What I'd like to know specifically, is a good recipe for the brine i.e. the salt/water ratio, plus whether I blanch or not, what, if any, pickling spice should be used and whether I need to include any vinegar in the brine/pickling liquid and whether I'd need to add any sugar to balance the salt/brine ?

Thanks in advance.

I've ended up with a small mountain of fresh chilli (3 different varieties).

I'd like to pickle them in brine, so that they are similar to the ones often found in Kebab Shops (they won't be exactly the same as none of them are Jalapenos).

Can anyone advise me how I'd go about achieving this please ? as I haven't been able to find any recipes that are just straight forward pickling in brine type recipes.

Trimethylbenzene ? Hum? Now that sounds like a good idea. I'll have to pay another visit to Halfords and see what they've got.

The betterware suggestion? well I'd have to get the M-I-L to try to source that, as we don't tend to get them round our way.

TVM for that suggestion Mrs Woof Woof.

I've tried the "sticky tape" on the glue trick cheese obsessive, and the glue they use just retains the glue off the tape.

It's not just Gales (a.k.a. the brand holder, the food taliban know as Nestle), I had a glass jar from tescos that had held strong pickled onions as well. The dishwasher put paid to any residual smell, but again they've used clear plastic labelling, the glue appears to be the same stuff as the honey jars.

I'm pretty convinced it's gonna need some kind of solvent to remove it. Which is a pain, though I suppose once I know what will do the trick, then it shouldn't be a problem (just a good excuse to make even more mead - the average being about 4lb of honey per gallon and I usually make it in 5 gallon batches - yum yum! hic!).

It's certainly cheaper to re-use jars than have to buy them. The cottage industry jam making wouldn't stand up to having to buy jars in small quantities!

Lighter fuel ? Hadn't thought of that.

I did go to the local halfords and get a tin of brake cleaner - unfortunately the only one they had was their own brand, and that doesn't contain Trichlorethane - it didn't work.

I've made some progress though, I found a tin of "Carb Cleaner" (a silkolene product) that is Xylene based. It took a long time to break the glue down and I had to try 2 or 3 times but I managed to get 2 of the "waste" jars clean enough to go in the dishwasher.

The type of glue that Frizbomb is refering to is probably the same stuff that they use to stick the paper labels onto the Tesco own brand honey jars - yes the dishwasher usually does the trick with them.

At least I have something that does the job eventually now. Though I'm still gonna keep looking for brake cleaner thats got the Trichlorethane in it - though I know it's getting harder and harder to obtain - I understand that there are some health issues attached to "Tric". I'm also gonna get a tin of lighter petrol as suggested by Rosti - afterall, if it doesn't work, I can always just put it in my Zippo!

Thanks for the suggestions all, if/when I find the definitive answer I'll post it. Afterall, I can't be the only person who uses "gales" honey, but also wants to reuse the jars !

p.s. Oh and my partner Clare "struck again" this morning. Except instead of Jam and Marmalade, this mornings efforts where Lemon Curd. It was terrible, I had to finish all of what didn't go in jars, on hot toast. Foul I tell you, foul

No, but the nail polish remover doesn't even seem to start the cleaning process (small snotty balls of glue that might be "harvested" with a dry cloth), which the evostik glue remover managed a little.

I'm thinking that I might try "brake cleaner" as it's "trichlorethane" (engineering cleaner) based, and should (theoretically) clean just about anything, so if the xxxx glue is oil/hydro-carbon base in any way it might do the trick. Though if it turns out to be silicone based in some way, I'm stuck for ideas!

I make my own mead. One of the "waste products" is glass jars.

If I use Tesco branded honey, the labels are paper and no problem to remove/clean off.

If I use "Gales" branded honey, the labels are clear plastic, but when you peel them off, they leave a thin layer of tranparent glue.

I'd like to remove this for hygiene reasons i.e. sterilisation of jars to re-use them for jam/marmalade/other preserves.

I've tried using white spirit, surgical spirit, acetone based nail polish remover and the toluene/hexane based "evostik" glue cleaner.

