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Old 30-08-2003, 04:04 AM
Pam Rudd
 
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Default My suggestions for storing tomatoes

When last we left our heros, on Fri, 29 Aug 2003 08:38:16 -0400,
Pat Meadows scribbled:

On Fri, 29 Aug 2003 20:38:16 +1200, Kelvyn
wrote:

In article, says...

I did the same (in oven)..roma are best for this treatment and i quarter
them so they dry better/faster...then i tightly packed them in glass jars,
added a lot of chopped basil and covered with olive oil....it worked ok.
kelvyn.


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Please note: I feel obliged to post this -


Pay attention to the nice lady. She's absolutely correct.

I shared a table with a very nice man from the CDC at a
conference a few years back, and he told me about the
sharp rise in cases of botulism since making flavored oils
has become popular with home gardeners.

I cheat when I can my flavored oils, I use the autoclave
in the lab where I work. I wouldn't risk it, otherwise.


left in because it should be read again, nothing new past this
point but my .sig

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How do I can oil with herbs? Can I can pesto?
Herbs and oils are both low-acid and together could support
the growth of the disease-causing Clostridium botulinum
bacteria. Oils may be flavored with herbs if they are made
up for fresh use, stored in the refrigerator and used within
2 to 3 days. There are no canning recommendations. Fresh
herbs must be washed well and dried completely before
storing in the oil. The very best sanitation and personal
hygiene practices must be used. Pesto is an uncooked
seasoning mixture of herbs, usually including fresh basil,
and some oil. It may be frozen for long term storage; there
are no home canning recommendations.

From: The National Center for Home Food Preservation,
http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/questions/FAQ_canning.html#31

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I know that the tomatoes are high-acid, but the basil is
not.

I would definitely question the safety of 'preserving' even
tomatoes in oil: modern varieties of tomatoes are not
necessarily high-acid enough to even can safely using the
water-bath method of canning, and the addition of some acid
(lemon juice) or use of a pressure canner for tomatoes is
now recommended by the USDA.

Reliable sources of information on canning include the
following:

http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/index.html - The National Center
for Home Food Preservation, recently established by the US
Department of Agriculture at the University of Georgia.
These folks are pulling together information from a variety
of sources, and have become a very, very useful resource for
home food preservers.

http://extension.usu.edu/publica/foodpubs.htm - Utah State
University extension publications

http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/publication...ions_usda.html
- a copy of the USDA 'Complete Guide to Home Canning'

http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/publication...n_guide_03.pdf
- Guide 3, Selecting, Preparing, and Canning Tomatoes and
Tomato Products







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