Monday, August 3, 2009

Nesco American Harvest 5-Tray FD-35 425-Watt Snackmaster Dehydrator

Drying apple slices in just five hours and beef jerky in seven, this 425-watt dehydrator is exceptionally fast for its price range. Its patented hot-air circulation system ensures not only speed but uniformity, so foods dry evenly. Each of the five trays is 13-1/2 inches in diameter and 1/2 inch deep (the plastic dehydrator stands 10 inches high), providing more than 12 square feet of tray space for drying lots of fruits, vegetables, herbs, and flowers at one time. Available separately is a two-tray accessory pack that expands the dehydrator to seven trays. Also available separately are accessories for drying fruit rolls, soups, and sauces and for making jerky from ground meat. Accompanying the dehydrator is a detailed instruction booklet with a drying-time chart for various foods and recipes for cooking with dried foods. --Fred Brack


Brie Cheese is quite unusual and it comes from France where it got its namesake. The French still make Brie Cheese the same way today as they did in the 18th century. Both the commoners and the royalty of that era enjoyed the taste of Brie Cheese. It was always in demand for the ceremonies to offer tribute to the Royals of France.

Outside of France Brie Cheese is make in larger factories where the process is significantly industrialized and sped up. While the try hard to get the very same taste many cheese coniseurs claim you can definitely tell the difference in Brie Cheese that is made in France and that which is made in other places.

To make Brie Cheese, the curds are processed after they are firm. They are injected with a vaccination called a mold infusion. This mold will grow over a couple of weeks and this is where the taste of the Brie Cheese starts to change. The mold grows on the outside of the cheese and preserves the delicious taste inside of it. The white exterior of Brie Cheese has made it quite famous in many parts of the world.

Brie Cheese is commonly sold in one or two kilogram wheels. Some retailers will sell it in smaller wedges as a courteously to customers. There are several varieties of Brie Cheese including plain, herb, and others with combinations of milk products.

It is made from cow's milk but many people are hesitant to try it because of the grayish color it has. Brie Cheese has a very soft and smooth texture to it. It has a rind on it that doesn't taste like anything. It is actually a white mold that you can eat without getting sick but since it has no flavor many people pass it up.

Many people say Brie Cheese tastes very similar to wild mushrooms. For the best taste Brie Cheese should be allowed to sit at room temperature for an hour before serving. It is often served with berries, nuts, salads, and on hamburgers.

If you found this information on Brie Cheese useful, you'll also want to read about Goat Cheese

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Friday, July 17, 2009

Nesco Clean-a-Screen for Dehydrator Item# 168605, Model# LM-2-6

Screen flexes to remove sticky fruits and jerky quickly and easily. Herbs and spices wont fall through tray spokes. Includes 2 screens. Dishwasher safe. U.S.A.


When you want to install a solar power kit at your home, you should take under consideration several parameters. You should first decide the benefit that you would like to achieve with the residential solar power system, whether it is to power your home, your camp house, Additional power source to reduce your energy utility bills or as a backup power source when local grid electricity outage occurs. Whatever benefit you wish to achieve, you should pick the most suitable quality solar power kit that will meet best these needs while it is easy to install and simple to use.

Whichever kit you choose from should contain photovoltaic collector unit also known as PV solar panel. The photovoltaic solar panel collects the sunrays and turns them into electric power. The PV solar panel should be set in a way that it would face the sun in the most efficient way to harness maximum sunlight per day. The solar kit will contain solar panels mounting hardware. Make sure that this mounting staff can be adjusted so the solar panel could have the right angle toward the sun.

In your home solar power kit there is a solar power controller and a battery that will be used as the electricity storage device coming from the solar panels. The solar charge controller is important to protect your batteries. Since batteries have a limited storage capacity and the sun produces energy (to your solar panels) as long as it shines, you must make sure that your batteries will not be overcharged. Make sure to select a solar charge controller that matches the voltage of your batteries.

The amount of watts to be produced is stated on every kit. Make sure you know what amount of watts per day are your needs and then it will be much easier to pick the home solar power kit that matches the best.

Most of solar power kits are simple to install and arrive with simple step by step instructions that are very easy to follow. With it you can save literally thousands of dollars on the installation contractor. When you install the solar power kit yourself, the return on investment is much quicker and it can be as fast as three years.

Learn more on residential solar power systems.

