Benjamin Drew

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:20 hours seems like a lot, but then it depends on the engine. A PRC engine isn't a Honda. I certainly wouldn't push it past 20 hours during the break-in period. That's asking for trouble.

Natural gas burns a lot cleaner than gasoline, so the oil probably looks cleaner. I suspect that is deceptive -- you can't visually evaluate the breakdown of viscosity or anti-wear additives, or the issues mentioned above. Oil degrades over time.

A semi-synthetic would give you more time between changes, and better winter starting as well. Also, what about a specialized engine oil rated for natural gas and propane engines?

I can’t find a whole lot on the Internet. Everything seems to be for industrial sized diesel generators and industrial gas generators. I went ahead and brought the oil back I bought today and bought full synthetic instead. I’ll just have to change the oil per the manufactures instructions.

20 hours it seems too short of a time span to me not too long I wasn’t sure if I stated that correctly. Seems like I should be getting like 50 to 100 hours between oil changes.

I got a Harbor Freight 9000 watt generator converted to natural gas.

My father inlaw swears up and down he doesn’t change the oil in engines he has on natural gas. I don’t believe the oil shouldn’t be changed just because it’s running cleaner.

However, I’m wondering if I can get longer hours between changes. Predator recommends 20 hour intervals. This seems a bit extreme.

Can someone explain to me either way why it’s good to stick with the manufacturer’s suggestion or not when it’s coming to natural gas? Doesn’t the oil break down regardless of fuel type?

I went and did another batch of ground turkey. I canned up the gelatin and fat. Hoping it doesn’t kill me!

I was going to use it in rice dishes and maybe some gravy. I did pint jars at 75 minutes.

Thoughts? The good, bad and the ugly?! Lol

I got quite a bit of sun butter for my wife because she cannot eat peanuts. I want to repackage it into ball jars and vacuum seal it do you think there’s a chance of botulism forming in it?

I thought the same of cooking oil‘s like coconut oil unrefined olive oil‘s etc.?

Tim Barlow wrote:I have no experience at all with the Country Living Mill - but I will back up your opinion on the Grain Maker 99.

A very strong and well built unit.  I purchased the bicycle attachment and use it to mill corn, barley and wheat for homemade chicken feed.  It will probably take a while to justify the cost of the mill for this use though... It was otherwise just sitting in the basement unused - so, what the heck.  I really enjoy mine.  couldn't be more pleased.

It is just about the right amount of exercise to ride it every other day to make the chicken feed.  Kinda fun!

Yeah, I’ve been debating on getting the bicycle attachment! The corn and beans with the big auger is almost impossible to hand crank. 😂

Funny thing happened this morning!

After sitting overnight for about 12 or 13 hours, I put the jars in warm dishwater to wash them up to put them away and they started bubbling again!

It’s something I’ve never seen before.

It’s been a while since I’ve been on this forum, got really busy.

I did a video back during the pandemic shut down about Grain maker 99 versus country living grain mill. If you’re wanting a manual grain mill that can later be motorized, this would be a great video to watch!

Since that time, I have bought the grain maker 99 and must say I absolutely love it! It can be a little daunting trying to mill certain things like dry corn and beans when you use the large auger. The motor for the grain maker 99 is more expensive than the mill itself!  But in the video near the end I show where you could probably buy the country living grain mill motor kit for the grain maker 99! That’s at half the price.

It really is a thing of preference. What your paying for the grain maker  seems more expensive than the country living grain mill, but, if you’re wanting to make nut butters and do other things the country living grain mill is going to be about the same price if not a little bit more expensive with all the accessories! Also the grain  maker can switch between making peanut butter and grains much more easy than the country living green mill . Check out the video!

Anne Miller wrote:

Benjamin Drew wrote:I got a lot of gelatin and fat left over and am wanting to he less wastful and diversify.

Is it possible to safely can the fat and gelatin together? Or perhaps just the gelatin?

To be on the safe side then skim off the fat.

This might help:

canning fat doesn't kill all the bacteria in the process, then that means that no food with any fat should be canned.

https://permies.com/t/18854/kitchen/Canning-Bacon-Grease

Thank you again! I’ll try to start using the search function. It’s been awhile since engaging on any forums for me. 🙂

Anne Miller wrote:Constate jiggling can cause a loss of moisture. Occasional jiggling indicates you are maintaining the correct pressure.

This may or may not help:

https://permies.com/t/151803/kitchen/Homemade-pressure-canner-jiggler

Thank you for the reply, my presto I leave that constantly jiggling. I usually have plenty of water left over after a canning run.

I just wish I could get away with that with the all American cancer! LOL

Thank you for trying to help. 🙂

I just canned up yet another big batch of ground turkey!

I got a lot of gelatin and fat left over and am wanting to he less wastful and diversify.

Is it possible to safely can the fat and gelatin together?

Or perhaps just the gelatin?