A number of years ago, my oldest son would go to the large Farmer's Market in St. Paul, Minnesota. He would bring me all sorts of fresh produce for canning or dehydrating or freezing. One time he showed up with 100 lbs. of russet potatoes. And because at that time I wasn't all that familiar with the process of dehydrating potatoes, I canned most of them.
What I later discovered was that the top inch or so of the potatoes in the jars turned gray. They weren't rotten. They were just gray.
I'm pretty sure that nobody is fond of eating gray potatoes. I know that the persnickety members of my family would surely go "EEEWW" at the sight of them. They haven't as yet been truly hungry.
Sometimes I am tempted to relate what I saw on a program about a high school class visiting a German concentration camp. At that time, a number of years ago, the camp had lush, green lawns. A student asked the guide, who had been imprisoned at that camp, who mowed the lawn when he was there. His reply was, "Nobody mowed lawns. If we saw a blade of grass, we ate it."
Back to the potatoes. I decided to try dehydrating some of the potatoes, thus eliminating the gray pieces. So I opened several jars, drained and rinsed the pieces, spread them out on dehydrator trays, picking out the gray pieces and tossing them.
During the dehydrating process, the potato pieces took on a dark brown color that didn't go away when rehydrated. And the potato pieces did not rehydrate well enough to be useful. This experiment was a total failure.
So what will I do with the 75 lbs. of potatoes I still have in jars? Use them. Just like I have been using them. I pick out the gray pieces. Then I fry them up for a breakfast potato. Or use them in a potato salad. Or heat them and pour gravy over them. Or make mashed potatoes from them.
These days it seems prudent to use up what we have, even if we might want something else. Grocery prices, in my area anyway, continue to rise. I can not afford to waste food. Or anything else, for that matter.
I don't see things getting better any time soon. Perhaps now would be a good time to concentrate on the old ways of doing things. At least that way, we will be able to continue on while others are wondering what happened.
For me, the only good thing about the rising cost of groceries is that I am trying out new recipes. I'm also seriously working at rotating my pantry and freezer items. So happy to have you back and to hear from other readers as well. Cheers, SJ now in California
ReplyDeleteSJ...The higher costs at the grocery stores are pushing me to find alternatives - homemade - of items I usualy buy. Spent some time today looking over those kinds of recipes and may have found some that might work. For sure, when a loaf of store brand bread is now costing me $4.99, Homemade bread is absolutely replacing it.
DeleteI am so enjoying hearing from readers as well. God bless them all!
Hearing from you again is such a pleasant surprise! BJ in GA
ReplyDeleteBJ...Yeah - kind of a surprise to me, too. But sometimes I just can not sit back and let the stupidity go without a good rant. :)
DeleteI seem to recall reading years ago, that potatoes have to be treated, similar to apples, before dehydrating to keep them from turning brown.
ReplyDeleteBut as you say, Vicki, the canned potatoes eat just fine after removing the gray parts.
Be safe and God bless.
LindaG...When dehydrating raw potatoes, I cut them into either slices or dices and then blanch for 3 minutes before spreading them out on the dehydrator trays. That works for me and the potatoes rehydrate well. So yeah, the canned potatoes will still be used. Don't think I can afford to toss anything except the gray potatoes. Take care - God bless!
DeleteI have done both. I'm not a fan of the pressure canner for the potatoes, but I did do it one year. Potatoes were fine when I opened them. I have dehydrated too, but I think I had to treat the potato slices somehow before dehydrating. If your dehydrator has a guide book, check that or see if your brand has an online guide. I preferred canned to dehydrated. They tasted better.
ReplyDeleteKristina...I think the problem was that the potatoes had been pressure canned before I tried dehydrating them. I have had excellent results dehydrating raw potatoes after they have been blanched for 3 minutes. And as far as the top inch or so of the potatoes in the jars turnng gray - I haven't a clue. Live and learn, I guess. :)
Deleteamazed to see your return
ReplyDeletepatara at 'appalachia's homestead' has proposed rationing ourselves in the 1940's war years manner, at least as an experiment
as for me i am already sick of rice and $$$ are tight
as to rainbows, the fire next time----nukes!!
would not put it past the evildoers to nuke us and blame it on russians