The Many Faces of Preserving (BBB)

Oct
26


Last-chance herbs I hope to get picked–and dehydrated–before the first hard freeze.

Most of the time when I’m talking about the Ball Blue Book and preserving, I’m talking about canning, but there’s a lot more to the world of preserving than that. There’s fermenting, freezing, pickling, and dehydrating, too. I’ve done a lot of dehydrating ever since I got a dehydrator. (A dehydrator is the most awesome thing in the world!) I freeze quite a bit, too, but I’ve barely dipped my hand into pickling. I love pickles now and then, but I’m not a huge pickle fan. However, you can pickle more than pickles (cucumbers, I mean). You can pickle many vegetables, including garlic. You can even pickle tomatoes and all sorts of fruits! I haven’t tried fermenting, either. (Unless you count making yeast bread.) The most common thing people ferment is kraut, though when I think about fermenting, I think of fruit. I’ve seen recipes for rum pots with fruit all over the place and I’m so tempted…. I’m also having a hankering to pickle garlic now. (Anyone out there ever pickled garlic? Was it good?? What did you do with it?)

There’s always something new to try with preserving!

(Making cheese, by the way, is another form of preserving. It’s preserving milk!)

***

Ball Blue BookIt’s a Ball Blue Book Project day! Today’s Ball Blue Book is sponsored by Susan–you can visit her at Farmgirl Fare.

For a chance to win: Leave a comment on this post and let me know you want it. You can just put (BBB) at the end of your comment or otherwise note that you want to be in the draw. One winner will be drawn by random comment number to receive a Ball Blue Book. Eligible entry cut-off is midnight Eastern (U.S.) time tonight (October 26). This post will be updated with the winner by 9 a.m. Eastern (U.S.) time tomorrow (October 27). Return to this post to claim your book if your name is drawn (or check the BBB Winners List).

Find out more about the Ball Blue Book Project and become a sponsor.

UPDATE 10/27/10: The winning comment number, drawn by random.org, is #121, Jen. Email me at CITRgiveaways(at)yahoo.com with your full name and address for shipping!

THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED.





Comments

  1. Alison says:

    I would enjoy having a BBB

  2. Michelle says:

    Please enter me for a BBB!

  3. diana in jax says:

    i would love to have the book, please!

  4. Richelle says:

    Yes, I want it, the BBB!

  5. Amber says:

    :hissyfit: BBB please!

  6. enjay says:

    I’ve been looking at dehydrators lately. Do you have one that puts the food over the heater, or an offset (?) one, or one that doesn’t use heat at all? I’m such a cheapskate that I’m kind of leaning towards Alton Brown’s dehydrator, a stack of paper furnace filters and a box fan LOL
    Please enter me in the BBB drawing too. Thanks!

  7. Karen Green says:

    Pick me, pick me. I would like a BBB. :snoopy:

  8. Anke says:

    I’ve pickled garlic before and it really is very good. We like to eat it along with whatever we were grilling that day. It’s also good as a “side” to just plain sandwiches.
    BBB pretty please.

  9. Kathy in FL says:

    The only preserving I’ve done is canning and freezing tomatoes. I’m not much of a pickle or kraut person. And instead of drying my herbs, I just freeze them. BBB.

  10. Rebecca says:

    Thanks to your encouragement this suburbanite canned 7 1/2 pints of apple butter Sunday afternoon. It went much easier than I anticipated and I can’t wait to can something else! 7 very pretty little jars ready for holiday baskets. BBB

  11. Rhonda S says:

    Please enter me in for the BBB Drawing!

  12. Leila says:

    I’d love to win it. Thanks for the chance!

  13. Glenie says:

    Want to win BBB

  14. Laurie says:

    Sign me up! Please. My BBB got recycled by mistake with the daily news. Well, at least we recycle!

  15. Cheryl LeMay says:

    I can,freeze and dehydrate.I tried making saurkraut once but it didn’t turn out.I need a BBB.Thanks.

  16. Sherie Adams says:

    I love my dehydrator! Dried apples and the dogs go crazy for them for treats (more healthy) . . . BBB please!

