Sauerkraut

Note (added 1/22/17):  More on sauerkraut can be seen in another post.  

I've tried fermenting vegetables, and so far the one that has worked best is cabbage, aka sauerkraut.  There are much better sites that describe the process than what I can provide; see for example Nourishing Treasures (the link is to the final report, but there are numerous other posts on the experiment linked from that page; the whole package is very detailed).

Here's what I have experienced:  First, my house is normally somewhat warmer than the typical upper 60s-lower 70s temperature range suggested for kraut fermentation.  In the summer, my house is usually around 80.  Because of this, I have never let a batch go for 28 days.  I don't let it go too much past when the CO2 action fades, although as the Nourishing Treasures posts note, that may be ending things too soon (see also this post by the same author, Lea Harris:  Fermentation Mistakes. Some sites warn that spoilage may occur at higher temps, but I have never had a problem--although last summer, a batch seemed to be through its CO2 cycle within a week.

My most recent batch I  left out for about 20 days.  I have previously used a half-gallon mason jar with a simple airlock; it works very well.  One nice thing about it is that it's possible to see what's going on.  I usually have kept it in my pantry, out of the light, but it's available for examination at any time.

Two pounds of cabbage plus one tablespoon of canning salt is all that's needed.  Two pounds is around one normal-sized head; when chopped and put into the jar initially, it fills it.

To get things ready to ferment, part of the process is mixing the salt in with the chopped cabbage, which begins to liberate water, and massaging/crushing/stomping the mixture to bruise the leaves.  This in turn liberates more water from the leaves.  I have often massaged the cabbage a lot in a bowl, then crushed it with my fist once it's in the jar.

Things will rapidly start to get a little foamy.  The two pounds of cabbage, when crushed/compressed, fills the jar about halfway.  I took a piece of thin plastic and cut it in the shape of the jar, below the shoulder, and use that to hold down the cabbage leaves.  In the picture below, you can see some glass weights holding it down; those are Pickle Pebbles.  I have the wide mouth size.  I stacked three on top of the plastic.  I got the plastic itself from a pack of bacon (washed, of course).

This time I did a larger batch.  Two pounds is okay, but more is desirable.  A number of companies sell airlock fermentation crocks; as noted in various places they are fairly expensive and some are available in very large sizes.  One of the factors to consider is that, while it is not necessary to fill the crock, there has to be enough cabbage to generate enough CO2 to fill the airspace.  Filling a vessel all the way is a bad idea, because it heaves a bit as it ferments, but if it is only 25% full, that might be a problem.

I put about six pounds into the crock and another two pounds into the mason jar (I wanted a visual check of what was happening).  The crock was a 5 liter model from Stone Creek Trading (I like the glass weights). Although cost per volume drops dramatically with larger crocks, I realized that I'm not--for now--likely to want to make more at any one time than what the 5 liter model will hold.

The foaming action died down after about 10 days and I let it go another 10. At that time I noticed a little mold starting to form at the edge of the water in the gutter at the top of the crock.  I opened it up and ended up with a little over a gallon, including what was in the mason jar and what was in the crock.

There was no mold inside the vessel; what you see above is some petrified foam.  There's also a lot of water (both in the mason jar above and the crock); I added some when my stomping efforts didn't get enough fluid to cover the leaves initially (I used a 3 tablespoons of salt per gallon mixture of water, suggested by NW Edible).

I tested the pH of the mixture; it's a little difficult to do with red cabbage, because the red stains the test strip.  But it seemed to be in the 3.5-4.0 range, which is good enough for me.  The Nourishing Treasures trial found 3.0-3.5 after 28 days.

I have noticed that the kraut gets tangier as it sits in the refrigerator; it is no longer submerged (except at the bottom of the vessel), and fermentation slows way down--but to some degree, it may continue.  Storage at room temperature is apparently okay for a relatively short time; that's why this food preservation technique came into use (although as I noted above, my room temperature is not the same as what would have been typical in Europe in the fall and winter, to say the least).

