What Are You Preserving, and How Are You Doing It? (2016–)

[Jacksoup]

@Kerry BealI’ve Googled and found many recipes that call for removing the pits and soaking.  I even bought a 'pectin bag' from Amazon.  Then I stumbled on the Ina Garten recipe that just calls for sliced oranges and lemons, quick boil, dump in sugar and overnight soak.  Then 2.5 hour cook.  Good thing too since my oranges have absolutely no seeds.  

[heidih]

I always leave the seeds for the soak. Quick and dirty if I have no muslin is into a coffee filter with a twist. Seems to add pectin. 

Edited January 18, 2019 by heidih (log)

[Kerry Beal]

9 hours ago, Jacksoup said:

@Kerry BealI’ve Googled and found many recipes that call for removing the pits and soaking.  I even bought a 'pectin bag' from Amazon.  Then I stumbled on the Ina Garten recipe that just calls for sliced oranges and lemons, quick boil, dump in sugar and overnight soak.  Then 2.5 hour cook.  Good thing too since my oranges have absolutely no seeds.  

I've noticed that the water the seeds soak in is very pectin rich the next morning - it gets added too of course. The Sevilles are really seedy. I'd love to find some without seeds!

[curls]

Finally put together a batch of @HungryChris marinated mushrooms. He said they would shrink during their five minute cook but I didn't realize just how much they would shrink! Next time I'll either double the batch or put them in a smaller jar. Looking forward to trying them three days from now! Yes, that is a repurposed jar -- no longer any cherries in there.

[heidih]

repurposed jars are kitchen stars!  I have a drawer full.

[curls]

1 hour ago, heidih said:

repurposed jars are kitchen stars!  I have a drawer full.

I probably have two plastic bins full of repurposed jars — I don’t want to check the basement too carefully, if there are too many I might have to start recycling them. 😉

Edited January 27, 2019 by curls (log)

[Shelby]

16 hours ago, curls said:

Finally put together a batch of @HungryChris marinated mushrooms. He said they would shrink during their five minute cook but I didn't realize just how much they would shrink! Next time I'll either double the batch or put them in a smaller jar. Looking forward to trying them three days from now! Yes, that is a repurposed jar -- no longer any cherries in there.

I promise you will now be on the eternal hunt for on sale mushrooms.  

 

For me it takes about 4 regular size containers of whole mushrooms to make a quart jar full.  Like @HungryChris suggested, I add some thinly sliced onions on the bottom and the top.  They are really good in salads.

[curls]

30 minutes ago, Shelby said:

I promise you will now be on the eternal hunt for on sale mushrooms.  

 

For me it takes about 4 regular size containers of whole mushrooms to make a quart jar full.  Like @HungryChris suggested, I add some thinly sliced onions on the bottom and the top.  They are really good in salads.

Yup, I added one sliced onion to mine, may add more next time.

[haresfur]

The tree

 

 

The harvest

 

The prep

 

Ready for the freezer

[Shelby]

My mom and step dad were gifted some wonderful homemade venison summer sausage for Christmas.  She asked for the recipe and she was told that this is what they used to make it

 

 

So she sent us some

 

Here is the mix that is put with the meat-water, seasoning packet and cure--which also comes in the packet

 

 

Our venison burger doesn't have a ton of added fat to it--at least not enough for this preparation so Ronnie came up with the brilliant idea of grinding and adding some Father's country bacon to it (Love this stuff).

 

 

Truly it was such a good idea.  It added the needed fat plus a wonderful deep smokey flavor.  

 

Ronnie spent a lot of time in his man cave (garage) grinding, mixing and stuffing.  

 

Side note:  the last time this was attempted was some 20 years ago when we lived in an apartment in the big city.  I won't go into detail, but it wasn't pretty.  Draped sausages all across the place...some bursting....some not full enough...big failure.  

 

So, I thought it smart to just stay inside and let him wrestle with this project until time to bake them lol.

 

He did a MUCH MUCH MUCH better job than we did the first time.  Here they are pre-bake:

 

 

The larger rolls are purely the mix from the package.  The smaller have mustard seed and more pepper flakes added.

 

The recipe says to bake these at 180F until the internal temp hits 165F.  

 

Ok.  So, I decided to use my two CSO's and the "warm" function.  You can either choose 175F or 200F.  I chose 175F and baked for 3 hours, checking periodically (by the way, is there a special tip/trick anyone has to test sausage in casings without piercing the casing?  Leave one open at the end as a tester?).  Anyway, after about 2 hours I reached a plateau and couldn't get the internal temp over about 144F.  So, I upped the "warm" temp. to  200F.  A couple more hours and I still couldn't get it to the desired temp. so I went to 225F.  Finally after about 45 mins at that it reached the 165F.  

 

Here they are finished

 

These are the best summer sausages we've ever made.  Highly recommend this product.

 

I vac packed most of them and they will be greatly enjoyed during fishing and hunting trips this coming year.

 

[rotuts]

@Shelby

 

Yikes !

 

do I love sausage or not ?

 

you effort looks so delicous

 

good for you

[Okanagancook]

I suppose one could sous vide the sausages..we did that a few years ago and worked great..takes the stress out of temperature watching.  I poke the sausage at the end which minimizes ‘leakage’.

[Shelby]

9 minutes ago, Okanagancook said:

I suppose one could sous vide the sausages..we did that a few years ago and worked great..takes the stress out of temperature watching.  I poke the sausage at the end which minimizes ‘leakage’.

