Fresh Homemade Mozzarella cheese – In 30 Minutes

http://www.commonsensehome.com/fresh-homemade-mozzarella-cheese-in-30-minutes/

Fresh, Homemade Mozzarella Cheese

I recently decided to try my hand at home cheese making with friends, and it came out delicious!  I’ve been making yogurt cheese and kefir cheese, which simply require straining the yogurt of kefir, but this was my first “real” cheese.
I used the “30 Minutes Mozzarella Cheese” recipe from Ricki Carrol’s book “Home Cheese Making“.  Ricki also features this recipe on her website at http://www.cheesemaking.com/howtomakemozzarellacheese.html.

Fresh, Homemade Mozzarella in 30 Minutes

Ingredients
1 1/2 level teaspoons citric acid dissolved in 1/2 cup cool water
1 gallon pasteurized whole milk (raw milk from a safe source or even powdered milk may be used – see Ricki’s site for directions)
1/4 teaspoon liquid rennet (or 1/4 rennet tablet) diluted in 1/4 cup cool, unchlorinated water
1 teaspoon cheese salt (optional)
Directions
1.  Gently bring the milk up to 55 degrees F in a large, stainless steel pot.  While stirring, add the citric acid solution to the milk at 55 degrees F and mix thoroughly.
Note:  You may use skim milk, but the yield will be lower and the cheese will be drier.
2.  Heat the milk to 90 degrees over medium-low heat, stirring constantly. Remove the pot from the heat and gently stir in the diluted rennet with an up-and-down motion for 30 seconds. Cover the pot and leave undisturbed for five minutes.
3.  Check the curd.  It should look like custard, with a clear separation between the curd and why.  (If the curd is too soft or the whey is too milky, let set for a few more minutes.)  Cut the curd with a knife that reaches all the way to the bottom of your pot.

4.  Place the pot back on the stove and heat the curds to 105F, gently moving the curds around with your spoon. (Note:  If you wish to make this cheese without a microwave, directions can be found here.)  Remove from heat and continue to stir slowly for 2 to 5 minutes.  (Stirring for 5 minutes will result in firmer cheese.)

5.  Scoop out the curds with a slotted spoon and put into a 2 quart microwaveable bowl.  Press the curds gently with your hands, pouring off as much whey as possible.  Reserve the whey.  (You can use it to make ricotta cheese.)

6.  Microwave the curds on high for 1 minute.  Drain off all excess whey.  Gently fold the cheese over an over (as in kneading bread) with your hands or a spoon.  This distributes the heat evenly throughout the cheese, which will not stretch until it is too hit to touch (145F inside the curd).  Rubber kitchen gloves are very handy at this stage.  To make this cheese without a microwave, visit Ricki’s site.
7.  Microwave two more times for 35 seconds each; add salt to taste after the second time. After each heating, knead again to distribute the heat.
8. Knead quickly until it is smooth and elastic. When the cheese stretches like taffy, it’s done. If the curds break instead of stretch, they are too cool and need to be reheated.

9. When the cheese is smooth and shiny, roll it into small balls and eat while warm. Or place them in a bowl of ice water for half an hour to bring the inside temperature down rapidly; this will produce a consistent smooth texture throughout the cheese. Although best eaten fresh, it can be stored in the refrigerator at this point.
Note: If you are using store-bought milk, and your curds turn into the consistency of ricotta cheese and will not come together, switch brands of milk. It may have been heated at the factory at too high a temperature.
Yield:  3/4 to 1 pound from 1 gallon milk
Update:  After experimenting a bit more, I found you can also pull this into strips or strings (think “homemade string cheese”).  Pull the strips, drop them in the water to cool, then pack them tightly in a pyrex container or wrap in plastic wrap (I prefer pyrex).  They’re not as pretty as the store bought ones, but they work just the same.

Although the original recipe recommended storing the cheese in water, I prefer storing it in a tightly sealed container without water. Water storage makes the cheese soft and washes out the salt.

Ricotta From Heaven

(also from Home Cheese Making)
Ingredients
Fresh whey, no more than 3 hours old, left over from making hard cheese
Directions (other options available at http://www.cheesemaking.com/store/pg/217-Ricotta.html)
1.  Heat the whey in a pot until foam appears,  This usually happens just prior to boiling; if the mixture boils, it will taste burned.
2.  Turn off the heat; let the whey set for 5 minutes.
3.  Gently skim off the foam and place the whey in a colander lined with butter muslin.
4.  Let drain for 15 minutes, then refrigerate.  This ricotta will keep for up to one week in the refrigerator.
Yield:  About 1/2 pound per gallon of whey
*Note – I later read that the 30 minute mozzarella whey is not recommended for making ricotta (it says this in the cheesemaking kits), but mine works just fine.  I’m glad I didn’t read that I wasn’t supposed to do it before I did it.
We ate one batch of mozzarella fresh, and then I made more to put on homemade pepperoni pizza.    It was delicious.

The ricotta was lovely, too.  Very smooth and creamy, and just a tiny bit sweet.  I think it would be great in homemade lasagna.  The leftover whey can be used for fermenting vegetables, such as beet kvass, or you can chill it and add some flavored drink mix for a nourishing beverage.  My kitties like to drink it plain.  I warm it up for them on cold mornings.
I’m looking forward to trying other cheese recipes, but these were great ones to start with – very quick and easy.
Another family favorite that may be even easier, although it takes a bit longer, is fromage blanc.  Fromage blanc is a soft white cheese that is great as a spread or dip.  (Or for topping spuds – yum!)  It can also be used in cooking.The recipe only has five steps – that’s it!  Learn how to make fromage blanc in this post.

Leaving Your Fresh Eggs Out to Enjoy!!!