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Sunday, July 12, 2009

Nesco All-in-One Food Dehydrator Kit, Model# FD50-WHC

Everything needed to dry fruit, vegetables, jerky and more. 500 Watts power plus patented coverage flow for even drying. No more rotating trays. U.S.A.


S'mores are one of the best campfire treats in the world (right after pudgie pies) with gooey toasted marshmallow melting smooth and luscious milk chocolate thats nestled between two crisp pieces of graham cracker. YummmmI want one (okay, two or three) right now (even though as I am writing this it is snowing outside and there is already more than 2 feet of snow on the ground.)

But although I have been brave and adventurous about trying many variations of s'mores I am still a purist at heart. To me there is only one way to make them and the choice of the three ingredients needed (marshmallows, chocolate, and graham crackers) is as important as the preparation process.

Marshmallows First of all, the marshmallows need to be fresh. Don't try to use up the half bag of marshmallows leftover from last year that are as hard as a rock. Crack open your wallet and spend a dollar or two on a fresh bag. Campfire brand marshmallows are best if you can find them, but Kraft's are pretty good too. Buy the big ones. Dont mess around with the miniature marshmallows.

Chocolate - Theres only once choice and that is a Hersheys milk chocolate candy bar - 3 pieces per smore.

Graham crackers - Honeymaid honey grahams are the best. Dont try to get creative and use the cinnamon flavored ones - theyre just yucky with smores.

Preparing the smore is as important as the ingredients. But let's talk about equipment first. In the "good old days," before restrictions on disturbing anything in nature at campgrounds and parks, if you wanted to toast marshmallows you went to a tree and broke off a long skinny branch. You pushed your marshmallow on the branch and started toasting. That's what I did as a kid (I didn't go camping as a child but we often toasted marshmallows over the hot coals of our charcoal grill at home). It didn't matter that the marshmallow often tasted faintly of tree sap nor did we ever stop to consider how many bugs or birds had touched that piece of wood and left things on it that are better left unsaid.

There are now roasting forks available at any large discount store or sporting goods store with an outdoor/camping section. Buy a hot dog fork instead of a marshmallow fork and skip the fancy retractable or folding ones. They have a tendency to retract or fold when you don't want them to. A hot dog fork works better than a marshmallow fork because the two prongs are farther apart which makes it easy to roast two marshmallows at once and because they are usually longer than marshmallow forks. Plus, then you'll have a fork that can do double duty, roast marshmallows and cook hot dogs or sausages. You can get a good quality hot dog fork for under $10 and sometimes for less than $5.

Okay, let's get back to making that s'more. Place one or two marshmallows on the hot dog fork. Toast the marshmallow to a golden brown over the campfire, remembering to turn the marshmallow so its toasted on all sides, not just on the third of it thats closest to the fire. Notice that I didnt say to start it on fire and char it to unrecognizable blackness. Marshmallows are not meant to be ignited and charred to a crisp. If your campfire is shooting up 3 foot flames, wait. Marshmallow roasting is best done with the wood is ashy and has glowing embers, which means you will have a hot fire with very little flame.
Immediately transfer the marshmallow to a graham cracker half that has 3 pieces of Hersheys milk chocolate on it (or both marshmallows if you managed to get them both toasted without losing one to the campfire and if you like a really gooey s'more; otherwise be a "sharer" and give the extra marshmallow to someone else). Using the other graham cracker half, squish the marshmallow so that it covers all the chocolate to start melting it. Stop squishing when the marshmallow starts oozing out the sides of the graham crackers.

Then quickly eat it before someone steals it from you and enjoys the perfect smore you have made. Share the secrets of making smores with everyone you know and encourage them to practice; otherwise you'll be spending all your campfire time making s'mores for everyone else and what fun is it to make them if you don't get to eat them?

And if someone tells you that you can make a smore in the microwave that tastes just as good as one made over a campfire, they are a liar or they have never had s'more made over a campfire.
Oh and I forgot one last thing you will need and that is wipes to clean up your sticky and gooey hands after eating your masterpiece!

D Ruplinger is an avid camper and is the content developer for CampingEarth.com. For more on how to make smores, please visit her site. Also, if you're thinking about going camping, but you're not sure if an RV or what kind of RV is right for you, then be sure to read her RV guide.

