Chesters1 top tips 356

[corydoras]

ps your roasting machine is the guts of a washing machine ,hopefully you wernt sent to the cleaners buying it

That's what I said

[chesters1]

So you did ,recycling at its best ,could roast the coffee crop as well ,or in reverse force kids to run in it producing electric to use to charge the battery

When i was in france i used the guest wing to wash my clothes and discovered the washer dryer was a top opening one ,not seen that before the drum was vertical so used a narrower slot in the kitchen ,worked ok as well

Recycled it would be easier to get hot being narrower as a roaster

Edited October 20, 2014 by chesters1

[Ken L]

Put a large heavy bottomed pan on top of the stove and fill it with dry sand.

Once the sand is hot, roast the chestnuts in the sand. Works really well.

 

That's how they do it in SE Asia - but they use what looks like tiny haematite pebbles for the roasting sand.

[corydoras]

So you did ,recycling at its best ,could roast the coffee crop as well ,or in reverse force kids to run in it producing electric to use to charge the battery

When i was in france i used the guest wing to wash my clothes and discovered the washer dryer was a top opening one ,not seen that before the drum was vertical so used a narrower slot in the kitchen ,worked ok as well

Recycled it would be easier to get hot being narrower as a roaster

Yes I've seen them strange "top-loading" automatic washing machines. They used to be very common place but you don't see them so often these days. You can't fit one under a worktop, so most folks that buy them have a laundry room in the basement.

Edited October 20, 2014 by corydoras

[chesters1]

Never thought of that but handy though for small spaces ,i never realised it also dried ,i cant read washing machine french so just turned and pressed knobs until it made noises ,i was pleasantly surrised my boxers were toasty when it eventually went quiet

We had a washer dryer but it was crap it was one of those condenser bits of rubbish so the drying bit never used

[corydoras]

Yeah we used to have one of them. We never used the drier, exept for an emergency.

 

My sis-in-law has one of those electric cookers with a built in dishwasher.

 

Very handy if you have a really small kitchen and you want a dishwasher.

[chesters1]

Yeah we used to have one of them. We never used the drier, exept for an emergency.

 

My sis-in-law has one of those electric cookers with a built in dishwasher.

 

Very handy if you have a really small kitchen and you want a dishwasher.

Never heard of such things but i do live in the sticks ,we only got fresh air last year before that we had to buy buckets of steam from the airman and let it cool

[Vagabond]

Grill or boil, skins come off easier with boiling, chestnuts taste better grilled.

 

I hope they were freebies, you have to get in quick before the squirrels though.

We collect a lot of sweet chestnuts every year. Last years supply actually lasted until a fortnight ago. Never noticed any serious competitor though (unlike hazel nuts which squirrels clobber before they are ripe) are there wild boar in your area ? They like chestnuts, as do slugs.

 

There seem a higher percentage of really large nuts this year, and have already processed quite a few and frozen them as chestnut puree.

 

As far as the ergonomics of chestnut processing is concerned, we prefer to peel them raw (cut off the tip with a sharp knife then they peel easily) Peeling boiled chestnuts is messy by comparison. Once peeled raw, they can be boiled, grilled, roasted on a metal tray before a log fire, or baked in the oven.

 

Tomorrows forecast wind should bring down another load,

Edited October 20, 2014 by Vagabond

[ayjay]

We collect a lot of sweet chestnuts every year. Last years supply actually lasted until a fortnight ago. Never noticed any serious competitor though (unlike hazel nuts which squirrels clobber before they are ripe) are there wild boar in your area ? They like chestnuts, as do slugs.

 

Tomorrows forecast wind should bring down another load,

No wild boar as far as I know but pigs are put out on the open forest in autumn for pannage, they don't tend to be in the Enclosures though (which is where I get my chestnuts).

 

I've realised/remembered that we do have large numbers of deer which could be anywhere, I doubt that they'll turn their noses up at a free feed.

 

I've never managed to come to terms with quite how efficient the squirrels appeared to be at clearing up windfall chestnuts so quickly, but I'm sure deer could.

 

I don't collect the quantities that you do, just a couple of handfuls when I'm out for a tasty snack later.

 

I'll try peeling raw next time.

[Vagabond]

 

 

No wild boar as far as I know but pigs are put out on the open forest in autumn for pannage, they don't tend to be in the Enclosures though (which is where I get my chestnuts).

 

I've realised/remembered that we do have large numbers of deer which could be anywhere, I doubt that they'll turn their noses up at a free feed.

 

I've never managed to come to terms with quite how efficient the squirrels appeared to be at clearing up windfall chestnuts so quickly, but I'm sure deer could.

 

 

I'll try peeling raw next time. (I think you should re-phrase that, in case the squirrels steal your nuts! )

Strange that, as my impression is that hardly anything seems to go for the chestnuts locally (we don't have wild boar up on Ashdown Forest, but they are prolific in the lower Weald) We have stacks of grey squirrels, roe deer, fallow deer and red deer on Ashdown, but the chestnuts seem to just lie where they fall until either I pick them up or the slugs get them. Allied to that, when approaching the chestnut trees I have never seen squirrels or deer scampering away, nor any sign of any animals or birds feeding on the nuts.

 

It could of course just be the sheer numbers of nuts that come down - the squirrels and deer just can't eat 'em all There was a great chestnut paling and hurdle business at the end of the nineteenth century and loads of small coppiced chestnut plantations here and there about the forest. Most of these are now neglected, with the result that the trees have grown very large. About six of our favourite walks pass at least one such old plantation, and half an hour's chestnut gathering fills two anorak pockets each.

 

Here is this mornings gathering, washed and ready for peeling. It is the third such gathered in the last week.

 

Edited October 22, 2014 by Vagabond