Don't hide your pretty eggs in the frig. Leave them right out on the counter in a basket or bowl. As long as you don' wash them (the natural 'bloom' is what keeps out air and bacteria), they will keep for several weeks unrefrigerated. If you're unsure if they're still safe to eat, just pop one into a glass of water. Toss any floaters, the rest are fine.

http://www.facebook.com/FreshEggsDaily

 

 

And folks, don't "wash" your eggs with mineral oil or other cleaners. Eggs are very porous and will absorb easily. If they are dirty, a little warm water and a bit of olive oil will keep them nice. Whatever you put on them will absorb into the egg! They have their own natural protectant with the shell :) (Trish)

Chicken Broth Muffin Cups - Not What You Think!

http://nomadichomestead.com/chicken-broth-muffin-cups/

Chicken Broth Muffin Cups are one of the easiest ways to keep homemade chicken broth on hand and at the ready. (You didn’t think we were actually making a Chicken Broth Muffin, did you?)

Chicken Broth Muffin Cups (unfrozen)

Pour your homemade chicken broth into a regular muffin pan. Flash freeze for several hours. Remove the pan from the freezer and allow to sit on the counter long enough to loosen the Chicken Broth Cups from the pan. Place all the Chicken Broth Muffin Cups inside a large gallon sized freezer bag. Label it with the contents and date.

Frozen Chicken Broth Muffin Cups (Yes, that is a different pan.)

Each regular sized muffin tin cavity measures 1/4 cup. When a recipe calls for chicken broth, remove the amount needed from the freezer and throw it in frozen. Simple!

S'mores Cake in a Canning Jar

http://www.facebook.com/Whatsfordinner2nite

S'mores Cake
for crust:

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/2 stick butter
...
pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt butter and mix in graham crumbs and salt. Mix until moistened. Spray 4 mason jars with non-stick spray and press graham crust into jars. I began by adding a tablespoon to each, and repeating until graham crumbs were gone. They don’t need to look perfect. I pressed the crumbs down firmly with the flat bottom of a clean screwdriver.

For cake: (from peanut butter hot fudge cupcakes)

1 1/8 cups all purpose flour

1/4 cup dark cocoa powder

1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon heavy cream

1/2 cup butter, melted

2 tablespoons sour cream

for topping:

1 bag of large marshmallows

In a bowl, whisk egg and sugar until smooth and no lumps remain. Add milk, cream, butter and vanilla, and mix until combined. Stir in sour cream. Sift dry ingredients together and add to wet mixture. Mix until batter is smooth. Using a 1/4 cup measure, add batter to mason jars one scoop at a time. You only want to fill them up about half way, and the batter should work evenly for 4 jars. Again – don’t worry if it is perfect. Place mason jars in a baking dish and add about 1 1/2 cups of water to the bottom. Bake for 30 minutes, or until cake is set.

Remove cake from the oven and press large marshmallows down on top, being careful not to burn yourself. There is no set number of marshmallows to use, I pressed down as many as I could, about 4-5 each. Heat the broiler on your oven and watching carefully, brown marshmallows for about 1-2 minutes, or until golden brown. Do not take your eyes off them! Serve immediately.

Preserving Eggs for the Long Term

http://www.offthegridnews.com/2012/03/05/preserving-eggs-for-the-long-term/


If you have been watching National Geographic’s Doomsday Prepper series, you’ve probably seen a few ideas that you wanted to try to implement in your own storage preparations. At least a show or two got you wondering about the feasibility of some of the stuff these preppers are doing. One thing that piqued my interest was from the episode that showed the woman oiling her eggs in order to preserve them for long-term storage.
I found myself frowning… was it really that easy to keep an egg fresh for months at a time? If so, why weren’t these well-oiled gems sitting on the grocery store shelves instead of crated up in the refrigerator section? I decided to do a little more research into this subject, so I turned to the one person I consider the quintessential expert on chickens and their products, Gail Damerow.
No, I didn’t get a chance to interview her. (That would be a homesteader’s dream come true!) However, I did the next best thing—I pulled out her book Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens in order to gather the information I needed for this article.
And am I glad I did.
Chickens are the hottest new backyard pet and with this new guide for beginners you’ll be a pro in no time…
While I discovered that oiling is a perfectly acceptable way to extend the shelf life of eggs, I also found out that you can’t just take any old egg, slap some mineral oil on it, and call it preserved. There’s a selection process and strict time frame that you have to work around.
Eggs can be stored for up to two to three months at temperatures no higher than 55°F without doing anything to them. However, the humidity needs to be close to 75%. This is an important factor in successful egg storage. If humidity levels are too low, the eggs will dry out. If they are too high, the eggs will get moldy. You want clean, uncracked eggs. If you have to clean an egg before storing it, then put it in the freezer, throw it in the frig for breakfast, or make some deviled eggs with it. The point is, use it elsewhere. Anytime you wash or dry buff an egg, you are removing a protective outer coating which in turn allows bacteria to more easily enter the egg.
What coating the egg with oil does is it seals the shell to prevent evaporation during storage. The eggs you’re going to store this way should be oiled 24 hours after being laid. (This will immediately put store-bought eggs out of the running.) In a clean, closed carton that is located in a cool, dry place, eggs dipped in oil will keep for several months. They will, however, eventually develop an off-flavor, and this off-flavor is especially pronounced in eggs stored at 34°F for more than four months. By the time you hit the six-month mark, the flavor is usually unacceptable to most people.
If you’re able to have fresh eggs at your house day in and day out from some pretty prolific layers, or because you have a neighbor who gives you fresh eggs each day, or if you’re able to obtain fresh eggs from a farmer’s market, then this method may be for you. Regardless, the knowledge alone will be a great help if and when the worst were to happen.
To properly oil your eggs, they must be at room temperature (50 to 70 degrees F) and they must be dry. Make sure your oil is free of bacteria and mold by heating it 180°F for about 20 minutes. Then, with tongs or a slotted spoon, dip the eggs one at the time into the oil. Set them aside on a rack such as is used in candy making and let them drain for about 30 minutes. Pack them away in clean, dry cartons.
The only drawback to storing your eggs in this manner is that once eggs have been oiled, they’re no longer useful for cake making. The oiling interferes with the foaming properties of the egg whites, so they no longer whip up as well as fresh ones do.
So, while this episode of Doomsday Preppers showed a viable method of preserving eggs, they foolishly chose a shortened version to pass along to the audience, one which could easily have made someone ill had they followed the haphazard advice. Safe food handling practices are something everyone should cultivate.
Especially preppers.
©2012 Off the Grid News

