Large Scale Central

Back to the apple butter mine

Other Hobbies
#1

Any idjit who still dreams of living “off the grid” with a steam powered gen-set set should have came to help us Wednesday Sunday of Portersville’s Fall show the Kewannee boiler in the boiler house sprung a leak in a tube (minor as far as problems go, but very inconvenient as it tends to try to put out the fire) They had a half cooked batch of apple butter and 5 boxes of cut up apples left that needed processed. My father got this GREAT idea that Pap’s half scale would be “easier” to hook up to do this than a full sized engine… and he ‘volunteered’ Kim and I to fire it. We lit off at 8:30 in the morning.

Hooking it up WAS easy… KEEPING UP was another story. Between the 2 large kettles using about all the steam the boiler could evaporate, even with the blower on hard, and the “free” crap coal (somebody donated about 5 tons of black dirt) we had to work with, Kim and I were busier than a couple of one armed paper hangers with hives. We went through 4 tanks of water (about 240 gallons), about 1/8 cord of hardwood scraps, and twelve 5 gallon buckets of coal… in 9+ hours.

The biggest problem was clinkers. I had to strip the fire 4 times to clear the grates (I did this in thirds so we didn’t have to shut off the kettles, so basically I had to fish clinkers 12 times). at one point we were firing so hard that the hot gasses ignited in the smokebox. a little more overfire air cured that problem. However, my ears are still ringing from the blower roar for all those hours. I got to break a few times about as long as it takes to go pee - otherwise I was firing, adding water, or breaking up slag. Kim was my waterboy and fuel scrounger. (Why would anybody want to do this 7 days a week just to save a few nickles from the power company? A gen set big enough to power a modern house uses a LOT more steam than 2 old kettles) I don’t know what the kettle crew did most of the time. Kim sez they mostly BSed… and complained about clinker stink every time I stripped the fire, We finally got to shut the steam off at 6PM

This is about half of what we made…

#2

Sound like a fun time was had by one and all…yeah right, luckily you survived and did manage to help them out :smiley:

Live off the grid using a steam generator? really? Thats the first I’ve ever heard that notion.

I’ve met some pretty crazy hippies in my day but so far I haven’t met anyone crazy enough to suggest that! The really crazy ones out here put up a tiny wind generator (looks like a window fan hooked up to a car alternator) and a couple 6V solar panels tied to a couple car batteries and call themselves “off grid warriors” …and invariably all their food in the fridge goes bad as they can never run it properly off the meager power sources they set up. :lol:

#3

Mik, as a city slicker, your story is hilarious! And reminds me of why I like being close to the nearest supermarket and/or Costco. On the other hand, I’ll bet that apple butter–at least the batch that wasn’t laced with slag–musta tasted great.

#4

Vic, you forget, I was selling live steam during the “Y2K” crapola. I had at least 40 guys try to get me to recommend how they do that… and get annoyed when I said the grid was cheaper and a diesel gen set more practical.

Joe, I’m glad you saw humor in it. Sometimes laughter is the best way to deal with the crap life throws at you. And no slag ended up in the product, just my lungs.

For decades my father griped about getting “roped into” other people’s projects… This was entirely HIS project, yet the only thing he did was “supervise” (and complain about his gouty toe…).

I was also informed that since the coal was “free”, if I wanted better, I should buy it. I told him that even at zero cost, the club got ripped off because we were stuck disposing of somebody else’ garbage. (It was mostly boney, broken brick and glass, fines, stones, and stuff that fell off the crusher conveyor)

It was a pretty good reminder that there’s a reason I’m on disability, tho. While I got through Wednesday mostly OK, I felt like total garbage Thursday and Friday. The clinker fumes set off my lungs so it felt like there was an elephant tap dancing on my chest. (I don’t even WANT to know what all heavy metals and other crap is in that!) - If you’ve ever got a good lungful of zinc fumes, you know the feeling. - The best choice when you feel like that is to have some warm soup and go back to bed. My BiPap kept my O2 levels acceptable until I managed to hack the worst of it up. I’m probably back up to 75% of my “normal” lazy azz self today. Yay!

Truth be told, I never really liked apple butter, anyway. It’s too cloying sweet for my taste… OTOH Kim did get “me” (if she doesn’t eat it first) a jar of “cooked applesauce” while it was still at the lumpy stage. That’ll go good on brown toast when the first snow flies.

#5

I got to help fire one of Winters’ Cases at the Erie County Fair about a decade back. They drew some steam off the dome to cook a huge tub of corn on the cob. That was the absolute best corn I’ve ever had.

Look at the bright side Mik, at least you got to steam… and steam with an actual purpose. How many firebugs can say that these days, unless the purpose is to have fun or to demonstrate the old technology?

#6

Jason, I get roped into “steaming with a purpose” every bloody year. Some years it’s apple butter, others it’s the cider press. Sometimes I just wish they’d actually ASK rather than take for granted that I’m going to do it again

We also do corn every summer show. Funny how many folks decide they don’t want any if I suggest maybe THEY could buy it this year. We’ve done 8 dozen in the steam kettle some years… this year I just stuck a steam hose in a pot and did a dozen ears for us.

#7

That was how they did it, a huge steel drum, a coil of hose and a huge bag of corn. A sheet of plywood over the top and several hours later, a wonderful dinner.

Roger on the request versus the assumption.