What Are You Preserving, and How Are You Doing It? (2006 - 2016)

[Shelby]

2 hours ago, kayb said:

I'm pickling today as well. Sweet-spicy horseradish pickle chips. Cucumbers soaking in ice water now. Must make a quick run to store and get more horseradish. I do not run out of horseradish at this house.

 

Ooooh would you mind sharing that recipe?  We aren't huge sweet pickle fans but I think we might like the horseradish with the sweet?

[kayb]

Well....correction. Pickles will be tomorrow. I had tomatoes that were going to be too far past their prime if I didn't do something with them, so they took precedence. I'd bought a box of "seconds" at the market  Saturday, and had close to a half-gallon of Romas and cherry and grape tomatoes I'd picked here.  

 

The toll so far: 11 pints of tomatoes (I still have quarts left from last year, and sometimes, a pint is all I need), three quarts and a pint of tomato juice. Still on the stove simmering is tomato sauce; I estimate there'll be 12 half-pints of that.

 

 

[kayb]

5 hours ago, Shelby said:

Ooooh would you mind sharing that recipe?  We aren't huge sweet pickle fans but I think we might like the horseradish with the sweet?

 

It's this one. I am trying to duplicate the Boars Head brand horseradish pickle that I love so much, and this recipe looks like it ought to be about right. Instead of strips of horseradish root, I'm using a tablespoon of prepared horseradish per jar.

[FauxPas]

I posted about some Canadians loving Bick's red hamburger relish on the Dinner thread, but thought I might add it here, also. Bick's Pickle used to be based in Ontario, Canada but was bought out by a US company, which moved production to the US and discontinued the red hamburger relish made under the Bick's label. We really missed it, as it used to be a summertime staple on burgers in parts of Canada. Anyway, I tracked down some recipes and found a couple that are pretty good.   

 

This Canadian Living recipe for Red Hamburger Relish was pretty close to the flavour I remember from Bick's - probably even better! (Although I halved the recipe and reduced the sugar further to 1/2 cup, because I don't like too sweet condiments.)  

 

And in the Victoria, BC paper, Eric Akis wrote a column on reproducing the same relish. His recipe is similar but adds cauliflower and more peppers and skips the celery and onion. And I still think it has too much sugar, but maybe that's just me. 

 

We grew up with this stuff and really missed it at times. 

 

 

 

 

[Okanagancook]

Drying some tomatoes because my freezers are full and so are my tomato plants in the garden.  Also, some frozen garlic scapes.  I ran into a gal last night who makes garlic scape salt and I want to try and make some.  Once they thawed I was able to pull in the skins off the scapes quite easily.  This should make them more tender and faster to dry.

 

[Shelby]

@Okanagancook How did the dehydrated okra turn out? Will you simply snack on it or do you have other uses?  I have an Excalibur that I can drag up from the basement.

 

 

Also,  I need to pickle some okra--a friend of ours LOVES pickled okra and I think he'd be thrilled to get some from my garden.  

 

 

[Okanagancook]

Shelby, it was garlic scapes that I was dehydrating along with some skinless tomato slices above.  I used the ultra dry scapes to make my garlic scape salt.  It turned out awesome!  1/4 cup of gray salt which is kinda moist and 1 teaspoon powdered garlic scapes both quickly combined in the spice grinder.  Here's a pic.  I have about 2/3 cup of garlic scape powder left over.

 

[Shelby]

Oh shoot.  I'm sorry @Okanagancook  it was @cyalexa who was doing the okra.  

 

I'm losing my mind.

 

So, @cyalexa , how did the okra turn out?  

[kayb]

Any of you who have used a dehydrator with no solid barrier between heating element and ventilated trays (like the one I got at Aldi) -- how do you clean the bottom where the heating element is? I am doing beef jerky today, and have some dripping through the vented trays onto the bottom. At a glance, heating element doesn't appear to be detachable. Just wait for it to cool and clean with a wet cloth as best I can?

