Groovy Brackets

Here are the results of this groovy endeavor.  The machine table worked good for making a tongue and groove bracket.  I had to move the piece around a lot to get the groove all the way down the 2x2 stock, which is really 1.25 inches square.  The groove is a little off center, but its cool for the first try...  Looks good anyway...

Then took the length of stock and mitered it for the right angles, and trim to length.  The plywood filler is around 0.360 inches thick, and the milled groove is 0.375 inches, so there is a good fit.  The pieces fit good, but I need to trim them up a bit before I glue them together...

Scrap Bar Clamps

I had a need for some short bar clamps.  I'm trying to mill a groove in a 2x2 to make some right angle brackets.  The toggle clamps are a little to large for what I want to do, it really only needs a small bar clamp.  So, I went looking for some scraps to make bar clamps for the machine table.  I already had studs, t-slot nuts, springs, washers , and the flange nuts, just needed the clamping piece.  Previously I had used a piece of Iron from an old garage door opener to modify the Bitmoore Vise, to improve the shaft keepers.  Now that I have the Palmgren Table, the Bitmoore Vise hardly gets used.  So I scavenged a couple of pieces from the Bitmoore modification to use as bar clamps.  They are 1/4 inch by 1 inch rectangular Iron bars that already had the necessary holes in them.  This turned out to be a quick fix because I had already done the work 6 months ago...  Its like free, LOL!

Red Chile Bread

Ancho Chile has a permanent home in Chili, and Enchilada sauce, but it can be used in other foods as well.  The rich color and the fruity taste of the Ancho can enhance otherwise mundane foods like bread.  This Doh recipe is what I use for my Pizza Doh.  I was thinking that I wanted to make some rolls, but give them something to make them unique.  So I am going to add a ounce and a half of ground Ancho chile to them, to add a little flavor, but also some rich seasonal color.

My Pizza Doh uses unbleached Wheat bread flour, Quinoa flour, Pine nuts, sea salt, granulated sugar, bread machine yeast, and spring water.  I take a cup and a half of spring water, two teaspoons of sugar, two teaspoons of granulated sugar, two teaspoons of bread machine yeast, and mix them in the mixer bowl to start fermenting.  In the meantime, I'll clean and grind the Ancho chiles.

I'll take out the stem, and the calyx, which is the crown of the stem which attaches to the membranes which hold the seeds inside the chile.  Then tear, or cut the chiles into smaller pieces so they can fit into the spice grinder.

Then grind them into a powder so that the Ancho will mix well with the flour.  It took a couple of batches in this small spice grinder.  Be careful not to inhale the dust from the spice grinding process through your nose, you will regret it.

So, now that we have the fresh chile powder prepared we can get on with the bread making process.  I'll take and ounce and a half of Pine nuts, put them on a sheet pan, and roast them in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minute.  Then transfer them to a bowl to cool for another 10 minutes.  Place the cooled Pine nuts in a food processor and grind into a powder, but not too long otherwise they will turn into Pine nut butter.

The Yeast mixture should be bubbling nicely at this point.  This tells you that it is ready to mix into the bread mixture.  Whisk about four tablespoons of Olive Oil into the Yeast mixture then add one cup of Quinoa flour, and three and a quarter cups of unbleached bread flour to the mixing bowl.  Also add the ground Pine nuts, and the Ancho chile powder.  Then secure the mixing bowl onto the mixer, and knead on low speed with a Doh hook for 10 minutes.

My mixer is thoroughly used, so its a bit floppy.  I have to secure it to the counter with a clamp otherwise it walks all over the counter, and sometimes off the counter...

Working in my kitchen is an adventure.  There is always the chance of equipment failure.  I push my tools to their limits, and that leads to unintended angst, like the time I snapped the Doh hook.  So, after the kneading process is finished we should have a big lump of Doh ready to be shaped into whatever form is necessitated for the task at hand.  This could be Pizza pies, rolls, loaves, breadsticks, flatbreads, or one big old Sfincione.  This time we're making rolls...

I'll weigh the entire Dohball first so I can divide it down into portion sizes.  This time it is 2 pounds and 10 ounces, or 42 ounces, and I want to make 8 rolls, so that 6 ounces each.  I'll cut and weigh each portion individually, then shape the portions, and place them on a oiled sheet pan to rise.

It will take the Dohballs a few hours to rise before they are ready to bake.  They need to proof, and professional bakers use a proofing box to allow the Doh to rise before baking it.  The proofing box has a small heater, and a humidifier in it.  It keeps the exterior of the Doh moist, while elevating the temperature to level where the Yeast are happy to go to work for us, around 100 degrees Fahrenheit.  Well, most home chefs don't have proofing boxes.  So, we need to improvise here.  I have two ovens, stacked, large one on top and a small one on bottom.  The large upper over is the one I usually use for cooking, and the lower over  is usually used for proofing.  I proof the Doh in the lower oven with the light turned on, but not the heater element.  The light is enough heat for the proofing process, and if I need extra humidity I'll add a bowl of hot water under the baking sheet with the Doh.

After a couple of hours the Doh will double, or more, in size.  There is a judgement call to be made here.  If you like bread that is more dense, proof it less.  If you like bread that is light and airy, proof it more.  It depends on the size of the bubbles in the Doh, formed by carbon dioxide gas, that is produced by the Yeast in the Doh...

