[Sca-cooks] Stefan makes cider -- Record keeping thoughts

[Martin G. Diehl]

Stefan li Rous wrote:
> 
> Da replied (I think) to me with:
> >  Is there not a barter trade network developed in the SCA?
> >   " I * wish* I could get raw apple juice"
> There is. But in this case I think it suffers from the same 
> problems that commerce did in medieval times.
> I live quite a ways from the major apple growing regions 

Yes shipping cost should be considered.  

What is the actual cost?  

[snip]

> However, as I think about it, using a pasteurized, 
> non-preservative bottle 

Yes

> or frozen 

No.  Freezing breaks down the cell structure.  I would not 
expect to get the same final product.  

OTOH, if we had documentation that after crushing the 
apples, the cider was frozen, thawed and then fermented 
... well, we could do that to see what would happen.  

I was given advice about making cordials using frozen fruit.  

The resulting cordials were really bad ... so was the advice.  

What is our collective wisdom on using fresh meat v. frozen 
meat in a recipe?  Do we get the same result?  Does the 
flavor shift?  Do we notice more water in the frying pan?  

> might be the way to go. Or since the Central Market store, 
> which you've heard me and Gunthar talk about, sells fresh 
> squeezed apple cider, and I think without preservatives 
> and maybe without pasteurization (I seem to remember the 
> plastic jugs having warning labels on them) 

Like "Transport the detonator in another vehicle"?  <g> 

> that might be the way to go. And sometimes they have 
> apple juice/cider from specific apple types rather than 
> the generic juice. Probably modern hybrids like Granny 
> Smith, and certainly not from cider apples, but it would 
> be a start.

Provided you keep good records. Paper records, neat, dry 
and readable in your kitchen, wizard's aiyre, meditation 
chamber, archivist's library ... with the neat stacks of 
blank parchment (always of the right size); fresh, sharp 
writing tools, fresh ink, perfect lighting, wide, sturdy shelving
of exotic woods for our treasured journals ever 
growing and overflowing with our accumulated wisdom (but 
not the shelves), filing cabinet, soothing music ... the 
sturdy stone arched doorway leading to the room with the 
Great Loom, and its many colored threads, precise, sharp 
scissors ... that perfect place we all have for our sole, 
private, uninterrupted, orderly consideration of The World.  

OoOoOoOops, better now, I'm back.  

To identify the batch, you need an identification (number 
or code) that will *stay* on the jugs and not mind getting 
... damp -- that's a nice, gentle word, isn't it?  

Batch numbers of the form yyyy-batch, e.g. 2005-01, or
2005-cider01 can give you instant recognition that you are 
about to experience something very special ... something 
that is 2 or 3 or 4 years older than anything else on the 
shelf deserves that special treatment ... 

-- up to and including a hazmat team in moon suits.  

Get some hang tags and index cards; serial or code number 
on both; hang tag on the jug; dates, procedure details on 
the index cards.  

Hang tags made of Tyvek® and wire (instead of thin cotton 
string that breaks when exposed to a stern look) would be 
nice -- instead, they are expensive.  

Instead of hang tags, a wax marking pen will work on clean, 
dry non greasy glass or plastic -- until the number gets 
rubbed off </g> -- touching or even just looking at the wax 
makes it go away.  Your assistants take care of 'adjusting' 
that 'excess information' as they 'reorganize' your workspace.  

On a plastic container, use a sharpie; on glass, you could 
use a sharpie to write onto a 2x3 patch of the brown 
shipping tape -- fold one corner under now to facilitate 
removal later.  Goo Gone will finish that cleanup.  

A set of 4-5 colored sharpie pens is about $3 at Home Depot 
-- watch for the dual ended thin/broad ones.  You'll need 
the broad tips to mark the Pennsic boxes and the thin ones 
might almost substitute for calligraphy pens -- but with my 
handwriting, who would notice?  

BTW, as you may know, "Faith is good, but checking is better" 

Some time ago, I researched various kinds of tags (both 
good and bad) as well as costs (mostly too high) ... and 
let it go at that.  

Just before hitting SEND, I asked Google's ravens to 
consider the question ... 

They found "Shipping Tags & Inventory Tags - Uline"; 
http://www.uline.com/Class_25.asp?pricode=wg303&wcw=google

Which seems to meet my tag ideas more than half-way ... 
provided you want 1000 tags at a time -- I'll entertain 
the idea of ordering and reshipping these tags, as long 
as enough of you ask by private eMail for quantities of 
about 50 to 100.  

And no, I don't think they would make especially classy 
event tokens.  <g> 

> Stefan

Vincenzo

-- 
Martin G. Diehl

http://www.renderosity.com/gallery.ez?ByArtist=Yes&Artist=MGD

Reality: That which remains after you stop thinking about it.
  inspired by P. K. Dick