Comments for MorganizeIT https://morganizeit.com Hack, bash, test, repeat. Tue, 14 Apr 2020 14:36:32 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.8 Comment on Nopales and Hot Sauce by Morgan https://morganizeit.com/2020/03/nopales-and-hot-sauce/comment-page-1/#comment-66 Tue, 14 Apr 2020 14:36:32 +0000 https://morganizeit.com/?p=947#comment-66 I took another run at this and had relaly great results!

Don’t be afraid to use hot peppers. I did serranos, jalapeño and some unidentified… they came out great! Blended them up with garlic and onion into hot, medium, mild.

For nopales, I peeled the next batch and they are much, much tastier. Highly recommended. I’m going to do them again with some garlic and onion now that I know what the plain cactus tastes like.

I have almost entirely switched to a lower salt 2% brine for all vegetables. Works just fine for “high spoilage” vedge like peppers and okra so long as everything is pushed under the brine at all times. I highly recomment “pickling cups” for this, so much better than weights or spring things: https://www.shop.qualityreliableproducts.org/Occupare-Vita-Food-Retainer-Aeration-Cups-12-QRP-Exclusive-QRP-FCUPS-x12.htm

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Comment on Nopales and Hot Sauce by Morgan https://morganizeit.com/2020/03/nopales-and-hot-sauce/comment-page-1/#comment-65 Thu, 12 Mar 2020 20:43:53 +0000 https://morganizeit.com/?p=947#comment-65 I fished out one of the cactus slices today… not bad! The lactic acid does seem to have broken down the skin some. The brine is all eeeeeew… very mucilaginous. I’m going to let this ferment go for another week to see if the acid will further soften the cactus skin and thin the goop.

Seeing how goopy the cactus juice is makes me think about making my own hand sanitizer! Hard to find now with COVID-19 concerns. I’ve seen recipes that use 1 cup aloe to 3 cups alcohol. Aloe is just a succulent so why not paddle cactus goo?

The hot sauce looks very promising! Tonight I’ll blend it up and try some on fish tacos.

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Comment on Daikon Radish, Beets, Carrots by Morgan https://morganizeit.com/2020/01/daikon-radish-beets-carrots/comment-page-1/#comment-64 Sun, 08 Mar 2020 12:49:25 +0000 https://morganizeit.com/?p=764#comment-64 I took all these to work for our pickle club. The daikon by itself was the clear favorite, but a bit saltier than is ideal. Next time I’ll back it off to 1% saline.

The beet/daikon combo worked great, just missing the punch of fennel and chillies. The beet color completely homogenized to the point where it was hard to tell what was radish and what was beet

For the beet/carrot combo, the carrots tasted kind of bland compared with the beets which were crisp and juicy. Next time I’ll slice them super thin with a mandolin so the brine can soften them up and work in flavor.

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Comment on Ginger Take 2 and Watermelon Rinds by Morgan https://morganizeit.com/2019/07/ginger-take-2-and-watermelon-rinds/comment-page-1/#comment-62 Sat, 27 Jul 2019 17:48:43 +0000 https://morganizeit.com/?p=456#comment-62 Reporting back on results of these batches.

Ginger
BLECH! Woody, funky, not at all like the pallet cleansing ginger served with sushi. I’m giving up on this… seems to be best suited for a vinegar pickle.

Beets
Fabulous. These are really hard to get wrong. I added 5 drops of stevia in the 1/2 quart jar to try and sweeten them up. Didn’t really register so I’ll add more next time.

Gardiniera
Great! Good crunch, the pink color added by a beet slice was lovely looking. It was a plain salt brine, I think garlic and dill would punch it up. I added 3 drops of stevia and that had a nice balancing effect.

Watermelon Rind
These are a hit with everyone that’s tried them… except Lynell! 🙂 The clove adds a subtle flavor and the bit of head from pepper flakes is also nice. 5 drops of stevia in a quart added a nice sweet note. Honestly though I made them too salty. They soak up tons of brine and for Lynell that’s all she tasted… salt. Next time I do it I’ll reduce this to 1.5%.

