We love sitting around the campfire at night. There’s just something comforting about those flickering flames and the smell of pine smoke. Maybe it’s the Native in us? But this time, I had more of a plan. My old, old cast iron frying pans that I’d used at camp for years had developed a good case of the “crud,” especially on the bottoms. This flaky build-up is common, but after awhile, it gets disgusting. You can’t scrape it off, wash it off or wish it off. The best cure is building up a good bed of coals and plopping your pans down in them, then keeping a good fire going for an hour or so.

Of course, while that’s happening, you can watch the fire, smell the pine smoke and listen to the wolves howl out in the woods. David brought out the marshmallows and some hotdogs, too. We enjoyed our evening. Mom had gone to bed earlier, and the night was ours. A few glowing sparks drifted upward but we didn’t have anything to worry about because it had been raining and the woods and grass was wet.

I got my pans burned out well and the next day I brought them inside to wash and season with olive oil and some low temperature oven heating. My pans are now smooth, inside and out, ready to cook future meals on, over the campfire or in the kitchen. I do love my cast iron. And my campfire!

Readers’ Questions:

Flavor of Hopi Pale Grey squash

Jackie, you’re always talking about the Hopi Pale Grey squash, and I’m wondering, exactly what do they taste like? I garden, but wonder about trying the seeds because of their flavor.

Andrea Del Gardo
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Okay. I admit it; I’m a fanatic about Hopi Pale Grey squash. Not only are they severely endangered, but they are one of the very longest keeping squash AND one of the best tasting, too. They have a thick meat that isn’t stringy. It has a fruity, almost nutty taste. I even grate some of the meat raw on salads. It really is that good! — Jackie

Canning cheese

I have read about you canning cheese. You mentioned that you didn’t can soft cheese. I’m thinking about trying to make cheese and salsa dip. Now I’m guessing that when you can your cheese that it solidifies as it cools. What I need to know is what type of cheese to mix with the chopped peppers so when it cools it is still soft and dip-able. By the way I’m a new subscriber but I’ve been a fan of the website for months and have used many things from the ask Jackie part of the site. Keep up the good work.

Joshua Schrader
Middleburg , Pennsylvania

Canning cheese is still kind of an “experimental” processing. I feel comfortable canning cheese, as it is high acid and it is often stored for months on end to age it without refrigeration or chemicals added. But I’d hate to recommend adding peppers, which ARE low acid and could possibly contribute to the end product allowing botulism spores to live and produce toxins. Until we learn more, it’d probably be a good idea to skip the peppers in the cheese. I have been having good luck by re-canning #10 cans of cheddar cheese sauce into pint and half pint jars. This stays soft, about like Cheesewhiz. I heat the cheese in the can, in my water bath canner, after processing tomatoes…so I recycle the hot water! Then I dip the hot cheese out into hot, sterilized jars to within 1/2″ of the top. The jars are processed in the water bath canner for 30 minutes. Be sure to consult your canning book for instructions on increasing your processing time if you live at an altitude over 1,000 feet. — Jackie

What brand of pressure canner?

We are new subscribers and trying to learn as much as we can about self reliant living. Are there any particular types or brands of pressure canners and dehydrators that you recommend? We have a modest budget but would “splurge” for something that would last us a lifetime. We are a family of 4. Thanks!

Steven & Gloria Schultz
Lakeland, Florida

Not really. All of the modern pressure canners and dehydrators that I’m familiar with are very adequate for the job. I DO like the dial gauge and gasketless canners, but I also have weighted gauge canners with gaskets. The only trouble with the gasket is that you have to replace it sooner or later. But they DO last for years and years. The dial simply lets you adjust your heat precisely and you know instantly when your heat is letting your pressure increase. The weighted gauges just rock faster and faster when the heat is going up too high. But, as I’ve said, all are good products. I’m real glad you’re getting into self reliant living! It’s a great, satisfying way of life. — Jackie

Teaching dogs not to chase poultry

I know you’ve written extensively about raising homestead chickens, and you contributed a great deal to the new Chicken Handbook - which is great.

