Re: [CH] Botulism question.
Doug Irvine (dougandmarie@shaw.ca)
Mon, 11 Feb 2008 09:05:27 -0800
Cameron Begg wrote:
> Hi C-H's and John T,
> The question is this. I have been making beef, chicken pork and all
> sorts of other stocks by pressure cooking leftovers, scraps and bones
> for periods of time from half an hour up. So at the end of making the
> stock, it is sterile. I then strain the stock into quart preserving jars
> in which I have just previously boiled water in the microwave oven to
> make them good and hot. Refrigerated when cool. So we have a sterile
> liquid with a pH around neutral going into a non-sterilized but pretty
> clean jar and sealed at close to 100C. Only a limited amount of air
> trapped so basically anaerobic conditions. What's your opinion of the
> dangers of long term storage in the fridge? (By which I mean a month or
> two.)
Hi Cameron...a belated lang may yer lum reek! :-))
I would suggest a week in the fridge, or months, up to six or so, in the
freezer. I have been making stock forever, not with all of those
precautions, and in 50 years have never made any of us ill. What you
will find, rather, is a loss of flavour, certainly that after sitting in
the fridge that long, more or less sealed, or not. In the freezer,
however, we have stocks that have the same taste as when they were first
frozen, 5 or 6 months later. I have even removed a jar of chicken stock,
removed some, and re-frozen the rest, with no appreciable difference.
Dunno if the same result could be had from the fridge!
Have fun with your new toy! I bought a used VitaMix from the Sally Ann
thrift shop, and have been grinding our own wheat berries, and rye for
flour, which Marie has been turning into great bread!
Cheers, old Doug on Vancouver Island