I have created a new page on the website. It features canning and preserving videos available from YouTube. These videos will change on a regular basis. This feature is offered as part of my Google Adsense account so I’m not sure of the quality of the videos posted as I don’t have control of that. I will keep checking in to see how things go.
I have placed my spring order with Finland and am starting to gear up for the coming season. I’m looking forward to increasing my juice making and using my new freezer as well. I’ll be sending a Spring Newsletter out soon. Look for a early season discount coupon. Go to our website and click on email sign-up if you are interested in getting email from Mehu-Liisa Products.
Take Care!
Daniel
Hope everyone is holding up through the winter. I heard that there’s been some extra cold weather up in the north central part of the country. Curl up with your seed catalogs and dream of summer!
I just wanted to put up a note about changes to the website. I have added Google ads to the pages. These ads link to other pages selling related goods that folks might be interested in. Let me know what you think of this feature.
Also, I have added a satellite store that sells books and equipment for canning and preserving. This site is available by clicking the navigation button on the left of the homepage labeled Canning and Preserving Store. I set this up with Amazon.com. By clicking on an item that looks interesting to you, you will get the current info and same prices as you would at the amazon site. I receive a small commission for having the items for sale on my site (about 4%). Mostly for customers interests and convenience. Again, let me know what you think.
I have also included an email list sign-up button in the navigation bar for folks who want to get periodic updates and specials communications via email from Mehu-Liisa Products.
Next project is to get a forum going for folks who want to trade recipes and tips on using the Mehu-Liisa. Should have it up and running by spring.
Please let me know if there is anything you would like to see on the site; more products, different layout, more information, etc.
Take care,
Daniel Heila
To assure that you don’t let your water pan boil dry and warp or crack try these techniques:
1. Place marbles in your water pan. When the water boils, they will rattle nicely. If the water boils dry, they will stop making noise and you will know to add water.
2. There is no need to have a furious boil. Just a constant roll that produces steam is all that is necessary.
3. Use a timer! Set at the beginning of every process. Set initially for 40 minutes. Check water level when it goes off and reset for 10 - 15 minutes. (this is how I time my processing)
4. The Mehu-Liisa is very efficient in its work and it is rare to need more than an hour to process. After that, you will start to extract bitterness from stems, cores and seeds/pits.
5. As always, check the water pan periodically to see if it needs water. If you find that the pan is empty, DON”T ADD ANY WATER! as this may cause it to warp. Let the pan cool, then fill again and restart processing.
Try all these methods. Eventually, you will come up with your favorite method.
Well, its been quite a season. Mehu-Liisa products has been buffeted about on the unpredictable seas of small business a fair amount. As if the weak US dollar and rising stainless steel costs weren’t enough, I had to shut down my YahooStore and move my inventory to a new warehouse right in the middle of my busiest season.
Yikes! That hurt.
I worked diligently for three weeks to locate and transfer my inventory to a new reliable warehouse up in Michigan. Now, ordering is back up and units will start going out again beginning of next week. Phew! What a mess that was.
Also, as a few of you may have found out, there was a quality control issue at the factory in Finland this summer when they produced my fall inventory. It turns out that some juicers were showing up at customers homes without the lids and/or hoses and clamps.
So, I had the company send me replacements asap. They arrived just as the inventory was transferring to the new warehouse. I have tried to inform everyone of the situation and contact all customers who may be affected. I have a list of all customers who need lids and hoses and they will go out next week.
Let me know if you haven’t told me about missing parts. Email at contact@juicer-steamer.com
Other than all that, the juicer is selling well and more and more customers are getting to enjoy using the Mehu-Liisa. That’s a good thing!
A friend who owns a local mixed orchard let me know their grapes were splitting because of rain. I went over and got a few baskets full to process for holiday grape juice. Beautiful fall weather, cool, little overcast, colorful leaves. When I started out to the vines I startled a great blue heron who had been hunting mice in the adjacent field. It croaked like a dinosaur. Later a flock of Canada geese flew over. Pleasures of the season.
The grapes were very ripe and fragrant. Like wine on the vine! Flavor was fantastic. While I was picking, a local black lab came by and pestered me to throw an apple for fetch. I took a break and obliged. Then when I went back to work, he was in there with me, nibbling grapes right off the vine! Some dog…
Will process tonight! Looking forward to it. Here are some pictures:
Half hour’s work.
Sweet golden table grapes. Fabulous flavor. Very ripe. Yellowjackets loved these. They needed a little picking over but they were worth it.
Charles the humble owner of Empty Gate Orchard.
Well, I decided it was time to get busy with posting to this blog. It is well into the berry season and I have already juiced, jammed and jellied many pounds of berries. Oregon is a paradise for berries as the climate is usually just right for sun ripened sweetness. Our cherry season was brief but plentiful and I put up many pint bags (frozen) and cup jars of jelly. The strawberry season was so fast that I didn’t even get out in the field but once. We froze about 10 quarts of berries. No jam or juice though. I also got about 15 pints of red raspberries into the freezer.
I will use some of the frozen fruit later in the season to add to pear and apple juice batches. It adds good flavor variation. I just put the frozen fruit right on top of the fresh fruit in the basket of the juicer and proceed as usual.
When I do juice berries I intend to use the concentrated, rich juice later in syrups or as jelly. Not so much for straight drinking unless it is diluted with mineral water, etc. and maybe a little sweetener.
With fruit like cherries, strawberries, blueberries, I usually run the pulp through a Foley food mill after juicing and add back some juice to make jam. I use Pomona low methoxyl pectin and honey mostly.
Here are some pictures of our blueberry picking outing today:
Disappearing into the blue yonder.
We’re almost at our goal of 4 buckets. The basket is my portable office: cell phone and order pad.
Easy pickin’s.
A good hours work. That’s my number one picker, Ciaran.
This web log is a place to share recipes and tips on using the Mehu Liisa Steam Juicer. As owner of Mehu Liisa Products and administrator of the blog I will post topics and info on a fairly regular basis. As the season picks up be sure to check back for handy tips! We welcome your input. Please check out our website as well: www.juicer-steamer.com
Take Care
