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| 25 new of 130 responses total. |
edina
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response 54 of 130:
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Sep 7 16:09 UTC 2007 |
I watched Alton Brown make a homemade food dehydrator with HVAC
airfilters, bungee cords and a box fan. His zeal for having kitchen
appliances that can do more than one thing led to his homemade
invention. You put the fruits between a paper towel, then put that
between two air filters (you can obviously do more than this - he had
stacked together about 5 air filters with fruit between them), bungee
them together, then stick them in front of a fan. About 4 hours
later, he was done. It waas fascinating to me.
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keesan
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response 55 of 130:
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Sep 7 16:55 UTC 2007 |
Sounds clever, but the paper towels would slow down air flow. Someone offered
us a homemade model about 5' high by 3' wide and deep. You are supposed to
add heat when you dry things, starting at 90 or more, so the above method
would require a hot day (or reflectors again). Over the last half hour raise
it gradually to 140 to kill spores or eggs. Starting off at that temperature
would cause the outside to dry first and keep the inside moist, and it would
spoil.
Not a good drying day today, even for laundry.
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edina
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response 56 of 130:
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Sep 7 17:24 UTC 2007 |
Maybe it wasn't paper towel...I'd have to watch it again to be sure.
Alton Brown makes me go "squee!" in terms of fandom.
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keesan
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response 57 of 130:
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Sep 7 20:03 UTC 2007 |
Who/what is Alton Brown?
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edina
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response 58 of 130:
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Sep 7 20:15 UTC 2007 |
He's the host of Good Eats on the Food Network. Very into explaining
the science of foods.
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denise
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response 59 of 130:
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Sep 8 01:16 UTC 2007 |
<<Fruit dryer (dehydrator) for dried apples, pears, tomatoes, etc. It
blows heated area through ventilated trays.>>
And that doesn't cause more heat and energy usage than crock pots? [I'm
trying to understand some of the 'logic' you're using in what you will
and will not use in the house, or even outdoors. But also, I like the
concept of making dried fruit but don't have the funds nor the extra
space of a food dehydrator.]
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keesan
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response 60 of 130:
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Sep 8 01:48 UTC 2007 |
Yes, dehydrators waste energy if you plug them in and blow hot air around,
which is why I put ours outside in the solar reflector instead. The tomatoes
were not getting dry since no air was circulating, so Jim put some tape around
the bottom of a computer fan to keep it from sitting right on top of the hole
in the dehydrator and blocking it, and it pulled air through the 110 degree
dehydrator and things worked perfectly If I aimed it directly at the sun it
was up to 140. I adjusted the angle frequently to follow the sun (or not
quite follow it in mid day to keep the temperature below 120).
Our dehydrator is about 16" across and a foot high.
We have also made fruit leather from the sauced fruit. First Jim cut some
round sheets of a parchment-paper like plastic that fit over the center
projection on each rack, and spread the sauce onto those neatly. When it is
leathery you roll up the sheets and freeze them, or refrigerate and eat
within a month or so. Or don't refrigerator and keep some place cool and eat
within a couple of weeks.
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denise
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response 61 of 130:
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Sep 8 13:02 UTC 2007 |
So where else are there apple orchards in the southeastern Mi area that
you may have checked out? There are a couple websites that list
orchards by state [and then regions withhin the state] but I'm not sure
how up to date the lists are]. My dad was saying that it was an
orchard in S.Lyon that we used to go to-but said that it closed a number
of years ago and the land was sold to a developer [what a waste, huh?].
On thee web-lists, they do menion an orchard in SLyon but I'm assuming
its a different one.
I hear that the one in Dexter is a popular one but I haven't been.
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slynne
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response 62 of 130:
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Sep 8 16:36 UTC 2007 |
Erwins is a popular orchard in South Lyon at the corner of Pontiac Trail
and Silver Lake Rd.
http://www.erwinorchards.com/
They used to have a separate store like Wiards does but a few years ago
they sold it and the land it was on to a developer. It is possible that
is what your dad is thinking of. The main orchard is still there but it
is behind the new CVS drug store so it is, perhaps, less visable.
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cmcgee
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response 63 of 130:
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Sep 8 16:42 UTC 2007 |
We might want to go to the traditional "After the Grexwalk" lunch when
everyone meets up at the Dexter Cider Mill.
IIRC, there are apples as well as apple-related products there, in
addition to the cider.
