Nice job Tom and yes you do only grind it in the house ONCE!

Sounds like you have some experience - are you a horseradish aficionado?

I like very small amounts but hubby and sons love it so I grind it. I like it as horseradish jelly, the sweetness cuts the bit to a level I can handle.

I have never tried horseradish jelly or jam. I researched it and it sounds interesting enough to try making some. I am going to go dig up my last remaining roots this weekend to make a small batch.

A couple of days ago I dug up some roots from my backup bed for dehydrating. The pieces are drying down and are almost ready for grinding into horseradish powder. Good stuff. It loses most of the heat but has a very good horseradish flavor.

Good luck with the jelly or jam. Technically speaking I make jam as I don't strain the horseradish out. I've never tried dehydrating it. How do you prep it for drying, slicing, grating, grinding?? Do you put the dehydrator out in the garage or can you do it in the house without to much problem?

Well, I did not have enough horseradish remaining in the ground to do both jam and dehydrating projects so I went with the dehydrating. The jam will definitely be on my list for next year as I am still very curious, plus other people that I have mentioned this idea to think it sounds yummy. Kind of odd that it never occurred to me considering that I make hot pepper jellies and jams - it is not much of a stretch from those products.

Dehydrating Horseradish: I do all the prep stuff in the photos up to having peeled roots in clean water. I then slice the roots into 1/8" thick rounds. Small diameter roots I cut into 2" lengths and split down the middle. I place those rounds and pieces on the racks and dry them down. There is not much water in the horseradish roots so it only takes a day or two to completely dry them. When the pieces break versus bend then I break them into smaller pieces and grind them in a coffee mill into powder. I run the powder through a sifting screen and regrind the larger particles. Repeat until done. Place powder in jars or sealed container as soon as possible to retain flavor and to avoid the powder absorbing moisture from the air. It will tend to clump a bit during storage - I do not add any anti-clumping agents. I am not really against them, it just does not matter that much to me and I never remember to order the stuff before I need it anyway. Rapping the spice jar once or twice on the counter usually breaks any clumps up enough for using. I have never had to, but one could certainly just run the clumps through the coffee mill again in the future if it became a big problem.

I still cut the pieces outside but I dry them in the dehydrator in the house. The house will smell like horseradish the first day but it is not overly strong and is not noxious. About the time I am getting a bit tired of the smell it goes away.

That sound interesting, if I can find time to work it in while the weather cooperates I may try some. I know what you mean about the clumping, that happens with onion powder and garlic powder. It really doesn't bother me.
I just made a horseradish beer mustard this weekend as well, will have to fix some brats or beef sometime this week to try it out. I love the horseradish jelly/jam on burgers, ham sandwiches etc. or even on crackers with cream cheese. If you'd like a recipe for any of these, let me know.

Horseradish beer mustard sounds yummy. I am always interested in getting people's favorite recipes. Many recipes obviously accessible on the web, but if you are so inclined to share your recipes then either post here for all to see or send privately to me via email. Either way I would appreciate it.

I found out today that a neighbor has an unused horseradish bed. I am going to go check it out and hopefully dig it up tomorrow. Wish I could process some and send your way, but I don't know how to safely do that.

I am down to a pint of horseradish. Gave the rest away, and was very happy to do it. Hopefully I will be able to process some more tomorrow. Next year I guess I won't be giving away so much of my rootstock.

-Tom

Horseradish Beer Mustard
1/2 cup dry mustard
1/2 cup dark beer
1/2 cup fresh ground horseradish
1 Tablespoon brown mustard seed
3/4 tsp. white vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Whisk together in bowl, cover and refrigerate overnight to allow flavors to blend. Keep chilled yield: 3 4 oz. jars
This can be heat processed 10 minutes if you want according to the recipe. I did not. T
Tried it tonight, hubby said it it reminded him of wasabi

Horseradish Jelly
2 cups white wine vinegar (I've also used plain white vinegar)
3/4 cup ground horseradish
2 cups of water
6 cups of sugar
6 oz. (2 pouches) Liquid pectin
Heat the vinegar in a nonreactive pan and pour it into a clean 1 qt. jar. Add the horseradish, cover the jar, and let it stand 24 hours at room temp.
Strain into a 2qt. saucepan. Add water and sugar, heat on low stirring to dissolve sugar, then increase heat and bring to full boil. Stir in liquid pectin, bring to full rolling boil, boil 1 minute stirring constantly. Ladle into clean 1/2 pint jars. Place lids and rings, process in boiling water bath 10 minutes
Yield: approx 7 half pint jars

I don't always bother to strain the horseradish out of the mix but that usually results in a softer set and it can take 2 -3 weeks to set up. Also if I leave the horseradish in the mix, I wait 5 minutes or so, stirring occasionally before jarring the jam.

"1/2 cup dark beer" What did you use or what specifically would be recommended - porter, ale, lager? All would impart their own unique flavor, wondering if one would be better or worse than the others?

Thanks for the recipes. Can't wait to give them a try. :)

I used a black IPA, because hubby had some here but I would guess whatever you like to drink would be the one to choose. The recipe didn't give a specific style as being preferred. Good luck.

How big do you let the roots get before harvesting? How many years does it take to get there? I dug up what I thought was mature roots, but there were awfully skinny :(
Fortunately, it has spread so I will let the new plants go a bit longer.

katkni - I harvest every year from crowns and root pieces that were replanted after the previous year's harvest. After one growing season the roots end up ranging from one quarter up to one inch diameter. The smallest roots I use are around one half inch diameter. I don't mind those small diameter roots because they clean, peel, chop, and grind very easily. The roots smaller than half inch diameter I chop into two inch lengths and replant.

Most websites recommend using larger roots that are three or so years old but I find them to be woody, gnarly, and hard to clean, peel, chop, and grind. They do have great flavor though. I think the best are two year old roots but a person would then need two beds to be able to harvest every year.

Questions for you:

You stated "skinny", meaning what diameter?
How many years old is your bed?
Planted in good soil?
No weeds or grass competing?
Full sun location?

Leaf size: The leaves on my horseradish plants easily reach up to three feet tall. If your plants have short stubby leaves then they are either young plants or something is wrong in the bed.

I find horseradish plants to be hassle-free as long as I control the spreading. They absolutely do not like competing with grasses, though. Grasses will choke out the plants. Also, it has been my observation that horseradish thrives when it is disturbed by digging.

-Tom

I have a large enough bed that I harvest half each year and to be truthful I don't worry too much about replanting because I never get all of the roots from the half I'm digging anyway.