Do you have your chickens completely fenced all the time, or do you let them free range? What do you do to train your own dog to leave them alone? Amazingly, we’ve never had trouble with neighbors’ dogs or other predators, but my husband’s hunting dog won’t leave my girls alone. She killed one of my Rhode Island Reds and one of my meat ducks earlier this summer, and yesterday she attacked my other Rhodie as she was coming out of the coop, from laying an egg, and wasn’t with the rest of the flock. I think she’ll be ok, and I’ve got the rest of my mixed flock back inside our fence for now. But I’d like to be able to let them range, since I don’t have much fenced in area for them. I don’t know how to teach a “bird dog” not to go after our own birds.

Carmen Griggs
Bovey, Minnesota

Our chickens are fenced in the winter, for convenience, and let run free in the summer. It is easier to teach a pup to not kill chickens than an older dog. And bird dogs DO love birds! But so do huskies. I would NEVER let my huskies run free or I’d never have a live chicken! (I have had a husky that was fine with poultry, though. But she was trained very young; my guys weren’t and would happily eat them all. To teach our pup not to chase chickens, I just took him out there with me every time I went to the coop. When he got too “happy” with the chickens, I’d scold him real severely. Then when he grabbed one, I beat him up. No, I really didn’t beat him, beat him. I just made him think I was abusing him. Let me explain. Dogs have a pecking order, just like wolves. The alpha dog (you) reprimands the pup (him) by grabbing the scruff of his neck and shaking him, while forcing his head to the ground. I didn’t shake him hard enough to do any damage, mostly hollered and shoved him to the ground. It only took one time and he listened to me when he’d stop being enthusiastic when I’d yell at him. Now I don’t even have to watch him. He’s perfectly fine. The same worked for eating eggs, which he really loved to do. With an older dog, you’ll have to be sure to be out with him EVERY time he’s out with chickens out of the pen. And catch him in the act of chasing before he hurts a chicken. Some people have had good luck with training collars (shock collars). I prefer to train without one, but some dogs are just too aggressive to take a lesser hint. — Jackie

Curing sweet potatoes

Can you tell me how cure sweet potatoes?

Edwin Long III
Plymouth, North Carolina

Dig your sweet potatoes, then let them cure by drying them out of the sun, until the skin gets tough. This lets them resist bruising and cracking, which contributes to premature spoilage. — Jackie

Keeping bread fresh:

I’ve really taken to baking my own breads and rolls… The “Burning” question is: How to store the breads and rolls after baking, to keep them from going stale. We live at 4200′ elevation.

Lee Harris
Chalfant Valley, California

After your baked goods are cooled down, place them in a plastic container or old bread bag. Most baked goods stay fresher longer when refrigerated. The one unfortunate thing about home baked goods is that without all those chemicals, they do tend to go stale or mold faster. But refrigerating or freezing them will prevent this. If you then reheat them briefly in a covered container, in the oven, or even uncovered, in a microwave, they’ll again taste just oven baked. It’s great to hear that you’ve caught fire with baking! — Jackie

Boiling canned food

Do you think it is needed before eating food that has been pressure canned to first boil it for 20 minutes? I read this someplace and I’m afraid the quality after all that boiling is going to be gross.

I’m mainly thinking of meat/poultry and soup.

Mary Thompson
Charlotte, North Carolina

It is advised to bring home canned foods up to the boiling point for 10 minutes (add 1 minute for each 1,000 feet above sea level, above 1,000 feet). This does not have to be “boiling”. It can be heated in the oven, as if you made a casserole out of home canned ingredients. This is to kill any possible toxins produced by Clostridium botulinum. However these toxins will only possibly be present if the food was improperly canned or the seal had failed. The boiling won’t affect the taste/texture too much. — Jackie

Dutch oven cooking

I’m ready to learn how to campfire-cook and cook with a Dutch oven. Can you give any tips, and just how DO you bake over a campfire? I can understand using a Dutch oven, but until I get one, can I “adapt” any current baking pans, etc. to do this?

