Mike Nolan

Forum Replies Created

Viewing 15 posts - 6,076 through 6,090 (of 7,704 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • in reply to: How are the 2018 Gardens Progressing? #13559
    Mike Nolan
    Keymaster

      Many people think seeds make the sauce bitter and don't like getting them in between their teeth. Looking at the reduced sauce (about 8 quarts) I don't see as many seeds as I was seeing at first, I think the seeds may rise to the top during cooking. I'm declaring it finished and will let it start cooling. If I get enough tomatoes for another batch of sauce, I may try to concasse them before running them through the Roma mill to remove the skins.

      The temperature last night dipped into the lower 40's here, and the high is supposed
      to be 72 today. It may hit the 80's again tomorrow, but I think the 90+ heat is over.

      in reply to: How are the 2018 Gardens Progressing? #13553
      Mike Nolan
      Keymaster

        We got a break, the part came in and the service tech had a cancellation, so the freezer is repaired and getting nice and cold. We're starting to load it, so the sauce can go in there tomorrow.

        I wound up with nearly 16 quarts of tomato pulp, which will likely reduce down to 10-12 quarts of sauce. For some reason I wound up with a lot more seeds in this batch than were in the last one, though I used the same processing method. I may try running some of the sauce through a canning screen to see how that works, it may trap too much pulp along with the seeds. I don't know if I have a Foley, but it might get rid of the pulp lumps, which we liked in the last batch.

        in reply to: How are the 2018 Gardens Progressing? #13544
        Mike Nolan
        Keymaster

          I just picked about 45 pounds of tomatoes from the garden, so I'll be making sauce tonight, though I'm not sure where I'm storing it until the upstairs freezer is repaired, probably around the middle of next week.

          These are fairly acetic tomatoes, I might try canning some, possibly adding a little citric acid. I've got a digital pH meter that I use for the hot tub, the information that came with it says it is safe for food use as long as I rinse it thoroughly before and after. USDA says it is safe to use the boiling water method for canning tomatoes as long as the pH is below 4.6.

          Cooler weather and storms are headed this way, but if it doesn't get too cold or damp I should be able to pick another big harvest next week, and somewhat smaller batches for the next several weeks.

          in reply to: What are you cooking the week of September 16, 2018? #13535
          Mike Nolan
          Keymaster

            We had beans and wieners for supper tonight, as my wife's stomach is starting to get back to normal.

            in reply to: What are You Cooking the Week of September 9, 2018? #13531
            Mike Nolan
            Keymaster

              My experience has been that an immersion blender still leaves lots of tiny pieces of tomato skin, so I still skin tomatoes before saucing them, either manually or using my Roma Food Strainer.

              Putting the tomatoes in boiling water for about 30 seconds deactivates an enzyme in tomatoes that causes them to separate when you make sauce. The last time I made sauce I used the Roma 'salsa' screen which removed all the skins and most of the seeds. The sauce had some lumpiness to it, but I actually liked that.

              in reply to: Crockpot #13526
              Mike Nolan
              Keymaster

                It may just need to cool and set up.

                I've thought about using a slow cooker for trying an 18 hour black bread recipe.

                in reply to: Crockpot #13510
                Mike Nolan
                Keymaster

                  I don't see any reason why whole wheat recipes wouldn't work if recipes using white flour work in a crock pot. The baking temperature and times are usually about the same.

                  in reply to: What are You Baking the Week of September 9, 2018? #13492
                  Mike Nolan
                  Keymaster

                    A cobbler generally doesn't bake as long as a pie does, so the cinnamon roll idea on top is more likely to work.

                    in reply to: What are You Baking the Week of September 9, 2018? #13490
                    Mike Nolan
                    Keymaster

                      An interesting idea, probably better done with pie dough, which shouldn't get hard.

                      A shortbread dough might have worked, too, since it's closer to pie crust than bread dough.

                      in reply to: Adjusting Another Bernard Clayton Bread Recipe #13483
                      Mike Nolan
                      Keymaster

                        Yeah, a lot of whole grain breads are really dense, which is why the Pepperidge Farms loaves are sliced so thin.

                        Peter Reinhart has a recipe in his whole grains book for Broom Bread, that sometimes comes out fairly light but not always, and I'm not at all sure why.

                        in reply to: Adjusting Another Bernard Clayton Bread Recipe #13467
                        Mike Nolan
                        Keymaster

                          Recipe writers from the 50's, 60's and 70's tended to use more yeast, though for the most part both active and instant dry yeast have been pretty consistent since the mid 60's when the current processes were developed. More recent authors, like Peter Reinhart have been advocating using only as much yeast as needed, often cutting back on yeast then adding additional rise time, the classic trade off for bakers is more time = more flavor.

                          in reply to: Adjusting Another Bernard Clayton Bread Recipe #13462
                          Mike Nolan
                          Keymaster

                            Well, with loaf pans if they rise a bit more than you expected, it's usually not a major problem.

                            We don't drink coffee, but I don't think I've seen a traditional one-pound coffee can in the stores in years. Most of the ground coffees seem to be in plastic pouches these days.

                            in reply to: Red Delicious Apples Lose Top Spot #13460
                            Mike Nolan
                            Keymaster

                              I always wondered why they had the top spot to begin with, as they aren't very flavorful. Macintosh used to be the most commonly grown apple in Nebraska orchards, but I don't think it has the top spot here any more.

                              in reply to: Adjusting Another Bernard Clayton Bread Recipe #13459
                              Mike Nolan
                              Keymaster

                                Well, a 1 pound coffee can held about 4 cups, which is about the same volume as most 8x4 bread pans. When making something like brown bread you would fill the can about 2/3 full.

                                in reply to: Adjusting Another Bernard Clayton Bread Recipe #13455
                                Mike Nolan
                                Keymaster

                                  Well, to make 1 1/2 cups of mashed potatoes from instant potato flakes, you'd use 3/4 cup liquid and 3/4 cup potato flakes. Potato flour may be a bit more dense than potato flakes because it is ground up more, so there's less air in it when you dry measure it. (I wish more people gave instructions by weight.)

                                Viewing 15 posts - 6,076 through 6,090 (of 7,704 total)