What Preps are you doing this week? Part 12

[Frnc]

Ordered a pack of 10 lap vents for my loft. Was going to wait 'til the end of the month, but they only had a few in stock. Might get some more of a different make next month. I'm going to put a digital thermometer up there, high up, to send humidity readings to my phone. The lap vents should let warm humid air out, and keep condensation down. Will be interesting to see what the temperature is in winter. Obviously the insulation should keep it low.

The guy who came to do a quote for pointing hasn't got back to me with a price, but there's only a very small area needs doing, and he said it could probably be left 5 years without any issues.

[ForgeCorvus]

Damm you Yorkshire Andy...... More lamps I need

[Yorkshire Andy]

Renewed the breakdown cover for the 2 of us ... hardly a dramatic prep and not a lantern but £140 for the year is a no brainer and green flag will even sort out alternative accommodation if your camping and your tent gets damaged which is a odd little add on but for a camping family it might come in handy

[diamond lil]

Bought thermal curtains and a curtain pole - the heat in this flat is ridiculous and the venetian blind is not helping. Anybody wants to start up a tomato farm just lemme know, I've got the ideal premises. Only 3 windows in the flat, all facing southwest, no cross-draught anywhere. Also looking into the idea of ceiling fan for next year.
Meanwhile the big pantry is filling up nicely and the local butcher- who also owns the bakers - will take orders over the phone and deliver them next morning to the door. That's really helpful for filling the freezer without having to trek down the hill in this heat.

[mcprepper]

That flat does sound hot! Don’t worry, Winter is coming …
Planning some changes to storage of preps. Currently have an under stairs cupboard where tins and water are stored which is stuffed to the rafters. It’s also a pig to get tins in and out (hands and knees job) so makes rotation difficult. Going to make a pantry in another tiny room in another part of the house. It’s fully tiled, cool and not damp so will just need shelves building. New project time

[Frnc]

Was a bit cooler last night and this morning. Still got a few hot days left coming up, 25° forecast for next Tuesday, then cooler. Autumn officially starts on Sept 22nd. Around that date is when nights drop to around 9°. My boiler gets its annual service on the 22nd, by coincidence.

Personally, I have 2 seasons, prep-wise, summer and winter, and I do my winter rotation/preps about the same time as the official start to autumn. Main factor is that if I had to evacuate my house at night, it would be cold.

[Frnc]

Just made a batch of low oxalate baked beans. Should make about 7 portions, but I only had 5 containers, so made 6 including one I just ate. I use butter beans (2 tins, drained), as they are way lower in oxalates than the ones used in Heinz and Sainsbury's and probably all ready made ones. Key ingredients are sugar, vinegar, Worcester sauce and paprika. Butter beans and tomato puree are two of my prep food stocks. Vinegar BBE date was end July, so I suppose I should chuck the rest of it.

[GillyBee]

Vinegar BBE date was end July, so I suppose I should chuck the rest of it.

BBE is a quality date, not a safety one so you can continue to use your vinegar indefinitely as long as it looks and tastes OK. Use By Dates are another matter as they are the food safety ones.

The only time I have ever seen a problem with old vinegar was one which I thought had gone mouldy on top. I now know that I actually had a vinegar "mother" growing and could have used it to make my own cider vinegar.

[Adjee]

The only time I have ever seen a problem with old vinegar was one which I thought had gone mouldy on top. I now know that I actually had a vinegar "mother" growing and could have used it to make my own cider vinegar.

We make our own vinegar and once the "mother" is up and going it looks after itself very similar to Sour Dough starter, well worth the effort if you can get it going.

[Frnc]

Vinegar BBE date was end July, so I suppose I should chuck the rest of it.

BBE is a quality date, not a safety one so you can continue to use your vinegar indefinitely as long as it looks and tastes OK. Use By Dates are another matter as they are the food safety ones.

The only time I have ever seen a problem with old vinegar was one which I thought had gone mouldy on top. I now know that I actually had a vinegar "mother" growing and could have used it to make my own cider vinegar.

True, but I'm a bit on the cautious side, so I don't tend to use stuff that's way past BBE date. And I only make baked beans every few months, so next time could be several month past the date. Normally I use stuff up, but I only use a little bit of vinegar every few months. I have a different one for chips, that has small hole at the top. I've never checked the date on those, come to think of it.