3 Fancy Butter Recipes...

http://abeautifulmess.typepad.com/my_weblog/2012/02/3-fancy-butter-recipes.html
3 Fancy Butter Recipes

Here's an easy and delicious idea to make, what I like to call, fancy butters! Fancy butters, or compound butters (as they are more commonly called) are butters that have been infused with other flavors. My great aunt always used to make honey butter for Thanksgiving and it was one of my all time favorite holiday treats! I love how you can package these butters and then gift them to dinner party guests.

Fancy butters are super easy to make! All you need is softened (but not melted) butter and your mix-in ingredients. To soften butter either leave it out on the kitchen counter for a few hours or you can soften it in the microwave on low heat for 20 seconds or so. Once the butter is softened add your ingredients and stir-that's it! You can package these in small jars or in wax paper in a square container in the refrigerator overnight.

Honey Nut Butter: Mix together two sticks of butter, 2-3 tablespoons of chopped nuts (I used pecans) and 3-4 tablespoons honey. This butter is great on an English muffin for breakfast or Thanksgiving dinner rolls!

Citrus Butter: Mix together two sticks of butter and the zest of 1 lemon and 1 lime. This butter is great on fish or sauteed veggies (like Brussels sprouts-my favorite!).

Raspberry Butter: Mix together two sticks of butter and 4-5 tablespoons of raspberry jam. This butter is excellent on an afternoon toast with tea!

Easiest Homemade Cheese Ever!

http://www.commonsensehome.com/easiest-homemade-cheese-ever/


Have you wanted to try cheesemaking but been too intimidated?  Do you enjoy spreadable cheese but don’t like the long list of questionable ingredients on most commercial cheese spreads?  I’ve got a wonderful cheese just for you!
Fromage blanc (literally, “white cheese”) is the easiest cheese I’ve tried to date, even a bit simpler than kefir or yogurt cheese.  (Kefir or yogurt soft cheese can be made by draining the milk kefir or yogurt until thick, but of course I have to make the kefir or yogurt first, which adds more steps.)  It has a consistency somewhat like cream cheese or fresh chevre.  I use it in recipes or add herbs or other flavorings to use it as a dip.
I like to start this cheese just before bedtime, let it culture overnight, and drain it in the morning.

Fromage Blanc Recipe – Homemade Soft Cheese

Ingredients
1 gallon milk – raw or pasteurized, whole or skim (skim will yield a drier cheese)
1 packet direct set  formage blanc starter ( or one of the rennet/starter combinations listed at Cultures for Health – see their directions)
Directions
Adapted from the book Home Cheesemaking
In a large pot, heat cheese to 86 degrees.  Add the starter and mix well.
Cover and let set at 72 degrees F for 12 hours.  Since it gets cool in my kitchen overnight in the winter, I’ve been placing mine in a cooler with a warm hot pack.  I tuck a big towel around it to keep it cozy and absorb any moisture (there is generally a bit of condensation).

After 12 hours, the curd will be firm and the whey will be separated and slightly milky.

I place my big over the sink colander in a large bowl and line it with a large flour sack towel.  You can also use butter muslin or a double layer of cheesecloth.

The cheese will just about fill the colander at this point.  It shrinks up as it drains.  Right now it looks more like thick yogurt.

Tie the ends of the cloth and hang to drain at room temp for 6-12 hours.  Shorter drain time = softer cheese, longer drain time = firmer cheese.  I generally hang for 6-8 hours.

As you can see, it produces quite a bit of whey.  You can use the whey for drinking (freeze it in cubes to use in smoothies for extra protein), use it to make live culture foods, feed it to critters, or water outside plants (I think it might get too smelly inside).
When the cheese is done, it’ll be dry and fairly firm.

At this point you an use it “as is”, or add flavorings.  It’ll keep for up to two weeks refrigerated in a covered container.  One gallon of milk yields about 2 pounds of cheese (which is about twice as much as a batch of mozzarella).

Flavoring Soft Cheese

Cultures for Health has a whole list of flavor ideas for soft cheeses, such as drizzling it with honey and serving it with berries, or using herbs or chopped veggies.  A couple of favorite options in our house are to mix it up like French onion dip with Simply Organic dip mix.  I use 2 tablespoons of mix per one cup of cheese.  This is what’s on the cracker at the top of the post.  The boys inhale it.
To make a seafood flavored spread, I took 2 cups of cheese, a 4 ounce can of baby shrimp, 2 tablespoons ketchup (homemade is great if you have it) and 2 tablespoons horseradish sauce.  It makes a pretty light pink spread.

For a meat free main dish, I mix this cheese (flavored or unflavored) with some eggs, bread crumbs or flour, salt, pepper and seasonings to taste, then form into patties and fry in butter.  (I promise I’ll try and measure the next time I make these.  I usually just eyeball it.)  I love dishes like this because they go together so fast, and it feels a little fancier than just plain eggs or cheese.
I hope you’ll try this quick and easy cheese, and that your family will enjoy it as much as mine does.
This post has been added to Pennywise Platter Thursday at The Nourishing Gourmet and Homestead Barn Hop #52 at The Prairie Homestead.