  17. Jane says:

    As someone that grew up (until 10) on a Caribbean island, I am curious as to your favorite rum. I also agree that rum is one of the most useful and delicious alcohols to cook with.. very underused/appreciated imo. My BEST recipe ever (which is original to my family – paternal grandmother) includes it. When I say original, I’ve never seen another recipe like it (similar, but no cigar) — except in one cookbook by my mother’s friend and yes, she had shared it.

  18. Jane says:

    Enjay, I just read your comment and I totally relate! Ever since I saw that show (it was a beef jerky show) I have wanted to try that method!

  19. debbie says:

    BBB please 🙂

  20. deborah hitayezu says:

    I would love a copy, so I could expand from just strawberry jam

  21. Heather says:

    YAY another opportunity to win the BBB!
    BBB Me Please 😀

  22. Stephanie B says:

    Dehydrating is something I’ve yet to try my hand at. Could you please do a post or two when you start dehydrating yours herbs?

    BBB also please. 🙂

  23. Marjorie Wolson says:

    Please enter me for a Blue Ball Book! :sun:

  24. Patricialynn says:

    I would love a BBB.

    I found out most dehydrated fruits (which I am very fond of) contain sulfur, which seriously aggravates my asthma. I’m not sure yet if the sulfur is a natural by-product of dehydration, or if it is something that is added during the commercial dehydration process. More research is needed on my part, obviously! But if it is possible to dehydrate without the sulfur, I’m all for it.

  25. ladybird_1959 says:

    My dehydrator has been used mostly for deer jerky. My husband loves making jerky. We also can deer meat. I like it best this way. Canned deer meat makes a really good barbecue sandwich. Just open a jar, add your favorite barbecue sauce and slap it on a bun with some cole slaw.

    Please enter me in the BBB, please.

  26. Amy I. says:

    BBB please, not too late to stock up for winter!

  27. Tammy/psmflowerlady says:

    No need to enter me for the BBB. I just wanted to say that I did pickle some little onions (Cippolini?) and they were awesome in a relish tray last Christmas.

  28. Denise says:

    Please enter me for the BBB. I LOVE your site!!!

  29. John says:

    Oh, I’d love a BBB, please!

  30. Kristen A says:

    Thank you Susan. BBB me please.

  31. anitalee says:

    It would be nice to have a new Ball Blue Book, the one that I have is from 1938, they were still using the zinc screw cap lids and the glass clamp lids

  32. Mary says:

    Please enter me for the BBB.

  33. Evelyn Johansen says:

    Have you had any luck drying parsley? Mine always turns brown.
    Please enter me in the BBB please.
    Evelyn J.

  34. Ramona says:

    Never pickled garlic, but have pickled okra, green tomato pickles, watermelon rind pickles.

    Would luv to have a copy of the BBB.

    I’ve used pickled garlic in a pasta saute dish with onion, pickled garlic, tomatoes, shrimp.

  35. Langela says:

    Please enter me for the BBB giveaway. I’m still canning pears and apples, etc and would love to have one. Thanks!

  36. Miss Becky says:

    I’ve used my dehydrator to make sun-dried tomatoes. they are a special tomato variety, very small, and they turn out very well.
    Suzanne I love photos of your animals, but second to those ~ photos of your jams and jellies! BBB

  37. ladychef says:

    BBB…Good morning Suzanne and Susan! Thanks for another chance at a book, and have a great day!

  38. LeAnn says:

    I’ve never pickled just garlic, but plenty of it goes in my home canned dills. My family loves the garlic and will dig the cloves out of the bottom of the jar. They would say that the garlic is the best part!

    Oh, BBB please.

  39. Cathy says:

    I want it! BBB :happyflower:

  40. CrystalGB says:

    I would love to have the BBB. Thanks for the giveaway.

  41. TeresaJM says:

    BBB please
    have a good day everyone!

  42. Karen in Ohio says:

    We used to go to a wonderful restaurant in Charleston, SC (no longer there, sadly) that served amazing pickled garlic. It gets sweet when you pickle it, at least theirs did. We always ordered that as one of our choices.

  43. Southern MN Gal says:

    I love checking your blog every day to read about the new adventures with GB and BP!! Glory Bee is such a sweetie!
    I’d love a chance to win the BBB, so consider me entered!

