fine, damm the stuff mostly comes in plastic tubs over here.

Even the brand my friend's wife uses (She's Korean) comes in a plastic tub.

Fox

[pack3tg0st]

hrm...

It would appear that its really difficult to fuck up Lacto-fermented food...

Thats awesome! apparently Botulism can't grow in food preserved this way, and the stuff counts as a "raw food"

That means, I might not need to process the jars in a typical "canning" sense...

Looks like Kimchi isn't rocket science either...

but I don't have half the stuff...

wonder if I can substitute some "Western" ingredients for the Eastern ones... (i.e. An american radish in place of Asian radish)

Might make a distinctly american "local" style of Kimchi...

I love kimchi... mmmmmm... I call it by its nickname though...

Wifebane.

[Foxtrot Oscar]

Just don't be telling any Koreans what you did to their national dish.

All they guys know Taekwondo.

And they have a bad habit of being bat shit crazy!

I like it with beans on toast: peoplebane!

Fox

[pack3tg0st]

I like it with beans on toast: peoplebane!


Jesus man... mixing Kimchi with beans sounds like a recipe for some sort of evil biological weapon...

It might be against the Geneva Conventions...

Then again... I can't think of a better way to remove paint from the ceiling...

[Lexion]

Kimchi......

Haven't had it in years.

Can it be bought here in
the states ?

Pretty sure my wife won't
make it, let alone eat it.

Hell, I might have to eat it
outside.

:D

[pack3tg0st]

lol ya know lex...

you could make it yourself :P

its great for eating on those days you just want to be left alone lol

[Cogburn]

Kim-chi is good... it's the 1,000 year old eggs I can't even smell without vomiting.

[KIWI]

man I love pickled eggs, chicken or quail....doing eggs pac?

[pack3tg0st]

lol nope... no eggs...

I'll just keep getting em fresh from the farm down the road...

[pack3tg0st]

Apple sauce, apple butter, baked apples, apple pie filling and apple jelly on the docket for tonight...

yah... I got a shitload of apples...

I"ll be taking the core and skins... boiling them forever and a day to make pectin... then I"ll can the pectin and use that for jams/jellies next year... that way I don't ahve to buy the shit from the store...

anyway... long night ahead of me...

already have the hard apple cider going in the cellar... started a batch of rye pale ale as well...

if all else fails, I'll be drunker than shit in 2 weeks lol

[Lexion]

if all else fails, I'll be drunker than shit in 2 weeks lol

So, you're drunk as shit, now ?

[pack3tg0st]

not yet... might be later tonight though! :)