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Post by Paws on Apr 7, 2005 3:59:27 GMT 12.75
I looked around on some of the threads, and didn't see anything to do with "CANNING" , although Michael Jackson was on the news this morning ;D. I remember as a kid, going ot my Grandparents home and it seemed that if it grew from the earth, flew, swam or walked my Grandmother had it in jars on the shelf. When she passed away, the art of canning foods went with her. Now that I am just a bit older and have learned to appriceate that art, there is not a lot of the old recipe's out there. Also back then I am willing to bet that there were no pressure cookers and most everything was done in some sort of a large DO. If any of you are willing to part with some information, I would love to try this with some wild game before it freezer burns and goes out to feed the fox in my yard. Check out TT's post about the first pressure canner!! Pressure canningwas being done in the 15th century throughout Europe; but mostly in France and England. Not too long ago, couple of years or so, we discovered a cast iron Dutch oven for sale that had a perfect hole a little larger than a pencil lead in the lid. As you may remember Dutch ovens "do" form a limited pressure seal due to the weight of the lid. We speculated that this hole was a pressure relief vent. Anyway, by the early 19th century pressure cooking, even as a part of the canning process was very well developed and with few modifications remains very much the same today. Some of our Civil War era soldiers most favorite treats were canned fruits, fish, oysters, and "milk"! How about that? Yes even during the Civil War canned milk was available. Carnation introduced the sweetened version or what we now call condensed milk and I believe Borden's was also producing it during the Civil War. The best sources for pressure cooking and canning information still remain the local State Agriculture Departments and the University Vocational Agricultural Curriculums. Additionally I find the best places for canning recipes are the older Grange and Fund Raiser (such as Church and Fraternal Lodge) cook books. Look for these at yard sales. The Joy of Cooking series of cook books contains canning instructions and recipes as well. Keep an eye out for the older editions. And I would certainly be happy to include a separate thread here for canning recipes. Good work guys!! After all, canning is part of the cooking process; just ask Colonel Sanders!!
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Post by Paws on Apr 7, 2005 4:35:46 GMT 12.75
I was just reading Dutch's recipe for braised partridge he had passed down from his Great Grand Dad and it gave me an idea. His recipe is actually more "technique" than recipe. I think maybe this is where the "ART" comes in. Or at least a large part of it. What do you think? How does the technique, disregarding all of the recipe ingredients other than the primary ingredient, affect the outcome of the dish? Can you pick a food and demonstrate for me the outcome when treated with the different cooking techniques? Include pressure cooking as well if you would. Let me give an example: I have a potato. I may boil it, fry ijt, bake it, braise it, roast it, grill it, smoke it, BBQ it, pressure cook it, shoot even microwave it. If I boil it it will become hot, soft, gain liquid and virftually fall apart depending on how long it is boiled. If I fry it the skin may become brown and crisp while the inside remains firm and cold. If I bake it will become hot, dry out some what and the skin may become brown. If I braise it it will probably burn the outside while the inside remains raw and cold. If I roast it it will become hot, soft, somewhat dry and the skin may soften. If I smoke or BBQ it it will probably shrink away to a dry ball given sufficient time turning brown, grey, and black and of course smokey if smoked. And so on. Notice it has not been subjected to any changes just consideration of cooking an unchanged potato. Comments, discussion, etc. ;D Would someone do a pork chop, a bratwurst, a squash, and a chicken please? ;D
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Post by Two Tales on Apr 7, 2005 10:35:26 GMT 12.75
Paws, if I may...if you smoke a tater...which method would you choose? (I didn't give a deffinition of smoking or smoked foods) I would think that if you were to this you would want to ensure that the potato is fully cooked before hand and then use a cold smoke to give it flavor, you can also par cook and use hot smoke to finish the cooking process...starting raw with some tubers will lead to a very un-edible hunk that is nearly impossible to rehydrate...
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Post by Paws on Apr 7, 2005 11:47:38 GMT 12.75
I was thinking of beginning with a raw potato, unpeeled, and untreated in any other way. Just to imagine what one would end up with. I certainly wish we could all be together to experiment with such ideas physically; but, for the moment this will have to do. I know that some of the progression may seem a bit silly, outcomes obvious, etc due to an individual's experience; but, remember we are doing this to learn and that includes others who may read this who do not have the benefit of our experience. Still, I think there is something to be said for reviewing the basics and see what we may have never learned, confirm what we know to be true, or even correct something we learned incorrectly. I think your conclusions are dead on TT! Where did you discover the difference between cold smoking and smoking with heat? Do you think you can use the same definition for both hot smoking and BBQ?