  44. Amie says:

    I don’t pickle much of anything, but my MIL pickles watermelon rinds and my husband likes those a lot. He hates pickles so it took his brain some time to get the association out of his head…I think he would pick up a faint pickle taste in anything pickled! BBB 🙂

  45. IowaCowgirl says:

    I need that BBB…pears are almost ready to can here.

    And does anyone have an Excalibur dehydrator? I’m thinking of getting one…I use the round dryer with trays and it’s OK, but I need to delve into drying more..and need opinions.

  46. Barbie says:

    Thanks for another chance for BBB! Any suggestions for making sauerkraut?

  47. Teri says:

    would love to win a BBB!!!

  48. Linda T. says:

    BBB for me, please!

  49. claudia w says:

    I’ve had “canned” garlic. I think it is just preserved in plain old water in small jars. It’s great for us, because occasionally, we don’t use the garlic for a while and it dries up or gets mushy and can’t be used. This way we always have garlic on hand, and I feel we are not wasting anything then.
    I would love a BBB BTW. Thank you!

  50. Amy Cook in WI says:

    Yes, please, BBB!!!

  51. Debbie says:

    Please enter me in the drawing for the BBB!

  52. Louise Clark says:

    My grandson and I have made jerky in the dehydrator in addition to the apples and veggies. Please enter me in the BBB drawing. Love your site. It is the first thing I go for every morning. Have a great day everyone. We are under a tornado watch in north Alabama today.

  53. Mandy says:

    please enter me for the BBB!

  54. Shelley says:

    I pulled out my dehydrator yesterday to dry some herbs too! Please enter me in the BBB.

  55. Merlin says:

    BBB, please, and a thank you!

  56. Wendy says:

    I do lazy garlic. Towards the end of winter when the garlic starts to grow, I peel it all and throw it in a jar of leftover pickle juice in the fridge. It keeps for months afterward & very handy to use. Would love a BBB.

  57. Amanda says:

    Enter me in the BBB drawing. I’m just beginning to can and need some help.

  58. Michele says:

    I really need a BBB book desperately! 😉 😉

  59. Renie says:

    I would put a BBB to staight cool use!

  60. sally stroud says:

    I’ve just started dehydrating veggies, herbs and etc. this year. It’s a hoot. BBB!
    Sal

  61. Lee in KY says:

    I would very much enjoy the BBB. Thank you for the opportunity to win one!

  62. Nancy says:

    To Evelyn J, I dry tons of parsley every summer. The trick for the best dried parsley is to pick it in the morning with long stems attatched. Wash off throughly, gently shake and then stand in a glass of water like flowers until the leaves are completely dry…I usually leave it overnight. Place in a dehydrator or your oven at the lowest temp. on a cooling rack placed on a cookie sheet. Leave the door ajar and watch it to make sure it’s not turning brown. BBB

  63. Connie W says:

    Popular post!

    My family loves pickles and we’re frequent canners as well. We can our own tomato sauce from the left over tomatoes and peaches too. Applesauce and corn cut off the cob are what we frequently freeze in bags too. There’s nothing like Jersey corn warmed up in the middle of the winter!

    Oh, and “(BBB)” 🙂

  64. Mark says:

    I would love to have the BBB!

  65. andrea pierce says:

    I Love pickled garlic! But, I haven’t had the guts to try pickling it myself. I like to set it out with olives and pickled asparagus and cheese and salami for guests. Delicious! BBB

  66. Vicki in So. CA says:

    BBB please. :happyfeet:

  67. Ashlee M says:

    I love my dehydrator too! It’s the best 🙂 BBB please!

  68. Jane says:

    Me too.. Can’t stand white rum. I will bring you a bottle the next time I go to Barbados. I should also let you know not to enter me in this drawing. A BBB would be wasted on me. Thanks again:)

  69. Nadeanne says:

    Please enter me for a BBB, I would love it!

  70. Kimberly says:

    Enter me for the BBB…I would love it, too!! 🙂

  71. Lana says:

    Hi, Suzanne! I have my Blue Ball Book, but would love to have one to give to my new daughter-in-law, who wants me to help her learn to can! Please sign me up!!

  72. geena22 says:

    :happyfeet: :snoopy: :heart: me for BBB

  73. Garth says:

    If you like dehydrating you absolutely should try fermenting more! I’ve been making lacto fermented pickled beets, cucumbers, jalapenos, etc. With some of those, I’d add garlic. The garlic not only flavors the “pickles” it also gets pickled itself.

