Seneca Cinnamon Apple Chips

[squerly]

Seems like it's my "bitch about food week" or maybe I need to stop being so picky. I purchased a bag of Seneca Cinnamon Apple Chips this Morning. Looked pretty good until I opened it and 70% of the bag was air. I drew a line on the bag to show where the chip line was from the outside.

I understand the whole "you gotta leave air in there or the potato chips will get crushed" BS but these aren't "chips", they're dehydrated apples. They don't crush like potato chips, but even if they did it seems like someone should require these asshats to show the "chip line" from the outside.

Similar to how the voters felt after buying the Obama package. That bag had a lot of air and was way short on product as well...

 

[JEV]

That's why I make my own food. Started making homemade granola...not sure why the hell I never thought of this before, because I can make it exactly the way I want it, and put whatever I want in it.

I agree that Hussein is "a lot of air and was way short on product as well... "

 

[Leni]

I'd take it back and complain.

 

[squerly]

I'd take it back and complain.

It's almost over Leni. A little less than 2 years now...

 

[Leni]

??? Your post is dated 5-11-15. Why now?

 

[rlk]

That's why I make my own food. Started making homemade granola...not sure why the hell I never thought of this before, because I can make it exactly the way I want it, and put whatever I want in it.

Jev, do you have a recipe for granola bars you can post here?

Thanks, Bob.

 

[JEV]

Basic Granola

• Difficulty: Easy |
• Total Time: 40 mins |
• Makes: About 3 cups

Granola is basically toasted oats. It’s easy to buy for exorbitant prices, yet incredibly easy to make at home. Here is a basic granola recipe to which you can add whatever dried fruit, nuts, or other tasty bits make you happy. Feel free to tweak this recipe if you like other spices, a little less honey, more salt—it’s pretty forgiving, and customizing your own blend is fun.
If you want to experiment even more, try using other rolled grains such as rye, spelt, kamut, or barley instead of rolled oats.

Ingredients

• 3 cups rolled oats (not instant)
• 3 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup small-dice dried fruit (more or less according to taste)
  
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped raw or toasted nuts or seeds (More or less according to taste)
  

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 300°F and arrange a rack in the middle.
2. Place the oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl and stir to combine; set aside.
3. Place the honey, oil, and vanilla in a small bowl and whisk to combine. Pour over the oat mixture and mix with your hands until the oats are thoroughly coated.
4. Spread the mixture in an even layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, then stir and continue baking until the granola is very light golden brown, about 5 to 15 minutes more.
5. Place the baking sheet on a wire rack and cool the granola to room temperature about 20 minutes. (Note: It will harden as it cools.)
6. Add the fruit and nuts or seeds to the baking sheet and toss to combine. Store the granola in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

 

[waybomb]

It's not air, but probably N2 or N2+CO2. To keep things dry and fresh. Can't really vacuum pack chips; they wouldn't be chips.

The machine drops the 1oz of chips in and a nozzle floods the bag with modified atmosphere, so much so they get down to less than 0.5% O2 in the bag. And of course, all the free moisture gets driven out with it.

But the bag has whatever weight is stated. If not, weights and measures assesses fairly large fines. The scales used to sort these things are amazing. 16 load cell buckets or more, doubled up, and a computer that picks the best combination to get almost exactly the stated weight, erring on the heavy side. Usually upwards of 200 bags a minute. Amazing technology.

 

[squerly]

It's not air, but probably N2 or N2+CO2. To keep things dry and fresh. Can't really vacuum pack chips; they wouldn't be chips.

The machine drops the 1oz of chips in and a nozzle floods the bag with modified atmosphere, so much so they get down to less than 0.5% O2 in the bag. And of course, all the free moisture gets driven out with it.

But the bag has whatever weight is stated. If not, weights and measures assesses fairly large fines. The scales used to sort these things are amazing. 16 load cell buckets or more, doubled up, and a computer that picks the best combination to get almost exactly the stated weight, erring on the heavy side. Usually upwards of 200 bags a minute. Amazing technology.

And while all that is true, I'm thinking someone in “apple-slice-land” knows that shoppers will associate the size of the bag with the amount of product in it. Bet they’d explode like Hillary at a Benghazi investigation if we asked them to add a visible black line that states “Fill Line Here”.

 

[muleman]

Dehydrate your own like I do. Usually 3-4 big gallon pickle jars each fall. They are good for snacks and we use them in a lot of meals.

 

[bczoom]

Dehydrate your own like I do. Usually 3-4 big gallon pickle jars each fall. They are good for snacks and we use them in a lot of meals.

I do a fair amount of dehydrating but not too many apples yet as my apple trees are still a bit small for producing.

How do you store them? Do you toss a couple oxygen absorbers in each jar?

 

[rlk]

Basic Granola

• Difficulty: Easy |
• Total Time: 40 mins |
• Makes: About 3 cups

Granola is basically toasted oats. It’s easy to buy for exorbitant prices, yet incredibly easy to make at home. Here is a basic granola recipe to which you can add whatever dried fruit, nuts, or other tasty bits make you happy. Feel free to tweak this recipe if you like other spices, a little less honey, more salt—it’s pretty forgiving, and customizing your own blend is fun.
If you want to experiment even more, try using other rolled grains such as rye, spelt, kamut, or barley instead of rolled oats.

Ingredients

• 3 cups rolled oats (not instant)
• 3 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup small-dice dried fruit (more or less according to taste)
  
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped raw or toasted nuts or seeds (More or less according to taste)
  

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 300°F and arrange a rack in the middle.
2. Place the oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl and stir to combine; set aside.
3. Place the honey, oil, and vanilla in a small bowl and whisk to combine. Pour over the oat mixture and mix with your hands until the oats are thoroughly coated.
4. Spread the mixture in an even layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, then stir and continue baking until the granola is very light golden brown, about 5 to 15 minutes more.
5. Place the baking sheet on a wire rack and cool the granola to room temperature about 20 minutes. (Note: It will harden as it cools.)
6. Add the fruit and nuts or seeds to the baking sheet and toss to combine. Store the granola in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Thanks Jev, but what do you do to make it into bars?

Bob