Bob Carder

boddah wrote:

hm i dont know much about it but i was under the impression that inulin is a good thing?

Nothing wrong with it if you can handle it. It's not a digestible carb so its good for diabetics. It causes gas in most people, but for me it is painfully so.

I have trouble with the inulin in burdock root when we eat it in stir frys etc.

HOWEVER, there is the most incredibly delicious solution to that:

Peel the roots, cut into rounds about an inch high, place in covered baking dish with say a cup of water (depends on size of baking dish, not too much - just enough so they don't burn). Then bake on a low temperature for about 36 hours until ready. We use the warming oven of our wood fire stove (I don't know what temp that is). Check periodically, if the water has evaporated then add more water so the don't burn. You should probably add a bit extra water overnight. They'll be ready when they are dark brown (close to black) right through. This could take anything from 24 hours to 48 hours depending on temp.

Most of the inulin is converted to fructose by this process.

The best way to eat these rounds is to refrigerate them then have single round covered in cream. It tastes so much like Christmas pudding, or even chocolate cake, you won't believe it. A little goes a long way - only have a single round with cream at a time and eat with a small spoon, just breaking off a bit at a time with the spoon. This is the most delicious thing we eat - a real treat!

Wow. Thanks James. You've got my mind ticking away on the possibilities 

Does the meat have a reasonable amount of fat or are they super lean like rabbits? (the more fat the better from my perspective).

James Stark wrote:
Ok, so we've hit a topic the new guy is sort of familiar with! My advice: guinea pigs.....meh. I recommend rats. Better feed conversion ratio, fewer issues with "bad moms", and the meat tends to be juicier.

James, this is awesome. How do I go about getting started in raising them on a decent scale for meat? Do you have any photos of your set up on the web somewhere? Any information you can point be towards would be great. Thanks, Bob.

SILVERSEEDS wrote:
they have a few key nutritional needs, like vitamin c, they dont make their own....

Yes, interestingly the only animals that don't make their own vitamin c are guinea pigs and humans. Just a coincidence I'm sure 

I've also considered this on and off throughout the years. Despite raising my own goats as well as hunting I like the idea of guinea pigs and this may inspire me to finally take the leap.

They're delicious.

If grown in the heat of my summer they'll be hot, if eaten in spring or after frosts they are mild and juicy.

If you find them too hot them dice then thinly in salads.

brice Moss wrote:
so long as you're not sharing it I don't think you have anything to fear from your own germs

My feelings exactly. I'm amazed to see so many people siding with tissues.

Always have a hanky in my pocket. After all what I've just blown out was inside me, a part of me, I'm not about to start fearing it 

If you look at the ingredients of store bought yoghurt you will see "milk solids". In other words they add milk powder to the mix to thicken it up. You can do the same thing to get yoghurt as thick as you want. To get real thick yoghurt add about a cup of powder for each litre of milk.

However, I personally just accept yoghurt as it is naturally - runny! If I want to eat straight yoghurt I'll drink it from a cup. I see no need for it to be like the solid gunk that they sell in the stores.

I make about 5 litres of raw goats milk yoghurt a week - the whole family love it