Corn and Rye Bread

A few months ago I discussed cornbread.  I slightly modified the recipe to use whole wheat flour instead of white, and due to a mistake in mixing the ingredients, made some further modifications.  I've used the same recipe ever since.

A family member is visiting who is sensitive to wheat, so I decided to try an alternative.  Instead of 2/3 cup whole wheat flour, I used 2/3 cup whole rye.  I also dropped the vital wheat gluten.  I didn't make any other modifications (either to ingredients or baking time).

The results were good.  The texture is somewhat smoother--rye dough is sticky, and it might be that same quality that transfers into the finished product--and the flavor is slightly different, but certainly okay and in no way inferior to the normal recipe.  I was surprised it rose so well.  I was expecting it to be more compact.

I'm not sure I'll do this routinely, but it's something to have as an option.

Processing pumpkins

This is one case where I definitely don't use state of the art methodology.  I do it the old-fashioned way--slowly, awkardly, and potentially painfully.

The standard approach is to cut the pumpkins in half, scoop out the seeds, then put the halves face-down in about an inch of water and bake at 450 for 45 minutes.  This will soften the flesh, which can then be scooped out and used.  This entire procedure can also be used for butternut squash, which I consider to be essentially the same for all practical purposes.

Cutting can range from difficult to horrifically hard.  It all depends on the rind.  The pumpkins I processed last month were very tough.  That may be good for storage, but it's not so good for cutting.  The problem is that the pumpkin is small, and moves around as you try to get leverage on it.  And a knife--I tried three--isn't the best tool for tackling something like that.  A saw or hatchet would've been better.  A clean hacksaw has possibilities and I'll consider it--though that would lead to fragments of rind embedded in the flesh along the cut.  When you're putting great force on a sharp object partly embedded in something that's unstable, there's obvious potential for injury.  It took 20 minutes or more to cut two pumpkins; you can see that the edges of the cut are pretty ragged.

Then I put them in the oven and all went well.  After 45 minutes the flesh had softened so much that it almost fell out of the shells, which themselves seem to have some potential for future use for... something.

There may be a better way.  Jill Winger at The Prairie Homestead suggests putting the pumpkins in the oven whole (at 350 for 45 minutes to 2 hours).  At that point they cut open easily and can be processed as above.  I might give that a shot next year...or later this year when I tackle the butternut squash on the kitchen counter.

So far the only thing I have done with pumpkin and squash is make puree for various dishes--pumpkin pie (shown above), pumpkin casserole, and pumpkin scones (the latter courtesy of the Paratus Familia Blog; they also work well un-iced).  The pumpkin casserole recipe I use (from somewhere online that I don't remember) is:

2 c pumpkin puree

1 c evaporated milk

1 c sugar

1/2 c self-rising flour*

1/4 tsp cinnamon

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

6 tbsp butter

Preheat oven to 350. Combine all ingredients (mixing the dry ingredients first helps avoid lumps in the flour) in a casserole dish.  Bake at 350 for 1 hour (covered for 45 min, open for 15).

*In lieu of self-rising flour can use 1/2 c all-purpose flour, 3/4 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp salt

This comes very close to being pumpkin pie filling minus the crust, so it is almost a dessert in itself.

One other thing about processing pumpkins: the seeds.  There are a lot of ways to roast them; I just toss them in some salt water for a few minutes, then put them in the oven at 400 for 15-20 minutes.  They usually turn out okay.

Last, what to do with all of the puree?  It takes a pound to do a pumpkin and about the same for the casserole (2 cups = 1 pound, more or less).  I got about four pounds from the two pumpkins above (which is more than normal).  I got about six pounds from a tan cheese pumpkin last year.

I put the puree in one-pound lots into containers and freeze; they stay good for about a year.  Over at Dehydrate to Store there's a video on dehydrating pumpkin puree; I haven't done it yet but it looks like it has some potential as an alternative to freezing.  Pumpkin puree is apparently one thing that cannot be safely canned (even in a pressure canner), so alternative methods are needed.  The fresh pumpkins themselves (uncut) don't keep all that long; butternut squash will last longer, but at some point it will probably make sense to process before you are ready to use them.

