30 Minute Mozzarella Cheese
Materials needed:
1 non-aluminum pot that will hold at least a gallon of liquid
1 measuring cup of bowl to dissolve the rennet (see note below)
1 spoon
1 candy thermometer
1 large slotted spoon, or small sieve
Ingredients:
½ rennet tablet
¼ cup cool, chlorine-free water (most bottled waters are chlorine-free)
1 gallon milk (2% 1% or skim)
2 teaspoons citric acid (see additional note below)
Directions:
Crush the rennet into the water and stir to dissolve. Pour milk into a non-reactive pot (no aluminum or cast iron). Place over medium heat. Sprinkle the citric acid over the milk and stir a few times. Heat milk to 88 degrees. Milk will begin to curdle. At 88 degrees add the rennet solution and continue stirring slowly every few minutes until the milk reaches 105 degrees. Turn off the heat. Large curds will appear and begin to separate from the whey (the clear, greenish liquid).
With a slotted spoon or mesh strainer, scoop the curd into a large glass bowl. (If it’s still too liquid , let it set for a few more minutes). Press the curds gently with your hand and pour off as much whey as possible. Microwave curds on high for 1 minute, then drain off all the excess whey. With a spoon, press curds into a ball until cool. Microwave two more times for 35 seconds each, and continue to drain the whey and work cheese into a ball. In the meantime, place the whey over medium heat and let it heat to about 175 degrees. When cheese is cool enough to touch, knead it like bread dough until smooth. When you can stretch it like taffy, it is done. You can sprinkle 1 to 2 teaspoons salt into the cheese while kneading and stretching it. The cheese will become stretchy, smooth and shiny. If it is difficult to stretch and breaks easily, dip it into the hot whey for a few seconds to make it warm and pliable. Then pick it up again and stretch it into a long rope. Fold over and stretch again. Dip in hot whey as needed to make the cheese pliable. When the cheese is smooth and shiny (this takes just a few minutes), it is ready to eat. Shape it into a log or golf-size balls, then store it in a solution of 2 teaspoons salt to 1 cup water.
I've canned 28 pounds of hamburger, and so I have 28 pints of hamburger ready to be used. You can use canned hamburger in any of your favorite recipes. All you need to do is heat it up, drain the fat off, and put it your dish.
I had to really scrub the jars yesterday because I was using jars that have already been used. We purchased them at a thrift store. Remember to check your jars for chips or cracks before using them.
I used the new super fabulous cast iron enamel coated dutch oven to brown the ground hamburger in.
After the hamburger is browned I use the canning funnel to put the meat in the jars. You'll want to make sure you also fill the jar about half full with some of the fat. I don't use water at all in canning my hamburger or sausage. I also can all our ground sausage the same way.
Here I have the lids boiling.
When I clean the threads and rim of the jars I'll use a paper towel, or dish cloth dipped in the boiling hot water. This allows the jar rims to be sterile when I place the lid on.
Here I'm cleaning the threads and rims. I'll then use my lid grabber, which has a magnet on the end to pick up the lids in the hot water. I'll place the lids on and then put on the bands. Remember to only tighten them slightly to finger tip tight.
In this cannier load I had 15 pints, so I canned for 90 mins. at 15 lbs. I would have uploaded more pics, but the computer started giving me trouble. My cannier is an All American Cannier, and it was a wonderful investment. It has the gauge along with the weight, and has a metal to metal seal. You can google them if you'd like more info on them. The cannier is a double decker, and I can put 14 quarts, or 19 pints in it at once. Later I'll post pics of it and how it works for those who have commented on how to use one. Well I better get back to canning. I have 20 lbs. of ground sausage to can as well.
Canning Bacon~ with pics
When the local grocery store puts these 10 lbs boxes up for sale we usually buy several. We purchased these boxes for $11.99 a box. Roger only bought 30 lbs. this time for me to can.
Everyone has their own method of canning bacon. Some like to fry it up in stripes and then wrap it in Parchment paper, or cut it up in pieces then can it. Cutting it up into pieces works best for our family. Having it cut up into pieces usually cuts down on the cook time, and is just faster for us.
Here's the jars ready and some bacon already frying. Make sure you've cleaned the jars, and looked them over for any cracks or chips.
Some of the bacon sometimes has alot of fat on them, so I'll cut away the fat and keep it. With the fat we save I'll then render into lard.