 

I amused the guy at Aldi to no end today. They had nice-looking cabbage for a buck a head, so I bought six with which to make another batch of kraut, as the first one is GONE. Guy at the checkout looked at me curiously. "Cabbage on sale?" 

 

"Going to make kraut this week," I replied.

 

"Really? You can MAKE kraut? Will you teach me how?"

 

So the Aldi guy is going to come to my house, bringing more cabbage so he can make his own as well, and we are going to make kraut. My daughter had a fit. "Mom! You don't KNOW him! He could be an axe murderer!"

 

Yeah, but I'm the one with the REAL sharp knives.

 

[scubadoo97]

@kayb  can I like twice?   I don't think you have anything do worry about.  I suspect your knives are scary sharp

[cyalexa]

5 hours ago, Shelby said:

So, @cyalexa , how did the okra turn out?  

 

Having trouble posting my pic but they curled into a "c" shape and are not quite crisp at 36 hours.

I started a couple trays of whole ones yesterday.  They will probably take days. I'll try to post in the okra thread later. 

[Thanks for the Crepes]

4 hours ago, kayb said:

Any of you who have used a dehydrator with no solid barrier between heating element and ventilated trays (like the one I got at Aldi) -- how do you clean the bottom where the heating element is? I am doing beef jerky today, and have some dripping through the vented trays onto the bottom. At a glance, heating element doesn't appear to be detachable. Just wait for it to cool and clean with a wet cloth as best I can?

 

I amused the guy at Aldi to no end today. They had nice-looking cabbage for a buck a head, so I bought six with which to make another batch of kraut, as the first one is GONE. Guy at the checkout looked at me curiously. "Cabbage on sale?" 

 

"Going to make kraut this week," I replied.

 

"Really? You can MAKE kraut? Will you teach me how?"

 

So the Aldi guy is going to come to my house, bringing more cabbage so he can make his own as well, and we are going to make kraut. My daughter had a fit. "Mom! You don't KNOW him! He could be an axe murderer!"

 

Yeah, but I'm the one with the REAL sharp knives.

 

 

Cool story about the Aldi guy wanting to learn how to make kraut!

 

Just a word of caution about cleaning around the heating element in the bottom of your Aldi dehydrator with a wet rag. I would make double damned sure it's unplugged first. I recently got a new dishwasher and quickly read the installation instructions when the installer made a run to his truck for some wire nuts. It said that the heating element and some other components were deliberately not grounded. It gave no explanation, and I'm no electrical engineer like my dad was, but this seems  to me. I've no wish to derail this fine thread, but if anyone knows why it would be a good idea not to ground electrical components that will be in frequent direct contact with water, I'd appreciate your thoughts via PM. I cut off the circuit breaker now before retrieving an item that has fallen into the bottom of the dishwasher or cleaning around the heating elements of the electric oven or range top, then double check that it has no power supply.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Double insulated?  Sounds fishy to me.

 

 

[Kerry Beal]

On August 1, 2016 at 6:45 PM, kayb said:

 

It's this one. I am trying to duplicate the Boars Head brand horseradish pickle that I love so much, and this recipe looks like it ought to be about right. Instead of strips of horseradish root, I'm using a tablespoon of prepared horseradish per jar.

Made a couple of bottles of these last night - some round, some slices (essentially lazy late at night). Not enough white vinegar so part was cider, didn't have pickling spices so threw in some coriander, mustard powder (know I have seed around here somewhere) freeze dried ginger bits. Used prepared horseradish as well. 

 

How long should I leave them before I taste do you think?

[kayb]

On 8/9/2016 at 9:04 AM, Kerry Beal said:

Made a couple of bottles of these last night - some round, some slices (essentially lazy late at night). Not enough white vinegar so part was cider, didn't have pickling spices so threw in some coriander, mustard powder (know I have seed around here somewhere) freeze dried ginger bits. Used prepared horseradish as well. 

 

How long should I leave them before I taste do you think?

I tried some after about four days; weren't very good. I'm holding out for two weeks before I try again.

 

 

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Edited August 16, 2016 by Smithy
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