The Preserver's Year

kinkyjinks

I'm not sure if this belongs here or on the foraging thread but here goes....I was really excited yesterday when I got a phone call off my MIL who had been out and found me loads of plums. She brought them round for me today and none of them are ripe Will I still be able to make them into jam and wine? I'm guessing the sugar content will be different because they're not ripe.

gailey_2

Can i preseve things in just olive oil.

facncy trying to do roasted chillis and peppers as they so handy in recipies and would make stunning xmas presnt too seems fairly simple.

floyd

Before you do, read this from Food Standards Agency


Is it safe to make my own flavoured oils at home using herbs?
Lots of different types of flavoured oil are available in the shops, containing garlic, peppercorns, chilli and various herbs including rosemary, oregano and bay leaves, and these often have a long shelf life. But it's not a good idea to make flavoured oils at home unless you are going to use them immediately.

This is because plants, including herbs and spices, can carry spores produced by bacteria. Occasionally, they could carry spores of a type of bacteria called Clostridium botulinum, which can cause botulism. This is a very unpleasant disease, which is rare in the UK, but can be fatal.

Clostridium botulinum multiplies in places without any oxygen, so if there are spores on plants such as herbs and garlic, putting them in oil can create the right conditions for the bacteria to multiply, particularly if the herbs are fresh or wet.

Companies that produce flavoured oils and foods preserved in oil are expected to take Clostridium botulinum into account and formulate their products to make sure that this type of bacteria doesn't multiply.

Even though recipes for flavoured oils can be found in cookery books, magazines and websites, these might not have considered the risk of botulism. So if you would like to make your own flavoured oil, the safest option is to make a small quantity and use it on the day you have made it. If you have some oil left over, put it in the fridge straight away and use it within a week. Some oils can go cloudy or become solid in the fridge, but if this happens don't be tempted to leave it at room temperature, because this might not be safe.

Original text here http://www.eatwell.gov.uk/asksam/keepingfoodsafe/asksamstoringpreparing/#A279852

Larumbelle

Gailey, what a coincidence, I was also considering preserving chillis and peppers in this way.

I have written to Bloomsbury who published my book to ask their advice:

Hello, I hope you can help me.

I own River Cottage Handbook No. 2 - Preserves, written by Pam Corbin / Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall and published by yourselves.

I notice that several of the recipes involve the preservation of non-acidic vegetables in oil without warning of the dangers of botulism. In particular on p200-201 a recipe for flavoured oils that directly contravenes Food Standards Agency advice against the production of such oils in a home environment. (This was also the advice presented by the FSA at the time of your book's publication).

I wonder if yourselves or the author could comment on whether the recipes for food preserved in oil that are featured within the book are safe in the context of risks presented by the Clostridium Botulinum toxin.

Many thanks

Silver Charming

Hopefully if they did consider the risk of botulism they will explain why their recipes are safe.

gailey_2

Many thanks floyd/silvercharming never realised that risky.

Wasent intending to do flavoured oils asa such wanted to know if oil preserved it as love roasted peppers and chillis.

Might get rivercottage presereves book as sounds good.

im sure rc xmas episode they did one i could be wrong.

flaire

Hello,

This might be a daft question - but where do I buy muslin? Boots sell squares of it, but it is marketed was a 'baby burping' thing. Any ideas?

Many thanks.

gailey_2

flaire wrote: »

Hello,

This might be a daft question - but where do I buy muslin? Boots sell squares of it, but it is marketed was a 'baby burping' thing. Any ideas?

Many thanks.

its same thing I have tonnes as got kids, ikea were selling some cheap.

Used mine when brewing elderflower wine.

Gigervamp

The muslin squares that I use, I bought in Mothercare.

Larumbelle

I buy muslin by the metre from Ebay then cut and hem it to the size I want. I doesn't take long to do and works out soooo much cheaper.

I think the prices in Boots etc are daylight robbery. My nanna, if she thought something in the supermarket was too dear, used to say
"Don't pay it darling, you'll only encourage them!"

Savannah02K

I bought my muslin from John Lewis, got half a metre for less than the Boots/Mothercare type squares. As a newbie to preserving I also find it easier to have a bigger piece of muslin to put stuff in and tie the ends round the handle of my preserving pan, those little squares are too fiddly for me.