/diy/ - Do It Yourself

>>1271308
Nothing going. Still have Queen Anne's Lace Mead to bottle....for several years now. Currently trying some Dandelion Wine bottled in 2009.

>>1271350
You can brew it so that it is like a home brewed soda with minimal alcohol that you may even not notice or smell. It really depends on how long you brew it. I liked it just fizzy with no alcohol, but a friend liked it fizzy and like beer.

>>1271335
Pretty much the same with me. I drink about 4 glasses a year. I have like 55 bottles of wine in my fridge from 2008-2009.

>>1201329
Recipe?

If you want pineapple flavored drinks you'll need to use pineapple juice. Most of the flavor in tepache comes from the spices you use and the tingle of the CO2. The recipe in >>1200090 is pretty good. The pineapple flavor is very light, the alcohol content is low, the CO2 is just right. The only thing it needs is a bit of acid for mouth feel and some stronger spice. The first sip is about the same as the last sip. I used white sugar so it is much like a light soda and not reddish in color.

More traditional tepache recipes are much stronger in spice flavor and the flavor of the type of brown sugar (muscovado, demerara, turbinado) or honey used. Remember this is a street vendor drink you get on a hot day while being a tourist. It is more about quenching your thirst without leaving you "heavy."

The more modern American recipes don't use just the skins and core of the pineapple. Instead they will use 1 to 3 whole pineapples per gallon. Another problem with flavor is the pineapple itself. If needs to be ripe. Where I live, I have to grow my own pineapples if I want ripe pineapples. Otherwise, they are all green at the stores. They turn color a bit after picking, but their flavor never enriches properly. Making pineapple drinks with those sucks when compared to using fully ripe, bright yellow pineapples.

>>1198810
I'm cold crashing this batch right now. I'll probably start drinking it on Wednesday with a friend.

>>1199612
The recipe is rarely the same twice for ingredients and brown sugar/honey types like spices. This one was,

Rind and core of 2 pineapples ground up with its juice.
2.5 cups of sugar (brown is best.)
1pkg Fleischmann's active dry bread yeast (very good for a "non-sanitary" batch of brew; it also adds its own flavor for a short term no-aging brew like this)
1 broken up stick of Ceylon cinnamon
2 black tea bags
1/4 cup raisins
1-gallon of water (I don't boil it for these types of recipes, but you can.)

Dissolve sugar in water then yeast
Add all ingredients and stir vigorously for 2-3 minutes (helps impart more oxygen into the water.)
Cover container with plastic wrap or loose lid (keep gnats/flies out, but allows outgassing, no airlock needed.)
Ferment for 48 hours (short time because of added yeast, long recipe is 72 hours without added yeast.) Punch the pulp down twice a day.
Strain out pulp.
Crash in fridge for a few days (should drop lees, but remain somewhat cloudy for most batches though it can become very clear sometimes.)
Rack into serving vessel, serve, and drink.

It should be a little fizzy usually because it is still a bit active. Don't drink a ton of it or you may need to use the bathroom. Most people drink it right after straining it. I find I like it cold crashed for a few days instead. If you use the 72 hour recipes, remember that those don't add yeast and rely on wild yeasts. That means they will turn to vinegar just after about 72 days. So, if you any smell vinegar at all, cold crash it overnight and/or drink ASAP. It will just keep getting more vinegary if you let it.

>>1199618
>Are hand crank juicers wise?

I'm not sure I get your meaning. They are indispensable for some things. Though, you can use hand crank or electric, it doesn't matter.

>How should I go about making wines and stuff?

Google, "Jack Keller" and start reading.

>stop by an antique store
>see old hand crank juicer for $50, ever heard of that brand (Lolia) or style before
>can't even find it online
>buy it and clean it up
>test it on oranges, works perfectly
>happen to have some pineapples someone gave to me
>time for tepache!

I haven't made tepache in about 8-9 years.

>>1186217
Kilju by default tastes like shit. If you clear it and age it, it is no longer "kilju" and no longer tastes like shit, if everything is done correctly. Adding nutrient to it also makes it not "kilju". Since banana was used as the nutrient it will taste like a cleared, aged, sugar wine with a slight fruity flavor (white wine basically). Using for mixed drinks will just make it taste like whatever you are making.

If you want to make a very fruity wine, you just use more bananas and some raisins for mouthfeel.

>>1186376
For kilju I use bread yeast, like what you are supposed to use to make it. Which means a longer aging time because of the higher %ABV. EC-1118 is as close to Fleischmann's active dry bread yeast as you can get, fyi. Both in flavor and ability to reach a higher %ABV.

>I don't think a banana alone is optimal especially at 19% ABV.

The yeast goes nuts over bananas and will foam all to hell and back. I've never seen a better reaction. I use bananas in all my brews now as the nutrient. It is pretty neat seeing it roiling and moving raisins around like there's a fire under it.

>>1152695
You never need to worry about that unless you are distilling grappa. If grappa is incorrectly distilled it will have too much methanol in it and will seriously harm you or even kill you.

