Amey Dick

+ Follow
since Jan 25, 2018
Merit badge: bb list bbv list
For More
Apples and Likes
Apples
Total received
In last 30 days
0
Forums and Threads

Recent posts by Amey Dick

This is an old post, so I'm not sure if it's still active, but I've been making yogurt for years. I recently bought an instant pot, but when reading the instructions I decided that my method is much more simple!  Unfortunately I do not have access to fresh cows milk, so I'm stuck with pasteurized. I heat two litres of milk to 180*, turn it off and let it cool to 110*. Then I add 1 cup of yogurt from previous batch, or 1 cup good quality plain store bought yogurt. If the temperature reduces much I bring it back to 110*, but NO HIGHER, it will kill the starter over 110*. My secret to making it thicker is to add 1 tbs of beef gelatin (flavourless powder). This thickens it nicely and adds a little extra for gut health. If you add too much it will turn out like jello, 1 tablespoon to 2 litres of yogurt. At this point I place it in a tub with a tight fitting lid and place the tub into a foam insulated container (I suppose a small cooler would work) I then leave it there for 24 hours before refrigerating it. This long ferment process will give it a slightly more sour taste, but it eats up the lactose and the kiddos in my house who don't tolerate lactose well have no trouble eating it.  You can sweeten it with some raw honey or add fruit, or you can refrigerate after 12 hours for less sour taste. I've been doing it like this for years, never had any problems. Also if you want a thicker Greek style yogurt you can strain it with a towel and let some of the whey drip off. Save the whey for lacto fermented veggies and condiments or add a tsp to juice to give yourself a probiotic boost.
6 years ago
One other thought, looking at your pics, I did mine in a glass jar. Sometimes the acid in apples will react with metals, that's why a good apple press is made of wood and not metal.
6 years ago
I have only made ACV once, and it did not look like that at all! But I do have lots of experience with fermentation, from kombucha, kefir, lacto fermented veggies, sour dough...  I'm going to assume that something bad came into contact with your ferment, except that usually ends up with mold and I don't see any mold there. How does it smell?  Mine was a bit cloudy, but smelled and tasted like ACV. Culprits to bad ferments are usually something in the jar, lid or untencils, or something on the skin of the fruit, but sometimes it is caused by a natural yeast near by.  For example I had a batch of sour dough that suddenly changed its form and smell, I knew the smell was familiar, but it took a couple days to realize it was the pineapple I had set not far from the jar. Turns out pineapple skins give off a lot of yeast. The best advice I can give is to leave it a short time and see if it improves, sometimes things can look a little narly before they adjust and complete the fermentation process. After that "when in doubt, throw it out", but don't be afraid to try again, like I said it could have just come in contact with something off. I have used the exact same process for doing fermented carrots and once the batch was just off, I tossed it and started again, have never had it happen again and I'll never know exactly what went wrong. Good luck.
6 years ago
Has anyone on here ever re soaked a pelt?
6 years ago
Hello all, new to this forum, new to a lot of things and no good mentor in my area.
I recently had to cull some New Zealand breeders. Not wanting to waste the pelts of these beautiful creatures I decided to tan them myself. After reading and watching hours of the same types of videos I decided on using the salt and alum bucket method. All was going well until I realized that hand fleshing 3 year old rabbits was much more difficult than anticipated.  An hour and a half spent on each of four hides and I was sure that my fingernails where going to fall off my digits and my hands were so tired I couldn't make a fist. 14 days in the pickle and it was time to stretch the pelts and dry them out. Twice a day I would hand stretch the pelts this way and that, breaking the leather best I could, until my arms were Jello. Now came the real problem, some of the hides are so thick and tough I can't break them anymore, and parts have shrunk back up and are tough like rawhide, I mean I could give it to my dog to knaw on!  I've worked so hard on these hides and though I'm feeling defeated, I don't want to give up.  They are mostly dry.  What should I do? Should I spritz the dried out spots and keep working them? Should I totally soak them in a bucket and start the stretching process over? What steps can I take to salvage them at this point. I have my 7th child coming in September and I really wanted to make some hand sewn baby moccasins and hats for my kiddos.

What to do when things go wrong? Is all lost?
Thank you in advance
Amey
6 years ago