Thomas Nielsen

I like the idea of using an old slow cooker for fermenting, I may have one lying around. I want to make my own fermenting crocks (I have a pottery wheel) but I just moved and dont have a place for my pottey yet (sigh). But you have given my some great ideas of where to start! I think I may buy some pepper from the grocery store just to try out the process, and if it works well I will be planting some hot peppers this spring!

Thanks for the response! I was wondering why some recipes have you cut everything up before and some after. It makes sense to me that the real reason to cut it up less before is to keep the solids down. If I feel really adventerous I may even try aging some in an oak barrel like tobasco does, but I wonder if there is really a difference enough in taste to make it worth doing!

I just tried my first batch of sauerkraut that was started in october. It tastes like sauerkraut (although not as strong as i'd like yet) So I would call that a success! For my next project I want to try a lacto fermented hot sauce, I have heard that tobasco, and sriracha are both fermented type hot sauces, and I have found a few simple recipes online. I am wondering if anyone here has tried to make some before. I am also looking for suggestions on what peppers to use. At this point in time it has to be something easily obtainable at a grocery store because way back in the spring I had no plans to make hot sauce, ergo, I planted no hot peppers. I want a pepper that is hot but still has a lot of flavor to it. Any experiences are appreciated!
Tom

@Cj Verde, i like to look of those barns. I think they may be a tad too big for me though. I need to keep the shed around 200 sqare feet to avoid having planning a zoning come down on me!

I am kind of torn now, I really like the ease of having the metal building frame, but I am not too keen on the appearance. I have much to think about!

@ James Beam; I like the idea of the steel structure, it sounds easy, however I want to add a barn style roof for a storage loft. The more I think about it though, the more I like how easy your plan sounds!
@Bill Bradbury; So is the timber frame with straw infill basically a normally frames house with walls and you just use loose straw instead of store bought insulation? I may not understand but it seems that this would be harder and probably more expensive, however if you are willing to drop by and help it could certainly be more doable. I live in clinton.

I recently bought a new house with a half acre lot. Yes its not much by the standards of some people here, but its way bigger than my previous space and I am super excited about it! But I need some help. I am planning on building a shed approx 12'x16' to house my pottery studio and store the extra stuff that accumulates when you have 2 kids, and more hobbies than you know what to do with! Most kit sheds I am looking at cost between 3,000 to 5,000 dollars. I was perusing this site for ideas in gardening my newly acquired suburban oasis, when it struck me that I could potentially build a strawbale shed instead of buying the kit. This would also allow me to keep "potterizing" when its gets colder in my utah winters (especially if I build a rocked stove inside it!) I did a quick search and established that it would cost me about $400 to buy enough straw bales for all the walls with some left over for other projects. I can also estimate the wood costs for the roof, doors and window sills relativley easy, but what I cant figure out is how to estimate the cost of plastering the walls. I have never done anything like that, and dont really know what the cost is going to be. I am operating on the assumption that I will have to buy most of the raw materials to plaster the pottery shed (although I may end with some good material after excavating my pond) So I would need enough to plaster walls on a building that is 12' by 20' and about 7'-8' high. How do I go about estimating the cost for that? I need to come up with a good estimate to convince my wife that this is a good cheap viable alternative. Any sort of quotes on how much your personal projects cost to plaster are greatly apprectiated. Thanks Permies!
Tom

While I am not vastly experienced in all things rocket stove, I did recently complete HVAC school and I think I know what your problem is. Super efficiant furnaces (90% efficiency) have condensation hoses to drain water that condenses on the heat exchanger. You are sucking moisture in with the air that fuels the fire. There is no way to get around that, it would seem to me that your thermal mass is collecting enough of the heat that some of the water vapor is condensing back to water as it loses heat, since you have a slightly slanted pipe, it then runs down hill. I am actually surprised more people dont have a problem with this since the design seems to efficient. Logic would suggest that they are getting as much condensation as a very efficient natural gas furnace. It may take some Rocket stove surgery but you could try getting some sort of drainage hose attached to pipe that leads discretley outside. If your flue pipe is going up then try a drain hose at the bottom of it, Or try running the exhaust pipe horizontal like you suggested before, the only problem with that is you may need a fan to assist the draft of the flue gasses. If your thermal mass is absorbing enough heat to condense that much water, the exhaust gasses may be too cool. If Venting the flue gasses is the easiest way to drain the water, i would start with that. Otherwise try the drain hose. You would be surprised how much water can condense out of heated air if you cool it enough.