What did you do in the garden today?

[chickengr]

Hmm... One says blanch, another says no blanch. I was hoping there might be a consensus on the subject, but I see different people have different methods.

try both and decide. I didn't like the taste of non blanched veggies. but I keep them in freezer for months. maybe if you cooked them sooner they would taste better

 

[gtaus]

try both and decide. I didn't like the taste of non blanched veggies. but I keep them in freezer for months. maybe if you cooked them sooner they would taste better

If I get a nice batch of beans, I will probably try both blanched and non-blanched with the vacuum sealer. Last year Dear Wife just washed and froze the beans. You could tell that they had been in the freezer after a number of months. They still tasted good, but not garden fresh. Mind you, we were very happy to have garden beans of any kind in the middle of the winter, but you could definitely taste the difference due to freezing.

This year we have been eating lots of fresh beans and I currently don't have any excess beans to preserve. But maybe I'll be able to pick some more this weekend.

 

[gtaus]

I have been talking about the Deni vacuum sealer I picked up at the Thrift Store for only $1.50. It did not come with any special bags or a bags on a roll. Someone mentioned that you can use any baggie, so I gave it a try tonight.

I had an overripe banana that I wanted to save for banana bread. So, I loaded up a quart freezer bag with the banana in it and put the machine to work. I'm glad to report that both the vacuum sealer and the heat sealer worked just fine.

I showed Dear Wife that everything was working. Now she wants to vacuum seal some of her bitter melon (ampalaya) and white gourd (upo) and then freeze the bags. Not sure if she plans on blanching the veggies, but I am going to suggest a few bags each way and then later this winter we can see if there is any taste difference.

I think we might have some excess zuchinni to experiment with as well.

BTW, it was Dear Wife's idea to get a vacuum sealer because one of her friends said they were very good for preserving food. Neither one of us knows anything about vacuum sealing food, but it looks like we will be giving it a try with this used Deni vacuum sealer I got.

 

[Eagle343]

I have 7 full size apple trees, and 2 mini apple trees. 4 different varieties of apples.
I'm going to be making juice with my new juice steamer and canning the different varieties separately.
My Pixie Crunch are always a small apple so making juice is and exciting idea. They have a pinkish tint to them and it showed up in the juice today.
View attachment 3624491
View attachment 3624492
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Thought you were making Apple butter there for a second.

 

[jerryse]

I’ve heard of this one. But apparently a better one out there - an improved version.

Yes this video is 2 years old but the shortest video I found.

 

[Sally PB]

I have an Excalibur brand.

I LOVE my Excaliber dehydrator. I didn't know they make a vacuum sealer. I might get one, as my dehydrator has lasted 25 years, and works as well as it did when it was new.

We got a FoodSaver brand sealer. TOTAL waste of money. It worked ONCE. The "seals canning jars" gizmo never worked. That feature was the best part, according to my neighbor. I told her what happened when I used it, and she said no, it was faulty, as hers worked very well.

 

[jerryse]

I buy some things off Ebay. A trend has developed that I do not like. Sellers get an automatic 5-star rating for fast shipping when they get a tracking number. The USPS helps cover up the fact it has not shipped by calling the seller a shipping partner. So tracking, reads tracking provided, shipping partner received item and USPS awaiting item. A recent purchase took 1 week to be received by USPS. So the 5-star rating for shipping is useless.

 

[jerryse]

I LOVE my Excaliber dehydrator. I didn't know they make a vacuum sealer. I might get one, as my dehydrator has lasted 25 years, and works as well as it did when it was new.

We got a FoodSaver brand sealer. TOTAL waste of money. It worked ONCE. The "seals canning jars" gizmo never worked. That feature was the best part, according to my neighbor. I told her what happened when I used it, and she said no, it was faulty, as hers worked very well.

I have a Food Saver and was very disappointed. Sits unused as it never works right.

 

[Sally PB]

I have a Food Saver and was very disappointed. Sits unused as it never works right.

The brand has name recognition. I was just looking up vacuum sealers, and there are many different brands. I need to do some more investigation.

 

[TJAnonymous]

Not entering the State Fair anymore. Period.
I got the comment cards back today along with the ribbons.
The state fair does NOT open jars and taste or test foods entered in the canning category, UNLESS they look like they are not what they say they are or are packed in oil or alcohol instead of what they should be packed in. It says so right in the rule book, they don't open or taste.
So basically they are judge on how pretty they are, which is nuts, but whatever.
So I never know how things are going to work out and I work extra hard to make things presentable.
My pickle slices were wavy cut, and had staged spices and bay leaf front and center lined up with the Golden Harvest logo and the lid lined up with that. It looked like a magazine prop.
I couldn't figure out how I came in 4th when 1st place was a quart jar of spears with no spices in it, and almost 3 inches of nothing in the bottom of the jar and spears floating at the top.
2nd and 3rd were so loosely packed they were only half full.
The comment on my card for 4th place, some bits of the pickle slices sticking up above the liquid.
UM, I handed over my entry in perfect condition, it was driven by fair employees 200 miles, handed over to other people to store at the fair, and then handled by others for display. I have NO control over that, and it doesn't matter anyway. Pickles should be TIGHTLY packed.
Then I look at my other entry cards.
2nd for Tomato PUREE. "Tastes wonderful, should think about simmering longer to thicken."
UM JAR was still vacuumed sealed when I saw it after judging at the fair. NO WAY it was opened. Concave lids are OBVIOUS. and it's puree not paste. I had simmered it from 6qts down to 3.
#1 entry, the jelly, comment "amazing color and marvelous taste" again, after judging, i saw my jars, NOT OPENED!!!!
What the flying frick???
IF I do the fair next year, I'm on the judging panel!

Personally I'd write a letter to the head of the state fair and say what you just said....especially if you aren't entering again. What do you have to lose? Tell them the obvious lies hurt their credibility and this is why people (like you) quit participating.