[CH] Can you spell botulism?
Marc Norman (Marc.Norman@utas.edu.au)
Thu, 1 Jul 1999 17:20:44 +1000
In anticipation of bumper crops up north and repeated warnings about
botulism during canning and pickling, does anyone know about the effects of
microwaves on these little beatsies. Lore I've heard has it that microwaves
are especially effective at eliminating microbes, and that only a minute or
less in the nuke is at good or better than several minutes of thermal
boiling due to direct disruption of the bugs by the microwaves. Any truth
to this or just suburban legend? For the last several seasons I've had good
results (i.e. not dead yet) pickling jals in the microwave rather than on
the stove - is this just the watchful hand of El Grande protecting the
ignorant?
cheers and chiles
Marc