If you plant your horseradish root in the garden, put it in a buried
bottomless bucket. Horseradish is known to spread, but the bucket wall will
prevent the root from doing so.

Dave

"David J. Braunegg" > wrote in message
...
> If you plant your horseradish root in the garden, put it in a buried
> bottomless bucket. Horseradish is known to spread, but the bucket wall
> will prevent the root from doing so.
>
> Dave
>
>

oddly enough (because of this tread), I was in a store today that had a
whole bag of horseradish root. I've only ever seen it once before. It was
in the fresh produce section, but kept in a clear plastic bag. I felt it -
it was kind of rubbery and wobbly- like an old wrinkly carrot. I suspect
that it was not fresh - assuming a fresh chunk of horseradish root would be
firm like a fresh carrot.

I would have bought some, if my ground wasn't semi frozen....or if I had a
bucket of sand.....

Kathi

Will look for it again in the spring.....

Kathi Jones wrote:

> oddly enough (because of this tread), I was in a store today that had a
> whole bag of horseradish root. I've only ever seen it once before. It was
> in the fresh produce section, but kept in a clear plastic bag. I felt it -
> it was kind of rubbery and wobbly- like an old wrinkly carrot. I suspect
> that it was not fresh - assuming a fresh chunk of horseradish root would be
> firm like a fresh carrot.

You're right (on both counts).

A fresh horseradish root is quite firm. Like a woody potato, even. Not
wrinkly. Lemme see if I can find one....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horseradish for info

Found it:
http://www.all-creatures.org/recipes/i-horseradish.html

The root we got for our Seder this year was quite bulbous and rounded on
that right-hand side which caused a great deal of merriment among the
guests and remarks from the ladies.

B/

On Thu, 04 Jan 2007 18:55:28 -0800, Brian Mailman
> wrote:

>Kathi Jones wrote:
>
>> oddly enough (because of this tread), I was in a store today that had a
>> whole bag of horseradish root. I've only ever seen it once before. It was
>> in the fresh produce section, but kept in a clear plastic bag. I felt it -
>> it was kind of rubbery and wobbly- like an old wrinkly carrot. I suspect
>> that it was not fresh - assuming a fresh chunk of horseradish root would be
>> firm like a fresh carrot.
>
>You're right (on both counts).
>
>A fresh horseradish root is quite firm. Like a woody potato, even. Not
>wrinkly. Lemme see if I can find one....
>
>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horseradish for info
>
>Found it:
>http://www.all-creatures.org/recipes/i-horseradish.html
>
>The root we got for our Seder this year was quite bulbous and rounded on
>that right-hand side which caused a great deal of merriment among the
>guests and remarks from the ladies.
>
>B/

It depends on thickness. The main crown root is not wobbly but very
firm (like a woody potatoe) but the side roots (upto about 3/4 inch in
diameter) are rubbery. These would be the one's you replant
(vertically) after you harvest the crown root.

Eric

Eric wrote:
> On Thu, 04 Jan 2007 18:55:28 -0800, Brian Mailman
> > wrote:
>
>> Kathi Jones wrote:
>>
>>> oddly enough (because of this tread), I was in a store today that had a
>>> whole bag of horseradish root. I've only ever seen it once before. It was
>>> in the fresh produce section, but kept in a clear plastic bag. I felt it -
>>> it was kind of rubbery and wobbly- like an old wrinkly carrot. I suspect
>>> that it was not fresh - assuming a fresh chunk of horseradish root would be
>>> firm like a fresh carrot.
>> You're right (on both counts).
>>
>> A fresh horseradish root is quite firm. Like a woody potato, even. Not
>> wrinkly. Lemme see if I can find one....
>>
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horseradish for info
>>
>> Found it:
>> http://www.all-creatures.org/recipes/i-horseradish.html
>>
>> The root we got for our Seder this year was quite bulbous and rounded on
>> that right-hand side which caused a great deal of merriment among the
>> guests and remarks from the ladies.
>>
>> B/
>
> It depends on thickness. The main crown root is not wobbly but very
> firm (like a woody potatoe) but the side roots (upto about 3/4 inch in
> diameter) are rubbery. These would be the one's you replant
> (vertically) after you harvest the crown root.
>
> Eric
>
Eric is right. We just jarred 11+ cups of horseradish a couple of days
ago. I first got some from my brother one fall and we processed it.
Searching the web, it turns out that HR has it's oomph stored in the
root and as soon as you bust the cells, it begins to loose that
strength. Commercially, they harvest it and store it in a cool place
periodically grinding it up for sale throughout the storage period. So,
the best way to keep it strong is to save it in root form. It will do
quite nicely in a plastic bag in the crisper.

The batch I got from my brother had small finger sized pieces that
ending up hiding in the crisper until spring. I know, I know. But when I
resurrected them, they were green with powdery mold. I washed them, cut
the ends at a 45 and planted 5" x 1/2" pieces in the ground on a 45
degree angle so that one end was about 2" down and the other about 4"
underground. All came up and I harvested a batch that fall. It has a tap
root that you'll need a backhoe to dig up and some pieces are always
left in the ground. The 2 years before harvesting will guarantee the
need for the backhoe ;-)

They just used salt & vinegar and jarred it according to "The Settlement
Cookbook." However, it lost most of its flavor and pickled into
something else that was edible, but not the familiar HR.

So I took to freezing it immediately after grinding. We use about 3/8 C
of lemon juice & 1/2 tsp Kosher salt to a packed cup of ground root. We
had to grind it in the kitchen and ended up opening the doors, windows
and setting up things in a downwind line from the fan blowing fresh air
into our tear-streaming faces. We had frozen it in 1/2 C jars, but when
we use it, that isn't nearly enough. So we're back to cups. This will
retain a fairly nice HR flavor and even after a several months sniffing
a fresh jar will make your hair crawl. But it looses the heat as
mentioned before.

The use of damp sand prevents evaporation and so does a plastic bag when
in the crisper. I'll have to try saving some fresh root in sand to see
if the flavor holds. But fresh HR also has a nice natural sweetness that
is the first thing to leave.

Plant where you want it because it's going take over it's spot. I like
the 2' to almost 3' bright green leaves it puts up continuously. And so
do grasshopper, so maybe they'll leave the rest of my garden alone ;-)

--

><<XX>:> Buddy

In article >,
says...

--- various good info snipped ---

> The use of damp sand prevents evaporation and so does a plastic bag when
> in the crisper. I'll have to try saving some fresh root in sand to see
> if the flavor holds. But fresh HR also has a nice natural sweetness that
> is the first thing to leave.
>
> Plant where you want it because it's going take over it's spot. I like
> the 2' to almost 3' bright green leaves it puts up continuously. And so
> do grasshopper, so maybe they'll leave the rest of my garden alone ;-)
>
Thanks for the informative core dump on HR! Useful info.

Bob