The Can-o-phobic's Corner
- Thread starter Wifezilla
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Farmfresh
City Biddy
Sure. It can function easily as a water bath canner, just don't use the same lid. Simply allow the pot to boil as normal.
I had to look up ginger to see what it actually was, seeing that its a monstrous looking root I would be afraid of cutting myself with the knife I'd be trying to kill it with - no thanks I'll be sticking with ginger snap cookies and their soft rounded edges.Wifezilla said:Just made some crystalized ginger. No canner required. No asplosions
Hi, my name is ORChick, and I am a non-canner 
I have always had a fascination with food storage however. I remember reading a book when I was a teen; the story took place during the English civil war (1600s), and I thought it was kind of neat that the lady of the house saved, and dried the used tea leaves to use again - in this instance to pass on to poorer neighbours, but why not for oneself? I've kept the idea in mind for 4 decades or so, for when imported tea isn't easily got. In the same book, I think, there was mention of a secret shelf built into the inside wall of the well - cool and damp and perfect for keeping butter etc. in the days before refrigeration. I have a couple of books by Elisabeth Luard: "The Old World Kitchen", and "The Barracaded Larder". These are both recipe books, but also tell of some of the old ways that European peasants kept their food to feed their families in the winter, and also the importance of doing so. The second specifically mentions how oftentimes the only room in the house with a lock was the larder, and its contents were defended against all comers. I love old cookbooks, especially foreign ones - I have several from Ireland, Britain, and Germany; they don't always talk specifically about food storage, but things are sometimes mentioned in passing that give glimpses of how things were done. There is an interesting book from France about preservation without canning or freezing: http://www.amazon.com/Preserving-Food-without-Freezing-Canning/dp/1933392592 - I wish I could find it again; it appears to be lost somewhere, probably under a pile of books
So, all you other book/history/food preservation nuts out there - what are your favorite resources?
I have always had a fascination with food storage however. I remember reading a book when I was a teen; the story took place during the English civil war (1600s), and I thought it was kind of neat that the lady of the house saved, and dried the used tea leaves to use again - in this instance to pass on to poorer neighbours, but why not for oneself? I've kept the idea in mind for 4 decades or so, for when imported tea isn't easily got. In the same book, I think, there was mention of a secret shelf built into the inside wall of the well - cool and damp and perfect for keeping butter etc. in the days before refrigeration. I have a couple of books by Elisabeth Luard: "The Old World Kitchen", and "The Barracaded Larder". These are both recipe books, but also tell of some of the old ways that European peasants kept their food to feed their families in the winter, and also the importance of doing so. The second specifically mentions how oftentimes the only room in the house with a lock was the larder, and its contents were defended against all comers. I love old cookbooks, especially foreign ones - I have several from Ireland, Britain, and Germany; they don't always talk specifically about food storage, but things are sometimes mentioned in passing that give glimpses of how things were done. There is an interesting book from France about preservation without canning or freezing: http://www.amazon.com/Preserving-Food-without-Freezing-Canning/dp/1933392592 - I wish I could find it again; it appears to be lost somewhere, probably under a pile of books
So, all you other book/history/food preservation nuts out there - what are your favorite resources?
While writing the last post I was reminded of a couple of interesting historical things I have seen in my travels. I love to visit those historical museum villages - where old buildings doomed to destruction if not moved are brought together into a *village*, to show how things used to be - I think there are a number of them in the east. I visit places like this whenever I can. In one such, in the former East Germany, there was a small stone outbuilding which turned out to be a dehydrating shed. It was roughly 10'x8', with slatted shelves inside. From the outside there was a place in the stone wall to make a fire. The heat from the fire heated the inside, and dried the fruit. This was some years ago, and I wish I remembered better how it was set up.
We visited another of these villages in Japan a few years ago, and I found the alcoves with the large miso barrels to be fascinating.
Not on food preservation, but another of these very interesting villages in Germany is set up along a creek, and it is focused on the old ways of production, using water power - mills, metal work, wood work etc. DH always has a blast when we go there.
ETA link to the last mentioned museum: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagen_Westphalian_Open-Air_Museum
We visited another of these villages in Japan a few years ago, and I found the alcoves with the large miso barrels to be fascinating.
Not on food preservation, but another of these very interesting villages in Germany is set up along a creek, and it is focused on the old ways of production, using water power - mills, metal work, wood work etc. DH always has a blast when we go there.
ETA link to the last mentioned museum: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagen_Westphalian_Open-Air_Museum
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