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Saturday, July 11, 2009

Nesco American Harvest FD-75PR 700-Watt Food Dehydrator

The NESCO Professional Food & Jerky Dehydrator has more power than most dehydrators -- 700 watts -- which means faster drying time. You will have results in hours, not days. The top mounted fan with patented Converga-Flow action pressurizes air downward through the outer ring and horizontally across each individual tray, converging at the center, for fast, even drying. No need to rotate trays. The adjustable thermostat allows you to dry different foods at proper temperatures (95-155 F), providing the flexibility to produce the best drying results. As your needs grow, the Professional Food & Jerky Dehydrator can be expanded up to 12 trays.


Maple sugar candy is one of Nature's little-known gifts. It has three times the sweetening power of cane sugar. Maple syrup is that rich in sugar because it 43 gallons of maple sugar sap need to be boiled down in order to make one gallon of maple syrup.

With an ingredient that sweet, making maple sugar candy at home is extremely rewarding...as long as you can avoid wasting many jugs of maple syrup trying to get it to turn out right. One common mistake is that people think making maple sugar is just like making fudge. Here are a couple tricks I learned that result in less frustration and more great maple candy every time.

First, don't use a marble slab for cooling maple sugar candy. Sure, it works great for fudge-maybe even for maple fudge-but maple candy is a different bird. A medium or small salad bowl works best for the cooling and stirring process.

Now that you're using the bowl, NEVER stop stirring once you've started. You've probably noticed that fudge cools off and hardens up slowly. But if you've ever made maple sugar candy, you'll know that the maple reaches a point where it just seizes up and becomes solid. In a nutshell, you have to stir until the maple is completely hardened and is very light in color.

Also, don't put the finished maple candy in a container until it has cooled off completely. It gives off steam, and condensation can build up. If you wait for about an hour to put it in a container, you'll have maple candy that can be good for weeks.

Philip Rozek invites you to step into the world of maple syrup at http://www.maplesugarrecipe.com/articles-on-maple-sugar-candy.html where you can learn about Maine maple syrup, Vermont maple candy, Canadian maple candy and more. He'll also show you how making maple sugar candy at home can even make you money.

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Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Nesco American Harvest FD-61 Snackmaster Encore Dehydrator and Jerky Maker

This convenient dehydrator makes great tasting, healthy snacks & jerky! Introducing the Snackmaster?? Encore???. It's Grey top and marbled design features 500 watts of drying power, and generates maximum speed and quality for dehydrating fruits, vegetables, beef jerky, and venison jerky. Helps dry food in hours, not days like ordinary food dehydrators. The top mounted fan eliminates the worry of liquids dripping into the the heating chamber!You can make delicious beef jerky, turkey jerky, fish jerky, trail mix, homemade yogurt, apple snacks, banana chips, dried soup mixes, dried tomatoes, watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, mangoes, papaya and other dried fruits at a fraction of the cost. Make dried herbs and spices; also make potpourri and dried flowers for any occasion.


Many people from around the world enjoy the light flavor of chamomile tea. If you enjoy drinking the tea, you might be interest to know it is easy to grow your own chamomile.

Combine Gardening with Tea Drinking

Even if you are a beginner gardener, growing chamomile is easy. Start by buying some seeds from a local merchant. If you cant find any stores near you, there are many online seed stores to order from.

The seeds are very small, and can be scattered in a small area of your garden. Lightly rake the soil to cover them or cover with a thin layer of fine soil. Water and keep the soil slightly moist while the seeds germinate.

Chamomile grows well in North America. It can grow in relatively dry climates with a little watering. The plant doesnt grow very tall usually 24 inches is the tallest height. It can be used as ground cover or to fill in areas where you need a low lying plant.

Picking the Flowers

The flowers are bright yellow and slightly cone shaped. The blooms start out small and can grow up to a third of an inch across. To make tea, you need to pick the blooms before they seed. Once they turn a dull yellowish grey color, they have gone to seed. The seeded flowers dont have to go to waste keep the seeds to plant again next year.

After youve picked a fair amount, wash to get rid of any loose dirt. Shake off the excess water. You can air dry the flowers by putting them in a dry place in the house for several days. Covering lightly with cheesecloth can help keep dust off while they dry. If youd like the process to go faster, you can put them in the oven for several hours on a low heat. You dont want to bake them, just make the drying go faster. A food dehydrator is another way to speed up the drying process.

Chamomile makes a beautiful addition to the garden with the reward of providing you with your own, home grown tea.