Once you've fried the bacon place it in the jars. You'll want to leave alittle fat on the bacon so you'll have fat to pour over the pieces in the jar. Usually you'll want to pour the fat about half way in the jar. Here's some pics of mine ready to go into the cannier. Place your lids in boiling water to sterilize them. Clean the jars and rims (especially the rim and threads) after you've place the meat in and before you place your lid on. Place the lid on using a lid wand. This usually comes with canning utensil sets. Then place the band on till it feels slightly tight, just finger tip tight.
You can the bacon for 90 mins according to however many lbs. of course you have. A full cannier load I'll can for 90 mins at 15 lbs. This cannier load was only eight pints which was one box, and I canned it for 90 mins. at 10 lbs. You can see the fat has cooled and the bacon is ready to be stored.
Great breads really only require four basic ingredients: flour, water, yeast and salt. The rest is detail. Here’s a short guide to the basic ingredients and equipment you’ll need to make artisan loaves.
Unbleached, white, all-purpose flour: Has adequate protein (around 10 percent) to create a satisfying “chew,” but low enough to prevent heaviness. We prefer unbleached flours because bleaching removes some protein, not to mention adding unnecessary chemicals.
Whole wheat flour: Contains the germ and bran, both of which are healthful and tasty. Together they add a slightly bitter, nutty flavor that many people enjoy.
Bread flour: For chewier bread, substitute bread flour (about 12 percent protein) for all-purpose white flour by decreasing the amount slightly (by about a quarter cup for every 6 cups of all-purpose).
Yeast: Use what’s readily available and buy in bulk rather than packets, which are much more expensive.
Salt: Use noniodized coarse kosher or sea salt.
Baking stone: Use a high-quality, half-inch-thick stone. The porous stone absorbs moisture from your dough, allowing a thin, crackling, crisp crust to form — one of the keys to artisanal baking.
Pizza peel: This long-handled board helps slide doughs onto a hot stone. A cookie sheet or cutting board will work, but will be more difficult to handle.
Broiler tray: A pan to hold water for steam during baking.
The artisan free-form loaf called the French boule is the basic model for all the no-knead recipes. The round shape (boule in French means “ball”) is the easiest to master. You’ll learn how wet the dough needs to be (wet, but not so wet that the finished loaf won’t retain its form) and how to shape a loaf without kneading. And you’ll discover a truly revolutionary approach to baking: Take some dough from the fridge, shape it, leave it to rest, then let it bake while you’re preparing the rest of the meal.
Keep your dough wet — wetter doughs favor the development of sourdough character during storage. You should become familiar with the following recipe before going through any of the others.
1. Heat the water to just a little warmer than body temperature (about 100 degrees Fahrenheit).
2. Add yeast and salt to the water in a 5-quart bowl or, preferably, in a resealable, lidded container (not airtight — use container with gasket or lift a corner). Don’t worry about getting it all to dissolve.
3. Mix in the flour by gently scooping it up, then leveling the top of the measuring cup with a knife; don’t pat down. Mix with a wooden spoon, a high-capacity food processor with dough attachment, or a heavy-duty stand mixer with dough hook, until uniformly moist. If hand-mixing becomes too difficult, use very wet hands to press it together. Don’t knead! This step is done in a matter of minutes, and yields a wet dough loose enough to conform to the container.
4. Cover loosely. Do not use screw-topped jars, which could explode from trapped gases. Allow the mixture to rise at room temperature until it begins to collapse (or at least flatten on top), approximately two hours, depending on temperature. Longer rising times, up to about five hours, will not harm the result. You can use a portion of the dough any time after this period. Refrigerated wet dough is less sticky and easier to work with than room-temperature dough. We recommend refrigerating the dough at least three hours before shaping a loaf. And relax! You don’t need to monitor doubling or tripling of volume as in traditional recipes.
5. Prepare a pizza peel by sprinkling it liberally with cornmeal to prevent the loaf from sticking to it when you slide it into the oven.
Sprinkle the surface of the dough with flour, then cut off a 1-pound (grapefruit-sized) piece with a serrated knife. Hold the mass of dough in your hands and add a little more flour as needed so it won’t stick to your hands. Gently stretch the surface of the dough around to the bottom on four “sides,” rotating the ball a quarter-turn as you go, until the bottom is a collection of four bunched ends. Most of the dusting flour will fall off; it doesn’t need to be incorporated. The bottom of the loaf will flatten out during resting and baking.
6. Place the ball on the pizza peel. Let it rest uncovered for about 40 minutes. Depending on the dough’s age, you may see little rise during this period; more rising will occur during baking.
