Aquaponics Sweet Remano peppers

I harvested the first of my very late capsicums today.

This is my all time favourite variety called Sweet Remano pepper.

They are very late to fruit as I like them red, and they went in very late.

These things are so delicious, that I think they are too valuable to eat.





For some strange reason, I cant buy them from any of my local fruit and veg shops, or supermarkets.

Delicious.















120 Things in 20 years - I really need to learn how to use my new camera when trying to take pictures of the Sweet Remano peppers from my aquaponics system.

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Thinking Lathes

A device like a lathe seems like a pretty indispensable thing to own if you want to make a lathe.

All those perfect shafts and bearings.

That bothers me a bit.

In a nice way.

How?

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Making smoked foods Soldering iron cold smoker

I bought some very inexpensive cuts of chicken labelled "Breast roasts for two" from my local supermarket.

They appeared to me to be a prime candidate for value adding.

I brined them in a solution of water, salt, sugar, pepper, and some lemon juice. I also threw in a couple of bay leaves. I have no accurate record of the measurements used.

Measurements are a tricky thing, because you cant rely on one batch being the same as the next. The amount of meat, and its existing water and salt content create differences. You can probably ignore the existing levels, but the amount of meat being brined changes things a lot. The result is you cant just say x amount of water needs y amount of salt.

As I understand it, the process of absorbing the salt and sugar is done by osmosis. Salt is removed from the water, so the amount of meat in the brine changes how much salt is left in the brine. The result is the solution might need to be stronger to brine more meat. Irregular shaped meat like my chicken breast still on the bone, requires a bigger amount of water to cover it.

The good thing is, it will probably work well no matter what you do, but it does make a recipe a bit pointless.

That being said I used about 6 litres of water and a bit over half a cup of both salt, and sugar.

Brine your food in cold water, in the fridge.

After an hour and a half, I removed the chicken, pat it dry, and placed it into my lidded BBQ.

A 12 or 24 hour brine would have been better but I was pressed for time.

I also placed my trusty tin can full of holes inside, and jammed a 60watt soldering iron* into it at the base.

Perfect, cold smoke in minutes.

A total success.

The wood chips were from a store bought pack of smoking wood chips.





Im pretty sure this would ruin the soldering iron for soldering, but this was one Ive never used as it was way too powerful for anything I might do.

Previously I used my tin can full of holes with burning heat beads to keep it going, so I needed quite a few holes to support the combustion required to keep it alight. With the soldering iron, I can choke it down a lot more because it will never go out. I think Ill make a new tin can with less holes, and a large adjustable hole in the top by way of two lids with large holes that I can rotate to make whatever size hole I need. This should allow total control over how much smoke is made, and with some marks on the lids, I should be able to keep a record of what setting it was on, and what worked and what didnt.

But it does seem that everything works, no matter what you do so dont be too stressed over recipes and instructions. Just have a go, and you wont be disappointed.



120 Things in 20 years - Should have done a bit more research before trying to make a cold smoker because a soldering iron works really well.


*using a soldering iron for a cold smoker is NOT an original 120 things idea

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Food and Energy in the Cold Northeast

The Cold Northeast Regions of China and the United States
Point A: Shenyang, Jilin, China
Point B: Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States

I found a delightful report the United Nations put together in 1994 on how to produce crops and energy in the cold northeast (42 degrees north of the equator). Its got a wealth of information on topics from methane production to solar homes and greenhouses, and integrated plant/animal ecosystems.

Its also chock full of charts and graphs and experimental results.

The full title is "Integrated energy systems in China - The cold Northeastern region experience."

Happily, the cold northeastern region of China is eerily similar to the cold northeastern region of the United States - same latitude, near an ocean, and populated by millions of folks who like to eat and stay warm.

I particularly liked the documented results from the experiments comparing Subterranean heating/Cooling Systems or Underground Heat Exchange Solar Greenhouses (UHESG) to Conventional Solar Greenhouses (CSG). The 1980s-era researchers document greater than 50% improvement in yields (in both weight and money value) for UHESG over CSG.

The English in the report is a bit awkward and laden with engineer-ese, but there are plenty of great ideas for those of us who have uncomfortably cold winters.

[Post Script - Latitude isnt the only story. The hardiness zone in Shenyang is between 4 and 5, while the hardiness zone of latitudinal twin Plymouth is an ocean-warmed 6. Due to the Gulf Stream, London enjoys a hardiness zone of 9, though it is almost 10 degrees further north than either Shenyang or Plymouth. Id have to travel south to Florida to get to a hardiness zone of 9!]

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Wasabii cold house

Ive been thinking of growing some Wasabii and have been following a thread on Backyard Aquaponics discussing things like the temperature it likes.

It seems it likes to grow in less than 10c water, and less than 25c air.

Im about to get two solar panels for my epic solar boat adventure, so when theyre are not powering the boat, Ill be using them to power my aquaponics system, and Ive been thinking of ways to keep the system cool to extend the trout growing season, so perhaps I could use them for that as well.

I ran the problem through the invention engine, and it suggested running coils of hose through a container of water in a fridge as a heat exchange. And connecting the hose to my system. This would obviously cost a lot to run because each time the water went through the growbed, it would collect a stack of heat on a hot day.

But if I put a shade house over the top, I might be able to work something out.

Wasabii likes shade as well, so it should be easy enough to get a couple of layers of that grown up bubble wrap they use for pool covers, and make a tent. Wasabii doesnt grow very tall, so it should only need to be around half a metre high. Perhaps on hinges so it can be lifted when access is required.

Id add a window so I wouldnt need to let all the heat in whenever I took a peek.



120 Things in 20 years is being told to finish the boat first.

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Making smoked foods Tin can smoker Cold smoke

I thought Id try to get the food to a place where I had a little more control over the temperature. In my first experiment with my tin can smoker, the device was inside the BBQ, and contributed quite a bit of heat. I suspect the BBQ was at around 50c, which is perfect if you want to breed bacteria.

Id prefer not to.

I figured I might be able to create smoke by just dry frying some wood chips, and I think it shows some promise.


I put the can on the wok burner and ran it on high for a bit before adding some hickory wood chips.

In this photo I used a flash so as to not distort how much smoker there was. Its a dull day, and if I took it without the flash, I would have captured half a second of smoke instead of 250th of a second or whatever flashes really run at. [Which is why you cant see much of the flame]

Probably much much faster.


Anyway...

It worked a treat.

A total successful test, and only took about 5 minutes to start smoking, and be ready to use. It might even be possible to just move it inside the BBQ now that its going, and the BBQ heat night keep it going.

That might mean it will be useful as a cold smoke maker, and a hot smoke maker.

I guess I should write some stuff on what smoking is all about instead of jumping right in with a smoker. Sometimes I forget Im supposed to be writing about this stuff, and just get on with the learning.




120 Things in 20 years Making cold smoke in a tin can smoker on a wok burner may just be the 2nd success in a row. Im not sure thats ever happened before.

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