Re: [CH] Botulism question.

JohnT (Love2Troll@kc.rr.com)
Thu, 14 Feb 2008 08:03:58 -0600 

> Refer to the Bllue Book (the Bible of safe canning.

I rather thought that M-A would be very knowledgeable about food
preservation.  (and of course she is!)

There is a newer Ball canning book out
http://www.fototime.com/inv/2F6C83D2F8FD752 that is completely up to date &
I highly recommend the Ellie Topp book that was revised in 2007.

JimC is the person that got me really looking into food safety when he
refused to try any of my cheese sauce because I put up in plastic squeeze
bottles.  (this was at O.F. 2004)

Peppers I find rather puzzling.  They aren't high acid so if you want to can
just peppers you have to pressure process (which kills heat and taste IMO)
rather than the boiling water bath method that I prefer.  What puzzles me is
that I suspect that capsaicin is somewhat anti-bacterial.  When I ferment
very hot peppers I have to add other ingredients (fruits etc) to get the
ferment started in a timely manner.  By timely I mean good activity within 3
days and a pH of 3.8 or lower within 7-8 days.  I want it fast because I
don't want to add a lot of salt for safety.  I inoculate my ferments with
lactic acid bacteria (kefir whey) or sourdough hooch.  The only other
anti-bacterial veggie I've run into is garlic.  Pure garlic and water mash
shows no activity even after 30 days @ 80°.

Didn't intend to write a book here.  LOL  I get carried away.  Just wanted
to comment about the canning books.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: Mary-Anne Durkee
To: Cameron Begg
Cc: JohnT ; chile-heads@globalgarden.com
Sent: Wednesday, February 13, 2008 6:26 PM
Subject: Re: [CH] Botulism question.


I have had a wonderful Kuhn-Ricon pressure cooker (made in Switzerland) for
over 20 years.  We love it!!!  Now the pressure cooker is awesome but the
method is faulty.  The filled jar must be pressure canned to be safe, or
frozen.  All stocks, meats, low acid products must be pressure canned to
prevent bacteria etc from forming and yes it can make you mighty sick.

I almost died of Botulism in Spain when I was 18, and trust me you do NOT
want that experience EVER.  Be safe and freeze the stocks if you don't have
a pressure canner.  I don't have one so I freeze my stocks.

I use water bath method for canning pickles and tomatoes as these are high
acid foods. Pickles of course ave salt and vinegar which preserves them when
watet bath canned-can't use a pressure canner on pickles. I still do add
lemon juice even to Heirloom tomato sauces.

Refer to the Bllue Book (the Bible of safe canning.

Mary-Anne


On Feb 11, 2008 7:18 AM, Cameron Begg
<PheasantPlucker@pop-server.columbus.rr.com> wrote:

Hi C-H's and John T,

Here is a question which is a bit off topic but to do with food
storage in general. It could apply to peppers.

For Christmas I received a super cool Kuhn Rikon pressure cooker set:
http://www.kuhnrikon.com/products/pressure_cookers/pressure.php3?id=11
and the results are fantastic, the main reason being that these
cookers do not continuously vent steam when up to pressure. Instead
you adjust the heat to keep an indicator on a red line and the
contents are cooked while sealed at pressure. You can barely even
smell what's cooking.

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.)
--
---
                     Regards,               Cameron.




-- 
Mary-Anne



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