5 *More* Traditional Cooking Time-Saving Tips (KYF138)

How do you do it?

How do you juggle the various tasks of traditional cooking day in and day out without going crazy, without turning to non-real food, and even while getting a good night’s sleep?

Of course I want to hear your answers… and in this podcast, I’m sharing five more of my own time-saving traditional cooking tips.

These are the exact same tips I follow, along with my family, to keep sane, healthy, happy, and rested.

Please share your time-saving tips in the comments!

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Video from Periscope

I recorded this podcast live on Periscope last week and here’s the video from that! It’s just like the audio file above, except you can see it, too. 🙂

I plan to do this for many podcasts in the future. Follow @TradCookSchool on the Periscope app or http://Periscope.tv/TradCookSchool on Thursdays if you want to join the fun!

5 More Traditional Cooking Time-Saving Tips

Listen to the podcast or watch the video above for the full version of these tips!

Tip #1: Preserve foods through fermentation, not canning.

You’ll save all sorts of time (not to mention resources). Fermenting is often just packing ingredients in a jar. The beneficial organisms do the work instead of you or your stove. For more information, check out my print book, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Fermenting Foods, or the Lacto-Fermentation eCourse inside Traditional Cooking School.

Tip #2: No-pound sauerkraut.

Shred your cabbage, mix with salt, and skip the pounding! You can do this if you let the cabbage sit for an hour or so before packing it in jars. The salt pulls the juices out of the cabbage for you. When you pack it in jars, it is covered in its own juice — no pounding required.

More: No-Pound Kraut

Tip #3: Keep brine on hand.

My basic brine is six tablespoons salt dissolved in a half gallon of water. I make it a half gallon or gallon at a time and keep it in the pantry. Then I pour it over veggies for a quick, quick fermentation assembly. This works for most fermentations. Some ferments (meat and dairy, for instance) call for more salt and usually a recipe will specify. For more information, check out my print book, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Fermenting Foods, or the Lacto-Fermentation eCourse inside Traditional Cooking School.

Tip #4: Sourdough bread that makes itself.

I’ve found that with a grain mill and a mixer, my bread practically makes itself. Even if you have a manual mill and knead by hand, I don’t believe bread deserves its connotation of being time-consuming. It may be hard until you get used to the process, but it is not time consuming.

Here’s how this works. When I’m in the kitchen already, doing other things, I turn the mill on to grind the flour. I go on with other things. When it is done, I toss the ingredients in the Bosch (starter, flour, water, salt and olive oil). Mix them up. Give it a rest for fifteen minutes so the flour can absorb water. I go on with other things.

Then I turn the mixer on for five minutes while I (you guessed it) go on with other things. The dough gets a five minute rest and another five minute knead, all the while I’m hands off. Then I put it in a big bowl to rise. That evening or the next morning, I punch it down and put it in loaf pans. After another rise, it bakes. Mostly the bread made itself. I spent very little of my time on it!

In the podcast I discussed how easy it is to make the no-knead einkorn bread we’re enjoying lately!

Tip #5: Soaked Oatmeal (from Beth C.)

Beth says: “I’m the oatmeal eater in my family of 2. I always soak and cook enough oatmeal for breakfast for 3 or 4 days. I add the cinnamon, raisins and maple syrup when I cook it and then after I enjoy the first piping hot serving, put the rest in a container in the fridge. I reheat the other servings in a pyrex bowl in my toaster oven or, especially in the summer, I enjoy it cold like rice pudding. When I finish the last serving I try to remember to soak more oatmeal by placing it in a covered pyrex casserole dish in the back of the oven with the light on. The light provides just enough warmth and reminds me that I have oatmeal soaking in there.”

Tip #6 through #11 (from Lise)

The tips below come from Lise in Britanny, France:

“Greeting from Quimper, in Brittany, France where I live. I loved the time-saving tips and lived your lifestyle with my late Husband for 12 years, in Cornwall, England.”

Tip #6: Women Working Together

Lise says: “I believe is women working together whenever possible — started with new Moms who found Motherhood, 1st time round hard going. 5-day rota, all meeting at one home on Monday, group cleaning, cooking, child-care etc. so the benefitting homemaker provided lunch. Husbands could not complain as the evening meal was prepared with lunch.”

Tip #7: 4 Week Seasonal Menu

Lise says: “I did a 4-weekly, seasonal menu which meant I knew what I was getting before shopping.”

Tip #8: Group Purchases

Lise says: “Group purchases were also possible following contact with local producers”

Tip #9: Doubling-Up and Freezing

Lise says: “Doubling-up & freezing enabled a less-pressured lifestyle. Bulk-making of crumble – possibly crumb in American English – & store in a jar in the fridge.”

Tip #10: Minimal Everything and Sharing

Lise says: “Minimal everything & sharing larger items ensures your cash flow is not wasted. I share my food-dryer & large mincer (for ground meant/fruit/veg). This also enables a social time when possible.”

Tip #11: Re-Use Vegetable and Juice Water

Lise says: “I use vegetable water & surplus juice from stewed fruit for soup & other fruits – frozen into cubes if necessary.”

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