While the Doh is proofing, you can preheat the other oven to the cooking temperature, which for these rolls I am going to set to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.  When the Dohballs are proofed to your liking then transfer them from the proofing box to the cooking oven, and bake for 13 to 15 minutes.  You have to watch them for doneness, because this is not an exact science.  First you don't want to burn the bread, but you do want to cook it to a point where it is Golden, Brown, and Delicious, which is right before, perhaps seconds away from burned.  So it takes some skill to know when the bread is cooked properly.  The rolls will sound hollow when they are thumped as well.

These rolls were awesome right out of the oven with a little butter.  I also tried them sliced in half, then griddled on the inside with some butter and Garlic salt.  This week I'll use them for sandwiches, and on the side with some Pinto beans.  I usually have bread with soup also, like my Swai Pho.  But I think first I'll make a PLT. which is my Pork, Lettuce, and Tomato sandwich with some slow smoked pork butt.  Mmmm...  Pork Butt...

Jalapa Style Pickled Jalapenos

Its chile harvesting time again.  Those green Jalapenos are not going to stay fresh for more than a couple weeks.  You gotta take action now, preserve your crop for the winter months.  Why would you want to pickle your own Jalapenos?  Pickled Jalapenos are mass produced.  You can buy them anywhere, and they are cheap.  Well, you know, as with many other things, the quality and the nutritional content are of paramount importance to me.  Mass produced pickled Jalapenos are way overcooked, mushy, and lack any real chile punch.  They are a sad example of what a pickled chile should be.  Conversely, the pickled Jalapenos I bottle are carefully selected, sliced, and minimally processed to optimize flavor and crispiness.

I make them Jalapa Style, which means I add bias sliced Carrots, and an Onion wedge in the bottle.  My brine is clear, and should not discolor in the pasteurization and curing process.  The standard recipe to make a quart of brine is two cups of white vinegar, two cups of spring water, one tablespoon of granulated sugar, and one tablespoon of sea salt.  Mix the brine components in a sauce pan and bring up to boiling temperature.  While the brine is warming I wash and slice the Jalapenos, Carrots, and Onions to go into one pint jars.

I'll usually stuff about four pints at one time, which fits the brine recipe well.  At the end of the season, or when I am canning for Christmas, I'll double or quadruple the recipe.  Get all the jars stuffed, and then fill the jars with the boiling hot brine, carefully.  Then immediately add lids to the jars, and process them.  The Pasteurization process needs to bring the temperature inside of the jars up to 180 degrees Fahrenheit, and maintaining that temperature for 10 to 15 minutes.  This is to sterilize any remaining bacteria that make it into the jars.  I always clean and sterilize the jars, wash the vegetables, and wash anything that comes into contact with the vegetables before starting the Pasteurization process.  Then the actual Pasteurization process cleans up anything that got missed.  There are several methods for doing this at home, look for information on home canning.

After the Pasteurization process the bottles need to cure for some time.  At this point they are cooked, and can be eaten, but they will be better if you let them sit for a while.  Give them at least 24 hours, a week is better.  The flavors will meld, and they are better.  The Carrots and Onions pick up some of the heat of the Jalapenos, and the Jalapenos will pick up some of the sweetness of the Carrots, and the sharpness on the white Onion.  Usually these don't get a chance to sit around very long.  They are so good you'll want to eat them on everything, even ice cream...

DiaMag8 Test Platform

The balance of the rotor was just the start of the engineering challenges associated with the DiaMag8 Alternator.  This is the first compound rotor that I have put in one of my alternators.  The others have been monolithic magnets with high mechanical tolerances, and were well balanced because of that.  DiaMag8's rotor is a aluminum core piece, with 8 arc segment magnets glued to its periphery.

There was a good chance for an imbalance, and it happened.  The imbalance wasn't very noticeable at 1400 RPM, but at 30,000 RPM it sure was.  So I endeavored to find a way to balance the rotor.  I made a static balancing jig, but found the imbalance was too subtle to find with the static balance jig.  I don't have a spin balancer, that would be nice.  So, I had to resort to trial and error adjustments.  I looked at the rotor very carefully, and tried to ferret out where the machining imbalances were, and then correct them.  This worked surprisingly well, and I was able to balance the rotor enough to run it at 30,000 RPM.  Then I noticed another problem.  The rotor expands at high speed.  This rotor's core is aluminum, much more stretchy than neodymium.  So, when the rotor is turning at high speed it stretches and there is rotor to stator contact.  Shards of aluminum stator material come flying out of the alternator at 30,000 RPM...

So, the Ryobi drill is too slow, the Dremel tool is too fast, uulgh...  OK, I could get a variable speed Dremel tool, $70, or I can scratch up some stuff around the shop and make a variable speed alternator test jig.  Admittedly I did have to buy some parts, but a lot of this stuff was in inventory, like the motor...

The motor is about 20 watts, and I can push it upwards.  The name plate RPM is 2350, and that can also be pushed up to 3600 with more voltage.  The plate there does have markings on it, they are just hard to see.  In order to make to alternator tester flexible it needs to be variable speed, so I am using a voltage regulator to vary the battery voltage.  Then we also need variable power, so I'll add a current regulator.  Also need some mechanical flexibility, so we're going to use a belt drive system with many different size pulleys.  What is on there now is about a 1 to 2.3 ratio...

I made cutouts in the motor mounting plate for the motor, alternator, electronic controls, and mounting holes.  There is a need to align the pulleys, and also we'll need to make belt tension adjustments.  The motor mounts flush to the plate while the DiaMag8 alternator is mounted mid-plate to align the pulleys.  I'll make some right angle brackets with wood to mount the motor mount plate on a platform.

I am in the middle of this build right now, and will keep this post updated until the alternator test platform is finished.  A couple more shop days will get it running...