I have tried various methods, pickling in cold vinegar - tasted like raw pickled onions,
my father soaked them in loads of salt before pickling - yuck!. I tried boiling briefly in vinegar before bottling - they went very soft
so secrets please. I d
Read more…I have been scrounging around for old preserving jars and it's still pretty easy to find old Agee jars. They are seldom with domes or screwbands though, but you can still buy them -- the Perfit brand ones fit Agee jars, and most supermarkets stock th
Read more…We have a fig orchard in Waiuku and have loads and loads of seconds ( am fattening my two big steers on them at the moment to see if it changes the meat! ) available that we sell of anyone is interested. They are seconds due to not making the Export
Read more…A friend of mine has a fig tree, and I thought I would try making some fig jam.
He picked the figs, but they look "green", and don't taste like much. Quite small.
How do you know when they are ripe? If we leave them on the tree, the birds get them!
Read more…So far, apple sauce, apple jelly and drying apples and I can freeze some
I also have a load of pears as well to deal with.
Any other ideas, something a little different would be good.
Read more…Hi all
I've just finished bottling some beautiful plum and vanilla jam
1.5 kg plums (whatever variety) Can also add Peaches or nectarines - pitted
400ml water
1.25kg raw sugar
Juice of two lemons
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (the real stuff)
1/2 tsp
Read more…This is a technique not so common in New Zealand and it doesn't really feature in British cookery either (where I am from originally), but I got a taste for it when I lived in Poland and Sweden.
The best know of this technique is of course sauerkraut
Read more…Hi there,
I'm in the long slow process of creating a functional permaculture system and one thing I am interested in building is the old-fashioned cold-dark-hole-in-the-ground for storing root veges, fruit, etc.
I have a typical kiwi house with p
Read more…Hello all - i am completely new to preserving and have a question re: crab apples. I have quite a large tree in my garden which has quite large (for crab apples) red fruit. They don't taste too tart and so I was thinking of making apple cider vineg
Read more…Hi folks, I love the discussion on courgettes and it got me thinking about how to deal with my kamokamo (a cross between zucchini and pumpkins). I suspect this year may be a bumper crop. Has anyone tried pickling these before? If yes, can you recomme
Read more…What can I use as a replacement for cloves when it is to be used in a preserving recipe?
Read more…Hi there everyone, we have just harvest a whole load of broadbeans and there is still some rhubarb in the garden due soon. Also got some beetroot out the garden but not as much as we would have liked. I was planning on pickling the beetroot but not s
Read more…Does anyone have good grapefruit marmalade recipes? So far I've found extremes: kilo of sugar per kilo of grapefruit, vs cup of sugar per kilo of grapefruit but needing pectin + calcium phosphate to thicken it. Our grapefruit tree produces large, ch
Read more…Hi guys / gals,
Looking at buying a vacuum sealer to vacuum seal veggies and meat etc. Can anyone recommend a goodone at a reasonable price. There are a few on Trademe and the bags does not seem very expensive.
Read more…Im presuming this is the right page to air my query - afterall wine is a way of preserving fruit!
Ive been making fruit wines for 3-4 years now, last year one of my three batches of feijoa wine became quite gluggy, jelly like. Ive just bottled one o
Read more…I'm really interested in this traditional method of preserving (from before there was an easy supply of sugar etc). The beneficial bacteria enhance digestion and colonise the digestive tract. http://www.westonaprice.org/foodfeatures/lacto.html I ha
Read more…I bought a bag of pickling onions today. First time dealing with them for me. I am going to peel them tonight and leave in a brine overnight, my question is do I cut the ends off?
Read more…