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Post by hhusvar on Apr 7, 2005 13:39:18 GMT 12.75
Hemlock?? Not good eats!! Good job TT. Anyone else? Now let's look at the "heat" treatment in terms of what is happening to our food when it is cooked using any particular cooking method. Who is first? Okay.. even with my big mouth this doesn't get said often because I'm too stubborn to admit it as often as I should, but... I wasn't sure of the answer to this question beyond it gets hot, changes the molecules and most of the time it tastes pretty good. So, I turned to the internet and found this article: www.bbc.co.uk/print/science/hottopics/cooking/print.shtml If you scroll down to the section called Cooking Chemistry and keep reading it's pretty fascinating. I must admit, when it comes to food science I tend to rely on the hunky Alton Brown. Just goes to show, it's important to learn new things every day. Heather H.
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Post by hhusvar on Apr 7, 2005 13:44:05 GMT 12.75
I looked around on some of the threads, and didn't see anything to do with "CANNING" , although Michael Jackson was on the news this morning ;D. I remember as a kid, going ot my Grandparents home and it seemed that if it grew from the earth, flew, swam or walked my Grandmother had it in jars on the shelf. When she passed away, the art of canning foods went with her. Now that I am just a bit older and have learned to appriceate that art, there is not a lot of the old recipe's out there. Also back then I am willing to bet that there were no pressure cookers and most everything was done in some sort of a large DO. If any of you are willing to part with some information, I would love to try this with some wild game before it freezer burns and goes out to feed the fox in my yard. Well, I love canning, but I will admit, pressure canning makes me very nervous. I know there's no real reason for it, but it does! I love canning using the water bath method, but a few years ago I had to get rid of a lot of things to relocate. Just this winter I finally cracked the wallet on my Christmas money and invested in the basic canning kit from Ball. Honestly, the Blue Book they publish is probably the best information you can get. Also, some fantastic advice comes from the usenet group rec.food.preserving. There are some amazing experts on that group who can answer any question imaginable. Last year we didn't do a whole lot for canning because our garden didn't go as well as planned and with such a dreary summer it just wasn't in it. I'm looking at some quality canning time this year! If you're going to the Salt Fork event, I'd be glad to bring the blue book with me for you to look over and see if you're interested in ordering. I'll probably bring the big canning pot for boiling water for washing up. Heather H.
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Post by CHUCK1 on Apr 7, 2005 13:51:47 GMT 12.75
Let me take off where TWO TALES left off.BBQ much like to ROAST except using open fire SMOKE dries and also leaves distinct flavor from the acids in the various or type of wood used.DESICCATE too dry or dehydrate.BRINE salt water solution for hydrating and preserving PAWS I'm trying PORK CHOP BAKE dry &tough ROAST moist & tender as would BOIL & PRESSURE COOK except presure cooking takes less time. FRYING sear the outside and inside may be rare too tough depending on time cooked. BRAISE seared outside moist & tender .BBQ. same as roast but smoke flavor. SMOKE dry & tough. GRILL same as frying. TWO TALES &PAWS I beleave your right about the smoking of potatoes due to the dehydrtion . OK NEXT
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Post by OLKoot on Apr 7, 2005 14:06:38 GMT 12.75
Bratwurst...only way to do it.....in a pot covered with beer , two cloves and sliced onions....boiled ,,,,then placed on BBQ and cooked till done......YYYUUUUMMMMM ;D I fry my pork chops in olive oil, with salt pepper and plenty of garlic till they're well done only.....or I'll use sezone, and racgahetto(SP), and bake them....
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Post by CHUCK1 on Apr 7, 2005 14:23:10 GMT 12.75
LOOKS like im next HEATHER'S fast fingers snuck ahead .or maby it was my slow typing .anyhow nice site HEATHER. thanks for the tip .
PAWS did you get a flyer from WORLDWIDE LIQUIDATORS for the sale APRIL 8th and if you know if AMERICAN CAMPER cast iron cookware is any good.
they're having a sale at the RUSSELL BUILDING. in MILLFIELD .
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Post by Two Tales on Apr 7, 2005 16:28:08 GMT 12.75
Well, I learned smoking from hanging around my family for 50+ years...with all the German ancestry...just comes natural..Now for that tater...I played with the idea of smoking it and then slicing it up to fry...figured it would take about 4-5 hours to get a really good smoke on it by that time it was so hard i couldn't cut it with a band saw and it was shrunk to about 2/3 it's original size...I thought let's see what happens in 10-12 hrs...yup, about 1/2 the size and weighed about 1/10 the raw weight I started with and was completly petrified...so I'm now thinking dehydrated tater's..cool just soak it in salt water...well after 3 days it was still that hard little ball I put in the water...I also expermented with a dehydrator and ended up with the same results...cooking a potato and other tubers breaks the starch...or rather converts it somehow..and the fibers open up..once this is done the food can be rehydrated...pulling moisture from them in the raw stage causes these fibers to collaspe and form a bond with the starches..it's kind of like a glue that holds every thing in place...I now make dehydrated potatos for my back pack meals..it still takes some extra time to rehydrate...but well worth the effort.