Kerosene lighting

I've been aware of Aladdin lamps for a few years.  The online consensus-backed up by some YouTube videos is that they are very bright (see also this one).  They also are reported to put out a lot of heat.  I toyed with the idea of getting one for a while, but never pulled the trigger.  Some of them are very nice-looking, but they are hideously costly.  You can get one for about $135 [update 11/22: now $199; welcome to Inflationworld].  If you look around, nice used ones may show up on Craigslist, eBay, or retail antique dealers.  If you want a pedestal design and shade, the price is probably going to end up north of $200 [Update 11/22: now over $300].  So that deterred me.

The mantle is another factor: Aladdin has changed them recently because of concerns with thorium, which was in the old design.  The new mantles aren't as bright, but I'm willing to stipulate that they're still brighter than any non-pressurized alternative (though there are many variables with flat-wick lamps that impact their brightness).  Mantles are somewhat fragile, and from reading various comments from users, the mantles need to be replaced with some degree of regularity--though that would depend for the most part on the amount of use. The mantles represent an ongoing cost; though flat-wick lamps also need new wicks periodically, those are cheaper and they are consumed at a lower rate.

I was partly interested in a good light source for emergency use--the power here does not go out often, but it has been out for about 24 hours a couple of times while I've lived here due to ice.  I wasn't sold on the practicality of a kerosene lamp for that purpose.  I have flashlights and batteries, plus options to run low-wattage things (like strings of LED Christmas lights) for a time if the power is out.  When I began to plan for a kerosene heater as well, it made more sense to get something for lighting that could use the same fuel.

I ran across this duplex (double-wick) lamp offered by Lehman's one day, and decided to give it a try [Update 11/22: no longer available].  I'm willing to spend $50 on a speculative basis.  It arrived in July, which was not necessarily a good time to either 1) find kerosene or 2) use a lamp that puts out a lot of heat as it runs. So I didn't do much with it until fall, when its heat output would be an asset.

I didn't know what to expect.  I have some battery-powered LED candles, and figured that amount of light was about what I'd get out of a single-wick lamp.  I was surprised.  The duplex burner (two 1 1/16" wicks) puts out a lot of light.  It's not like an electrical light, but it's more than enough to read by if sitting close to the light source.  The picture makes it look like it's somewhat brighter than it actually is, but it's close.

I also got a lantern (the second picture above); they have some advantages over lamps.  They can be carried around more easily and are more weather-hardy.  I bought a #2 Champion from W.T. Kirkman, though other brands and cheaper versions can certainly be found.  I liked the galvanized finish.  This lantern has a 7/8" single wick.  It's also brighter than I thought it would be--my expectations were apparently too low before I started this--but it's noticeably dimmer than the duplex (as you might expect, with only 41% as much wick width as the latter).  The lantern also puts out less heat, although the Kirkman site helpfully estimates the heat output: 1400 BTU per hour (compared to about 10,000-23,000 BTU/hr for a kerosene heater...that suggests they have limited potential as mini kerosene heaters: one lantern, the Jupiter, was designed with a large font/tank to enable it to burn for a long time and heat greenhouses).  The light output is estimated at about 12-14 candlepower with a max of 20--getting from there to lumens seems to be somewhat of a messy calculation.  However, it's also bright enough for reading and general low-level illumination, though you wouldn't mistake it for an electric table lamp with a 60- (or even 20-) watt bulb.

You may be able to see in the picture that the walls are a bit darker with the lantern; the difference between the two is reasonably close to how they look when viewed live, but to my eyes, the brightness of the duplex lamp was about equivalent to that of the second picture, meaning things were dimmer still for the lantern.  Either would work fine for non-electric lighting.

