The Grape Fiasco

The original title of this post was Dehydrating Grapes. Here is the tale of how it turned into The Grape Fiasco.

There is a grape vine here that is about 25 years old. It came with the house. We have never grown grapes before and don't know much about them besides what we have read. This is the first year it has produced any measurable harvest since we got it up on a trellis.

Since we have had much more rain this summer than we have in the past two years, I was happy to see so many grapes growing and began to think about what I could try to do with them when they became ripe.

I picked them all a few days ago. I had been watching to see when most of them were ripe.

I thought it would be good to try my hand at raisins. So I got out my book on drying foods. I knew the grapes had seeds, but I thought I could cut them in half (so I wouldn't have to blanch them) and take the seed out, put them on the dehydrator trays and be ready to make raisins. Wrong! It is basically impossible to get the seeds out of the meat of the grape without taking all of the meat with it. This turned out to be the wrong choice for these grapes. This would work great with seedless grapes, just not with these. 

So, on to plan B.

I took all of the grapes off of the vines, picked out the bad ones and put the good ones in a pot on the stove to cook down so I could run them through the strainer (like I did the tomatoes for tomato sauce). I mashed the grapes with the potato masher and was pleased with this small amount of grape mush. Since we had finished canning tomato sauce and completed the regular chores, this was all we did yesterday. Today when I got home from work, I got the grape mush out and heated it up a little so it would be easier to scoop into the strainer. This is only the second time we have used this strainer attachment. We got everything set up, and put a small crock under the mixing bowl so the juice wouldn't splash like the tomato sauce did.

Everything was set and we started pouring the grape mush into the strainer. Before we had poured in all of the second cup, the strainer started kind of wiggling and making a grinding kind of noise. We thought it wasn't put together tight 

enough. Well, we don't really know what happened, but the seeds had jammed up into the screw and mesh strainer mechanism so tightly that it shot off of the machine when Frank finally got the ring loosened up enough. 

Then it took him another 15-20 minutes with an ice pick just to get all of the impacted seeds out of the two pieces. After he thought  he might have it all, he realized the screw piece still had a bunch of stuff stuck in it. What a chore!

In the meantime, I had gone on to Plan C, which didn't work either. I thought maybe I could just squeeze it through a cheese cloth and call it good. But I realized I would be throwing away a lot of the pulp that I wanted to keep. 

Now, onto Plan D. Hrumph! I got out a fine mesh strainer and started mashing the mush through with a large metal spoon. Now I know some of you are starting to chuckle. We felt like a quick little batch of our first grape butter from our first

harvest of grapes was turning into a major chore and dirtying up everything in the kitchen on a Friday evening after a busy week. And we were still going to do a production pizza run when we finished with this!

Well, it did get finished. After I had pressed it through the strainer, I  heated it up again, tasted it, and added a little sugar to cut the tart whang.
 



Here is our grape harvest for the year. I don't know what I will do with next year's crop. Really, I hope the seedless grapes I planted last year are ready to start producing, because I would rather have raisins. The really funny thing about this whole project is that neither one of us like grape juice or jelly. All that work for one pint of stuff we don't really like. But then again, it is growing here, it is something to eat, it has good nutritional value and it may end up being very important that we eat whatever grows here. There may come a day that we would be happy to eat things we never thought we would. As I was finishing up this grape butter thinking 'all of that work for one jar of stuff we don't really like', I realized how grateful I should be for the chance to learn, make mistakes, make mistakes, make mistakes, make mistakes and learn some more. It is not always the end product that is most important. It is not always the process of doing something that is important. How you choose to deal with situations and learning opportunities are often more important than the outcome. Take time to enjoy your fiasco's. Sometimes they even taste good!


Until next time - Fern

Squash Relish

We were introduced to squash relish a few years ago and have made a batch every summer since then. A lot of folks have said they like it with beans or crackers. We mix it with canned salmon, kind of like tuna salad, or have it with cheese, crackers and fruit for lunch. It is good, versatile and easy.

