preservation Preservation thread

Bought the https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.amazon.com/Nesco-FD-75A-Snackmaster-Dehydrator-White/dp/B0090WOCN0&ved=2ahUKEwjWrP7LxLncAhXqzIMKHfhBBpAQFjABegQIARAB&usg=AOvVaw2tWbVsLsTCte5JQYPGxylt
SmokenFire said:
 
We dehydrate or freeze or smoke & then freeze or ferment or make hot sauce with our peppers.
 
For tomatoes we pressure can halves for soups & sauces, can salsa and sauce or freeze anything that isn't sliced and eaten fresh.  The green tomatoes still on the vine at the end of the season get pickled.
 
That dehydrator you have should be upgraded - I have a couple of these that have served me well the last 4 years.
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What do we think about this? Bought the open country/nesco 75 model dehydrator..
 
Ghaleon said:
I got the sixty dollar FoodSaver and two boxes of bags. I still have plenty left in the freezer and won't be needing to get more bags this season.
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Great find!  You'll love it.  When you do need bags, don't bother getting FoodSaver brand.  Go to uline.com and check out all the different sizes they have, for lots less.  Get by the roll and make custom sizes, too.  Replacement parts for FoodSavers are nearly nonexistent.  The teflon (or whatever) liner over the sealing wires on mine started disintegrating and it would melt the bag through, instead of just sealing.  Rather than pitch the whole thing, my husband found a 5-yard roll of the stuff for under $6.  Since I only needed about a foot of it, we figure we have a lifetime supply of it.   :P
 
Good to know about the bags for foodsaver! Another question, can the frozen fresh chiles do everything typical fresh ones can do such as fermentation? I'm assuming there's no way to dry them after freezing but then again what would be the point of that since you could do that from the beginning when they're fresh..

Making my head spin after seeing all the million different things you can do with em on Google-makes it hard to decide! You guys have given a lot of good concentrated ideas though for a start off/jump off point at least!

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Somewhere else on THP, I saw somebody suggest that you might freeze your peppers first before drying them.

I haven't tried this myself yet, but the thinking was that freezing breaks the cell walls, allowing them to dry quicker.

Vacuum sealing them might be overkill if this was your intention. All you would need is a Ziplock bag since they don't need to be in the freezer that long.
 
What are people commonly using as a starter? Can I use whey from cottage cheese? Or what else can I use?
PtMD989 said:
Yes you can ferment, thawed out , fresh frozen pods. You will need to use a starter though.


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Thank you you've been a great resource! Do you just cut em in half and freeze em, or do you do the whole single layer cookie sheet thing? And a dive on freezing tomaters?
DontPanic said:
Somewhere else on THP, I saw somebody suggest that you might freeze your peppers first before drying them.

I haven't tried this myself yet, but the thinking was that freezing breaks the cell walls, allowing them to dry quicker.

Vacuum sealing them might be overkill if this was your intention. All you would need is a Ziplock bag since they don't need to be in the freezer that long.
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Confused about the second sentance..
dragonsfire said:
After freezing they do get wet since all the cells explode when freezing.
Costco box price makes up for the high prices in the store for rolls.
 
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YAMracer754 said:
Thank you you've been a great resource! Do you just cut em in half and freeze em, or do you do the whole single layer cookie sheet thing? And a dive on freezing tomaters?
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I'm going to bravely defer to other more seasoned THP members on the finer points of making powders.  :)
 
Last year, I only got as far as drying some peppers in my toaster oven, and grinding them up with a coffee grinder.  I was satisfied with the results, but also realized I have much to learn about the art of making powders.
 
Not sure about using cottage cheese whey. But you can use yogurt whey, as long as it has live cultures in it. I’ve had success with sourdough hooch and probiotic capsules. Some people use kraut juice, as long as it’s raw and fresh,not canned or cooked. Look for stuff that has live lactobacillus in it[emoji16].


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ShowMeDaSauce said:
Farmhouse Cultures if you want something easy to use that also stores well
https://www.farmhouseculture.com/gut-shots
 
Ive always got homemade kimchi or kraut on hand so that is what i use. A couple tbs of fresh kraut juice for a 2 quart ferment is plenty to get it going fast. I make a "starter" kinda like wine making/brewers do. Let it set while veggies or whatever are sweating in salt. Then add it to the ferment.
 
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Is it easy to make homemade kraut? I LOVE kraut through and through and have even tasted some beer brewed kraut that were good (saverne I believe from Walmart hell hole). Loving this thread as I did my first canning experience last night with roasted tomato/pepper sauce with garlic, garden herbs, okra, and yellow squash all from my garden and feeling pumped and confident now!

Anybody do any pickling or fermenting-canning on their yields or combo cans? When I say combo cans I'm talking combining peppers with yellow/green/purple string beans or carrots and peppers, or both, or any other cool combos..? From my research it suggests since those and peps are low acid foods I'd have to pressure can (I have one but old school dial gauge only holds 3qt and 4-5 pints).

Could I add citric acid or vinegar to bring it into the 4-4.5ph range and still get away with boiling water bath or not good idea?

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PtMD989 said:
Yes you can ferment, thawed out , fresh frozen pods. You will need to use a starter though.


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Should I halve them before freezing and if I find any blackness, can I just scrape/clean/rinse it out and good to go?

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Kraut is simple.
 
Canning salt and cabbage. Weep it first for a couple hours and give it a mix every 30min. Then pack it tight in a fermenter with as little air space as possible. Top it off with a tiny bit of bottled water if desired. Leave it alone (in the dark preferably) until it smells sour. Temps and the amount of salt used will affect how long it takes to sour. Mines pretty much always ready for the fridge within a few days. A week tops.
 
Then put it in the fridge for at least 2 weeks. After a month its really good. It keeps a long long time.
 
A cool variation of this i call Kimchi Light. Just add a tbs of mild Korean pepper flakes per pound of cabbage.
 
YAMracer754 said:
Should I halve them before freezing and if I find any blackness, can I just scrape/clean/rinse it out and good to go?

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I froze mine whole with the stems on.
When I found any blackness inside the peppers, I just cut the questionable parts off. Not sure if the blackness will rinse off. [emoji848]
I’m not sure what causes the insides to turn black when the outsides still look good.

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