Storing apples
I read your article on how to store apples, and I intend to supply a link to your site on my blog. However, I have a question about the following statement where you suggest to “impede air circulation.”
You said:
“I keep wrapped apples in a cardboard box. It need not be airtight, just tight enough to impede air circulation”
My question is: Can I assume that the tighter the box, the better? I have a plastic box with a tight lid. If i keep the lid on so that no air gets in at all, will that be detrimental? Should I let some degree of air get in?
Janis Hutchinson
I didn’t do that article, Janis. I keep my apples in open, slatted wood crates so they get plenty of air circulation. If they don’t get it, they will rot quickly. In my dad’s commercial apple orchard, the apples were stored in large, open wood crates on the floor of the apple barn until they were picked up by the haulers. They stayed fine for months this way. — Jackie
Canning bacon
We would like to try our hand at canning bacon. I have a question about the paper: is “masking” paper the same as butcher paper, and does it have to be masking paper, would parchment paper work?
Gwen Hagan
Masking paper is not the same as butcher paper; butcher wrap is coated so don’t use that. Yes, you can use parchment paper as it takes heat very well and is not treated. — Jackie
Mushy canned bacon
I again need to ask you a question concerning canning. Have you ever canned bacon? I used the article in BHM written by Enola Gay. I opened a jar yesterday and the fat is just about MUSH. I noticed in my jars it appears to be some water and fat. I used thick cut bacon, cooked a little prior to canning ( I may not have cooked it long enough), and canned at 10 lbs for 90 minutes. Do you think I needed to cook it LONGER prior to canning? Would this have stabilized the fat? Is it still safe to eat? I pray it is OK to eat as I canned 10 lbs.
Ramona B.
Newberry, South Carolina
I put up my bacon without cooking at all. I’m sure your bacon is fine; canned bacon doesn’t look like cooked fresh bacon. But if you’ll lightly fry it until crisp, it should look and taste pretty darned good. Commercial bacon is packaged with water added, so that’s where your water came from and why your fat looks mushy. — Jackie
Shirley,
When we’re growing them, we have a 6′ fence around the whole orchard. In storage, we have Mittens, our cat, plus snap traps in cat-proof locations in our pantry.
Jackie
How do you keep the critters out of the apples???
Canning bacon: I’ve canned about 35 lbs over the last two years using parchment, then trying masking paper. The masking paper tends to disintegrate when you try to remove it. I now use parchment exclusively. I don’t cook it prior to canning and prefer the taste to ‘fresh’ bacon. Yes, you get a layer of fat and a layer of liquid in the bottom of the jar but I figure it’s stuff I didn’t want to eat, anyway.
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