It's fruit harvest time at the Presscall homestead. Well, it's a modest plot but crabapples, plums and apples crop well. Here's my crabapple tree. I'll be making crabapple jam (jelly really, because it's clarified) out of them To boil the crabapples, I'm using my chrome Primus No.10, which featured here ... Primus No.10 ... fitted in my Primus enamelled stove housing, which featured here Enamelled Primus stand Priming the stove ... ... and with the pan containing the crabapples and water Some stove shots You can just make out the vapour jet here Powerful flame Crabapples pretty much done here ... ... and here the 'mash' has been filtered off, sugar added and boiling commenced, for about an hour or so About ready for bottling now I like cooking outdoors and while the jam boils a bit more I prepare a pork joint by searing it on the heat of a Primus 85 industrial stove. The meat then goes in a slow cooker for four or five hours. More fruit harvest, cooking and eating apples and some damsons given to me by a neighbour Here's the bottled crabapple jam/jelly. I was brewing up on the Weedex stove and thought the copper and brass complimented the colour of the jam Next, my plum crop ... ... spotted this little chap when I was checking the fruit for ripeness Of course, I don't have to limit myself to my garden's fruit. Blackberrys in my part of Lancashire are just about getting to the end of the season, but still a few to snap up John
Hello John, that must be a rewarding thing, 'picking the fruits' of your garden. When boiling, do you use the Prestige pressure pan as such, or just for its size and open? Tenderizing the meat after frying goes really well and quick the 'pressure way' too. I love that blue enameled stand, which seems even less common, if that is the word for it, then the green ones. France, j'arrive! - in fact, next month! Regards, Mike
Yes, it's a pressure cooker's pan I'm boiling the jam in but I don't use the lid, so don't use it as a pressure cooker. During the 'mash' boiling phase the mash tends to get lively and rise up the pan as the crabapples expand. There'd be a risk of them blocking the pressure release valve, resulting in the safety valve blowing. Besides, it really doesn't take long to cook them unpressurised. Enjoy your holiday in France, Mike, and good hunting in your search for an enamelled stove stand! Funny, but I'd thought the French fondness for stove stands (preferably enamelled) was rooted in the aesthetic appeal of them, but this jam-boiling session helped me to realise that they're practical things to have, giving a really solid base for a heavy pan and contents. Briefly, French provincial cooking in the heart of Lancashire! Again, bon voyage, Mike, and bonne chance (hunting for stoves)! John
It's years since I made wine and beer, Randy, but you've got me thinking. Never liked my own brews much - compared to the commercial product - but I'll grant it was from beer and wine 'kits' and not using fresh fruit/hops/malt. Mostly, the blackberries go onto cereals for breakfast or cooked in a sponge or 'crumble' (crunchy cooked topping made from wheat flour, groundnut oil and sugar). John
The secret I found with beer and lager kits was to buy, say, a 40 pint kit but make it up to only 32 pints - you'll definitely notice the difference in the quality of the end product...
My Dad used to brew his own beer and he said much the same thing, except he used 2 brew kits to one measure of water, then when the hygrometer starts to fall, boost with Moselle yeast and more sugar for 13 percent nectar...
looks like you had a great day to not only bring in the crop but put it away for winter--winter ..thats the problem with fall and it's bounty,the long nights and cold days will be on us. well maybe time for working on the stoves will finally be found..the wild grape crop is heavy this year and i expect to make another batch of wine
Lead a horse to water and he'll take a drink ... Wee-Dex gassie in its natural environment (picnic venue) with picnic kettle Wee flame on the Wee-Dex More on the Weedex Story of the Wee-Dex John
Aarghh! Not the BOILING TIME question Ron! Last time I went down that route I got into hot water ... Hot water Suffice it to say, the Wee-Dex doesn't take an age to bring a kettle to the boil, and does it in style! John
Said in jest, Andrew, but though I wouldn't stage a dumb test like that one again, it's interesting to compare burner outputs in the context of a comparison chart like this one ... Burner outputs ... telling me that the Primus No.10's burner (Optimus 208 equivalent) is around twice as powerful as that of the Primus No.5 (Optimus 205 equivalent). Twice the fuel consumption, too. Figures apart, it was a good to have that reserve of power to boil those quantities of crabapple juice. I use a Primus No.5 a lot and I could easily tell the difference. John
