Post by kj on Sept 4, 2008 6:03:34 GMT 12.75
Hey PAWS ! GREAT Peaches! I also received a box of plums on the same day.
I perused through the threads and didn't find one on this topic but I may have missed it; if so, please accept my apologies.
I'm working on developing my food drying skills and equipment for food storage and preservation. Any tips, suggestions or other input would be greatly appreciated.
I haven't tried smoking stuff yet but having an outdoor smoking area/structure would be a lot of fun.
Canning requires a heat source like propane, natural gas, wood or electricity (they cost money, some are non-renewable, produce carbon and other pollutants). Canning also heats up a house unless one has a nice outdoor kitchen. And, canned goods are also at risk of freezing. Moreover, it takes a lot of time and energy.
However, I am most certainly not opposed to canning and have recently scored a 12 qt pressure canner. I figure that I have surplus renewable electricity in the summer time, the pressure canner may work on an electric burner with attention to safety and I can do it outside. I'm hoping to give it a try in the near future. Water bath canning might require too much electricity but I may give it a try as well. Otherwise, I'll probably wait until I can set up a campfire canning area.
Freezing takes a lot of electricity and I have to be very careful about energy conservation (see below). I may invest in a super efficient freezer one of these years but it hasn't happened yet.
I've got the beginnings of a root cellar that works well for my fall crops, etc. (The red wiggler earthworms also love it.) But it doesn't do me much good for berries, peaches, plums, etc.
When I lived in Tuscon, AZ drying food was a breeze. Drying stuff during cold weather in SE Ohio isn't a problem either since I use wood heat as a back up for the passive solar heat. (I've got racks above the wood stove and my venison jerky experiments have worked really well.
But the summer time humidity in southeast Ohio makes it an entirely different scenario. Some folks invest in food dehydrators but since I have an off-grid solar electric system I have to be very attentive to my energy consumption. (Plus, even if I had grid electricity, I'd be trying to find an alternative since our grid electricity in this area is expensive, comes from coal powered generating plants that spew out carbon, mercury and other chemicals/heavy metals' polluting our water, soil, air...potentially increasing health problems, neurological disorders, and developmental delays. Not to mention the devastating affects of mining, mountain-top removal, etc. I personally don't want to participate in such a system.)
We have an old swedish refrigerator, rescued from someone's barn, that can use electricity or propane. It has a vent tube on top and we've placed a drying rack up over it. It works well for herbs, flowers, etc., and to put the finishing touches on otherdried stuff. But it only provides adequate space for small drying projects. Constantine pulled some of the plums out of the box and is trying to dry some prunes in this way.
I hope to build an official solar dryer one of these days but right now I use a commercial bread rack with a sheet of screening on the bottom. I prepare and lay out the slices of food on the screen, carry the rack out onto the deck in full sun, set it on a couple of pieces of wood for increased ventilation and cover the top with an old glass window.
I tried drying roma tomatoes in this way earlier this summer year but they ended up moldy and in the compost bin. Paws suggested I soak the maters in a brine solution next time Brilliant!
Then all of a sudden I've got boxes of peaches and plums that need prompt attention and no time for the canning experiments.
I did a bit of additional research and found that peaches, etc., can also be sliced, soaked for a couple of minutes in a brine solution (6 TBLS pickling salt/gal of water), patted dry and laid out on the drying racks.
I gave it a go with some of the peaches and they turned out great. I can detect just a mild salty overtone but Constantine didn't even notice it (he didn't know about the brine experiment).
I also made peach and plum juice and tried my hand at making fruit leather again.
Anyways... PAWs, Thanks for the most delicious peaches and the tip about the brine solution! I may have enough roma tomatoes left to give it another shot.
Any other tips, suggestions regarding low energy food preservation, drying, storage?
Warm Wishes! kj
I perused through the threads and didn't find one on this topic but I may have missed it; if so, please accept my apologies.
I'm working on developing my food drying skills and equipment for food storage and preservation. Any tips, suggestions or other input would be greatly appreciated.
I haven't tried smoking stuff yet but having an outdoor smoking area/structure would be a lot of fun.
Canning requires a heat source like propane, natural gas, wood or electricity (they cost money, some are non-renewable, produce carbon and other pollutants). Canning also heats up a house unless one has a nice outdoor kitchen. And, canned goods are also at risk of freezing. Moreover, it takes a lot of time and energy.
However, I am most certainly not opposed to canning and have recently scored a 12 qt pressure canner. I figure that I have surplus renewable electricity in the summer time, the pressure canner may work on an electric burner with attention to safety and I can do it outside. I'm hoping to give it a try in the near future. Water bath canning might require too much electricity but I may give it a try as well. Otherwise, I'll probably wait until I can set up a campfire canning area.
Freezing takes a lot of electricity and I have to be very careful about energy conservation (see below). I may invest in a super efficient freezer one of these years but it hasn't happened yet.
I've got the beginnings of a root cellar that works well for my fall crops, etc. (The red wiggler earthworms also love it.) But it doesn't do me much good for berries, peaches, plums, etc.
When I lived in Tuscon, AZ drying food was a breeze. Drying stuff during cold weather in SE Ohio isn't a problem either since I use wood heat as a back up for the passive solar heat. (I've got racks above the wood stove and my venison jerky experiments have worked really well.
But the summer time humidity in southeast Ohio makes it an entirely different scenario. Some folks invest in food dehydrators but since I have an off-grid solar electric system I have to be very attentive to my energy consumption. (Plus, even if I had grid electricity, I'd be trying to find an alternative since our grid electricity in this area is expensive, comes from coal powered generating plants that spew out carbon, mercury and other chemicals/heavy metals' polluting our water, soil, air...potentially increasing health problems, neurological disorders, and developmental delays. Not to mention the devastating affects of mining, mountain-top removal, etc. I personally don't want to participate in such a system.)
We have an old swedish refrigerator, rescued from someone's barn, that can use electricity or propane. It has a vent tube on top and we've placed a drying rack up over it. It works well for herbs, flowers, etc., and to put the finishing touches on otherdried stuff. But it only provides adequate space for small drying projects. Constantine pulled some of the plums out of the box and is trying to dry some prunes in this way.
I hope to build an official solar dryer one of these days but right now I use a commercial bread rack with a sheet of screening on the bottom. I prepare and lay out the slices of food on the screen, carry the rack out onto the deck in full sun, set it on a couple of pieces of wood for increased ventilation and cover the top with an old glass window.
I tried drying roma tomatoes in this way earlier this summer year but they ended up moldy and in the compost bin. Paws suggested I soak the maters in a brine solution next time Brilliant!
Then all of a sudden I've got boxes of peaches and plums that need prompt attention and no time for the canning experiments.
I did a bit of additional research and found that peaches, etc., can also be sliced, soaked for a couple of minutes in a brine solution (6 TBLS pickling salt/gal of water), patted dry and laid out on the drying racks.
I gave it a go with some of the peaches and they turned out great. I can detect just a mild salty overtone but Constantine didn't even notice it (he didn't know about the brine experiment).
I also made peach and plum juice and tried my hand at making fruit leather again.
Anyways... PAWs, Thanks for the most delicious peaches and the tip about the brine solution! I may have enough roma tomatoes left to give it another shot.
Any other tips, suggestions regarding low energy food preservation, drying, storage?
Warm Wishes! kj