7. Twenty minutes before baking, preheat oven to 450 degrees with a baking stone on the middle rack. Place an empty broiler tray for holding water on another shelf.
8. Dust the top of the loaf liberally with flour, which will allow the slashing, serrated knife to pass without sticking. Slash a 1⁄4-inch-deep cross, scallop or tick-tack-toe pattern into the top. (This helps the bread expand during baking.)
9. With a forward jerking motion of the wrist, slide the loaf off the pizza peel and onto the baking stone. Quickly but carefully pour about a cup of hot water into the broiler tray and close the oven door to trap the steam. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the crust is browned and firm to the touch. With wet dough, there’s little risk of drying out the interior, despite the dark crust. When you remove the loaf from the oven, it will audibly crackle, or “sing,” when initially exposed to room temperature air. Allow to cool completely, preferably on a wire rack, for best flavor, texture and slicing. The perfect crust may initially soften, but will firm up again when cooled.
10. Refrigerate the remaining dough in your lidded (not airtight) container and use it over the next two weeks: You’ll find that even one day’s storage improves the flavor and texture of your bread. This maturation continues over the two-week period. Cut off and shape loaves as you need them. The dough can also be frozen in 1-pound portions in an airtight container and defrosted overnight in the refrigerator prior to baking day.
(Artisan Free-Form Loaf)
Makes 4 1-pound loaves
3 cups lukewarm water
1 1⁄2 tbsp granulated yeast (1 1⁄2 packets)
1 1⁄2 tbsp coarse kosher or sea salt
6 1⁄2 cups unsifted, unbleached, all-purpose white flour
Cornmeal for pizza peel
The “6-3-3-13” rule. To store enough for eight loaves, remember 6-3-3-13. It’s 6 cups water, 3 tablespoons salt, 3 tablespoons yeast, and then add 13 cups of flour. It’ll amaze your friends when you do this in their homes without a recipe!
Lazy sourdough shortcut. When your dough container is empty, don’t wash it! Just scrape it down and incorporate it into the next batch. In addition to saving cleanup, the aged dough stuck to the sides will give your new batch a head start on sourdough flavor.
Variation: Herb Bread. Add a couple teaspoons of your favorite dried herbs (double if fresh) to the water mixture.
The secrets to this pizza are to keep the crust thin, don’t overload it, and to bake it quickly at a high temperature so it doesn’t cook down to a soup. It’s unlike anything most of us are used to eating — especially if you make fresh mozzarella!
1 pound pre-mixed boule dough
Cornmeal for covering the pizza peel
Topping: your favorite seasonal ingredients
Makes 1 12- to 14-inch pizza to serve 2 to 4.
Whole wheat flour has a nutty, slightly bitter flavor, and it caramelizes easily, yielding a rich, brown loaf. Milk and honey are tenderizers, and their sweetness complements the bitter notes. Although we’ve showcased a loaf-pan method here, this dough also makes lovely free-form loaves on a baking stone.
1 1⁄2 tbsp granulated yeast (1 1⁄2 packets)
1 tbsp plus 1 tsp salt
1/2 cup honey
5 tbsp neutral-flavored oil, plus more for greasing the pan
1 1⁄2 cups lukewarm milk
1 1⁄2 cups lukewarm water
6 2⁄3 cups whole wheat flour
Makes 3 1 1⁄2 pound loaves.
This crowd-pleaser was our first attempt to make dessert from stored bread dough. It was so successful that it reshaped our view of what this technique could accomplish. The flavors were enhanced by using stored dough, and the butter and sugar seeped into the folds, approximating enriched sweet doughs.
1 1⁄2 pounds pre-mixed boule dough
TOPPING FILLING
6 tbsp unsalted butter, softened 4 tbsp salted butter, softened
1/2 tsp salt 1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar 1 tsp ground cinnamon
30 pecan halves 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
Pinch of ground black pepper
1/2 cup toasted pecans, chopped
Cream together the butter, salt and brown sugar. Spread evenly in a 9-inch cake pan. Scatter the pecan halves over the mixture and set aside.
Makes 6 to 8 large rolls.
If you want to dabble in cheese making then feta cheese is a great place to start. I have been using a lot of whey lately and was making yogurt and straining that to get the whey but I don’t get to much whey from a quart of yogurt. So I decided to make feta instead.