What about fuel efficiency? I have not done a fuel consumption test.  Patrice Lewis, on her blog, has.  She used a lamp with a 3/4" wick for her test and found that it consumed about 0.61 ounces of kerosene per hour (2.5 cups used in 33 hours).  If the amount of fuel consumption is linear at a 1:1 ratio with wick width, that would mean the 7/8" wick lantern uses 0.71 ounces per hour and the duplex lamp uses 1.71 ounces per hour (if you ever had any doubts, yes, algebra has real-world uses).  If all of these assumptions and calculations are correct, the duplex lamp is a fuel hog, relatively speaking.  The Aladdin should be somewhat more fuel efficient than an equivalently-bright flat-wick lamp if it converts some of the heat to light through making the mantle glow.  However, I've seen some sources--like Jack's Country Store, which sells them--report that consumption is about 3 ounces per hour (if they use that much, they really would put out a lot of heat).

And what about fuel?  K-1 kerosene can be bought at big-box stores in the early winter months as heater fuel for around $9-$10 per gallon [Update 11/22: LOL--$14 to $18]--they advertise it as ultra-low in sulfur, and therefore low emission.  It can be bought at the pump at service stations for maybe half that amount.  W.T. Kirkman has a summary of fuels as well as a list of ones to avoid.  The only ones I have used so far are Florasense, which definitely has a kerosene-like smell when it burns in the lantern, not so much in the lamp, and Klean-Strip kerosene substitute (which still has a smell on first lighting in the lantern, but it soon dissipates).

One other thing about the duplex lamp: The chimney assembly comes off of the burner for lighting--you don't have to pull the chimney up by itself then get it back into the prongs after lighting.  I found that tip on a YouTube video that I can't locate at the moment.  It makes things a bit easier.

There are other options for emergency lighting--the aforementioned LED Christmas lights will do a decent job if you have a battery and inverter to run them (this isn't as hard to set up as you might expect; some car starters have small inverters and outlets, and you can also hook an inverter up to your car battery).  Or you can use LED lanterns (like the Streamlight) with a couple of sets of batteries at the ready.

Kerosene lamps and lanterns are in many ways antiquated and sub-optimal; they are relatively dangerous; they pollute as they burn; and they are relatively inefficient.  There are a number of international initiatives to transition rural areas in the developing world to solar LED lanterns.  However, for some uses, the inefficiencies of kerosene are bonuses.  Winter ice storms are one such situation.

Reviewed: 11/1/22

Cranberry Sauce

I made some sugar-free cranberry sauce today.  I've been doing it for a few years.  Originally, I didn't can it and only made it as needed, storing it in the refrigerator.  I also used aspartame as the sweetener, which worked in terms of sweetness, but changed the consistency.  At the end of the season, I'd buy bags of berries, put them in the freezer, then try to use them in ensuing months.

Whey Low works much better as a non-sugar sweetener.  And when I started canning it, my experience with cranberry sauce in the off season improved.  Warehouse clubs often get three-pound bags of berries, which is too much if you just want a side dish at Thanksgiving, but works out well if you're doing a canner load of sauce for use in the next year.

I use this recipe, adapted from the Ball Blue Book (BBB):

About 21 1/3 cups of cranberries
10 2/3 cups each of water and sugar (or Whey Low)

The berries have to be picked over carefully.  I always find a lot of bad ones.  They're often off-color and squishy; they may be translucent pink, or turning black.  If you don't get all (or most of them) out, the cranberry sauce will have an off-odor and flavor, somewhat reminiscent of PineSol.  Tonight I started off with nine pounds and culled out about 26 ounces, or 18%.  It took about an hour to do so.  I used the above amounts of water and sugar, but didn't measure out the berries.  From past experience, I know that nine pounds will net out to about 8-9 quarts.  Tonight I got about 8.5.  They can be canned in the boiling water bath canner.  I do them for 25 minutes.

 To make the sauce itself, I just boil the water and sugar, then add the berries.  They'll start to rupture immediately.  I stir them and eventually mash the few remaining stragglers against the side with the slotted spoon I use to stir.  Everything fits into a 16 qt. stock pot, though it is tight at first.  Until the berries break down, it will be nearly full.