Kathleen Dismore
Marion, Illinois

Keep an eye open in a future issue of BHM. I’ve done an article on cast iron cookware, including a Dutch oven, and you’ll find your information there. It gets too long for the blog. — Jackie

I finally finished painting the goat barn/chicken coop. And boy does it look nice! You’ve got to remember what it used to look like, with donkey-eaten holes in the old OSB and raggedy blue plastic tarp hanging from the ridge, where it used to cover the gable end. And now the old chicken coop is empty, because I built the new one, I have a remodeling project. I’m turning it into a milking parlor! How wonderful. Soon I won’t have to milk with sleet and blizzards blowing down my neck! Wow.

Oh, and I got my first egg from the new chickens yesterday. How do I know it was the new chickens? Because it was brown. The only brown egg layers I had before were two banty hens, that laid little banty eggs. This one was extra large. My other “old” hens are all aracaunas, and they lay green, blue and pink eggs. So it was definitely a new girl. And today I got another. My new nest box is working!

I forgot to tell you that Beauty, our jenny donkey, is expecting a foal. You remember when we had Moose castrated this spring? I guess it was a little too late. OOps. I didn’t even know IT happened. So, of course, I don’t have a foaling date. But Beauty is getting a round, round belly. On to plan B, making Ladyhawk’s old stall in the goat barn a foaling stall in case Beauty foals during the winter. I sure hope not. We are real excited to have a baby coming, though.

Readers’ Questions:

Canning vegetable oil

I would like to purchase a 35lb container of vegetable oil from Sam’s Club, and am wondering if I can divide it up into quart jars and can it. Do you know and if so how would I do it? Pressure canner?

Jane Simonson
Idaho Falls, Idaho

This is one thing I haven’t canned, nor can I find any information on it. Sorry. I’ve kept vegetable oil a long time in my pantry, but once opened, it will sooner or later, go rancid. It doesn’t “spoil,” but you can’t stand the taste/smell. — Jackie

Trading seeds for sauce

We would like to have some of your Hopi Pale Grey Seeds to try next summer in our garden. We have access to some free #10 dented cans of tomato products, mainly sauce. Would you be interested in some?

Pam Foster
Richfield, Minnesota

I’ll mail your seeds tomorrow, Pam. Yes. I certainly would be interested in some cans of tomato products! I’ll e-mail you. — Jackie

Homesteading in Alaska

I know from your articles that you did not recommend Alaska as a future homestead, but I don’t remember why. Could you enlighten me? We are desperate to get out of California and would appreciate any info you could pass along.

Kay Williams
Placerville, California

Jackie,
Kay should check out our properties here in Northern Nevada before going out into the frontier of Alaska. There are tons of remote properties, former ranches, etc. up here and they are a lot easier to get to than Alaska. AND the winters are no where as harsh. We found 32 acres and are anxiously awaiting the day we can build our homestead. — P

Blemished tomatoes

We had to bring in all our tomatoes before the first hard frost, and they were all still green. They’ve been spread out on blankets in the garage and have ripened nicely. My question is about canning them. My book says don’t use any with blemishes, but they mostly all have that. the skin isn’t the greatest looking. I was hoping to just use my Roma mill and make them into quarts of sauce base, but should I be concerned that they aren’t pristine?

Kevin Long
Elizabeth, Colorado

Those late tomatoes do often have “blemishes.” I just cut out the bad spots, PROVIDED that the “bad” spots haven’t rotted, which spreads into the interior of the tomato. When you don’t know the variety you are canning, be sure to add the vinegar or lemon juice advised in the canning manuals so that the acid level is sufficient for water bath processing. — Jackie

Are tough chickens worth butchering?

My question is about butchering “jungle fowl” chickens. My neighbor had ordered a bunch of exotic chickens which interbred. She moved and gave me 20 of them. They are so tough that my neighbor who taught me how to butcher them gave up. They have quit laying and I don’t want to winter them. They are small and the meat is tough. Is it worth the trouble or should I feed the coyotes?

Michael Fink
Cougar, Washington

Sure they’re worth it! I’d skin them when butchering, then cool the carcasses overnight. Quarter the birds, then simmer them in a big stockpot until the meat is falling off the bone. These tough guys, I usually can up with the broth. The canning helps tenderize the meat; I’ve never had tough chicken that way. (Sorry coyotes!) — Jackie