Here is what the process looked like…
I start with a gallon of milk and my culture and rennet. Then after the cheese has been made I hang it in an old sheet that I wash well in hot, soapy water with bleach added. I set a big pan under it to collect the whey:
Then after 24 hours or so I take the cheese down. Sometimes I will take the cheese down before the 24 hours are up and stir it and hang it up again to help get the whey completely drained out. When I am done this is what the cheese looks like:
And this is how much whey I have:
The last step is to cut the cheese up and layer cheese, salt and herbs in a quart jar. This time I used basil and marjoram. When I have it all in the jar I cover it with olive oil. Then it sits on the counter for 3 days. I turn the jar upside down once and then right side up during those 3 days.. after that, it is ready to eat!
The following recipe represents the ultimate in simplicity in cheese making. It will produce a delicious cottage cheese that resembles ricotta and is excellent fresh or used in cooking Italian dishes such as lasagna. We recommend that beginners start with a cottage cheese to get the feel for the basics and for the instant gratification of being able to enjoy the product immediately.
1. Heat the milk to 190F. You will need a thermometer for other cheeses but you can get by here turning off the heat just before the milk begins to boil.
2. Add the vinegar and allow the mixture to cool.
3. When cool, pour the mixture, (which now consists of curds and whey as in Miss Muffet food) into a colander and drain off the whey.
4. Pour the curds into a bowl and sprinkle on the salt and mix well. You may wish to use less salt or more. It is simply a matter of taste which is the next step. You can add a little cream for a silky texture.
Many ourdoorsmen, survivalists, and households preparing for emergency disasters rely upon common household bleach as a disinfecting agent to make water safe to drink.
Bleach will destroy most (but NOT all!) disease causing organisms (boiling water to make it safe to drink is always the best method).
What is not well known is Calcium Hypochlorite is far better for chemically disinfecting water.
I cringe to think how many people have expired bleach in their disaster emergency kits that will be used for treating polluted water.
Those of us who have emergency preparedness stocks of survival food and survival gear often keep a gallon or two of unscented household bleach on hand for making safe drinking water in large quantities. Bleach is often the chemical of choice because it is commonly available and frequently mentioned when discussing the how-to’s of drinking water.
Typical fresh household chlorine bleach has about 5.35% chlorine content (be sure to read the label). To use household bleach for disinfecting water:
If the water is cloudy with suspended particles:
A little known problem with long term storage of bleach in your disaster emergency supply cache is that it degrades over time. Consulting a Chlorox bleach representative produced this statement:
“We recommend storing our bleach at room temperatures. It can be stored for about 6 months at temperatures between 50 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit. After this time, bleach will be begin to degrade at a rate of 20% each year until totally degraded to salt and water. Storing at temperatures much higher than 70 degrees Fahrenheit could cause the bleach to lose its effectiveness and degrade more rapidly. However, if you require 6% sodium hypochlorite, you should change your supply every 3 months.”
I cringe to think how many people have expired bleach in their disaster emergency kits that will be used for treating polluted water. Even what are considered reliable sources of information such as the EPA and the Federal Emergency Management Agency FEMA will show you how to use bleach to disinfect water but will leave out this exceedingly important piece of information.
This is why I created Survival Topics – to give you the real information you need to survive.
So if bleach is unreliable for long term storage in emergency preparedness kits then what other commonly available chemical methods of disinfecting water are there? As it turns out a better solution is easily available.
A 1-pound pag of calcium hypochlorite in granular form will treat up to 10,000 gallons of drinking water
Calcium hypochlorite is one of the best chemical disinfectants for water, better than household bleach by far. It destroys a variety of disease causing organisms including bacteria, yeast, fungus, spores, and viruses.
Calcium Hypochlorite is widely available for use as swimming pool chlorine tablets or white powder that is much more stable than chlorine. This is often known as “pool shock”.
Using granular calcium hypochlorite to disinfect water is a two step process.
Be sure to obtain the dry granular calcium hypochlorite since once it is made into a liquid solution it will begin to degrade and eventually become useless as a disinfecting agent. This also means you should make your treated drinking water in small batches, for example enough for a few weeks at a time at most.
Another plus for using calcium hypochlorite to disinfect water for emergency use is that a little goes a very long way. A 1-pound pag of calcium hypochlorite in granular form typically costs only a few $US dollars and can be obtained in any swimming pool supply section of your hardware store or online. This amount will treat up to 10,000 gallons of drinking water, which is enough for a family of four for some six or seven years at a gallon per day per person!
Calcium hypochlorite will store for a long period of time and remain effective as a chemical drinking water treatment. So get rid of the household bleach and buy a can of Calcium hypochlorite for your disaster emergency water disinfection needs. It lasts far longer and treats far more water than the traditional chlorine bleach water disinfection treatment.