Printable Jam Labels and Gift Tags

http://howaboutorange.blogspot.com/2012/02/printable-jam-labels-and-gift-tags.html

Printable jam labels and gift tags

The sun is shining and the birds are chirping. I'm pretending the amazing, mild winter we're having in Chicago will end without any late snowstorms or really cold weather. It's practically summer!* So I'm going to post some flowery stuff. Find pretty botanical labels to print from Packagery right here. Let's make some jam.

*I realize I may have just jinxed us and any upcoming blizzards are my fault.

Traditional Sauerkraut

http://tipnut.com/making-sauerkraut/

The making of sauerkraut is a method of preserving good cabbage and the resulting “fermented” vegetable is not only a good source of some important food values, but has a fine distinctive flavor. Certain varieties of cabbages, such as the hard heads, are especially good for this purpose. Following are the directions…

Homemade Sauerkraut Is An Old-Time Favorite

• Choose only hard heads of cabbage. Remove outter leaves then cut cabbage in halves, quarters or smaller pieces, and remove cores. Do not use cores in sauerkraut. Shred cabbage as fine as possible.
• Pack shredded cabbage in layers of about 4 inches thick, in large clean crock, sprinkling each layer with salt. Proportion of salt and cabbage is about 1 cup of coarse cooking salt (kosher or pickling/canning salt can be used) for every 10 lbs. of cabbage.
• Continue packing layers of cabbage, sprinkled with salt, in crocks, pressing mixture down as much as possible. Leave at least 4 to 5 inches of headspace at the top to allow room for the fermenting process.
• Weight down with plate and heavy weight. Cover with a clean cloth and board, add another weight. Do not seal crock so it’s airtight–the gases created during the fermenting process needs to be able to escape or you’ll have a mess on your hands (exploding kraut).
• Check after 24 hours to make sure enough brine/juice has been created that it completely covers the shredded cabbage and floats above the plate. If not, more weight may be needed to help squeeze out the juice. It’s imperative that all the cabbage is completely covered by brine at all times.
• Leave until fermentation is complete (the process can take up to 5 or 6 weeks). How to know when the fermenting process has finished? While the kraut is fermenting, you will notice bubbling activity–when there are no more bubbles the kraut is ready to be packed.
• Check for scum during (every few days) and after fermenting, remove any which has risen to the top and discard.
• Once kraut is ready, refrigerate or pack as needed for long-term storage (tips below).

Tips

• To can sauerkraut, pack in sterilized jars and partially seal then process in a hot water bath or in a steam pressure cooker.
• It can be frozen instead of canned, simply pack in freezer containers or bags then store in freezer until needed.
• Instead of freezing or canning, you can store freshly made sauerkraut in the refrigerator for a few months (ensuring the kraut stays submerged in brine).
• Why is so much salt used? The salt pulls out the juices from the cabbage to make a brine, the weights are used in the crock to help squeeze out the juices and keep the cabbage submerged in the brine.
• Some of the cabbage has turned pink, is it ok to eat? Throw out any of the kraut that has a pink color to it, this can be a sign that too much salt was used (or unevenly applied) or that the cabbage wasn’t covered completely by the brine.
• Preventing spoilage tip: Fill a clear, food-grade plastic bag with 3 or 4 inches of salted water (6 TBS salt per gallon of water), seal it closed securely and use this to both cover and weight the cabbage while it’s fermenting. Source: Make Your Own Sauerkraut – University of Wisconsin (pdf).
• How to know if it has turned bad? It will be discolored, slimy and foul smelling.
• It is best to use non-iodized salt since regular table salt will interfere with the fermenting process.
• Rinsing kraut with cold water before eating will reduce some of the salt content as well as provide a milder, less tart product.
• Use either crocks that are clean and free from cracks or chips or food-grade plastic pails. Avoid using metal containers or non-food safe plastic containers when making kraut.
• Why do jars of sauerkraut sometimes explode? They were packed before the fermenting process was completed which then causes pressure by gases building inside the jars. Make sure to have at least 1/2″ headspace in the jars and that you don’t pack the kraut too early in the fermenting process. If you’re worried about exploding jars, pack canned jars in a cardboard box (with lid closed) to contain the mess in case of explosion or freeze kraut in bags. Always open jars with lids facing away from you as you open them in case of pressure buildup.
• Making sauerkraut just requires two ingredients: shredded cabbage and salt. Bacteria, proper temperature and time do the rest of the work. Lactic acid bacteria have definite temperature preferences. At 70 to 75 F, the kraut will be fermented in about three or four weeks. At 60 to 65 F, fermentation takes longer—about five or six weeks. If it gets much cooler, fermentation won’t occur. Above 75 F, the kraut may become soft. Most vegetables contain little acid, so safely canning vegetables requires the use of a pressure canner to make poison-producing bacterial spores benign. Improper home canning of vegetables is a main cause of botulism, the often-deadly foodborne illness. But sauerkraut is an exception to this rule. Sauerkraut can be canned in a boiling water bath because it’s acidic due to the fermentation process. Source: North Dakota State University.

Source: Some information adapted from the booklet “Vegetable Cook Book” by McFayden Seeds (1948)

Getting Started with Home Food Drying

http://www.commonsensehome.com/home-food-drying/

Want an easy way to store and preserve food?  Need a food storage method that doesn’t take up much space and requires very little equipment?  Want to make healthier snacks for your family to enjoy at home or on the go?  Looking for portable food for camping or backpacking?  If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, you should learn about home food drying.

