Lauren Knickman

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since Nov 10, 2022
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Recent posts by Lauren Knickman

Thanks to everyone for the very helpful suggestions. I guess I'll nix the canning and maybe give that simple brick rocket stove a try!
1 year ago

Jay Angler wrote:They quite maddingly, did not give information on "why," although my Dinosaur Memory thinks that the word Botulism was implied, and it can be hard to detect until you're sick.



Anyone know how long it would take for botulism to grow?

Jay Angler wrote:For Lauren's specific issue, I would have thought you could cook a large batch and refrigerate for 5-7 days if you bottled it hot in daily serving sizes?



That's looking like my best alternative for the moment. Once a week is still better than every day. My biggest issue with that solution is that we have miniscule fridges over here and mine is currently stuffed to the gills with cucumbers and pickles. We can't eat them fast enough.

Jay Angler wrote:Alternatively, could you get an electric slow-cooker and cook it outside? Or a camp stove/rocket stove and cook it outside?



I actually just got a single induction burner from Ikea and I've been cooking with it outside. It's definitely better than heating up the house, but it's a little inconvenient carting everything back and forth from the kitchen to my back yard everyday. Plus the mosquitos are murderous this year.
1 year ago

Judith Browning wrote:but I know folks who cook and can at the same time dry beans...I never have....wheat might be similar to do? Or it might be one big kitchen mess to remember  



I just tried cooking and canning simultaneously dry beans for the first time. I haven't tried them yet, so I can't say if I think it's a good idea or not. I didn't presoak, because the "recipe" I saw didn't, but all the beans split open. I think next time I'll try soaking and then directly canning without the precook.
1 year ago

Judith Browning wrote:Lauren, what do you do in the end with your cooked wheat?



Well, I haven't done anything yet. Hahaha. I just bought my first bag of wheat berries because I wanted to see if I could substitute them for pasta. Basically just wanted to boil them up and throw my pasta sauce on them. But it's infernally hot and I didn't want to heat the house everyday with hot steam, so I thought that if I could pressure can a bunch of jars, I'd only have to heat the house once for several meals. I live in Italy and pasta is a daily necessity for my husband.

Since we would be consuming them probably within a two week period or so, I would there be much of a risk of spoilage (or botulism)?

Also, Italian flour is very weak compared to American flour. I'm pretty sure it's "soft" wheat and I don't think it has as much gluten as American flour. I guess I'll first see if it boils up ok, then I can worry about whether or not to can it.
1 year ago
Hello,  I was wondering if it's possible to pressure can cooked wheat berries. I can't find any information on this anywhere on the internet!!! I wanted to can some wheat berries so I could just pop open a jar without having to cook a fresh batch every time I want to use some, particularly in the summer time. Has anyone ever done it? Is it a thing? I feel like I've seen jars of cooked wheat berries at the store, but it's so strange that I can't find anything about it on the whole world wide web! Thanks to anyone who has any insight.
1 year ago
Does anyone know if you can eat the stems?
1 year ago

Glenn Herbert wrote:Thin metal bell walls there would not store a noticeable amount of heat if insulated outside so would not be counted.



Glenn, you've got me intrigued!!! A couple of quick questions.

1. What thickness of metal panels would be most appropriate?

2. What type of metal? Is steel ok? My husband works in a metalworks factory and has access to many types of sheet metal.

3. Will the metal hold up to the heat over time or will I eventually have to tear the thing down to replace the sheet metal?

4. What can be used for insulation and how thick must the insulation layer be?

5. Would those rolls of insulation (fiberglass, I guess) that come with a thin layer of foil work, or will the foil burn off particularly at the top of the bell where it's the hotest?

I'm tight on space so I really need to insulate the walls in less than 5 cm and I'd rather them not absorb heat for later as my ISA is already just about perfect not counting those walls. This sheet metal with insulation idea seems like the perfect solution for my situation!
2 years ago

thomas rubino wrote:
Well, let's see.  To start an 8" batch box is way more than you need, an extended length 6" would do fine.
Have you considered building an 8" J tube rocket rather than a batch box?
They require feeding every 45 minutes or so but are very simple to build.
Batch boxes are also simple to build. They do require some metal parts, but perhaps your husband can build them.



I discovered the J tube rocket first, but now I only have eyes for the strat chamber batch box. Easier build, less tending, lower maintenance, visible flames...  what more could a girl want?? I think I've settled on a 150mm (7 inches?) heat riser in a sidewinder configuration.

thomas rubino wrote:
I suspect a bell system would only work if you first exit your metal box with a vertical pipe and then pass horizontally thru the wall.
After you get outside, you can try different ideas for leaving it flat or adding another vertical.



So maybe a visual of my plan could help. Hopefully I can figure out how to load the images correctly. I plan to have the exhaust flue opening about 20cm from the floor and exiting horizontally at about 230/240 cm from the floor. I was thinking of leaving the flue inside the bell, hoping that the exhaust will reheat in the flue and create a secondary draft to keep things flowing in the right direction. I wasn't a whiz a thermodynamics in high school, but the idea seems plausible to me.  I can't actually have it exit horizontally from floor level because, as I stated, this will be right by my front door (bad idea, I know, but I really don't have ANY other choice).

I guess I could put a 30-50cm vertical portion on the flue once it exits my house, but there's the definite limit of my upstairs neighbor's balcony. Hopefully it will work magically and my neighbors won't even notice it, but if they do... as my dad always said, "It's easier to get forgiveness than permission". I figure worst could happen, I'll have to take it down, but that's a gamble I'm willing to take.
2 years ago

thomas rubino wrote:
The first thing I want to talk about is your comment about venting thru the wall.
I hope you plan to go thru the wall horizontally and then put vertical sections on.
If you are hoping to stay horizontal, you will most likely have draft and wind issues.



Actually, I was thinking about going directly horizontally.  Oops!  I would be venting just under a terrace. It's a kind of protected area. I don't think that there are many wind issues there, but you definitely have a good point. I'm going to have to figure out if this is feasible.  How much of a vertical section would I need? I guess I could have it exit the house a little lower down and then put a (very) short vertical portion, but it would still be venting under a very long terrace, so there's a definite limit to how vertical I can go. My only other option would be to have a 4 meter long horizontal portion of flue inside my house and I immagine that would also create draft issues. I have a very unfortunate house for putting in a chimney.

Admittedly, this project will be clandestine, or as clandestine as is possible since I'll be venting right next to my front door! hahaha! Am I crazy? I figure if anyone says anything to me about it I'll just say I'm doing my part to protect the environment by reducing my natural gas consumption.
2 years ago