{"id":1975,"date":"2012-01-27T03:00:55","date_gmt":"2012-01-27T08:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/?p=1975"},"modified":"2012-01-27T03:00:55","modified_gmt":"2012-01-27T08:00:55","slug":"q-and-a-baking-mixes-storing-dry-pasta-and-root-cellar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/2012\/01\/27\/q-and-a-baking-mixes-storing-dry-pasta-and-root-cellar\/","title":{"rendered":"Q and A: Baking mixes, storing dry pasta, and root cellar"},"content":{"rendered":"

Baking mixes<\/strong><\/p>\n

After looking at the Bisquick type recipes in your new book am wondering, other than shelf life, is there any difference in how these mixes work? Shortening compared to dehydrated shortening.<\/em><\/p>\n

Betty Anderson<\/em>
\nBerryville, Arkansas<\/em><\/p>\n

No differences other than possibly having to add a bit more liquid in some recipes to create the most workable dough when you use the dehydrated shortening. I use both with equally good results. — Jackie<\/p>\n

Storing dry pasta<\/strong><\/p>\n

What is the best way to store dry pasta? I really would like to store it in glass jars but I don’t know how. I guess the other way might be in the bags that I see in the survival write-up web sites.<\/em><\/p>\n

Charles Hancock<\/em>
\nHazel Green, Alabama<\/em><\/p>\n

Dry pasta stores very easily with no extra frills and supplies. You can simply pour it into glass jars and screw down the lid. I used to store mine in gallon glass jars for years. Now I store mine in used, clean popcorn tins, like you get around Christmas. I’ve never had any get rancid or in any way damaged. Works great! And it’s cheap. — Jackie<\/p>\n

Root cellar<\/strong><\/p>\n

I have a question on root cellars. My wife and I have finally managed to buy a piece of land on which to build our retreat. It does not \/ will not have electricity but I would like to be able to store some foodstuffs and canned goods there but obviously they need to be kept from freezing. Unfortunately the home site is literally on the side of a mountain so digging a cellar is out of the question due to ledge rock. My thought was to build a small room from block and cover it with earth. Would this work and if so how deeply must it be covered?<\/em><\/p>\n

Allen Foster<\/em>
\nNorthfield, New Hampshire<\/em><\/p>\n

Yes, this will certainly work. If you would insulate the sides of your root cellar with dense insulation board (below grade quality), you can probably pile dirt over it about three feet deep in your location. You will have to play with this a little by keeping a thermometer in it for the first couple of years. You may have to add some more dirt later if your cellar gets down too close to freezing. Snow on the dirt will also help insulate your root cellar. Be sure to add a double door system with an air lock between to help protect your cellar when you enter and exit during the winter. And don’t forget to insulate your doors and add a vent through the roof that can be opened and closed as needed to keep the cellar cool, not freezing, and keep the condensation down. Pick up a copy of Bubel’s book, ROOT CELLARING<\/a>. It is very good and a complete book on many different methods of construction. — Jackie<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Baking mixes After looking at the Bisquick type recipes in your new book am wondering, other than shelf life, is there any difference in how these mixes work? Shortening compared to dehydrated shortening. Betty Anderson Berryville, Arkansas No differences other than possibly having to add a bit more liquid in some recipes to create the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,6,13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1975"}],"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=1975"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1975\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/JackieClay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}