What's Growing in the Garden

Well, it's not growing anymore, but this is a pint jar of Calabrian peppers that have been fermenting since 8/7. Normally I don't ferment anything in this small quantity, just wanted to see what kind of flavor/heat I get from this new to me pepper variety.

It's done fermenting, but haven't had time to open up and taste test and add other ingredients for hot sauce.

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My tomatoes have kicked into high gear finally.

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From eight plants, I got a 5 gallon bucket in just one day. More still to pick. Brother's, who has eight plants in my garden also, has been producing for a month. Different varieties. We've got more tomatoes than we can eat or give away, so I've been processing and freezing the juice. When I get 4-5 gallons, I'll cook it down and can it for a tomato base.

I was wondering about freezing tomatoes quartered. Can you freeze Romas with there skins on or should they be blanched and skinned first? If not, will the skins be tough in the dishes? I'm going yo be busy this morning.
 
djg said:
My tomatoes have kicked into high gear finally.

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From eight plants, I got a 5 gallon bucket in just one day. More still to pick. Brother's, who has eight plants in my garden also, has been producing for a month. Different varieties. We've got more tomatoes than we can eat or give away, so I've been processing and freezing the juice. When I get 4-5 gallons, I'll cook it down and can it for a tomato base.

I was wondering about freezing tomatoes quartered. Can you freeze Romas with there skins on or should they be blanched and skinned first? If not, will the skins be tough in the dishes? I'm going yo be busy this morning.
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I'm no expert on canning and freezing, but I do freeze tomatoes, whole, and will blanch, followed by ice bath, all varieties and take the skin off all kinds before freezing.
 
Each year I cut up and deseed my tomatoes and freeze them until I have the time to do whatever I want with them. After freezing and thawing, the skins will slip off easily. But, either way, I run my sauce through a food mill, which will remove the skins and any seeds that were missed.
 
I'll give them a try with the skins on. It'll be quicker to process. I think I'll quarter some so I can pop them right into a soup/stew. Right now my days are pretty full with work around the house. And by me hesitating to find time to do a large batch, I end up throwing too many away.
 
Instead of freezing roma tomatoes, I can them, but that is a lot of work.

If you have a dehydrator, consider drying some. I use them in soups/stews/pasta. I try to fill at least 8 qt jars with dehydrated/quartered tomatoes.
 
Dehydrated foods can be stored in air tight containers? No further processing? I have a couple of my Mom's 1/2 gal mason jars that would be nice to use. Oh, she was a canning fool. The amount of food she would can/freeze every year was amazing. But then, with a large family back then, that's what you did. I wish I would have had an interest back then and paid more attention. I wouldn't be asking all these questions now lol.

I've been considering a dehydrator but the prices are all over the place. Haven't done any research on them yet and I'd be afraid of getting a dog by buying one without.

A side note of how much of a dumb kid I was, I mowed grass for a neighbor. He was a retired professor in botany/horticulture? His yard/garden was immaculate. He was going to show me how to prune trees and other stuff. I was always in a hurry to get the job done and get back to play. Just think of how much information I could have gleaned off him. Dumb kid.
 
I'll get some more info on dehydrators later tonight, but yeah, anything dried can be stored in jars with lids. My dehydrator is about 25 years old and still working fine, but I need more capacity so am probably going to buy another soon.
 
One of our next purchases my wife and I want is a freeze drier but they are EXPENSIVE! You have to do a lot of food to make it financially doable
 
Here is the one I have, it is an American Harvest brand which I believe was bought out by Nesco years ago. Originally 4 trays that could be expanded. This is the cheapest style with a heater and fan on the bottom. I do need to rotate trays for even drying. Plastic trays on this one are 12.5" interior diameter with a 2" diameter center. On the 4 trays I can fit between 45-50 quartered roma tomatoes depending on the size of each.

Very simple to use, plug it in and rotate the wheel for desired temp.

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A step up are the types that Matt linked above. These have square trays and usually more capacity than the round plastic. Options on these include plastic or SS trays/interiors digital timers and temp control. High temp on these is usually between 160-165°, but if all you do is veggies, those will mostly be done around 135°. The square styles typically have the heating element and fan in the back rather than the bottom or top. This is supposed to provide more uniform drying.

This is one of the ones I'm considering.
With six SS trays, it will have nearly twice the capacity of my round one.
 
djg said:
Dehydrated foods can be stored in air tight containers? No further processing? I have a couple of my Mom's 1/2 gal mason jars that would be nice to use. Oh, she was a canning fool. The amount of food she would can/freeze every year was amazing. But then, with a large family back then, that's what you did. I wish I would have had an interest back then and paid more attention. I wouldn't be asking all these questions now lol.

I've been considering a dehydrator but the prices are all over the place. Haven't done any research on them yet and I'd be afraid of getting a dog by buying one without.

A side note of how much of a dumb kid I was, I mowed grass for a neighbor. He was a retired professor in botany/horticulture? His yard/garden was immaculate. He was going to show me how to prune trees and other stuff. I was always in a hurry to get the job done and get back to play. Just think of how much information I could have gleaned off him. Dumb kid.
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I got lucky and nabbed a commercial unit when a butcher decided to drop his line of jerky. I think I gave 100 for it. You might check the commercial restaurant stores that sell used equipment. I have seen another go for about that recently
 
Smoking some ribs today, and decided to throw some ripe jalapenos on and make some fresh chipotle powder.

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Another silly question because maybe I've been doing things wrong. Do you need to sterilize your jars if using a BWB for processing? I've been filling freshly washed jars a quarter full with boiling water, swirling that around and then pouring it into then next jar. Third jar gets fresh boiling water. Drain the jars on a clean kitchen towel and then fill jars with boiling produce (except pickles). Then place in a BWB and start the clock once a rolling boil is regained. Boil 10 minutes.

Do I need to rinse the jars with boiling water? Maybe still do for pickles though. I only BWB them 5 minutes. Afraid too long will make them soggy??
 
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Thawed out some 2023 tomato juice and combined with fresh juice. I've got about 4 gallons that I'll reduce down to about half and then can.

Brother, who shares my garden just picked some more today and he gives me his excess he can't eat or give away to his neighbors. I'll get another 2 gallons or so of Romas tomorrow. What am I going to do with all these tomatoes? I may not have to plant any next year - lol - Naw.
 
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From Roma tomatoes I make sauce and also can whole tomatoes (skinned and halved or quartered) that I use when I make chili.

I also dehydrate a lot of them. Quartered and then dried, skin side touching the trays. When I quarter them I also very lightly salt them and let them sit for an hour or two before drying. Cuts down significantly on dry times.

As to the BWB, I do pretty much as you do, washing and then drying upside down on towels. Or, they go into the dishwasher and I use them right out of the washer. I don't rinse with boiling water, but you always need to make sure you are using a hot pack and the bath times are started after the pot returns to a boil.

An alternative to BWB for pickles is to pasteurize them. That is done holding the temp at 180° for a longer period of time than a BWB. This will typically result in a crisper product. I'll try and find a reference for the exact procedure later tonight.
 
This is what they look like after smoking for about six hours.

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Then I just cut off the stem end with scissors and a quick scrape to get the majority of the seeds out. These will be dry and ready to grind in the morning. You can cut stems and seed them before smoking, but I've found this way is faster. You won't be able to dry them all the way easily on the grill if they are whole, outside skin dries out and the inside just steams.

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