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denise
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response 64 of 130:
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Sep 9 00:32 UTC 2007 |
Oooh, that would be fun. Especially if we made it a trip on a Sunday
instead!? Please, please, pretty please??
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denise
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response 65 of 130:
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Sep 9 20:39 UTC 2007 |
Do any of you have recipes for easy apple pie or apple cake? I'm not
sure what the going prices are for apples this year but I'm hoping
they're reasonable enough for me to try making lots of things...
Especially the applesauce and perhaps the apple butter, apple cake
would be good, too, for a change from pie. And cider, I can't go
through the fall without any cider.
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cmcgee
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response 66 of 130:
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Sep 9 21:22 UTC 2007 |
Apple pie is extremely easy. Make (buy) a pie crust. For a 9 inch pie
pan, cut up apples until you have 4 or 5 cups. About 7 apples.
Sprinkle them with 2 tablespoons lemon juice.
Mix 1 cup of sugar (use a mixture of brown and white) with a tablespoon
of flour, and 1/2 teaspoon each of nutmeg and cinnamon.
Place the cut apples in the pastry-lined pie pan. Sprinkle apple slices
with sugar and flour mixture. Lay top crust over apples and crimp along
the edges with the bottom crust. Cut a couple vents in the top crust to
let the steam out.
Bake in a pre-heated 400 F. oven for about 35 or 40 minutes.
Let set for about 15 minutes after removing from oven.
Enjoy!
Early American settlers served fruit pies as part of breakfast, so don't
feel guilty substituting it for your cereal and fruit in the morning.
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keesan
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response 67 of 130:
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Sep 9 22:51 UTC 2007 |
We make apple pie without added sugar since we like the taste of apples. Or
simply microwave the apples and eat them, sometimes with dried apricots.
We barbecued a couple in foil at the lake in someone's leftover coals.
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denise
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response 68 of 130:
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Sep 10 00:23 UTC 2007 |
Sounds easy enough; thanks Colleen!
Any suggestions for a dutch apple pie?
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denise
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response 69 of 130:
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Sep 12 22:19 UTC 2007 |
I was taking care of my niece for a few hours last night. When I left,
my SIL gave me some apples they had gotten from Eriwn's Orchard over
the weekend - as well as tomatoes from their garden. Gotta love this
fresh stuff, huh? So today, on my way home from an appt., I picked me
up a big bag of apples, too. This is in anticipation for making up some
of Mary's applesauce and some apple butter. If there's any apples left
[which there might be, since my crock pot is smaller than was mentioned
in the recipe], then perhaps I can make a pie or two. I just need to
plan in a few more ingredients into my grocery budget [brown sugar,
lemon juice, and maybe even the special ingredient Mary's talked abou]
and then if I do any pies, then I need to get the crust as well as bag
of flour. Time [and then money] will determine how soon I can get this
stuff done.
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mary
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response 70 of 130:
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Sep 13 02:33 UTC 2007 |
I'll bring some Calvados to the HH for ya.
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denise
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response 71 of 130:
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Sep 16 01:15 UTC 2007 |
I now have the required ingredients for making the applesauce [thanks,
Mary, for the 'special ingredient to try out] and I hope to get to it
tomorrow or Monday. Mary, do you think, since the Calvados is so
exxpensive, that maybe some of the apple or cinnamon liquors or schnapps
type thing would work in a similiar fashion?
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cmcgee
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response 72 of 130:
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Sep 16 12:40 UTC 2007 |
Calvados is an apple brandy. An apple liquor or schnapps might be a
good substitute. Hard cider might also substitute.
If you use any of those, I would also suggest using a bit of undiluted
frozen apple juice concentrate as well.
In fact you might even find that a bit of vodka added to the apple juice
would make a fair substitute.
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mary
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response 73 of 130:
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Sep 16 13:10 UTC 2007 |
I suspect schnapps might be tasty here but I've never tried it.
Try it with the Calvados and go from there. If you find the taste too
intense then I'd just leave all alcohol out. By far, Calvados will be the
smoothest, least harsh, of all possible alcohol additions, in my opinion.
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denise
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response 74 of 130:
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Sep 16 21:37 UTC 2007 |
I have a batch cooking away right now. My crock pot is a 3 qt one, so I
somewhat cut down the other ingredients. It's been simmering away on
low for about 9 hours so far. It's cooked down [in amount] by about 1/3
or so and it's a bit more 'liquidy' than thicker as the store-brought
kind of applesauce is. Perhaps for the last hour or two, I might cook it
with the lid off to see if it'll thicken up a bit more. It smells
great, though, so regarless, I think it'll taste just fine.