If you have plenty of squash this summer, this will give you another way to use it up. That will save the neighbors pulling the shades and refusing to answer the door when you come walking up with yet another bag of squash to give away.

Squash Relish 
16 medium squash 
4 medium onions
6 green peppers
4 jalapeno peppers
Even some of your 'too big' squash will work in this relish. The white ones are our mutant volunteers that came up this year.

Finely chop squash, onions and peppers (one gallon). Add 3 trays of ice cubes and leave for 3 hours.

That gives you time to take the green beans out of the canner, or work on your other projects.

At the end of three hours, drain the relish.

While it is draining, boil:

3 cups vinegar
1 tbsp. salt 
1 1/2 cups sugar
(the original recipe called
for 3 cups sugar)
2 tsp. pickling spices

I tie my pickling spices up in a piece of cheese cloth.

It's time yet again, to wash up more jars, rings and lids .

Frank's feet are tired. It's been a long day. We have already canned green beans, made cheese and frozen corn.




Bring the relish to a good boil, ladle it into hot jars, wipe the rims, put on lids and rings tightly, place under a heavy towel to cool slowly. Then listen for that wonderful pinging sound as they seal.

This batch made nine pints. It will do for this year. We still have a few jars from last year that we are finishing up. And we can't seem to be able to give any more away...............

Until next time - Fern

Chevre Cheese

Chevre is a soft cheese made from goat milk. The consistency is similar to cream cheese, but the flavor is different because it is made from whole milk, not cream.

By itself, chevre doesn't have a lot of flavor. It is good mixed with herbs as a dip or spread. It also makes a very good cheesecake. The flavor is different from a cream cheese cheesecake, but still very good.

One nice thing about chevre is how easy it is to make. 

A standard batch that makes about four cups of cheese is made from five quarts of milk.

Heat the milk to 86 degrees, then add 1/2 cup of cultured buttermilk and three tablespoons of diluted rennet. Diluted rennet is made by adding three drops of rennet to 1/3 cup of cold water. 

Cover the cheese pot and let set for 12 to 18 hours. The cheese curd should be solid and will break when you poke it (like the cheddar cheese). 

Line another pot with a cheese cloth and scoop the curd into it.

Now comes a trick that I learned watching a YouTube. Hold two corners of the cheese cloth in each hand.
Roll the cheese back and forth in the cloth.

This will release a lot of the whey from the curd. The first few times I made chevre there was a lot of whey left in the curd when I finished hanging it (you will see that in a minute). This rolling activity has improved the consistency of the cheese.

Tie the opposite corners of the cheese cloth together so you can hang it to drain.


 

Frank put this hook right under the edge of the upper cabinet just for hanging our cheeses. It works great and is not noticeable when not in use.

Next, hang the cheese and let it drain for 12 to 15 hours. I usually time this so the cheese will hang overnight. This way it won't be in the way during the day. 

There will still be a little whey puddled on the cheese in the morning, but it can easily be poured off. The consistency is semi firm, it will keep it's shape but is very soft.

We like to mix one cup of chevre with one tablespoon of dried onions and one teaspoon of salt. This is good with veges from the garden.

Freezing doesn't change the flavor or consistency of chevre. It will keep in the refrigerator for about two weeks.






I think it's about time for another cheesecake. That means we will need to make some graham crackers for the crust. 

Until next time - Fern

Waxing Cheddar Cheese - Finally!!

It may not be standard practice to blog about an experimental goof-up when you first start blogging....but I did. That is just part of life. Mistakes and experiments that flop are all part of learning and living.....at least it is for us. 

So, with that said, we made cheddar cheese again. And  this time we used two cheese presses like we had in the past.  

We start off by putting the curd in the press for 20 minutes at 15 pounds pressure. We tighten the press down until it feels right.

After 20 minutes, take out the cheese, turn it over and press again for 20 minutes at 30 lbs. pressure.

At this point I pour out the whey that has been released during the first press. There will be more during the next few presses, but this is most of it and it can get messy.

After the cheese has been pressed twice, remove it from the press again and put on a new cheese cloth. Return it to the press for 2 hours at 30 lbs. pressure.

