it's the RAW garlic - try this recipe - it is very very close -
http://makingstuffanddoingthings.blog...

That's what I have surmised - no self defrosting chest freezers. The cold stays in the box versus spilling out & we do OK with keeping track of what is where - in larger units like my folks had boxes were the key - the baskets that came were marginally useful. I want reliability (noooo to catastrophic compressor fail) & good temperature control. I plan to have a max/min thermometer so am avoiding the circuit board fails I have read about with built-in bells & whistles. Energy Star data doesn't really help with temperature accuracy so I suppose I'll be comparing weight. Getting info on compressors used has been impossible on line & I admit loathing having to do the big box 4 store run... but it may be the only way...

check out the review that complains about the alarm being set off by his frost-free freezer. Thermometer recording temps up to 20 degrees...
http://www.amazon.com/Orka-Fridge-and...

Manual defrost is what you want - a good tight chest freezer has very slow frost buildup. Automatic defrost is not good for long-term food storage - temperature increases hasten freezer burn & taste/texture changes.

Peaches come in before my habaneros. I make peach habanero jam & I have learned (sort of by accident) that peaches (peeled & chopped) frozen with Fruit Fresh work awesomely for making this jam. Since the habs produce until mid-November here (longer if I bring them inside), I can make the jam when it is not so miserably hot outside & is actually enjoyable. Do the same with late-season strawberries & blueberries. When I get leatherbitches I freeze them until I have time to can - kills any insects & doesn't impact quality of final product.

The beef was cut & wrapped of course LOL. It filled the freezer fully & we did have to use the downstairs fridge's top freezer for offal & dog trim (melts, hooves, etc.)

we have a 7 cu ft freezer - old & reliable at over 11 yo - fully loaded held 1/2 beef except for offal & trim for the dogs. We want room for another 1/2 beef, a hog, about 100" shrimp in addition to any venison & drum (fall fishing) plus vegies & fruits I'll can up when the weather cools.

Please share the good, the bad & the ugly before I make this substantial purchase. Need at least 19 cu feet (our smaller chest freezer just barely held the 1/2 beef we purchased last year & that messed me up for freezing vegies - had to can more than I wanted to in 90 - 100 degree weather). It is going into heated/AC space - level with tile floor. Am wanting reliable, well-constructed, simple (any recs for high/low freezer thermometers - am leery of the built-in ones for reliability factors), Oh & reliable. Recs? Any to not waste my $$$ on? TIA

Beautiful dark seductive blood sausage - be it French, Irish or Cajun - lovely stuff.
Recently was invited to a country dinner of pork liver hash - a stew that included the melts & lights - great taste but I will try to introduce the generous folks to the concept of grinding the offal & making dumplings - German style. Texturally unsatisfactory is my summary for the stewed but crumbly dry pork liver & slippery soft lights & melts that grinding would make ever so much better.

Ha! Know exactly the texture of those baby octopi - we grilled them ONCE - the tentacles were tender & delish but the heads popped like soft grapes, soft grilled grapes - texturally un-yum (had a guest who about croaked hers back up). Sticking with the bigger ones here from now on & only grilling squid.

Have gone the pork brains & eggs route once - very secure in the plan to avoid most nervous system large tissue here from now on (most means whatever comes with the oxtail gets chowed & the chicken spinal tissue gets slurped up when the necks are cooked with rice - sorry cat).

Totally agree - ramps, ginseng, morels- grew up where these were harvested for our family's use & have lived where we harvested boletes & matsutakes for our own use. Have seen "the entitled greenies" blithely slither through barbed wire fences, defecate behind bushes, leave trash & used toiletries on private property & absolutely decimate ramps, gingseng & mushroom stands on bi=oth private & federal lands. Greenly. Don't be sucked in by the greenie "foraged" hype - the volume needed to supply restaurants wipes out natural stands on both private & public property; & contributes to theft.

Sauce? Pepper relish (but not sticky sweet like relish)? I am trying to get this recipe for summer canning. It is red peppers, green peppers (not sure which is the warm one) & onion in a mildly sweet, tangy liquid - not jelly-like at all. A DF gets extra tubs of this stuff every time he eats at Subway & has concocted the most fab appetizer ever.
He has a 1/2 gallon glass jar of the Subway chili relish & he adds additional cider vinegar. He then peels & lightly steam cloves of garlic (until just barely tender) & tosses them in the jar to marinate. He must eat at Subway a lot - I don't want to develop that habit LOL.
Anyway the garlic cloves take on simply the nicest spicy mildly warm slightly sweet mildly tangy flavor - addictive! Would be oh so good on freshly grilled bits of ciabatta bread.
I'd love to locate Subway's secret recipe (Googling has revealed nada for me) so i could can this up with summer bounty - PC, water bath or even just store in fridge but I suspect it would be OK for water bath from taste.
Any help would be most appreciated.
Such a nice way to eat 8 to 10 garlic cloves a day.

The Old Pier House right across the street from the Kure Beach Pier has light crispy not-overly-breaded flounder filets (big uns) & shrimp/oysters that are impeccably fried - albeit in Calabash-style- but the coating is light & not bready as soo many places are wont to do. They serve fresh hot tasty oniony-sweet hush puppies & have a large selection of vegies - all southern-style. I would recommend field peas & snaps (if you can get them), fried okra (light & crispy), & collards (a nice foil for the fried things when seasoned with the hot pepper vinegar). Fish eaters - the filets are MIGHTY big - combo with shrimp or (in the winter) oysters are fab. It's the best place in Kure Beach - remember we've only got 1 stoplight - LOL! Hope you like the place - we do.