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Comment on Pickled Ginger by Morgan https://morganizeit.com/2019/06/pickled-ginger/comment-page-1/#comment-61 Sat, 06 Jul 2019 13:27:39 +0000 https://morganizeit.com/?p=439#comment-61 Well, the shallots and kraut are delicious… but the ginger turned into a nasty, smelly mess.

After a week I fished some out with my fingers to try it. This has never been a problem before but maybe I introduced some bad bacteria. After another week it had a white film on top and smelled REALLY gross. In the interest of science I will reluctantly describe it. Smelled like poo. Or maybe like rotten potatoes. In other words, ugh so bad.

I tried skimming the top but the ick dropped down into the ginger. After a few days it still smelled vile so I decided it wasn’t worth it.

I am undeterred… I’m taking another whack at pickled ginger. Details in the latest post, upping the salt to 3% to ward off baddies.

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Comment on Mead 1 by Morgan https://morganizeit.com/2017/06/mead-1/comment-page-1/#comment-60 Sun, 19 Nov 2017 23:07:23 +0000 https://morganizeit.com/?p=299#comment-60 Restarting the fermentation seemed to work out, at least in terms of reducing the sweetness. I added a gallon of apple juice when I pitched the new yeast b/c I was worried about nutrients and didn’t want to keep stuffing more additives into it.

It became nice and clear after the fermentation stopped, it’s a lovely amber color. Tastes STRONG and a wee bit sweet. I can’t believe I started this back in June! We’ll see what it tastes like after some bottle time.

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Comment on Mead 1 by Morgan https://morganizeit.com/2017/06/mead-1/comment-page-1/#comment-59 Sat, 23 Sep 2017 19:09:33 +0000 https://morganizeit.com/?p=299#comment-59 I planned to bottle the mead today but it’s really sweet. Measured the gravity and it’s clear that fermentation did not finish. Boo! Racked it instead.

OK, what to do? I put some must in a quart jar and pitched a packet of Red Star Cote des Blancs yeast. 1/8 tsp of yeast nutrient. Tomorrow I’ll pour that into the carboy. I’m considering adding a gallon of apple juice too.

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Comment on Cranberry Pomegranate Cider by Morgan https://morganizeit.com/2017/08/cranberry-pomegranate-cider/comment-page-1/#comment-58 Sat, 23 Sep 2017 17:53:59 +0000 https://morganizeit.com/?p=390#comment-58 Bottled it today. Heh, I guess my enthusiasm is waning because I didn’t wanna rack this batch at all before bottling! Final Gravity = 0.998. Ah geez, I didn’t record the Original Gravity so I have no idea how much alcohol is in it. pH is also unknown b/c it looks like the batteries are dead on my pH meter.

\_(ツ)_/¯

Flavor wise it’s a bit sour and flat. Could be the effects of leaving it sitting on the chub for so long. Now that it’s in bottles I’ll work hard to remember my lessons learned… leave it alone! The flavors will continue to develop and I’m betting it will be pretty tasty by December.

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Comment on Hacking English by Morgan https://morganizeit.com/2012/04/hacking-english/comment-page-1/#comment-56 Sun, 11 Jun 2017 12:49:41 +0000 https://morganizeit.com/?p=69#comment-56 Commented out the image b/c Austin Post folded some time ago so it won’t load… looking for the original in our backups. I changed the link to point to the web archive.

Please support the Wayback Machine!

https://archive.org/donate

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Comment on Chicken Fortress by Morgan https://morganizeit.com/2011/07/chicken-fortress/comment-page-1/#comment-55 Sun, 11 Jun 2017 12:37:22 +0000 https://morganizeit.com/?p=31#comment-55 Fixed all the Flickr photos after a loooong gap.
Cheers!
-Morg.

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