Chocolate Making

We ran out of chocolate two nights ago. Jean likes the shard style that I make and I like the roasted peanut and coconut shreds/chips style. We enjoy a small piece after dinner.

I'm one of those people who thinks if you are going to the trouble of dirtying the implements you may as well make it worth the effort. To that end I decided to make a few other styles such as Hazel Nut, Almond and Ported Prune in ice cube trays.

Hazel Nuts and Almonds in the top tray and peanuts in the lower

Trays of Peanuts and Coconut shreds

Ported Prunes

Hazel Nuts and Almonds

The tray used for shards

Shards a simply just a thin layer of chocolate about 3-5 mm thick that provide a pleasant sensation in the mouth.

Two of the ingredients - Coconut Oil and Cocao Powder

We normally use Van Houten Cocoa which is available in the super market. But we recently found another brand which we tried and also liked. It is a darker Cocoa powder from Callebaut a Belgian supplier. We found at our wholesaler.

The third and final ingredient - Creamed Honey from HHF

Mixing

One of the secrets to a nice texture is stirring. Keep stirring until you get a smooth and silky texture. Don't over heat. The water bath supporting the mixing bowl should be warm not hot.

The blend is 3 parts Coconut Oil, 1 part Honey, 7 parts Cocoa Powder (or to your own taste.

The final result

Refrigerate just long enough for it to cool and set then repackage into airtight containers and store in the refrigerator.

Bio Dynamic 500 Mixer

Our mixing machine for BD 500 burnt out its motor last year.

BD 500 Mixer

We had a spare few motors just lying around. Some were well used items retrieved from a defunct dairy and one was the motor on our 1920's reconstituted milking machine. The milking machine has remained idle for nearly 20 years since we stopped breeding. It has a very good motor bought especially for the job and expensive.

Well it was time to bite the bullet and get the mixer functioning for next week.

At first I examined the old dairy motors to see if any were strong enough for this job. There was one that looked reasonable but the support brackets were badly rusted. An hour or two later the casing brackets were replaced with those from another motor. But the testing showed the motor was still not as good as preferred.

The non functioning motor

Some cut and shunt spares

And so it was a trip down to our hayshed where we had set up the milking machine and the newer motor was removed.

The biggest problem is the wiring. Not as simple as two wires. There are 5 wires to connect. One of which is Earth. That leaves 4. The complication is because the mixer turns one way creating a vortex and then stops and turns the other creating chaos.

Examining the connections

I was thinking that it would be as simple as lining up the wires on the old motor with the wires on the new. But not so. The new motor has a completely different setup. Well at least it looks completely different. I know from vague memories a theory that the basic operation is the same and that it just looks different.

The replacement motor

There was a small hope that the internet may supply some answers. Lots of forums on motors and reversing etc. but nothing that gave me any viable solution.

I set up a test bed near the mixer with electrical power and ran a series of tests. It was easy to make the motor go one way or the other but how to make it change direction using the mixer?

After lots of playing and thinking I eventually tried a test that worked. Who needs Sudoku or Crossword Puzzles. After installing the motor and testing the forward and backward operation I called it quits. Will test the mixer under full load next week. Oh and I also gave all the bearings a grease.

Oysters

Jean popped over to Karuah and collected some fresh oysters while I mucked around in the kitchen.

Opening oysters isn't all that hard. The best way to learn is to get the Oyster Farmer to show you. They love doing things like that and don't charge you for the sample material. That way you get to eat a lot of oysters while you learn. I was a slow learner.

Here is a excerpt from a blog Cultured Palate

1. Oysters contain more zinc than any other food. Zinc is necessary for proper growth and development, strengthens the immune system and promotes healing.
2. Oysters are heart healthy. They are high in omega – 3 fatty acids, potassium and magnesium which can help reduce your risk of heart attack, stroke and lower blood pressure.
3. Oysters can help you lose weight! They are low in calories, low in fat and a good source of protein which makes you feel fuller after eating.
4. Oysters are a good source of other essential nutrients. These include vitamins A, E, and C, zinc, iron, calcium, selenium, and vitamin B12.
5. Oysters can help improve your energy. They are a good source of iron which helps the body transport oxygen to individual cells giving you more energy.
6. Oysters can help lower your cholesterol. A study done by the University of Washington found that eating oysters can help raise the HDLs (good cholesterol levels) and lower the LDL’s (bad cholesterol levels).

The opening station

Ready to serve without adornment

No Champagne today just sparkling home made Cider

And a healthy salad to follow

Gleaning

The trip to the dairy to collect milk provided an unexpected bonus. On the way I spotted a whole pile of second hand bricks and pavers that had been dumped on the road side.