    It’s very easy, very quick and low maintenance (like dehydrating!). It’s quickly becoming one of my favorite preservation methods. The only complaint is the amount of salt involved but if you use leftover whey from yogurt or cheesemaking, you can cut way down on the salt because the bacteria gets a head start. Great stuff. You should absolutely try more! Feel free to drop me an email if you want book recommendations or recipes.

  74. Kathi N. says:

    I have not dehydrated anything, but my husband bought and uses a commercial dehydrator. My favorite thing is the apple-cinnamon sugar slices he makes. Yum.

    BBB, please!

  75. Nikki says:

    Enter me (BBB) please!! 😀

  76. NChandler says:

    Please enter me for a BBB, I would love it!

  77. northcountrygirl says:

    Please enter me in BBB

  78. KarenInFla says:

    BBB please! Have been looking at dehydrators, but haven’t taken the plunge yet.

  79. Tennille says:

    I would totally LOVE to win a BBB today! :sheep:

  80. AA says:

    Maybe if I won the book I’d have the nerve to try.

  81. Diane B says:

    Would love the BBB please! Thanks

  82. Susan Sink says:

    BBB, enter me please! I found your blog through Rikki’s cheesemaking newsletter and just love it. I’ve been trying to get a shitake log ever since I read about and saw photos of yours! I pickled this summer for the first time and what I love is the processing time is so much less than for tomatoes!

  83. Carmen says:

    We love our pickled garlic! If there was ever any left, I’d use it on pasta or in sandwiches, but it always gets eaten straight out of the jar before it makes it to any plates.

    We also pickle onions, green tomatoes and green beans, in addition to the traditional cucumbers.

    My dehydrator is running flat out these days, making apple rings and grape leather. Canning’s all done – the final project was 600 pounds of applesauce – but I’ve still got plenty to do.

  84. Banana says:

    Please enter me for a BBB!

  85. marymac says:

    I’ve had pickled ramps before and they were really good, and I eat the garlic in my pickle jars sometime. Put me in for the BBB please.

  86. suzanne says:

    BBB please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  87. mom2girls says:

    i have a dehydrator at the top of my christmas list this year. someone offered to buy me one a couple of years ago and i thought “what would i do with that?”. now i know better. i can’t wait to make my own dried fruit for trail mix and stuff for potporri:) BBB please:)

  88. lavenderblue says:

    Has anyone here ever read “The Deliberate Agrarian” blog? Herrick Kimball tells how to pickle garlic ‘scapes. That is apparently the shoots of the garlic when they first grow in the spring. He also made saurkraut and apple cider vinegar. I am not sure how those turned out though because I haven’t read his blog lately. Sorry, Herrick, just so little time. And two teens with a “My Face” or
    “Space Book” page. Whatever.

    BBB,please. :airkiss:

  89. Betty says:

    Love your blog, visit it daily to see what is happening. Lots of valuable information. BBB

  90. Becky Whaley says:

    BBB please!!! :happyflower:

  91. melody says:

    I would love to win the bbb.thank you for the chance.

  92. Terri Draeger says:

    Still putting stuff up here too – made a note in my garden journal the other day – next year only plant TWO garden salsa peppers! that has to be the most prolific plant I’ve EVER grown!

    please enter me for the BBB giveaway, too! :woof:

  93. tipsila says:

    Evelyn J, I air dry parsley and it turns out green and beautiful.

    IowaCowGirl: Get the Excalibur. You won’t be sorry.

    I would love to have a BBB!

  94. Lisa says:

    I love my dehydrator too! I would also love a BBB. 🙂

  95. ayenbe says:

    We love our apple chips in the fall and our strawberry chips in the summer! Our cheapie little dehydrator sure has gotten more than it’s fair share of use. One day we’ll have to upgrade it… probably when it gives up the ghost! BBB please!!! 🙂

  96. Barbee says:

    Patricialynn, I read that the sulfur is used to keep the fruit from turning dark and unattractive. Otherwise, it isn’t really necessary. No ball book for me, I already have one, but thanks for the offer.