What Equipment Do I Need to Dehydrate Food at Home?

To dehydrate food, you need a dehydrator or drying area/rack.  An oven can be used if you can set the temperature low enough, but it will use more energy than a commercial dehydrator or other home constructed options (see bottom of post for links to build your own dehydrator).  As long as your humidity isn’t too high, you may be able to air dry (think herb bundles hung from rafters).  Some folks rig up trays with covers (see one example here) and hang them near a heat sources such as a wood stove.
Commercial dehydrators will give more consistent results and be easier to work with, giving you a better quality end product.  Quick and uniform drying preserves color, flavor and texture.  Most commercial units also allow you to set your temperature, which is very helpful for optimal drying of different foods.  For instance, herbs are best dried at lower temperatures so that you don’t drive off volatile oils, while meats are typically dried at higher temps.  If you purchase a commercial dehydrator, I highly recommend including the accessory sheets for fruits leather and fine mesh sheets in your purchase.  They are so much easier to work with than improvised homemade options.
A sharp knife and cutting board is helpful for cutting fruits and vegetables into thinner pieces that will dry more quickly and evenly (a mandolin or food processor for cutting may be helpful in some cases, but isn’t absolutely necessary).
A good sized, heavy duty pot is helpful for cooking down fruits and blanching fruits and veggies.  For purees and “leathers”, you’ll need a blender or food processor.  I like using my salad spinner to predry herbs before loading them into the dehydrator.  That’s enough equipment to get you started, although some specialty items  such as cherry pitters and apples corers may come in handy once you get rolling.

What Types of Food Can be Dried?

Just about anything can be dried, from vegetables and fruit to meat and fish.  Home dried herbs are a fraction of the cost of store bought herbs.  Natural fruit leathers are also quite expensive in the store, and are one of the simplest things to make in your dehydrator.  You can use your dehydrator to make snacks for people and pets.  You can also use it to dehydrate excess kefir grains or sourdough starter.

How do I prepare food for drying?

Generally, you want to slice or chop uniform pieces of food between 1/8 and 1/2 inch thick.  Food that is too thick or irregularly shaped will lead to non-uniform drying, which could lead to spoilage or lower quality product.
Pretreating – some foods are pre-treated before drying to help to preserve color and flavor.  For instance, fruits can be dipped in saltwater, and acidic medium or something sweet to reduce oxidation.  My favorite method is to use a couple of tablespoons of lemon juice in a bowel of water.  Inexpensive, easy and doesn’t dramatically change the flavor of the fruit.  Many people also enjoy dipping sliced fruit in other acidic fruit juices, such as apple or banana slices in pineapple or orange juice.  More detailed information is linked below in specific posts.
Marinades are commonly used for meats such as jerkies to enhance flavor and improve shelf life.  Blanching in water or steam helps slow down enzyme action and softens skins, making it each for moisture to be driven out and making the product more palatable when rehydrated.  Many vegetables (but not all) are best blanched before dehydrating.

How long does it take to dry food?

It really depends on the food and the drying conditions – anywhere from a few hours to days, depending on what is being dried and how it is being dried.  Thinner items dry faster than thick.  Units with fans dry faster than units without fans.  Natural drying can go pretty slowly, but still works well in many situations.  Most of the time I load my dehydrator in the evening and let it dry overnight.

How can I tell if home dehydrated food is dry enough?

Different foods will have different textures when dried, from brittle to leather-like to gummy.  As you work with dehydrating, you’ll get a feeling for appropriate dryness.  The texture of home dried foods is often different than commercially dried foods, so don’t let this put you off.  Remember, you’re making your products without strange additives or deep frying or other commercial processes.
A good rule of thumb to test dryness is to put the product in a tightly sealed jar, and check for condensation on the lid after about a day.  If you’ve got condensation, you need to dry it more – it won’t keep – or put it in the freezer or refrigerator.

How do I store dried food and how long will it keep?

My preferred storage container is a standard or wide mouthed mason jar.  If I have a lot of a product (enough to fill multiple jars), I’ll use the vacuum sealer attachment for my Foodsaver to seal most of the jars to extend shelf life even further.  I keep the jars out of direct light (in the pantry), and/or cover them with sock cozies.  You can also use plastic bags or plastic jars, or glass jars from other commercial products.
Storage life depends on conditions.  Dried food has been found on archeological digs that was still technically “edible”, but definitely not a yummy. Dried produce and herbs should last around a year (from one season to the next) if properly stored.  I’ve kept items longer, but flavor, color and nutrients diminish over time.

Dehydrated tomatoes, parsley and peaches

Do you dry food at home? What technique/equipment do you use?
Below is an assortment of links from my blog and other other online resources to help you get started with dehydrating.

Common Sense Homesteading Posts on Food Drying

Preserving Asparagus Three Ways – Freezing, Drying and Lactofermenting
Peeling, Canning and Drying Peaches
Preserving Strawberries Four Ways – Freezing, Drying, Fruit Leather and Kombucha
Making Applesauce, Apple leather and Dried Apple Slices
Pumpkin Leather
Ground Beef Jerky
Crispy Nuts and Maple Candied Walnuts
Drying Herbs

Online Resources for Home Food Dehydrating

Facebook group – Dehydrating Way Beyond Jerky
National Center for Home Food Preservation – How Do I Dry Foods?
Dehydrate2Store.com – “On this site you will learn to build your pantry for long term food storage, cook fast and simple meals with prepackaged foods, store food for years and re-hydrate it back to new! Also you will find instructional videos, delicious recipes using dehydrated foods, helpful hints, important information, and great ideas.”
NESCO/American Harvest How To Dehydrate Guides

