Homesteading

[Kev]

A thread for preserving your stash.. Canning, fermentation, freeze-drying, dehydrating, salt-curing, smokin’, etc.. ?

Discussion

[Jena]

Good time to stockpile canning jars and Redmond’s salt and a dehydrator! Maybe some kombucha supplies and yogurt-making stuff to use up all that canned fruit sauce and jams….I let my ferments eat most of the sugars so I do not get carb-ed out!

[Kev]

I’m always snaggin’ wide-mouth canning jars at the thrift stores.. (don’t have room for them!).. Thankfully, salt is currently relatively somewhat affordable to stockpile..

And it’s worth considering not relying on electricity, and use a passive solar-powered dehydrator when you can — a vented box with a glass top that holds in heat.. Not something you stick directly in the sun and bake the goods.. would have to play around with it and figure out what works best for the heat level you’re looking for.. And I did see a design a while back where someone attached what was essentially a long air vent to a large box, which set up a natural, passive air flow during the heat of summer, like a wind tunnel.. Dehydration is much much quicker that way, with moving air.. And of course, herbs/leaves can just be laid out on a screen..

[illia]

One of my preservation methods is freezing and strawberries are my number one thing to freeze. When I thaw them out, generally in the winter, I add 2 Tbs chia seeds to about 12 oz. of thawed berries and let it sit to absorb the bright berry juice. This makes an incredible sugar free strawberry jam for toast or as a yogurt topping. I also make pestos to drop into rice or soups, or on potatoes. Foraged nettles, purslane, chickweed blanched and pureed with oil and garlic are all great to freeze in ice cube trays. A good method for fresh herbs, chives, dill, parsley is to place a piece of wax paper in a sushi mat and pack it with an herb and roll it super tight like a 1″ diameter cigar and then twist the ends, label and freeze in a dedicated ziplock for herbs. When you take them out, in winter, you just unwrap one end of the cigar, slice off what you need and twist it back up.

In the Fall during apple season I can sauce and use the peels and cores to make Apple Cider Vinegar for the year. 12 quarts of apple sauce and about 5-6 gallons of ACV.

[Kev]

Amazing to me the ideas people have.. Especially like the frozen herb-pesto cubes.. and also genius use of chia seeds!.. Love that.

I haven’t gotten around to making ACV, to the point I’m not sure the what’s what and haven’t looked into the details.. I’m thinking fresh apple juice set at room temperature and just let it ferment??.. Anything special you need to do??.. But also — when you make your ACV out of peels and cores, do you boil them first to extract some essence into water, and then convert that to ACV??

[maryschurr]

@Kev, Here you go…how to make apple cider vinegar… Let me know how it works and if you have any “pointers”! ?

https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/make-raw-apple-cider-vinegar/

[Kev]

Ah, that’s right — the sugars turn into alcohol first before turning into acetic acid.. Looks very straightforward.. With kombucha under my belt, this looks like cake.. And I especially like being able to harvest the mother on top of the liquid and use that as a starter in subsequent batches.. I’m guessing you can keep the mother in a “motel” the way you do a kombucha SCOBY..

I wonder though what a recipe would look like without the honey — i.e. just apples.. I’m guessing some extra apple juice needs to go in there to bump up the sugar content, so there’s enough sugar and it doesn’t go off.. But I do love the idea of honey energy in there!..

Thanks for looking this up Mary!.. I’m printing the page.. ?

[maryschurr]

You are welcome! If you try it, let me know how it goes.

[Kev]

I absolutely will!

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