You can see a couple of things in the picture.  One is that foaming becomes a problem as it continues to cook (and boil).  Another is that the berries (even once they burst) float at the top of the mixture, leaving a more syrupy consistency below.  I try to balance out what goes into each jar, but obviously miss the mark sometimes.  Still, it all works out and they're good.

The Whey Low does admittedly make this an expensive indulgence.  The three bags of berries cost about $14, and the amount of Whey Low (a little over four pounds) costs probably $30 or so (without any discounts, which are easy to get if you're willing to go on their e-mail list).  I could use sugar, which would cut the price dramatically. For preserves I use sugar; Whey Low would be prohibitive.  But for cranberry sauce, I figure it's worth it to lighten the load calorically.

No-Knead Bread

I've been baking my own bread for a little over six years now.  I usually bake about one two-pound loaf per week.  In all that time, I have kneaded a batch of bread dough just once--the first time I made it.

I claim no originality with the process or recipe.  All credit goes to Jim Lahey and Mark Bitten; the first video they made on it can be seen here:  No-Knead Bread

Numerous permutations of this recipe can be seen in videos produced by Breadtopia.

This is also similar to the "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes per Day" approach.

The nice thing about this process is that you don't need precision.  My own recipe has drifted over the years; what I currently use for the most common loaf I bake is this:

2 cups unbleached bread flour
1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour (of any kind)
1/2 tsp salt
1 3/4 - 2 cups water
1/4 cup sourdough starter

I bake it at 475 for 30 minutes, then 15 minutes at 450.  I don't use much salt... I slowly backed it off over a period of time and now I'm happy with the minimal amount I use.  When I bake for others, I bring the amount of salt back up because I know most people would find my bread to be pretty bland.

I started off baking in a Pyrex pot, but soon moved to a Romertopf because it makes nice traditional loaf-sized bread and is good for sandwiches.  Rather than lay the dough on a towel or the counter, I put it in a proofing basket to rise the second time (with a liner).

The inside of the loaf when baking the standard white/whole wheat flour mix looks like this (not the same loaf as above):

Regardless of flour blend, my process is: mix it all up in a bowl; let it rise under plastic for a number of hours; turn it out onto a floured counter top, dusting it with flour on top, patting it out a bit and folding it into a sort of oblong loaf shape; put it in the proofing basket for a few minutes; drop into the preheated Romertopf; bake; remove and let cool for about 24 hours before cutting (both to cool and to build a nice crust).  Then I start storing it in the refrigerator as I use it up.

Regarding rising times: those have drifted.  12 hours / 2 hours will work, but a wide range of times will work.  Most commonly I let the first rise go 9-10 hours and the second more like 30 minutes.  In the summer my house is pretty warm, so the dough rises a lot; in the winter, not so much.  A shorter second rise seems to lead to more rising in the oven.

I use a number of different flour combinations, adding up to a total of 3 3/4 - 4 cups:

All bread (white) flour
All whole wheat flour (white, red, white soft)*
As above with rye flour substituted for the whole wheat
As above with buckwheat flour substituted for whole wheat (only did this one; didn't like it much)

*When baking with 100% whole wheat, I add 1/2 cup of vital wheat gluten, for a total of about 4 -  4 1/4 cups flour & VWG.

The baking times are always the same.  As noted above, I preheat the Romertopf--for 20 minutes as the oven is warming up to avoid having the loaf stick; it almost always slides right out.  Above is my standard white / whole wheat mixture; below is the most recent loaf I've baked: 100% soft white wheat with VWG.

As you can see, the crumb structure is much more dense than with some white flour mixed in, but I'm very happy with the results. The individual slices are heavy. The loaf is shown sitting on my fairly cheap bread slicing guide. I think I prefer the white flour mixed in, but this is certainly viable.  The reason I have experimented with all whole wheat is that I have some unground wheat on hand.  Any baking I do with that will be either all whole wheat or I'll have to mix in store-bought white flour.  Red wheat has a definite bite to it, while white is more bland.  In general, hard wheat is more available than soft, but as you can see, soft will work okay.  I also use hard wheat flour in places where soft is more traditionally recommended, such as when making cakes. 

