We have thousands of acres of bay trees within a few miles. We pick a grocery bag full and throw it on top of the refrigerator in the kitchen to dry. There's a big difference between "wild" bay leaves and processed. Much much more potent.
Walk in cooler is definitely on my to-do list
*Dave Ramsey glare*
Hey man, we’re debt free, house will be paid off before my oldest is in middle school. Emergency fund in place, 401(k)/IRAs in progress, 529s in place and being funded for each kid…
You can build a box fairly easily with common materials. The critical parts are the door and the floor. A good well sealed door is a must. The boxes I bought were 4" too tall to fit in the area of the shop where they are. I used 1x6 redwood to set them directly on the concrete without the floors then sealed it all to the concrete floor. It makes for a great temp stabilizer once the concrete drops to temp. There's a lot of info on converting a simple window AC unit for a refrigeration unit. Check YouTube.
Get an all American. It’s a little more expensive but no seals. I love mine. Been going strong for years and we can most of our food. You can also use any pressure canner as a water bath canner if you don’t secure the lid allowing it to act as a pot lid instead of a sealed chamber.
Good for you dude
Luckily enough, I have an uncle that owns a HVAC business.
A feller could make a killing with a good walk in around here simply processing deer a few months out of the year..
You do not want glass doors. Grocery store coolers are a whole different animal than walk in boxes.
Definitely going to go with the full insulated panels with preferably a metal door
Yes I do. There is a cost saving aspect to it but I also appreciate knowing exactly what is in the food I'm feeding my family. We haven't bought stock or broth in a couple of years.
My understanding is that cooked and cleaned bones can be used as well as raw?
Absolutely. I think it saves a ton of money in the long run. I save every bone, meat scrap, onion skin, garlic peel, carrot peels, parsley stems, etc. and make broth on a regular basis. Basically my routine is to spool all the vegetable trimmings into a bag in the freezer and then when I make chicken (always whole chickens that I piece up) I throw the back in the stock pot with all the veg trimmings from the freezer and let that cook over night. When dinner is done any bones on plates get thrown in as well. Keeps us with plenty of broth. In the heat of the summer the chicken backs get spooled to the freezer as well and we make a big batch in the big pot I have for brewing beer once the weather cools off. We usually have 6-8 quart containers in the freezer at any given time.
