There's no better way to welcome
your guests than a hot fondue
Fondues are rich and delicious meals
without a lot of preparation involved
Great Craft Projects
Surprise your loved ones with great craft creations...
Drying with Silica Gel
There are a number of different methods of drying flowers and foliage, and one of them is method with silica gel. The use of silica gel in preserving flowers takes a little more patience, but the results are exhilarating. Some flowers are not really suitable for air drying, but you could dry them using a drying agent. The types of flowers that require silica gel for best preservation are listed below:
Ajuga, Anemones, Azaleas, Daisies, Dogwood, Freesia, Grape Hyacinths, Lily of the Valle, Marigolds, Mimosa, Orchids, Pansies, Passion flowers, Peonies, Primroses, Queen Anne's lace, Roses, Snapdragons, Stokesias, Zinnias.
Daffodils, Crocuses, Irises and Tulips are tricky because they are rather freshly and contain too much water, but you could experiment by drying them carefully. All of these flowers have fleshy stems and very delicate petals and the trick is to dehydrate the blooms rapidly enough to preserve both their vibrant, natural colors and their intricate shapes. Silica gel has been used commercially for many years.
Special Method: Drying with Preheated Silica Gel
If you want to obtain a maximum number of dry flowers in a minimum amount of time, use drying method with preheated silica gel, because flowers dry faster in preheated silica gel.
Preheat the silica gel by placing it in an oven-proof dish and heating it, uncovered, at 250°F. in a conventional oven for ten to fifteen minutes.Remove silica gel from the oven and place one inch of the warm silica gel in the bottom of an airtight container.
All other instructions are same like for the drying with regular silica gel method except by doing that you will have a maximum number of dried flowers in a minimum amount of time.
TYPES OF SILICA GEL
There are two types of silica gel:
One has a built-in color indicator, bright blue crystals of cobalt chloride which act as moisture indicators. As the silica gel begins to absorb moisture from the flowers embedded in it, the cobalt chloride crystals will indicate this by turning light blue and then pink. When the silica gel has absorbed up to 40 % of its own weight in moisture, it will no longer be effective in removing moisture from flowers. At this point, the cobalt chloride crystals will indicate this state of super saturation by turning white. The silica gel must then be reactivated before it can be successfully used again.
The other type of crystal is white.
Both types are made up of large crystals which must be ground down. The silica gel that is manufactured expressly for use in preserving flowers is a sandy-type agent, almost powdery in texture. Silica gel can be bought from most hardware stores, garden centers, chemists, hobby or craft stores. They sell silica gel under various brand names and packages (Flower-Dri, Hazel Pearson etc.), and the best is to shop around to find good brand and suitable price.
To remove the moisture from silica gel and turn the crystals back to blue, put the silica gel in an old but clean and dry shallow, oven-proof dish (such as a lasagna casserole) and putting the dish in the oven at 250°F - for half an hour or until the cobalt chloride crystals return to their original bright blue color. At this point, the silica gel is ready to be used again or to be stored in airtight containers for cooling until needed. As silica gel will absorb moisture from the air as well as from flowers buried in it, it is best to keep it covered at all times.
To learn more about drying with silica gel visit our page Drying with Silica Gel Method
Warning! Silica gel is not toxic, but remember never use silica gel containers or dishes for preparing food after you use them for drying flowers or for drying silica gel, because they often absorbs pesticides from plants as they dry.
Other Common Methods to Preserve Plants:
Drying Flowers in the Microwave Oven
Drying Flowers with Desiccants
Delicious Fondues
Swiss communal fondue arose many centuries ago as a result of food preservation methods. The Swiss food staples bread and raclette-like cheese made in summer and fall were meant to last throughout the winter months. The bread aged, dried out and became so tough it was sometimes chopped with an axe. The stored cheese also became very hard, but when mixed with wine and heated it softened into a thick sauce. During Switzerland's long, cold winters some families and extended groups would gather about a large pot of cheese set over the fire and dip wood-hard bits of bread which quickly became edible. >>>Find Out More...
RomWell Cookbook
Discover various delicious and useful recipes...Did You Know?
Civilization in its onward march has produced only three important non-alcoholic beverages—the extract of the tea plant, the extract of the cocoa bean, and the extract of the coffee bean.
Leaves and beans—these are the vegetable sources of the world's favorite non-alcoholic table-beverages. Of the two, the tea leaves lead in total amount consumed; the coffee beans are second; and the cocoa beans are a distant third, although advancing steadily. But in international commerce the coffee beans occupy a far more important position than either of the others, being imported into non-producing countries to twice the extent of the tea leaves. All three enjoy a world-wide consumption, although not to the same extent in every nation; but where either the coffee bean or the tea leaf has established itself in a given country, the other gets comparatively little attention, and usually has great difficulty in making any advance. The cocoa bean, on the other hand, has not risen to the position of popular favorite in any important consuming country, and so has not aroused the serious opposition of its two rivals.