All other types of distilling are safe from that, even if incorrectly done. All types of fermenting alcohol are safe from that. The amount of alcohol you'd need to drink in order for the minuscule methanol amounts to harm you would kill you from ethanol poisoning long before the methanol harms you.

When someone illegally uses denatured alcohol added to fermented or distilled alcohol it will be extremely dangerous, causing harm and death. denatured alcohol has methanol in it as well as some other poisonous substances. It is only used for industrial purposes or fuel.

This latter reason is why you need to ask people how they made their distilled alcohol. Some people are dishonest/ignorant and don't know that denatured alcohol can kill you. Only drink distilled alcohols from people whom you trust and have a good track record.

Poorly or badly made fermented alcohols, which are infected and bad for your health, will be so nasty tasting that it would take a herculean effort of gag reflex to actually drink them to get sick. Even then you'd throw it up and/or have the shits for 1-3 days, not fun.

>>1151961
Many times, just not as much as I'd like.

>>1151847
>what does dandelion wine taste like?

It only uses the flower petals so it won't taste like grass or weeds. If you have too much green parts in it the flavor will become bitter. It is a very delicate floral flavor and easily overpowered by all the other ingredients. A dandelion mead is almost all honey flavor. A dandelion wine made using tea for tannins will be almost all tea flavored. Raisins for tannin = raisin flavor. Banana for nutrients and it doesn't overshadow the floral with fruity all that much if you use 1 banana for 5-6gal. If you use brown sugar or spices, it will taste more like that and so on. If you cook the petals instead of steep them you really bork the flavor.

Thus, a bit of tannin powder, white sugar only, a bit of yeast nutrient, a bit of acid powder, Vintner's Harvest "CY17 Saccharomyces Cerevisiae" yeast (for best floral results), spring water, and a ton of dandelion petals.

>>1131635
That would be why it has low alcohol content. It is most likely closer to a beer in ABV%. You can dilute it after brewing, like when making mixed drinks. That is the main use of cleared-kilju that I've made before.

UPDATE:

My 6.5gal Queen Anne's Lace Mead is still aging. I need to take time out to bottle it.

>>1131428
ALWAYS allow your brews to age at least 2 years for whites when they taste nasty. Up to 5 years for reds. Banana wine normally doesn't take to long, but if you've screwed up a bit just wait longer.

>>1131622
Sounds good. Did you add sugar to it?

>>963844
The box has a window to allow the sun light to shone through. It uses 2 pieces of glass. The inner piece of glass that experiences high temperatures is made of tempered glass. On my design, the glass section is not a lid. The lid is in the back as seen in >>963544

>>963707
Yeah, if you have the proper setup, parabolas and Fresnel lens are the way to go for fast cooking, like frying things. On a sunny day with a large parabola you can cook up a storm. For baking, you need a larger area, at which point things start to become very cumbersome. I don't recommend either for baking.

Frying with a parabola is a bit frustrating sometimes if the unit is very large. This is due to the fact your shadow is over the parabola when you're flipping the food around. There's also the danger of getting burned or even blinded.

On the other hand, a Fresnel lens is extremely dangerous for burns. More so than the parabola. This is because you can easily cross your hand over the food you are fixing in order to flip it and end up putting your hand right in the focal point. There's more of problem with blinding yourself since the focal point has a chance of reflecting the light depending on what is in the focal point. I suggest wearing strong UV protection when using a Parabola, but more so when using a Fresnel lens (check out the glare in this image from a Fresnel lens cooker).

Moving a non-folding parabola around is a pain and storing it is a pain; same with box cookers. But, you can also accidentally burn things with the parabola. A Fresnel lens on the other hand is even worse. You need to have a cover or pouch for it. Never move it around when uncovered. One simple slip up and you will catch yourself on fire instantly. You have to carry them parallel to the sun's rays to keep the sun from shining through it and hold it as close to your body as possible to prevent accidental fire.

>>963519
>The tilt and allowing the oven to sit flat seems like a conundrum.

This one I started was intended for winter use when the sun is very low in the sky. That may give you some ideas.

>>963519
>I wonder if I could use tent poles (or similar) to build a mountable frame from the box oven, and then have individual panels that fit on (somehow). Would pack down well.

My panels rest on a piece of 1/4" plywood on the top that has wooden lips attached. On the back of the panels I have hooks glued on and use bungee cords to hold it down on the box.

>180-230C range.

Take care to use Tempered Glass for the piece of glazing that will be on the inside. If you don't, it WILL break. My first test broke at 250F/121C.

>>963515
>>963519
>When you refer to insulation I assume you mean the box itself.
>What is your box made of? Is it just black painted wood?

