Vanilla update - week 16

Here it is at 16 weeks. I wish everyone could smell it because it is incredible. I always buy "pure" vanilla extract and not artificial but the store bought does not compare. This is so much more intense and warmer smelling. Christmas baking starts in another week or two.

Vanilla update - week 6

Getting quite dark after 42 days.  Smells really nice with only a little alcohol odor left.

Vanilla update - one week

Here it is at one week.  Darkening up nicely and smells great.  There is a lot more vanilla smell and a lot less vodka/alcohol smell.

Homemade Vanilla Extract

Christmas baking season is less then four months away so it is time to try something to get ready now.

 Two ingredients required.  I went with a Canadian vodka for this batch.  Might try some rum or brandy for the next.  Vanilla rum sounds good for baking.

 This is around 1/3 of the beans that arrived.  I split 11 of them.

Add the beans to the vodka.  Time to watch the colour change.

Staying in shape sucks

Trying to stay in shape is getting harder as I get older.  I did hill sprints for two days and now can barely walk with an inflamed left achilles.  The joys of getting older.  Hopefully I am mobile by the weekend but the lesson learned is to double whatever stretching I thought was necessary.

Wood Stove

 So I thought I would try out a top lit upward draft (TLUD) stove.  It is supposed to use gassification to burn hot and clean.  I do not believe that it is running hot enough to start gassification but with only five ounces of twigs I managed (barely) to boil 2 cups of water. It seems to burn fairly clean as long as enough air is getting to the top.  Also leaves only a tiny bit of ash so you could bury the ash, use the stove on a rock and no one would ever know that you were there.

 I will play with this a bit more and hopefully speed up the boil.  I think one of my biggest problems with the stove is the shield/stand I cut out using some furnace pipe that is not allow enough air initially to the top of the stove.  I also probably did not help that the wind is gusting at 30 kph and I did not use a windscreen or try to get out of the wind in any way shape or form.  Right now I think I prefer the alcohol stove but I will definitely keep this in the kayak.

dreaming of the first kayak trip of spring

Stove and windscreen

A good way to deal with a cool morning is to start to test out the ultralight camping gear.  Kayaking season is only a couple months away.  This is a pop can alcohol stove I built.  I have tried several different designs but this penny stove is my favorite.

Stove is now lit

Temperature was minus five celsius.  Water was around eight celsius and I had two cups at a rolling boil in just over six minutes.  I used around twenty five ml or just under two tablespoons of methyl hydrate.  Not bad at all.

I will try to post some plans and pictures of how I built this.

                               

                                      GSI minimalist on the stove

Water is boiling nicely

and so it begins.....

I have been thinking about starting a blog for quite some time but never got around to it until now.  Nothing earth shattering will ever make it here, just ramblings about what I am up to or what strange thoughts happen to make it into by mind at any particular time.