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Post by Paws on Apr 8, 2005 7:05:18 GMT 12.75
OUTSTANDING!!! ;D Really great work there guys and gals!! Yes maam Heather that Blue Book is an excellent source. Does it still come with the Ball home canning kit? I am not sure it is sold separately. Don't worry about pressure cooking or canning today because the pots are really well constructed. The hardest part is finding a replacement pop off emergency relief valve plug! (C&E Hardware in Athens has them!! Next to that I guess just remember to make sure the rubber seal is scrupulously clean with no cuts or tears or little seeds sticking to it. Use the amount of liquid called for and raise your temperature slowly till pressure is achieved. Don't get in a hurry and do not leave the pot unattended. Chuck1 excellent observations!! Interesting point that the make up of the fuel will alter the outcome of the food being prepared! ;D TT thanks for the findings from your experiment. Nothing confirms better than genuine hands on "give it a try!" ;D Koot, it sounds like we are ready for a tailgate party!! I must confess I do my brats pretty much the same way. Cooked through in hot beer and onions, then browned either on a charcoal grill or cast iron griddle. Are we not forltunate to be in Ohio Heather where Schmidt's Sausage House on Kosuth in Columbus makes the best brats in the entire world?? I wouldlike to think through two more foods concerning the results based on cooking style in the same manner. Then we will begin to look at food preparation in classes based on basic recipes with each technique. These foods are "Fresh bread dough" and "the incredible, edible egg!" p.s. Heather, Alton Brown is my hero.
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Post by Paws on Apr 8, 2005 7:18:50 GMT 12.75
LOOKS like im next HEATHER'S fast fingers snuck ahead .or maby it was my slow typing .anyhow nice site HEATHER. thanks for the tip . PAWS did you get a flyer from WORLDWIDE LIQUIDATORS for the sale APRIL 8th and if you know if AMERICAN CAMPER cast iron cookware is any good. they're having a sale at the RUSSELL BUILDING. in MILLFIELD . No sir I didn't. What are the dates? I am not familiar with American Camper products. I'll do some research and get back with you. If my calendar is open I would like to visit this thing though.
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Rtdcop
Pan Wrangler
Posts: 102
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Post by Rtdcop on Apr 8, 2005 10:50:46 GMT 12.75
;D Well Phil, I'v been itching to move back to Ohio, now your giving me even more reason. Them Schmidt's Brats are "THE BEST"
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Post by Paws on Apr 8, 2005 14:11:46 GMT 12.75
Yes sir indeed they are. I have seen food networkout there visiting Schmidt's now three times! By the way, they make a killer cream puff as well! ;D Johnsonville runs a very close second, an outfit out of Wisconsin that by the way Is one of the very first US companies to involve themselves with Total Quality Management successfully.
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Post by chefduff on Apr 8, 2005 14:28:09 GMT 12.75
Johnsonvilles are damn good for a store bought brand,but there are way better ones made at some local family meat markets all round. My buddies make some killer brats here in town and they are stones throw away and I do means stones throw as I can see their back door out my deck door. If ya are nice to the CheezeHead, maybe I'll send some out! ;D
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Post by Paws on Apr 8, 2005 17:23:34 GMT 12.75
Oh yes sir; I'll bet you have a ton of local farms there that make outstanding sausages. Same story in Pennsylvania, a few Ohio farms, Texas and where ever there is a strong German influence.
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Post by hhusvar on Apr 8, 2005 20:37:09 GMT 12.75
OUTSTANDING!!! ;D Really great work there guys and gals!! Yes maam Heather that Blue Book is an excellent source. Does it still come with the Ball home canning kit? I am not sure it is sold separately. Yes, it comes with the home canning kit, but you can also buy it separately. Amazon.com has it and you can request it from any bookstore. Here's the critical information - Title: Ball Blue Book of Preserving, Publisher: Alltrista Consumer Products, ISBN: 0972753702 Heather H.
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Post by Paws on Apr 9, 2005 3:54:58 GMT 12.75
Heather would you check the the number of printings and list of copyrights on your copy? I wonder how old this guy is. ;D Now whoever briefs on bread dough and eggs gets to pick the first and second cooking methods we will discusss as well as the particular food. So slet's get on with it. ;D
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Post by hhusvar on Apr 10, 2005 2:00:41 GMT 12.75
It doesn't say how many printings, it says "Known today as the Ball Blue Book this home canning guide was first published in 1909."
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Post by Paws on Apr 10, 2005 2:22:44 GMT 12.75
Now we're cookin'! Thanks Heather. ;D
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