Home Food Dehydrators You Can Make Yourself

DIY Electric Dehydrators

Living Foods Dehydrators – Wooden dehydrators made in the USA, or buy the kit and make your own.
DIY Dehydrator made with a box fan – Alton Brown’s box fan dehydrator made with a box fan, cellulose furnace filters and a bungie cord or two.
Home made dehydrator made with plywood – Do it yourself dehydrator instructions for a box dehydrator made with plywood, and incandescent lightbulb and recycled refrigerator racks.
The $10 Jerky Maker – Quick and easy instructions for a box dehydrator using a cardboard shipping box, a light bulb, and PVC pipe.  Detailed instructions, lots of photos.
Do-if yourself food dehydrator/jerky maker – DIY dehydrator instructions to build a unit with a cardboard box, light bulb, cooling racks and metal skewers.  I like this a little better than the PVC option because the parts touching the food are food grade materials.  Nice photos.

DIY Solar Dehydrators

Build It Solar – Solar Cooking and Food Drying -  10 different solar food dehydrator designs
Solar Fruit Dryer – PDF plans for a large solar fruit dryer

Saving Food without a fridge...

http://www.homegrown.org/profiles/blogs/saving-food-without-a-fridge-an-interesting-post-by-http-www
Saving Food without a fridge - an interesting post by http://www.treehugger.com

• Posted by Yvonne on February 9, 2012 at 6:22pm
• View Blog

Fridges are a recent invention; for thousands of years, people lived without them, but had many low-tech ways of making food last. Today most fridges are filled with stuff that would last just as long and probably would taste a lot better if it was never lost in the back of the fridge. They are expensive air conditioned parking lots for what Shay Salomon called "compost and condiments."
Some are looking at alternatives to such an expensive and wasteful model. Kris De Decker of No Tech Magazine "refuses to assume that every problem has a high-tech solution," and shows the work of Korean designer Jihyun Ryou, who says "we hand over the responsibility of taking care of food to the technology, the refrigerator. We don’t observe the food any more and we don’t understand how to treat it."
She has developed a series of modern designs that rely on traditional techniques, learned from her grandmother and other elderly people in the community, the " traditional oral knowledge which has been accumulated from experience and transmitted by mouth to mouth."

© Jihyun Ryou
Here is an interesting and complicated example. Many fruits give off ethylene gas as they ripen; a lot of people put their tomatoes in paper or plastic bags to make them ripen faster. That's why putting fruit is a fridge is so silly, the ethylene builds up inside the sealed box and the fruit goes rotten faster. But some vegetables react differently to ethylene; with potatoes and onions, it suppresses the sprouting process. Put a banana in a plastic bag with a potato and the banana will be rotten in no time, but the potato won't sprout. Jihyun Ryou's response:

Apples emit a lot of ethylene gas. It has the effect of speeding up the ripening process of fruits and vegetables kept together with apples. When combined with potatoes, apples prevent them from sprouting.

© Jihyun Ryou
The designer writes about the Verticality of Root Vegetables:

Keeping roots in a vertical position allows the organism to save energy and remain fresh for a longer time. This shelf gives a place for them to stand easily, using sand. At the same time, sand helps to keep the proper humidity.

Kris de Decker elaborates:

Keeping vegetables in slightly damp sand has been a storage method for many centuries. While low temperatures are favourable for vegetables like carrots, high humidity is equally important. Keeping them in wet sand can be a good compromise.... Just don't forget to water them from time to time.

© Jihyun Ryou

An egg has millions of holes in its shell. It absorbs the odour and substance around itself very easily. This creates a bad taste if it’s kept in the fridge with other food ingredients. This shelf provides a place for eggs outside of the fridge. Also the freshness of eggs can be tested in the water. The fresher they are, the further they sink.

Everyone in North America stores their eggs in the fridge, but few people in Europe do, they can last for days on a shelf or in a pantry. In European supermarkets, the eggs are not refrigerated. Integrating the water into the egg storage shelf is really clever; according to about.com, if an egg:

• Sinks to the bottom and stays there, it is about three to six days old.

• Sinks, but floats at an angle, it's more than a week old.

• Sinks, but then stands on end, it's about two weeks old.

• Floats, it's too old and should be discarded
• .

Eggs act this way in water because of the air sac present in all eggs. As the egg ages, the air sac gets larger because the egg shell is a semi-permeable membrane. The air sac, when large enough, makes the egg float. Eggs are generally good for about three weeks after you buy them.

© Jihyun Ryou
This is probably the most well known idea of the bunch, adding a bit of rice to spices; it absorbs humidity and keeps them dry. My grandma did this.
There are more on the designers website and with more analysis at No Tech Magazine, where Kris concludes:

The more food you can keep out of the fridge, the smaller it needs to be and the less energy it will consume. The designs described above show a refreshing way to do that, although it should be remembered that these are artworks, not consumer products. Using similar methods when storing food in a basement or a specially designed root cellar - the traditional way - will give better results.

Smaller fridges use less energy, of course, take up less space and make good cities. Furthermore, these techniques are not relics from the past, they are templates for the future. In the hands of a talented designer, they can look beautiful, too.

Home Canning and Food Preservation

http://www.simplycanning.com/#axzz1lxWxP5NM
Canning, dehydrating, freezing. Sun ripened fruits, garden fresh vegetables and home grown meat. We all know just how good and how nutritious they are.

Read more: http://www.simplycanning.com/#ixzz1lxY86OIJ

Learn to provide healthy nutritious foods for your family and have fun doing it. Don't get me wrong, filling your pantry is a lot of work up front.
The benefits you enjoy throughout the year are OH SO worth it.

