{"id":1892,"date":"2011-12-23T03:00:06","date_gmt":"2011-12-23T08:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/?p=1892"},"modified":"2011-12-23T03:00:06","modified_gmt":"2011-12-23T08:00:06","slug":"q-and-a-storing-fuel-and-making-butter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/2011\/12\/23\/q-and-a-storing-fuel-and-making-butter\/","title":{"rendered":"Q and A: Storing fuel and making butter"},"content":{"rendered":"

Storing fuel<\/strong><\/p>\n

Just curious if you put anything in your gas for storage. We need fresh gas when we use it; and do you know how long stored gas should last before it is no good other than to start a burning pile?<\/em><\/p>\n

Michelle Chapin<\/em>
\nFresno, Ohio<\/em><\/p>\n

We don’t keep gas long enough to require additives as we use it in our equipment, generators, and tools. If gas is stored for a month or more, it should have Stabil added to it to keep it fresh. And that is only good for about a year. Gas is not a long-lasting fuel, as is propane or diesel fuel. — Jackie<\/p>\n

Making butter<\/strong><\/p>\n

I am a hunter\/fisher and live a subsistence lifestyle. I get raw milk from my farmsteading neighbor 62 miles away every week. I separate the cream and churn it to make butter. My butter turns out white and crumbly — not smooth, and it will not turn soft and spreadable even in room temp. It will not even stick to the butter knife. How can I make it smooth and spreadable without the “flaky” texture? <\/em><\/p>\n

Robert Gibson<\/em>
\nCooper Landing, Alaska<\/em><\/p>\n

I’ve never had hard, crumbly butter, so I don’t know what’s happening with yours. Here’s how I make butter. Maybe you can figure out what’s wrong with yours.<\/p>\n

Using fresh, raw milk that has been sitting in the fridge for 2 days in gallon glass jars, I scoop out the cream which has risen to the top. I let it sit in either my churn jar or a quart jar to take the chill off for about half an hour (no longer in the summer or it’ll sour). Then I either churn it in my hand churn or shake the quart jar until the butter “comes.” Then I strain off most of the buttermilk and add ice cold fresh water, shaking or churning to rinse the butter and clump it nicely. I rinse until the water is nearly clear. Then I gently strain off all the water and dump the butter into a bowl. I work the butter with a wooden spoon, pressing out all the water I can so the butter will keep unrefrigerated longer without smelling sour. I add salt to taste, working it in well with the spoon. Then I press into a square plastic refrigerator container and refrigerate until it is solid. To use, I remove from the fridge about half an hour before meals; it softens nicely.<\/p>\n

I hope this will help with your problem. Do you freeze your milk? If you do, that may contribute to the problem. — Jackie<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Storing fuel Just curious if you put anything in your gas for storage. We need fresh gas when we use it; and do you know how long stored gas should last before it is no good other than to start a burning pile? Michelle Chapin Fresno, Ohio We don’t keep gas long enough to require […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1892"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1892"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1892\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}