On the return trip it received a closer inspection. Some detective work ensued and it seems that someone was on the way to the dump and had a flat tyre. In order to change the tyre they had to unload some (or all) of their cargo. Not being "Keep Australia Clean" concerned citizens they didn't bother to reload their former cargo.

The pavers were in excellent condition and the bricks not to bad either. Rather than waste the opportunity it was a simple matter of backing the company ute up to the pile and with 10 minutes work we had a good quantity of recycled pavers destined for good use at HHF.

By the time I got home I had already worked out how they would be used.

Raw Milk Collection

Every 4 or 6 days we wash out our 20 litre milk collection container and head off to the nearby dairy farm to collect more milk. Our consumption is relatively small for daily latte's and cups of tea. However, the cats and dogs love their milk and they consume by far the Lion's share.

The process is straight forward. Arrive at the dairy at one of the predefined milking times either 7 am or 4.30 pm. Sometimes they run a bit late or a bit early. Late isn't a problem as we always have a chat.

Once at the dairy it's into the vat room and turn off the vat pump. There is a brief wait to allow milk to accumulate in the pre-filter receiver. Once sufficient milk has accumulated the hose to the vat is disconnected and held over my collection container which has a large funnel inserted. One of the milkers turns on the pump while I hold everything steady. It only takes a couple of minutes to fill the 20 litre plastic drum. I reconnect the hose to the vat and they turn the receiver pump to automatic. They return to milking and I wash out the vat room.

Our 20 litre milk collection container

Once home, the milk is emptied into our 25 litre cheese making vat and any drinking milk scooped into bottles for refrigeration. How much milk we bottle each time depends on the cheese making program. With Camembert, Yogurt, Fetta and some other soft cheeses we will bottle about half the milk. With harder cheeses we may only bottle 2 or 4 litres and get more milk sooner.

25 litre chees making vat

After bottling the bottles go into the kitchen refrigerator and the cheese vat goes into the Cave refrigerator for cooling.

Theses are milk bottles kept from when we use to buy Bio Dynamic milk from the supermarket

We collect afternoon milk as much as possible because it contains the highest level of butterfat. Morning milk is a bit thin on butterfat.

Remaining milk being refrigerated.

After cooling the cheese vat milk overnight the cream rises to the top and forma a thick layer which wrinkles as you scoop it out. If making Camembert or Blue we leave the cream alone but for yogurt and Fetta and some other cheeses we scoop out the cream.

Our preference is cultured butter and the cream has a culture added and left at room temperature for 24 or more hours before processing. The Buttermilk is used to make scones and any leftover given to the cats and dogs.

Depending on time the next day the remaining milk in the cheese making vat is then processed in the kitchen into cheese with any whey kept for grain soaking.

Cleaning the 20 litre collection container is an important task. A rinse with cold water, Add a few litres of hot water and some detergent, a vigorous shake, empty and rinse again with cold water leaving a litre or so of cold water in the container. A tea spoon or two of Potassium Metabisulfite is added and another  vigorous shake and that is it. The Metabisulphite will ensure no nasty growths in the container. When we go to use it again it just requires a quick rinse.

Yogurt

This is just a brief post on yogurt.

We usually skim off the Cream to make into Cultured Butter.

The yogurt once it sets can used as is but we like a thicker yogurt texture and drain ours until it reaches a consistency we like.

Ready to package

The draining process is simple. A sieve or colander with a cheese cloth lining or in our case a piece of old curtain material. Draining time varies and an occasional check during the day along with a little rearranging to move the sloppier material to the bottom is all that is needed.

The operation in progress

The drained liquid is then used to soak grain for the poultry. Nothing is wasted.

Mulch

We are finally catching up in the garden.

Jean's new Hugelkulture bed for the orange Blossom

 

A while ago we picked up two large round bales of silage from a nearby farmer. These were not of good quality and the farmer sold them as mulch for $30 a bale. This is a very attractive price although large round bales are not as easy to handle as small squares. But a large round is the equivalent of about 10 to 15 small square bales.

The farmer was kind enough to remove the wrapping some weeks before we collected the bales allowing them to dry out and dramatically reduce the weight. It also removes any fermentation smell.

The best way to use round bales is to chainsaw it into 4 quarters. Just stand the bale into an upright tube and run the chainsaw down. It's possible to cut into more segments if smaller pieces are required.

The bale splits into easily manageable segments and you can choose the thickness you desire by just grabbing the necessary number of layers.

We have started to heavily mulch around various parts of the garden in preparation for next Summer. Because of the shallow soil on our property we find Citrus in particular with their shallow roots need a good mulch covering. But in general just about everything else in the garden handles the hot dry Summer better with a thick layer of mulch.

 

This is the best time of year for us to mulch because the soil is damp from the Autumn rains and the mulch will now lock in that moisture. Mulching when the soil is dry tends to lock in the dry soil which takes longer to re-hydrate.