How To Store Fresh Eggs Without Refrigeration

How To Store Fresh Eggs Without Refrigeration

  t the end of this page, you will find  the USDA information on storing eggs with Liquid Sodium Silicate, known sometimes as the brand name, K-Peg. This is highly informative and very important if you are going to use this product to store eggs.
Have you ever wondered how your great-grandparents stored eggs? Perhaps they didn't, perhaps they used only fresh eggs. But many folks regularly stored their eggs and used them throughout the winter months.

Chickens normally respond to daylight by laying more eggs. Oppositely, when there is little daylight, there are fewer eggs layed. So in the winter when days are shorter, it's good to be able to depend on a fresh egg supply.

There are two ways that I know of to store eggs without refrigeration. They both require cool temperatures, however. A cellar, cool basement or cool room in the house will suffice. The cooler the better the chance that your eggs will last longer.

The first method is to coat the eggs with a non-toxic substance, sealing the pores in the shell and thereby sealing out oxygen and moisture. When oxygen is present, many bacteria can grow, thus spoiled eggs.

To use lard or shortening to coat the eggs, first melt the grease and cool it til it begins to solidify again. Dip each egg in the melted grease individually and set them on a paper towel to dry. When the shortening or lard is dry on the eggs, rub the eggs with a clean towel, removing excess solid grease. Rub gently and buff each egg. Now repeat the process, before the shortening solidifies. Work fast, allowing the shortening to get almost solid before re-heating it.

Line the bottom of a flat box with a clean soft towel. Place the eggs in the box in a single layer. Cover the box with either a lid or another towel. Place the box of eggs in a cool, dry environment. Eggs prepared this way will last up to 6 months, although I have heard people say that they have kept eggs this way for 1 year if they are kept very cool.
A product used to coat eggs in this way, but that is supposed to keep the eggs fresh longer is K-Peg. The eggs are coated with this product much the same way they would be coated with the shortening, and prepared for storage the same way.

The other way to keep eggs works on the same principle, cover the pores and keep the eggs cool. However, the eggs must be kept immersed in a solution of Liquid Sodium Silicate. It is usually mixed with sterilie water.

Liquid Sodium Silicate is a non-toxic substance that will cover the pores of the egg shell so well that you will probably be able to keep fresh eggs for up tp 2 years! You can buy it as Sodium Silicate Solution at any pharmacy, however they may not have it on hand and have to order it for you.

Again, you will have to keep the temperatures very cool and the humidity low.

Place clean fresh eggs in a ceramic crock, one layer deep. Pour liquid sodium silicate over the eggs until the eggs are covered and completely immersed in the solution.
Place a towel over the crock and tie it into place. Place the crock of eggs in a cool, dry place and don't disturb them til you are ready to use them. To use them, just take out how many eggs you need, wash them off in clear water and use as you normally would.

Two tips I would include are;
When you crack your eggs after storage, crack them in a cup, not directly into your food. You might get an awful surprize and ruin a dish.
Practice these techniques before you think you might really need to store eggs. Practice makes perfect!

Here is some information from the USDA on storing eggs in Liquid Sodium Silicate:

"What Uncle Sam Says About Preserving Eggs. These are the months when the thrifty housewife who has her own hens, or who can draw upon the surplus supply of a nearby neighbor, puts away in water glass or limewater, eggs for next autumn and winter. (These months being Spring time when the chickens begin laying again after winter)

To ensure success, care must be exercised in this operation.
Following directions are from the U.S. Department of Agriculture: In the first place, the eggs must be fresh, preferably not more than two or three days old.
This is the reason why it is much more satisfactory to put away eggs produced in one's own chicken yard. Infertile eggs are best if they can be obtained-so, after the hatching, exclude roosters from the flock and kill them for table as needed.

The shells must be clean. Washing an egg with a soiled shell lessens it keeping quality. The protective gelatinous covering over the shell is removed by water and when this is gone the egg spoils more rapidly.

The shells also must be free from even the tiniest crack. One cracked egg will spoil a large number of sound eggs when packed in water glass. Eathenware crocks are good containers. The crocks must be clean and sound. Scald them and let them cool completely before use.
A crock holding six gallons will accomodate eighteen dozens of eggs and about twenty-two pints of solution. Too large crocks are not desirable, since they increase the liability of breaking some of the eggs, and spoiling the entire batch. It must be remembered that the eggs on the bottom crack first and that those in the bottom of the crocks are the last to be removed for use.

Eggs can be put up in smaller crocks and eggs put in the crock first should be used first in the household. Water Glass Method Water Glass is know to the chemist as sodium silicate. It can be purchased by the quart from druggist or poultry supply men. It is a pale yellow, odorless, syrupy liquid. It is diluted in the propotion of one part of silicate to nine parts of distilled water, rain water, or other water. In any case, the water should be boiled and then allowed to cool.
Half fill the vessel with this solution and place the eggs in it, being careful not to crack them. The eggs can be added a few at a time till the container is filled. Be sure to keep about two inches of water glass above the eggs.
Cover the crock and place it in the coolest place available from which the crock will not have to be moved. Inspect the crock from time to time and replace any water that has evaporated with cool boiled water.

When the eggs are to be used, remove them as desired, rinse in clean, cold water and use immediately. Eggs preserved in water glass can be used for soft boiling or poaching, up to November. Before boiling such eggs prick a tiny hole in the large end of the shell with a needle to keep them from cracking. They are satisfactory for frying until about December. From that time until the end of the usual storage period-that is until March-they can be used for omelettes, scrambled eggs, custards, cakes and general cookery.

As the eggs age, the white becomes thinner and is harder to beat. The yolk membrane becomes more delicate and it is correspondingly difficult to separate the whites from the yolks.
Sometimes the white of the egg is tinged pink after very long keeping in water glass. This is due, probably, to a little iron which is in the sodium silicate, but which apparently does not injure the egg for food purposes."

