Bumper Harvest

[British Red]

I have a question if I may?

With your seemingly year-round sowing/harvesting/gathering/producing of various foodstuffs has it got to the point yet where you have a warehouse full of stored stuff?

You seem to be a prolific producer!

Warehouse - no . We do have multiple freezers though - two uprights outdoors are groaning at the moment. We also have shelves and shelves of canned, bottled, chutney and pickled stuff - and cases more of things like home made barbecue beans and the like. We have a small building which is our pantry, still room and freezer room. One of the reasons we bought this place was because it came with multiple, brick built, outbuildings. As you and Mary observe - modern houses are not really set up for any form of self sufficiency - or even a productive veg patch to be honest.

 

[Toddy]

I keep wondering about doing some preserving but never get round to it... am I getting from what people say here that dont bother with the Kilner's, I dont buy a lot of jams from the supeprmarkets as I live on my own,

If the Kilner Jars are no good, where can I buy a "starter Pack" as such? I looked at the link for bottle and jars but saw packs of 40+ not sure I need that many at the mo

The beekeeper's suppliers are very good The link I gave above for instance but buy the dozen pack. Find one near you would probably be best. Lakeland sell them too.
I had an Auntie who made brilliant jam, and she just used washed out instant coffee jars for it. Sealed with the wax discs and cellophane, even the not quite brilliant coffee jar lids worked fine.
The seals cost £1 or so for a pack of 20 in places like Wilkinson's or Morrison's.

cheers,
M

 

[Ecoman]

Stu, I use the Kilners but only because I was given a good stock of them and don't want to retire them to buy new stock. They are expensive compared to the screw on type that Mary is on about. Believe me, once you have tasted home made jam you will never buy jam from the shop again!! You would go through 40 jars in no time once you get the jamming bug!!

Thanks for the tip Red. I didn't even know such a tool existed, just added it to my shopping list for when I visit the mainland next.

I was using barbeque tongs with a rubber glove round each jaw for taking the jars out of the boiling water but I had to be ultra careful as it was prone to slipping. That's why I now heat them up in a low oven while the seals sterilise in a Milton solution. Once they are up to temp and kept there for 20 mins, I remove the jars one at a time, dry off a seal and put it on the jar (hence the burned fingers) and then fill the jar with boiling jam and quickly seal. I might just go back to boiling the jars now I know I can get a tool for taking them out of the pan without dropping them.

This house has enough space for a good veg patch as it has a decent sized garden, its just the inside has been poorly designed. Its cavernous compared to my last place but there is so much wasted space! I'm not going to plant veggies here though as there is no point. I doubt we will be here more than a year before moving into a more permanent place. We have our eye on one that has a workshop, boiler room and other outbuildings, but need to sell our place first.

I have been considering getting a pressure canner but so far I haven't seen enough of a requirement to buy one. What are the advantages of using one?

Home made BBQ beans???....now you have got my attention!! Come on Red, spill the pulses, what's the recipe???

 

[British Red]

I have been considering getting a pressure canner but so far I haven't seen enough of a requirement to buy one. What are the advantages of using one?

Home made BBQ beans???....now you have got my attention!! Come on Red, spill the pulses, what's the recipe???

The great advantage of pressure canners is to be able to "can" (jar really) anything that doesn't have sufficient "preservative" in the recipe to prevent spoilage. Last week I did a huge (20 pound) chilli and canned it. No freezing required, simply pour into a saucepan and reheat - like buying a commercial tinned food if you like. Brilliant for preserving things like meat, low acid, low sugar foods. Jam doesn't need pressure canning, but, for example, pasta sauce does

I'm sure the barbecue beans recipe is around somewhere

This is them

[/URL]
Home Made baked beans[/URL] by British Red[/URL], on Flickr

Its basically a meat free version of "Boston Baked Beans"

 

[Ecoman]

Hmmm, might look into getting a pressure canner then. I do like to do things like bottled tomatoes and pears in syrup so would be good for that.

Yes I gathered that the term "canning" comes from our friends over the pond. My missus sometimes uses that phrase as she is one of "them" She has been here long enough now to have lost the accent but the odd word slips out now and again.

I will hunt down a recipe, thanks Red.

 

[kawasemi]

...what is your recipe for Hawthorne and Chilli please?

We have loads of Haws ready to go.

Cheers


K

 

[Ecoman]

Its more of a ketchup or dipping sauce. Great with steak or pork.

