Reloading the dryer

[catsittingstill]

Yesterday I didn't have anything to put in the food dehydrator. To remedy this unnatural situation I went out and bought about half a bushel of apples (Jonagold, I think--green with red flecks, crisp, and tart-sweet anyway). I brought them home in triumph, set them on the counter... and realized that I had just set myself up to core, slice and peel half a bushel of apples. Since I only have a pairing knife, caused me some concern. So I called around and yes, a store in Knoxville had a doohickey to handle this. I went out and got one. It's called an apple peeler/corer/slicer (isn't Anglo Saxon wonderful?). You impale the apple with the core aligned along the screw axis, then turn the crank; in five turns it peels the apple (mostly--it's not so good with the stem and blossom ends), slices it in a long spiral, and cuts the core out of the middle. It's so fast that apple juice splatters and I elected to wear an apron. But it sure makes drying apples faster!

Didn't make it out to go canoing today. Maybe tomorrow.

Comments

[spiritdancer]

*grin*

Old technology (relatively speaking), but the hand-cranked apple peeler/corer/slicer works so much better than the electric version (yes, I've used both)

I've got my first bushel or so of apples to work on - golden delicious from my mom's trees (they taste so much better than the store-bought golden delicious, you would have trouble believing they were the same variety). Mine are being put up as applesauce, because I don't have to peel or core 'em for that - wash, quarter, toss in the big pot to cook until soft, then into the strainer or food mill. I broke down and bought a better (power) version of the food strainer this past winter, because I got tired of hand-mashing (early in the season), then using the Foley food mill (hand cranked) - I put up about 3 or 4 dozen pints of applesauce last year (easy, because you can process applesauce in a boiling water bath - no pressure canner needed!)

_M_

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

Old technology, but very clever, very cool. I like machines where you can peer at them from all sides and see how they work. And this one is so ingenious. How did they think of that?

The applesauce sounds good. Though golden delicious are so nice (as long as they're still crisp) that it's almost a pity to cook them.