Find more articles on tea at the Tea and More website. Find articles on blended chamomile tea and more related tea articles

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Making Sauerkraut and Pickled Vegetables at Home: Creat

Making Sauerkraut and Pickled Vegetables at Home - Klaus Kaufman Features & Specifications Making Sauerkraut and Pickled Vegetables at Home - Klaus KaufmanThis book provides creative recipes for lactic-fermented food to improve your health.With this book, discover the simple remedies and healing agents found in lactic acid-fermented foods. Step-by-step recipes will guide you through centuries-old methods.Great addition to our crock pots!


Outdoor cooking is very popular, and there are a few different reasons for this. For one, outdoor cooking allows large groups of people to come together and enjoy themselves, and so it is a great means of entertaining. Also, the food that is cooked here has a much different taste than the more conventional oven cooked food, and really offers a unique charbroiled flavor.

There is something really special about outdoor cooking although it does involve quite a bit of skill and innovation. With a little practice and some effort however, anyone can become a talented outdoor chef and learn to cook for their friends and family.

Getting Started

Anyone interested in cooking outdoors will first have to get the necessary equipment. The first and most important piece of equipment here is going to be what they will cook in. The two most popular options here are the outdoor fireplace and the outdoor brick oven. Both of these help to deliver the tastes and aromas that you are looking for and both have models that range from affordable to high priced.

It really depends on the type of outdoor cooking that you are planning on doing. If you are an experienced chef who is planning to cook regularly then it will be more worth it for you to spend a bit more money and get a high quality oven. If you are just a beginner and are not sure how often you will be using it, then the best idea, at least for now, will be for you to stick to a lesser priced model.

A grill may also be a useful tool here and will be a good purchase to make for cooking in the outdoors. This is because there may be certain foods, namely vegetables and legumes that will have to be grilled as opposed to cooked.

Recipes

Coming up with recipes for your outdoor cooking is one of the most fun parts. A good idea is to select a couple dozen recipes that you like and then make a little cookbook out of these so that you can use them in the future.

Bread is especially delicious when cooked in an outdoor oven or fireplace, as is pizza and most pasta dishes. The options are really endless here, and if you are serving for an event of some sort the best idea will be to ask around and find out what foods everyone likes so that you can create a menu that is going to satisfy everyone's tastes.

Echo Wang is a contributing Editor for cooking Find out which cooking products, treatments & solutions will continue to be beautiful at any time. Our site is dedicated to providing information about cooking well options so you can continue to do it perfect, if want to more information, please visit Outdoor Cooking

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Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Mary Bell's Complete Dehydrator Cookbook

A guide to food dehydrating shows readers how to make preservative-free dried apple rings, candied apricots, beef and fish jerkies, sun-dried tomatoes, corn chips, herb seasonings, dried fruit sugars, and more. 100,000 first printing. Tour.


Keeping fruits fresh for an extended period is not difficult if correct preservation techniques are applied. So before we get started, certain things like pectin powder/ liquid, lemon juice, sugar, ascorbic acid, any artificial sweetener, glass/ plastic freezer containers are needed first.

Over a span of time, fruits tend to darken. To prevent this, it is good to coat them with acidic juice such as juice of lemon, orange or pineapple. There are commercial anti-darkening products available in the market that can also be used. Soaking the fruits in ascorbic acid will also prevent it from darkening over an extended period of time.

If you do not wish to coat or soak fruits in preservatives, you can alternatively use glass or plastic freezer containers. These are special containers that will keep fruits in good quality under freezing conditions.

Fruits like apples, figs, plum, mulberry, cherry, peach, blackberry, and grapes taste great as jams and jellies. So, if you like to have these fruits in the form of jellies, then preserving becomes a lot easier. Just prepare the jelly and preserve it in a glass container.

Drying fruits is also a good way of preserving them. People like to consume some fruits in dried condition. Often fruits like apples, pears, and plums are dried and preserved. A food dehydrator can be used to dry the fruits in the form of slices. These dried fruits are stored in air tight containers.

Pint or quart jars can also be used for preserving fruits. Fruits can be hot packed by adding it in raw condition to hot syrup and then reheating it to boiling point. This should then be packed in the containers along with the syrup.

Canning of fruits is also a good method of preservation. Cut fruit into half and remove the core and stem. This will give you two edible halves. You can even slice the fruit the way you like. The slices are then heat processed and sealed in air tight containers.

Fruits should always be consumed when they are fresh and ripe. However, if you like to consume it after sometime, the above-mentioned tips should help you in preserving your favorite fruits for a longer time.

Alfred Anderson has rich experience in the field of online brand marketing. His interests includes Internet marketing and research on emerging online business trends. True Fruit

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