  97. Katharina says:

    I’ve got some mammoth parsley left in the big garden and a variety of herbs including borage left in the kitchen herb garden. The borage has beautiful blue star flowers that are, I think, edible. What do people do with borage?

    Enter me for the BBB, please.

  98. Barbie says:

    The borage flowers can be sugared to use in decorating cakes, etc. The leaves are edible, have a cucumber like taste. I can’t get past the fuzziness of them:) I already requested BBB, so don’t use this as an entry.

  99. Marion says:

    I have added a dehydrator to the list of things I would really like to have since I found your blog. I paid the deposit on the goats last week – ITS ALL YOUR FAULT! and I would like to be entered for the bbb.

  100. Brigitte says:

    I’d love the BBB!

  101. Wendy says:

    I am almost ready to start canning again after 11 yrs. I just bought a pressure canner which will be a new experience for me. Now I just need jars/lids and a BBB! (BBB)

  102. Jen says:

    Thank you for the opportunity (BBB).

  103. Mary from Baton Rouge says:

    consider me for the BBB!!!!

  104. Jennifer S. says:

    I would love to win one!

  105. Laura Pintor says:

    Yes, please enter me for the BBB. I would love to learn more about fermenting; and I need a new dehydrator. Hoping to find an Excalibur @ the thrift store :happyfeet: .

  106. Lynda says:

    I would like the BBB to give to my new daughter-in-law. She’s just started canning. :wave:

  107. Patrice says:

    BBB for my daughter, please!

  108. Mafong says:

    BBB for me please and thank you!

  109. Denise says:

    Suzanne, I enjoy your blog immensely. I’m a suburban girl and a WVU alum, so I have my West Virginia roots. (I found chickensintheroad.com when I was Googling Oliverios’ Peppers. I had run out and was lamenting the three-week lag before we got back to Morgantown to buy some.) Anyway, your blog and your community have inspired me to try a few country-themed projects. I made pickles with the last of my banana peppers and green tomatoes, using Claussen recipe I found here. (Very good, and even the picky 16-year-old likes them!) Then I made apple butter for the first time (only about 3 cups, which I can keep in the fridge) and returned to yarn crafts by buying a Knifty Knitter (scarf about halfway done).

    But, here’s why I would like a new Ball Blue Book: About 6 years ago, our nephews (from the Charleston area) were at WVU living in “The Man House,” an old Victorian in the South Park neighborhood. They found a 1943 edition of the BBB, complete with recipes adapted for the scarity of sugar and instructions on how to can without zinc lids! It’s a fascinating glimpse into the war years. I’d like the opportunity to peak into the current edition, learn the differences, and maybe gain the courage to move beyond small amounts of preserving and on to full-fledged canning.

    Thanks for your time, and thanks for your blog.

  110. Linda Segerson says:

    I love to can my vegetables, I will freeze peas but only un-washed peas go in my freezer. It gives them a fresh grown taste when I get ready to cook them. I do wash them right before cooking them. I would love to win the BBB.

  111. Cyndi says:

    Oh, please pick me. i’d love the new BBB. Thanks for all you do. You are a joy in every day for me.

  112. Jan says:

    Would love to have the BBB!

  113. Chic says:

    Oh please count me in for BBB!

  114. cheryl says:

    I dehydrated some jalapenos and green and red bell peppers for the first time this season. (Learned why a person should wear gloves when working with the jalapenos)… They are awesome dried !! I just grind the hot peppers as needed with my mortal and pestal. I put some of the “powder” in some deer jerky. It was really good. Got a lot of compliments on it. BBB

  115. maryann says:

    Oh I made it with 18 minutes to spare. Enter me into the BBB drawing.

  116. farmershae says:

    BBB please! :cowsleep:

  117. JOJO says:

    :woof:
    Suzanne–recently I was watching of Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmer, I beleive he was in rural parts of Russia, and he was sampling many pickled food among them was whole pickled tomatoes. I thoght of you. We forget that in many parts of the world there is no electic for refrigeraton or freezers, so pickling all foods is the only way to preserve it. I am so happy to see so many of your young followers (most all of them are young to me) taking control of their familes food supply. If I were young again, I would do the same. It is so nice that they have a place to find out how to do so many things from someone who lives it daily, not just writes about it.
    Thank you.

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