Purchase Sodium Silicate from:

Ray and Anne Keckler
Fruitful Acres

Lehman's Hardware
Kidron, Ohio
(330) 857-5757


Back to The 20th Century Homekeeper

How to Make Homemade Peanut Butter

http://pickyourown.org/howtomakepeanutbutter.htm

Survival Bottle

Homemade Balsamic Vinegar

http://www.facebook.com/momsnaturals

Who knew that balsamic vinegar was made out of PINE NEEDLES? It makes sense when I think about it (i.e. BALSAM)..but prior to this, I never have! Make your own! No pines are toxic (according to Susan Weed) so take a bunch of needles and cover them in a glass jar with ACV (organic of course) and let steep for 6 weeks or so. You can use it after 2 if you are impatient. Shake daily. Strain and use! Different pines will impart different flavors.

Winter Preserving Ideas (For Experienced and New Preservers)

http://wellpreserved.ca/2012/02/03/winter-preserving-ideas-for-experienced-and-new-preservers/


Recently we’ve shared our reasons that winter is a great time to preserve as well as announced a preserve swap in Toronto as our next event.  With those things in mind, we thought it made great sense to do a roundup of some of the great winter recipes we’ve found from friends and other strangers online.  There are great recipes from people we trust as well as some of our own recipes within in.
Waterbath Canning (requires no special equipment)

• Sour cherry Meyer lemon marmalade.  Desert by Candy freezes sour cherries in the summer and matches them to Meyer lemons when they’re in their peak season for this spread.  We dehydrated sweet and sour cherries this year and I think their texture could be really interesting in this type of dish.
• I’ve never made jam with bananas but this Island Jam looks really interesting and is a great original take on preserving from Freds In The Head
• Grow It Cook It Can It shares their Citrus Marmalade.  This recipe is jammed full (pun intended) of a bunch of different citrus and a great winter recipe.
• Here’ another marmalade from Two in the Nest Mama.  This one appears to be more-in-line with the traditional marmalade (a bit on the bitter side) but a great sample of a classic.
• Sweet orange marmalade from Mermaid’s Treasures.  Some marmalade can be very bitter – this looks much sweeter and would be a great glaze for chicken amongst many other uses.
• Carrot Jalapeno Peppers.  Southern Fried Curry – you had me at jalapeno!
• Snowflake Kitchen takes frozen fruit, combines with lemon and makes a yummy looking winter jam (we have some frozen blueberries that might just make it into this jam soon!)
• This Little Pint of Mine shares another marmalade as part of their “52 Preserves, 52 Weeks” – proving that preserving is indeed a year-round event.
• Uncanny’s marmalade takes us in a different direction – using kaffir lime leaves and sounds awesome!
• Curried Cauliflower Pickles from My Pantry Shelf.  Booya!   This is so far up my alley that it’s practically in my driveway!
• The tiniest marmalade in the world is shared by Food in Jars with their Kumquat marmalade.
• Marisa (Food in Jars) steps it up with Blood Orange Marmalade; I’ve always found their name so intimidating but this recipe isn’t.
• Local Kitchen shares her Cranberry Habanero Mustard.  I have no words; this just looks awesome.
• Kaela (Local Kitchen again) also shares her Apple Carrot Chile Chutney.  We don’t make nearly enough chutney in this house; this might be a starting place!
• Pickled Leeks are great in the middle of winter.
• Spicy Pickled Carrots are another sure-fire (pun intended) winter preserve.

Pressure Canning (requires a pressure canner)

• Pressure canning dry beans.  This was sent to us by Lynn S. on our FaceBook group.  It’s such a cool idea – it starts with dried beans and pressure cans them while rehydrating them – it’s less totally work than rehydrating those beans one-batch-at a time and is on my must-do list for the next rainy day at home.
• I’ve never pressure canned potatoes but Pat (Mermaids Tresures again) has me interested in trying.  Having cooked potatoes on hand could save a lot of time on those nights that just don’t have enough time.

Dehyrdating (generally requires a dehydrator)

• You can easily dry onions, beets and celery root in the winter – these are all staples in our kitchen.
• Dehydrated mushrooms make an awesome mushroom powder – this is a staple I can’t live without.
• Dried citrus is an awesome addition for any stir-fry.
• Onion Flakes are great for dry rubs or adding to soups.

Fermenting (no special equipment)

• Vinegar.  Cubit’s shares a beautiful post on how to make apple cider vinegar from scratch – this is on the must-do list for next year to-do list for sure!
• Kimchi.  It’s a winter classic and Put a Lid On It shows us a great take on making it!
• Sauerkraut – our friend David Ort (Food with Legs) shares how you can make a tiny bit of kraut at a time.  Extra bonus for the spicy part!
• Gingery Lime Pickle from Tigress.  This is off the hook – I keep seeing posts and thinking I gotta make that – but I GOTTA GOTTA make this!
• Tigress also brings us a sweet fermentation by working with these adorable kumquats.  We need a warmer windowsill to sit these in!

Other

• Meyer lemon marshmallows.  Yes indeed, Nomnivorous dropped that hammer!
• Herb-Infused vinegar can be an easy winter addition to any larder.

Of course there’s many, many more all around – check out the sites above for lots of great ideas to help even further – and add your favourites in the comments below!

Sewing Kit in a Jar

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Suzi-Homefaker/157277567665756

Jar Lids Decoupaged with Japanese Paper

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fthecleverwhatever.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F08%2Frepurposed-jars.html&h=gAQG4hoGr

Ball Canning Jar Chart - How Old Are They?

Very cool chart to tell you how old those Ball canning jars are.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Two-Squared-Acres-micro-farm/147076935340533