Quick Tip: DIY Decaf Tea

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EDITED  8/6/2014

It appears we have been taken in by a popular Internet myth.  A reader comment  (Thanks, Laura!) brought alerted me to an excellent post on tea myths and includes findings from (apparently) the only two studies to every test this methodology of reducing caffeine levels in tea.  These show that the reduction from a short steeping would be more in the 9-20% range, as opposed to 80%. To achieve 80% the steep would have to be over 5 minutes. It’s an interesting article, worth a read–it also addresses the complex subject of how much caffeine black and green teas actually have.

I’m not sure if this is common knowledge or not– my acupuncturist told me about it years ago–but you can decaffeinate your own tea.

As someone who loves (loves loves) hot black milky tea, even in summer, but who no longer gets along well with caffeine, this is a very good thing. Commercially decaffeinated tea is indistinguishable from dishwater. The DIY version doesn’t taste as good as “real tea”–the undiluted kind– but it’s better than the store bought stuff.

An additional advantage is that you don’t have to stock two types of tea–one type becomes two, saving shelf space. Note that this works best with loose leaf tea, but can be used with bagged tea, too.

All you have to do is brew your tea as you normally would, but start counting as soon as you pour the hot water. After at least 30 seconds but no more than 1 minute you pour off all of what has brewed so far. And yes, that’s all the good stuff. But by doing so, you are pouring off about 80% of the caffeine. It’s sad, but being all headachey and jittery is sad too, so I do it. Then you top off the tea leaves with fresh hot water and start the brew again. This one you drink.

Commercially decaf tea is lower in caffeine than this homebrew–just to be clear.  According to the Mayo Clinic, one cup of commercial decaf black tea can contain anywhere from 0 to 12 mg of caffeine. A regular cup of black tea ranges from 14 to 70 mg.  With this DIY process, a 70 mg cup would be reduced to 14 mg. A cup of regular green tea ranges from 25 to 45 mg, and can be decaffeinated by this method as well.

010 Erica Strauss of Northwest Edible Life

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In episode 10 of the Root Simple Podcast, Kelly and I have a conversation with Erica Strauss, professional chef turned gardener and self described urban homesteading fanatic. Her voluminous and amazing blog Northwest Edible Life offers practical advice on a wide variety of topics: food preservation, gardening, keeping livestock in urban spaces, kitchen tips and home economic hacks. Some of the many topics we touch on in the interview include:

You can also find Erica on Facebook.

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to [email protected]. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho. A downloadable version of this podcast is here.

008 Grind Your Own Flour With Erin Alderson

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On the eighth episode of the Root Simple Podcast we speak with Erin Alderson about milling your own flours at home. Erin is the author of The Homemade Flour Cookbook and blogs at naturallyella.com.

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In our conversation Erin mentions that she uses WonderMill Grain Mill.

We also discussed where to get unique grains.  Erin mentions a few sources in her book:

Bob’s Red Mill
Arrowhead Mills
Nuts Online
Jovial Foods (source for Einkorn)
Lundberg Family Farms

I’ll add that if you’re in the Los Angeles area you can buy flour and grain at Grist & Toll in Pasadena.

After my conversation with Erin I briefly mention my purchase of a flour mill, the KoMo Classic Mill.

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to [email protected]. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store and on Stitcher. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho. A downloadable version of this podcast is here

Grillin’ and Tempin’

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At the risk of concern trolling the Independence Day holiday here in the States, it’s worth repeating why I love tip sensitive digital thermometers (and why I have a reputation as a food safety tyrant at the Root Simple compound). Here’s some advice from the aptly named Barfblog:

Always use a meat thermometer, Powell says. With practice, people can learn to stick them in burgers without slicing the patties in half. “Pick the meat up with tongs and insert the thermometer sideways, or through the top,” Powell suggests. Beef hamburgers should reach 160 degrees to kill germs, says Benjamin Chapman, assistant professor of food safety at North Carolina State University and a food safety specialist at the North Carolina Cooperative Extension. Temperature matters far more than color when it comes to meat, Chapman says; even thoroughly browned burgers can harbor bugs. “I was not a popular person at a family cookout a few years back when I insisted we ‘temp’ the chicken as we grilled in the rain,” says Donald Schaffner, a professor and extension specialist at Rutgers University in New Jersey. “But nobody got sick.”

See the rest of the article for more summertime food safety fun.

006 The Secrets of Kimchi With Hae Jung Cho

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Our guest on the sixth episode of the Root Simple podcast is professional cook and Los Angeles County Master Food Preserver Hae Jung Cho. During the show Hae Jung walks you through the ingredients you’ll need for a basic kimchi as well as how to make it. You’ll find the recipes below.

Hae Jung showing off her special kimchi gloves.

Hae Jung showing off her special kimchi gloves.

Here are the two recipes she walks through on the podcast:

Poggi Kimchi (Whole Napa Cabbage Kimchi)

Diced Radish Kimchi (Kkakdugi)

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During the podcast, Hae Jung mentions a book that contains just about all you’d ever want to know about how to make the many different varieties of kimchi: Good Morning Kimchi

Kimchi Classes
Hae Jung will also be teaching two classes in Los Angeles in August. The first will be on Saturday, August 2, from 10 am to approximately 1 pm. Here’s the info:

Details of Kimchi Class:
The 3-hour class will be a hands-on experience where you will make two kinds of fermented kimchi – napa cabbage (poggi kimchi) and radish (kkakdugi) – and one quick pickle.  We will then share a light meal of rice, kimchi, soup and other side dishes.  You will leave the class with three containers of kimchi and pickles that you have made, printed recipes and the know-how to replicate the kimchi at home.  Class size is limited to eight people. Cost:  $75.

Koreatown Market Tour
In addition, Hae Jung is organizing a guided tour of supermarkets and specialty food shops in Koreatown on the following Saturday, August 9.  This tour is geared toward people who want to shop for and eat Korean food at home, especially helpful for those who want to shop for kimchi ingredients. Cost: $25.

To sign up for the classes email Hae Jung at: [email protected].

If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to [email protected]. The theme music is by Dr. Frankenstein. Additional music by Rho. A downloadable version of this podcast is here. You can subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store. Note that it takes a few hours for the new episode to show up in iTunes.