I do have enough apples left over to do at least one more batch [maybe
with a few apples left over to hold onto until I manage to get some
more]. The decision with the next batch will have to be if I want more
applesauce [to freeze] or to try some of the applebutter. I'll see what
I'm in the mood for next time.
And when I run out of the calvados, I'll see if I can get some other
apple-flavor alcoholic beverage. If not, perhaps a touch of some other
kind of flavoring might be good, too [like some kind of extract or
something]. Or I can just use the other listed ingredients.
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denise
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response 75 of 130:
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Sep 16 21:38 UTC 2007 |
[And most of the apples I'm using are golden ginger [or something like
that] along with a couple gala apples that my SIL gave me.]
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mary
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response 76 of 130:
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Sep 16 22:21 UTC 2007 |
It isn't until it's done and I start stirring it that I see how much it's
really reduced in volume. And it will most certainly thicken when cooled.
If you like it chunky, don't mash it up. If you like it smooth, have at
it. This freezes very well.
I am so curious to see if you like the finished product. And doesn't the
house smell like grandma's at Christmas?
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keesan
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response 77 of 130:
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Sep 17 00:22 UTC 2007 |
Today we biked about 10 miles to pick apples from three trees near Whitmore
Lake Rd (and also got two dozen brown eggs, from the Rhode Island Red chickens
who came out to observe us). Jim has a fancy red-enameled metal large apple
picker gadget which he attached to some 1" grey electrical pvc conduit, 5',
with another 5' piece fitting into the joint. He screwed an improvised carrier
for this gadget to the raccoon cage on his bike and it only stuck up about
2' above the bike. The raccoon did not comment. (He finally caught the
monster that ripped the cage open twice before in the past week, and stole
food out of it the night before last, by reinforcing the cage three ways).
About 1/3 of the apples he aimed at jumped off onto the soft grass. We are
going to sauce the ones with a lot of bad spots and refrigerate the rest to
have with oatmeal all winter. I dried a couple jars full of the sour green
summer apples (with electricity, the heat was welcome this weekend).
There is another tree along the way with unripe apples that we will check next
week, and two trees south of town in a parking lot that we generally pick in
mid to late October, one of them an excellent keeper. A few on north campus
and near the hospital. Some up the street at the nursing home (but no pears
this year). I might eventually make fruit leather out of some of the apple
sauce. Two cups sauce, one cup xylitol (sugar which does not cause tooth
decay), dry in the dehydrator after spreading about 1/2" thick on a rollup
thin plastic mat that Jim cut to fit over the grating.
There are lots of other abandoned apple trees around here. A few with larger
apples behind a doctor's parking lot where the neighbor takes her kids.
Nobody else seems to want free apples that need a bit of trimming. We fill
three refrigerators by October, with apples, cabbages, ripening tomatoes.
I have tried carrots in sand in the root cellar. Apples keep best at about
35 degrees.
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denise
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response 78 of 130:
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Sep 17 09:54 UTC 2007 |
I love this applesauce; I definitely don't want to go to the store-
brought stuff any more! :-)
The only thing is that it did reduce in amount a lot more than I thought
it would. With starting out with a full 3 quarts and almost 12 hours
set on low on the crockpot, I ended up filling three 1 3/4 cup
containers between 1/2--2/3 full [Last night I put 2 of the containers
in the freezer; I'm eating some [all, maybe] for an early breakfast
now]. Makes me wish I had a bigger crock pot! :-) Mary, have you ever
tried this recipe but cooked it less than the 12 hours? I'm wondering
how the flavor would be if I did cook it less, before it would reduce
as much [though I bet it wouldn't taste as good].
I have another somewhat related question, too. I haven't done a whole
lot of cooking with crock pots--only stuff like stew or something that
only takes a few hours. So with a recipe like this that simmers/cooks
for 12 hours [or the apple butter that would go for 24], how long can we
safely go without stirring it? The sauce was simmering/bubbling almost
the whole time-so I stirred it almost every 2 hours or so-probably more
than I needed to. So would I be ok in letting this cook away over night
without worrying about stirring it up? I've had stuff simmer in
regular pots that wouldn't be able to simmer that much and not get away
withsemi-frequent stirring. I do realize that crock pots are somewhat
different; I just don't have that much experience with them yet.
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