I seriously thought about SV'ing and I think I will next time.  I will also poke in the end next time if we bake.  Thank you!

[Martin Fisher]

2 hours ago, Okanagancook said:

I suppose one could sous vide the sausages

 

That's the very reason I got started with sous vide.

I bought a Sous Vide Magic many moons ago!

ETA: It's also what prompted me to become a member here, after lurking off and on for MANY years!

Edited February 5, 2019 by DiggingDogFarm (log)

[curls]

5 hours ago, Shelby said:

I seriously thought about SV'ing and I think I will next time.  I will also poke in the end next time if we bake.  Thank you! 

Kenji to the rescue --> https://www.seriouseats.com/2016/02/the-food-lab-guide-sous-vide-sausage.html.

I use this Serious Eat article, The Food Lab's Guide to Sous Vide Sausage, to decide time and temp for sous vide sausages.

[lemniscate]

It is smack dab in backyard citrus ripening here.  I have canned 24 quarts of white grapefruit juice so far.  I am canning lemon juice in pint jars also.   This year I ordered a Victorio VPK1130 Multi Use Canner instead of using traditional boiling water canning.  I am using the steam canning setup.  Many pluses for me, the pot is induction friendly, so I can use my induction hob.  The amount of water used to steam can in the pot is a fraction of the amount for boiling water canning.  The lid includes a gauge to indicate when the canner is ready based on elevation to start the timing.  I am still very much a newbie at canning, citrus seems a easy access product to learn the process.  

[Owtahear]

I bought a whole bunch of Meyer lemons as they were in season, and I preserved them.   I did two jars, with a bit of a Moroccan spice inclusion and one strictly with salt.   

 

I also took a bunch of lemon peels and orange peels and have them steeping in vodka to make some homemade limoncello and orangecello.     

 

This should be ready in June.   

 

My preserved lemons will be perfect timing come Easter and a perfect accompaniment to the grilled lamb I will make.

[heidih]

I have not been around my Meyer lemon source so I am in mourning, I refuse to buy. Pictures would be great. 

[curls]

I've had an empty jar of marinated mushrooms for too long! Made a fresh batch of HungryChris' marinated mushrooms today -- reused the existing brine/dressing mix and added additional onions, spices, salt, and vinegar.

 

 

[lemniscate]

Summer roadtrip season is just around the corner.  It's beef jerky time, ultimate roadfood.

Many lbs. of eye of round (Costco) marinating for 24 hours in soy sauce, sesame oil, Worcestershire, liquid smoke, black pepper, garlic/onion powder.  I don't add sugar, I don't like sweet beef jerky.  Umami all the way!

 

It will be dried in the cheapo Oster french door oven on the patio, starting tomorrow night.  Labor of love.

[HungryChris]

I spotted some pork tongues yesterday for $2.99 pp. They went into a corning solution of Morton Tender Quick, along with the some crushed red pepper, mustard seed, fennel seed and a handful of bay leaves. This 2 quart jar cost just under $10 and will be ready for the Ipot or the smoker in about 3 weeks.

HC

 

Edited June 28, 2019 by HungryChris (log)

[HungryChris]

Yesterday I made a 2 quart jar of marinated zucchini ribbons. I find myself using them increasingly, for the three S's (salads, sandwiches and snacks) they are great to have at the ready.

HC

Edited June 21, 2019 by HungryChris (log)

[chromedome]

On 6/20/2019 at 1:06 PM, HungryChris said:

I spotted some pork tongues yesterday for $2.99 pp. They went into a corning solution of Morton Tender Quick, along with the some crushed red pepper, mustard seed, fennel seed and a handful of bay leaves. This 2 quart jar cost just under $10 and will ready for the Ipot or the smoker in about 3 weeks.

HC

 

 

Costco here in Canada was selling pickled pork tongues last year. I really, really want to meet the salesman who closed that particular deal.

Conversely, I felt very sorry for the listless and discouraged-looking young man who was working the sample table. It made his day when I took two.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

We made a side trip to the Brentwood area of Contra Costa County tor Blenheim apricots.    For those who don't know Blenheims, they are what apricots are supposed to but seldom taste like.      Last year we bought a whole 20 lb box and made both jam and canned fruit.     This year we cut it to 10 pounds since we simply don't eat jam and still have some of last year's even after giving away about half the production.   

 

We continued to the country for several days and left the cots in a back room where our housemouse found them and had two nights of bliss.    Fortunately, he/she only nibbled one cot at a time rather than sample many, as birds tend to do,    Upshot was that we now know what to use for mouse bait since walnuts, peanut butter and hot dogs have been ineffective.    1/4 apricot and job done.     Back to preserving...

 

I put up half a dozen pints this morning, extra heavy syrup for DH, waterbath method.    Cots are easy to prep since they are regular and halve easily.    Canning apricots is a job that is always bigger in anticipation than the actual doing.   The only reason i bother is that we have not been able to find a commercial or artisan product that compares to these simple jars.    $12 a pint at our farmer's market for tasteless fruit and light syrup.    Don't know why it's hard for a larger scale producer to put up an excellent product.

 

Now I have to tackle the 20 lbs of tomatoes I bought on the way home...

Edited June 30, 2019 by Margaret Pilgrim (log)

[BeeZee]

@Margaret Pilgrim, so jealous, I love fresh apricots and I rarely get any here in NJ that are not mealy or lacking in deep flavor.