 

Frank noticed how I had tightened down the cheese press a while back and gave me some advice. At first, when I was trying to figure everything out, I wasn't paying attention to the alignment of the follower (the wooden or metal disc used to press down on the cheese) and the large screw handle used to push down on it. Several times I had it pretty crooked which wasn't working very well and eating away some of the wood around the hole in the wooden follower shown above. So, if you use these types of presses, make sure you have them aligned correctly or you may cause some damage. 

After the 2 hour press, remove the cheese, put on another new cheese cloth and press again for 24 hours at 40 lbs. of pressure.

At the end of 24 hours, remove the cheese and set it out to dry. This will take three to four days depending upon the humidity and temperature of your house.

Here are the two wheels fresh from the press.

 


Drying
Day 1 - darker rind beginning to form



 

Day 2
The rind is quite a bit darker, and feels drier to the touch.

There is not much cabinet space left to work with - 2 wheels drying and 2 more in the presses.

Day 3 was busy and went by without any pictures. 

On day 4 for the first batch of cheese and day 3 for the second batch, I decided it was time to wax all of them.

 Some of the cheese we made last year is a little dry, others have a good texture. So I am going to experiment, yet again, and see how these compare when they are aged.

This is my cheese wax pot. We had a small sauce pan that had been cooked dry and was discolored so I chose it to use for the cheese pot. Whatever pan you choose to use for wax needs to be dedicated to only wax because it is very hard to clean up. The wax is heated in a double boiler because it can explode if exposed to direct high heat. You have to be careful not to get water in the wax because it may pop similar to water in hot cooking oil.  

One of the great things about cheese wax it that it can be reused. When it is taken off of the cheese, wash it with warm water, dry it carefully then store it in the cheese pot. I need more wax for these four wheels, so I cut another piece off of the five

 pound block I bought and add it to the pot. I buy the wax in bulk, and keep some extra on hand just in case I can no longer acquire any more.

The first year I made cheddar, I had some mold grow inside the wax as it aged that gave it a bitter after taste. I read everything I could find about taste and made changes in the ripening time which will reduce the acidity. I also read that keeping the wax at 220 degrees will help kill any mold spore that may be on the cheese. And the third thing I read said to brush on a layer of vinegar to kill any bacteria that may be on the surface of the cheese from handling or sitting out to dry. So now I do all three of these things each time I make cheese. 

I label and date the cheese when it is waxed. If there is anything notable about a particular batch of cheese I put that on the label.  The ACV stands for apple cider vinegar.

For these two batches, the 'more dry' and 'less dry' comments will help me remember my experiment to see which one has the more desirable moisture content.

There are two methods of waxing - dipping and brushing. I choose to brush it on because it uses a smaller cheese pot and much less wax.  The brush I use is made for waxing cheese. The bristles will stand up under the high heat of the wax.

I coat a flat side first, then 'paint' around the edge, finishing up with the other side. I try not to make a mess and waste any wax, but as you can see it is drippy, so I have a piece of waxed paper on the cabinet.

Starting in the top, right corner and going clockwise: first wheel - no wax; second wheel - one layer of wax; third wheel - two layers of wax; and fourth wheel - three layers of wax and ready to have a label attached. Some books recommend five or six layers of wax, but I find three works just fine.

  
I 'paint' the label on after I have completed the three layers. I cover it with just enough for it to stick because I will peel it off when I wash the wax for reusing.

There. Four more wheels that we can eat...........in January! 

While I was waxing these four wheels of cheese and writing this post, I thought it would be interesting to show one of last year's wheels. I was surprised to see that the next one ready to eat was waxed one year ago today!

I try to take the wax off in just a few pieces. It makes it easier to wash.

After the first piece is off it is pretty easy to remove the rest.

Peel off the label.....

This wheel tastes like sharp cheddar! Yea! It is a little drier than I would prefer, but this is one wheel that is a success...one year later.

Making cheddar cheese definitely goes along with one of Frank's old sayings - Postpone gratification for long term gains. We have lived by that motto for years and it has always served us well.

Until next time - Fern