Hawthorn Chilli Sauce
Ingredients
350g Haws
350g Bramley or Crab Apple
350g granulated sugar
55ml white wine or cider vinegar
1 or 2 fresh chillies, finely chopped
Method
1. Wash the Hawthorn berries and drain.
2. Chop up the whole apple and place in a saucepan with the berries. Cover with cold water, and then bring to a simmer.
3. Simmer for about 30 minutes, until the apple is mush. Strain through a jelly bag. Leave to drip for a couple of hours,. Do not squeeze the bag or the liquid could turn cloudy.
4. Pour the juice into a clean pan and discard the pulp. Bring the juice slowly to a simmer and add the sugar, stirring until it’s dissolved. Boil for about 5 minutes until syrupy but do not let the temp exceed 104C or you will have a jelly rather than a sauce.
5. Take off the heat and allow to cool completely.
6. Stir in the vinegar and chilli. Leave for half an hour, then taste. If you want it hotter, add more chilli or if you want it more sour add more vinegar. Leave half an hour before tasting again.
7. When you’re happy with the flavour, put pan back on the heat heat and bring the juice back to 88C or until the juice just starts to bubble. Pour immediately into hot sterilized bottles and seal. Sauce should last for up to six months.

 

[British Red]

I got the new lids from a beekeepers supplier in Denbighshire
http://www.bottlesandjars.co.uk

atb,
M

His honey jars are the cheapest I have ever seen - have you ever had jars from him Mary? I'm sorely tempted by his food jars too!

 

[Toddy]

No, just the lids, and those are excellent and he'll even sell you just one or two of a size if needed so that recycled jars can be used.
He very kindly sent me a pack of the assortment of lids that he sells for jars, all clearly marked with sizes so that I could try them on the jars I wanted to redo
We were hoping that his deep lided 70mm would do as a single lid on the kilner jars once they'd been opened instead of fussing with the two part ones, but the kilners have a different screw thread. However, having the sample set to hand meant that I could get totally new lids for all the other jars that weren't standard 1lb size ones that can be bought in places like Lakeland.
Much chuffed Means that the jars look good enough to give as hamper gifts

cheers,
M

 

[Tengu]

My beekeeper friend recycles a lot of jars but he buys in new lids.

I have a load of jars, le parfaits, kilner dual purpose and what are those german make of the funny shape that you can fit three in a pressure cooker?? Cant remember.

(their lids fit the dual purpose BTW)

Most of mine I got from car boots.

 

[British Red]

My beekeeper friend recycles a lot of jars but he buys in new lids.

I have a load of jars, le parfaits, kilner dual purpose and what are those german make of the funny shape that you can fit three in a pressure cooker?? Cant remember.

(their lids fit the dual purpose BTW)

Most of mine I got from car boots.

Are you thinking Leifheit jars Tengu?

I wish I could find cheap dual purpose or Leifheits I'd buy them off you but the postage would kill the deal

 

[Ecoman]

You on about the Weck jars? My mum had loads of them when we lived in Germany. The whole lot got misplaced when we were posted back to the UK. Seems it happened a lot with forces moves.

 

[Ecoman]

OOh I like them Leifheit jar. Really nice shape. Next time my friend is over there visiting her family I will see if she can bring some back for us Red

 

[British Red]

OOh I like them Leifheit jar. Really nice shape. Next time my friend is over there visiting her family I will see if she can bring some back for us Red

They are great for soft fruit - I make conserves that BB (Mrs Red) likes to have with cereal and yoghurt. Great for things like apple sauce too


23 check seal by British Red, on Flickr

 

[Ecoman]

I am gonna have to meet up with you and Mary at some point and get some real lessons in the world of canning and preserving. I thought I was quite good at it but I'm a mere amateur compared to you two.:notworthy

 

[Tengu]

Leifheit, yes, that's it

 

[British Red]

I am gonna have to meet up with you and Mary at some point and get some real lessons in the world of canning and preserving. I thought I was quite good at it but I'm a mere amateur compared to you two.:notworthy

Nothing much to it really - read the book, understand the science and crack on with it. The book has a great name too The Balls Blue book (I kid you not)

Now making our own sugar and vinegar to make the chutney with - that was more challenging (fun though)

 

[Ecoman]

Book ordered, thanks for the tip. I have also ordered some jar tongs.

 

[Toddy]

I'm just an old fashioned Scottish housewife
If you haven't got a copy, then the Scottish Women's Rural Institute Cookbook, is very straightforward and a good way to feed the family

cheers,
M

 

[British Red]

The funny thing is (as I have said before), these skills - like making soap or varnish were common skills until recently. We worry about losing fire by fiction skills - but so much more that is relevant and useful in day to day life is being lost at an alarming rate.