This image shows the box cooker here >>963313 in progress. The layers of insulation in this one from inside to outside is: 1 inch of cardboard, 2 sheets of Celotex blackboard, 2 sheets of Styrofoam, outer cardboard box. Everything is bolted together and the bolt heads were covered with cardboard to help prevent thermal bridging. The door uses the same insulation with additional 1/4" plywood and a later-installed handle. A wooden frame was added when it was apparent it needed wheeled transport. It was painted black inside to help raise ambient air temps for baking.

>The tilt and allowing the oven to sit flat seems like a conundrum.

The bottom has a removable black-painted metal tray. Peg holes in the back wall allow the unit to be tipped and the metal tray to be leveled on them.

If I were to do this again, I would drop money on some aerogel blanket insulation for the sides and airloy for the bottom. That would allow for a very compact design, much lighter, and still have great temperatures.

>The petals are more or less similar in design regardless of the solar oven style?

Pretty much.

>Are the panels flat?

Yes. It is based on this design:

http://www.backwoodshome.com/making-and-using-a-solar-cooker/

>Could I, say, elongate it into a rectangle?

Of course.

>Is there a certain angle they should be in relation to the oven?

Yes, see link above. When fitted together, they angle properly.

>>963311
This is the one I use most. It reaches about 380F. I made it to be heavy, it uses lots of insulation, has double-glazing (tempered glass for inner glazing), and as large a set of reflectors as a couple of 4' x 8' sheet of 1/4' plywood could make.

>>963310
Emergency blanket funnel/panel style cooker. It worked, but isn't really easy to setup and not easy to reposition. Highly portable.

>>963303
Another image of the portable one.

>>963303
...Continued.

You can make a functional solar cooker from just about anything. This one, uses a plastic bag as the glazing and has spacers to allow the use of 2 pieces of glazing. It merely lacks insulation, but that is what the towel is for.

>>963301
...Continued

Because I like using box cookers and I dislike their bulkiness, but still love them insulated, I decided to design a portable one. I made this one and kept it behind my truck seat for years until someones dogs tore it up. I used it when at remote work sites to cook and warm up food. I was the only person who had hot meals while on those jobs.

One day I'll make another one and it will be even better, smaller, lighter, with higher cooking temps etc.

So, you'd need to weigh your options as to what type of cooker would best fit your cooking style/attention to the cooker while cooking, its portability, and if the construction materials are allowed on the plane (I have no clue at all about the later). However...

>>963257
I've made several styles (Fresnel lens, Funnel, Panel, Parabolic, Box, Collapsible, Mylar blanket, etc.) My personal favorite has been a standard insulated box cooker with 4 trapezoid-shaped reflectors. However, the one I use for cooking bread loafs and big meals is rather large, heavy, and required attaching wheels to move it around.

Parabolic cookers are very fussy. You have to get the cooking vessel right in the focal point at all times. This requires lots of babysitting. You will need to adjust the alignment with the sun once every 15-20 minutes for optimal cooking temperatures. They are also hindered by ambient temperatures and wind. They also need cloudless skies to work even remotely well.

Funnel and Panel cookers (like the one in this image and the one in your image) are easier to use and require much less babysitting. They are also less hindered by ambient temperatures since they use a wind break. The cooking vessel is inside the wind break. The on in your image has 2 containers. A clear outer wind break and a black inner cooking vessel. These are "ok" for semi-cloudy skies.

Insulated Box cookers, while bulkier are the easiest to use. You don't need to align them as much (same amount as funnel/panel cookers) and they work in fairly overcast skies (better than funnel/panel cookers). Well-insulated, doubled-glazed ones work in the dead of winter at -10F without trouble.

>>819675
Plans for the funnel cooker reflector.

>>819658
You really have to be trying to make something that catches on fire and is a solar box oven. A solar funnel cooker (pic) or parabola solar cooker can set things on fire easily; like a magnifying glass.

As for your questions, it really depends on the design and style of the solar cooker. For overcast days the best one to use is a well insulated solar box cooker with lots of reflective panels. However, cooking temperatures do not need to be as high as a conventional oven. So long as it reaches 170F you are good to go. The length of time for cooking does increase. Thus, a high heat solar oven helps reduce cooking times.

On a fairly overcast day, my solar box oven can reach about 200F to 215F without too much trouble. It doubles that when the full sun comes out. In that cooker, I've cooked fried chicken and baked bread in the dead of winter with 2 feet of snow around me and -10F temps outside.

Obversely, you can use these things to chill stuff on a very clear night. Just point them at the open sky and they will lower the temps in the cooker up to 15 degrees sometimes. You can even make ice water. It uses the open sky as a heat sink and shields it from ambient heat in the surrounding environment.

>pic of my old funnel cooker at a worksite

Here's a camping prototype solar box oven I made. I keep it behind my truck seat all folded up. It works at a lower temp, but still a higher temp than most solar box ovens. All it is made of is cardboard, glass, glue, bamboo skewers, aluminum foil, and duct tape.

These things are super easy to make a really fun.

Here's a mini one that I made from trash. I only used tape, no glue for this. It worked well with only the plastic bag as the double glazing, but the plastic was pretty hot.