The white and surgical spirit is just "laughed at" by the glue on the jars.

The nail polish remover and evostik cleaner only have minimal effect and evaporate before they make any difference.

So does anyone have any idea as to how I can get the glue of these jars, rather than just chucking them into the recycling ??

Any ideas/suggestions are much appreciated.

p.s. Oh and if there is any specific "stuff" that i'd need to get, can you advise me as to brand names and where I might get "it"?

centre of carcass i.e. cavity or centre of meat - Breat and/or thick part of leg ?

Hum? not such a bad idea on the face of it.

I'd mainly noticed this with the mother-in-law, who is normally an excellent cook, but yesterday we tried the "marmite chicken" recipe from the peoples cook book series of programmes. It looked fine when I served it, but when it came to stripping the last of the meat from the carcass, I noticed the pinkness of both the deep leg meat and the larger of the leg bones. Of course, unless I can think of a recipe to "finish off" the meat, it'll go to the cats.

So for instance, does a slow cooker produce that nice yummy crispy chicken skin effect? Or in the case of the marmite chicken recipe, crisp up the bacon thats placed on top of the carcass ?

I already possess a digital probe thermometer, but the actual probe is entirely made of stainless steel - great for hygene but which actual part of the probe might be giving the actual temperature? and what is supposed to be the safe temperature anyway ? I don't mind using such a device or getting one that has a plastic/metal probe so that I know it's only taking a temperature from the very end of the probe, but surely theres been a basic (magical ???) technique for cooking chicken soas to ensure that it's cooked all the way through that might be more straight forward ?

Hence I'm sure that you follow my confusion.

Something I've noticed recently. Obviously I'm getting it wrong but I don't follow why.

The problem ? Specifically, roasting chicken.

Method.

Check the weight.

Make sure it's properly defrosted (if it's been frozen).

Cook it (obviously theres various methods/techniques etc).

What I'm finding, is that even if cooked to a specific recipe, and after doing the "skewer technique" on the thicker/denser parts of the meat (juices running clear etc), when carving/serving, there are often still areas (lower/deep section of leg) where I'm finding meat thats slightly pink or bone that looks slightly pink.

I'm equating this with under cooking (which I consider, particularly with chicken, a complete "no-no").

so is there a "magic" way of cooking a chicken so that I'm guaranteed not to find this ?

TVM for any ideas and suggestions.

Depends on what you mean by "off" really.

Only because some would equate dry with off rather than properly off.

If it's really off, the fatty part might have a slight vinegary (thats how I think of it) smell to it meaning that the fat is starting to go rancid.

Old pork can also smell a little on the "gamey" side - not so much off, as that it might have a strong taste (think of the difference between pork and boar - vvv similar, but also vvv different.

I'd say that if you're at all unsure, it might be safer to bin it.

Also, theres a similar issue with pork thats been frozen too long. People think that if it's been in the freezer then it's got to be OK - erm, I'd say not.

You often find, that plassy bags containing frozen meat have been split (on the corners etc). The meat might have been frozen, but if you look at it, you will see areas that have been exposed to air (albeit frozen air) that have dehydrated (think of those prog's on discovery about "ice mummies"). The meat can still be cooked ok, but the areas subject to the dehydration will be very tough, with a disagreeable texture.

So the same would (IMO) apply. Bin it.

The above isn't AFAIK, backed up by fact, just my own experiences where I've managed to screw up with storage of meat etc.

HTH a little.

Sentimentalism!

I might suggest it was unnecessary footage, if it was shown without the usual "warnings".

It's my understanding that electricity is used, precisely because it's quick i.e. quick to stun large animals/quick to kill small ones.

Of course it's controversial, but it does seem that half this kind of issue, is because younger people just don't know where their food comes from

If you ask them where their milk comes from, you're more likely to get the answer "Sainsburys" than you are "cows".

Hum?

Best pork crackling I ever made was when I followed a tip (I think by Ainsley Harriot) that said it's better to remove the skin for the main roast, boil it for a good while, dry it as much as possible and then fry it!