I haven't used commercial yeast much in the last several years; I have a sourdough starter I originally got from Cultures for Health that is still going strong. My sourdough approach pretty much follows the video on the Breadtopia site.

A few observations:  I don't mix my dough to be as wet as shown in the video.  The texture is obviously different with whole wheat flour in the mix, but even so, if the dough is too wet, it makes a mess in the proofing basket and is a mess to deal with when trying to pat it out on the counter.  Rye is pretty sticky, too.  Regardless of flour type, somewhat less water works fine.

As noted before, the recipe is incredibly forgiving of deviations in almost any of the ingredients or other parameters.  Too much water causes some problems, but the bread will still be usable.  Too little is probably okay.  Flour can vary a bit.  Rising times can vary.  Baking time can vary.  Too little would obviously be a problem, but I've left it in too long on a couple of occasions and it has been okay.  I certainly have had loaves that have disappointed, but they are always usable.

The bread is good.  I obviously bake it to my own tastes, but it beats almost anything I can buy.

I've spoiled myself at this point; I used to be happy with store brand white or whole wheat sandwich bread, but now those are almost inedible--soft, airy, salty, nasty.  What I bake is worlds better.

The amount of work involved is minimal, and it's pretty cheap.  Ten pounds of flour costs $6-$7, and I can get five two-pound loaves of premium bread from that much.  That much good bread in the store would probably cost... I don't know; I haven't shopped for it lately... probably at least $20. The long rising times can easily be built around my work schedule.  I either mix up the dough before leaving for work and bake when I get home or do so last thing at night so I can bake the next morning.


Grinding my own wheat flour would make it a bit fresher, and I have done that before.  I'm pretty satisfied buying pre-ground whole wheat, however.  I've experimented with a lot of different varieties and want to try growing my own. Speaking of which, it's just about time to plant it.

If you've never baked your own bread; give it a try.  It's worth it.

Eulogy for a Pear Tree (Deer, Take III)

Earlier, I mentioned that deer can be a problem, but that there were ways to limit or prevent the damage they do to trees that I have tried that work.  Although it has limitations as trees grow, a circle of welded wire or field fencing--or even chicken wire--seems to be effective.  After complaining to myself about the hassle and expense involved, I eventually decided to give it a try and
have adopted it as the method of choice for every young fruit tree I've planted...except for one.

That one is dead now.

Last spring, I got three pear trees.  I had been thinking about pears for a long time, but had shied away from them because of the plum curculio issues (which also plague apples and peaches, as previous posts had noted).  I didn't really want more high-maintenance trees. Eventually I decided to give them a try.  I have multiple apples and peaches already, so spraying three more trees with Surround won't be all that much extra work.

So I got three trees--two container, one bare root--and planted them.  I got them in the ground very late in the season for Georgia; it was early May.  I ran out of welded wire fencing after circling the two container pear trees, but the next time I was out where I had planted them, I took along a four-foot roll of chicken wire.  I dropped the roll next to the bare-root tree, but "didn't have time" that day to pound in the t-posts and fence it in.  Ditto the next time, and the next... eventually I stopped thinking about it, although every time I mowed, I had to move the chicken wire roll (still laying next to the pear tree) and I'd think, "I need to make time to do that."  In the meantime, I saw no indication whatsoever of deer damage, so was telling myself that maybe pear trees weren't an attractive target.

To some degree that may be true.  What caused the death of my young pear tree was a buck rubbing against it--as the picture shows.  He broke off the entire top of the tree and scraped off most of the bark.  You can see how he pushed it around by the hole worn in the ground at the base.

While it might be possible to salvage this by cutting it just above the graft, I'm going to start over.  I have a few months to decide if I want to add another pear tree or do something else.