bethanyhoffman

A few months ago I did a lot of research on gluten free baking books; three seem to come out on top in terms of reviews: 1. Easy Gluten Free Baking, by Elizabeth Barbone 2. Gluten Free Baking Classics, by Annalise Roberts 3. Gluten free Baking, Rebecca Reilly I have all three and most products are excellent; in my opinion (as someone who eats plenty of regular baked goods), the recipes from these 3 books taste perfectly 'normal.' (1) features the most 'all american' type baking (waffles, twinkies, roll-out sugar cookies); (3) is the most 'gourmet' (black forest cake, french apple tart, florentines), and (2) is in the middle, but there is a fair bit of overlap as well (e.g., all three have recipes for chocolate chip cookies, blueberry muffins, and basic chocolate and vanilla cakes). I find the Barbone book to be the easiest to bake from, and the most reliable so far, but all three have yielded big successes for me.

I'm bumping up this thread because i have the same questions as the OP. I got a canning bug a few years ago and after success with jams and syrups, was really looking forward to canning my own chocolate and caramel sauces for gifts to friends and family, but could not find instructions anywhere for doing so-- and more than a few dire warnings. I've found a few recipes for cannable chocolate sauces that were made with mostly sugar and are really not the same. But very small companies sell their own sauces at local specialty shops, not to mention bigger companies, so there must be a way. Anyone know the story of how to make caramel or chocolate sauce safe for canning (even if it can't be done at home)?

thanks for the info, ambrosiafood! It sounds like a good fit for me.

I'm looking for info on the Kitchenaid commercial 5 qt. model Km25gox. My 15 year old Kitchenaid 5 qt. heavy duty lift-bowl mixer recently died, and I'm looking to replace it with a model that will acommodate all the extra bowls and beaters etc. that I accumulated over the years as well as working just as well if not better than my old one. There have been so many complaints about the newer KA models, and i definitely push my mixer with heavy use including bread doughs like stiff bagel dough, etc., so I don't want to end up with the fancy units that doesn't have the oomph for serious use. It LOOKS like the commercial 5 qt and the pro 500 are the only two available of the same basic design as my old one. Only the commercial looks like it has the much-touted new-style kneading arm, as well as being slightly sturdier and more powerful, so I'm inclined to go for that one. I would prefer to buy it locally, but it seems like a specialty offering not available at the usual retailers and I think I'll have to buy it online. Any experiences with this unit? And does anyone know if the panoply of 5 qt. lift bowl accessories (beaters, bowls, etc.) are compatible with the commercial unit? Thanks

I have had these same speed control issues with my [~ 15 year old 5 qt. KA heavy duty] mixer too. I thought it was just the way they were made for a while, but having used the same model of mixer in several other households, I now know that my unit was just always 'off.. Unlike other mixers, it has always been very jerky moving between speeds, and also starts pretty fast. The amount of flour/cocoa/powdered sugar spray to which this leads means that the area around my mixer, to say nothing of the mixer itself, is never clean. Now this mixer has finally died I'm looking for a replacement, but having spent an erstwhile fortune in extra bowls/beaters/whips, etc.. I'm going to be pretty limited in terms of the models since I want to continue using all of these.

thank you very much for this 'unofficial sanction,' sparrowgrass! I am indeed talking about high sugar products [with a fair bit of extra lemon juice or citric acid too because i like a tart edge to my jams]. Some jams I don't mind so much throwing away, but then there are the coveted/expensive/super-labor intensive sorts, like sour cherry preserves (come to think of it, those are labor-intensive, expensive, AND my most coveted variety). Also, I must admit that I don't really check the jar rims with my finger (just eyeball them for cracks or chips). I will start doing so. So, any jars with small bump or imperfection on the rim will prevent a good seal?

Thanks for both of these ideas. Maybe boiling water is too hot for prepping the lids (though they go right into a boiling water bath...); I'll try reducing my water to green tea temperature for future batches. Anne, I don't think it is a single batch of lids in my case because the failures were all from different batches of jam over a four month period, but your comments make me wonder if there isn't just some percentage of 'duds' mixed in among the jars that lead to a small failure rate. I guess you're right, John, that it's a small failure rate overall. I'd say in the course of the average year, I still have ~ 10 jars fail in the way I described, but even so a 2% failure rate isn't wretched. On at least a few occasions I've witnessed jar centers popping back down (especially if I catch them immediately and move them to a cool environment like the refrigerator). As a result I've developed a mild paranoia that other seals are weak such that the lids cycle in and out of a 'sealed' state in storage, maybe as the temperature fluctuates in the storage environment, and I might be none the wiser as I select an apparently sealed jar to eat. But then, there is no food storage system that frees us from all contamination/spoilage issues, and I've never had a problem, so I suppose I should really redirect my paranoia to a more fruitful topic. Anyway, thanks again for these suggestions.

I do a lot of canning-started a few years ago but got a bit of a bug; I would classify myself somewhere between expert and novice, at least within my chosen domain of sweet jams/jellies/preserves. Today I was quietly reading and heard the telltale canning ping from an adjacent room-- sure enough a jar of quince marmalade I had processed about two days ago lost its seal-- the center of the lid had popped up. I decided to take the opportunity to check through my whole stash [about 500 jars- yes I've gone a little crazy] and found three other jars whose lids had popped up. I had a similar experience a few months ago. I always check the seal on my lids at least twice before storage- once after they come out of the water bath and once as i check/label/store them, usually 24-48 hours later. I would categorize myself as high but not super-high on the scale of canning 'hygiene' -- I always use new lids, heated in boiling water before applied, keep the jars in a low oven before filling, etc.. I have a rough idea of appropriate head-space, but i don't get out the ruler for each jar. I have two questions-- anyone know why this happens/how to prevent it, and also if you really need to throw such jars away? I always throw them away though it seems wasteful. In spite of dire warning that tell us to treat unsealed jars like nuclear waste, I have never seen any bulging lids, bubbling or leaking contents, discoloration, mold or other obvious signs of rancidity. In fact, when I open the jar to throw its contents away, the lid is usually pretty tightly attached and has to be pried off even though the center popped up. The contents have never looked any different than their sealed compatriots as i guiltily glop them into the disposal. From my various perusals, the late-stage lid failure is likely due to a 'poor original seal,' but i am pretty careful about my canning procedure, processing times, etc.. I don't, unfortunately, have a root cellar or similarly dark, stable environment for storing my jars, but i do put them in a closet or room with the blinds drawn in the downstairs of my house where the temperature fluctuates least. I guess the only thing possible culprit I have noticed is with pretty much every case of new jars i get the lids are stuck tight to the jars, have formed some kind of seal, and have a strong jar rim indentation. Is there any chance these new lids have effectively become 'used' via the thermal changes the empty jars have undergone through their brief lifetime, and are not creating a good seal? Any help would be appreciated-- thanks in advance (and sorry for the long rant!)