In our last fun filled episode, Sat, 01 Nov 2003 17:59:48 -0500,
"Bill" proclaimed:

Len / Pam ... this is NOYDB posting under a new name because the old
address got harvested and slammed with spam (300-500 / day!)

I think everyone who posts to Usenet has been slammed hard
recently. If they're not trying to sell me Viagra for my newly
enlarged penis, they're telling me my breastisses are to small
and men (assumedly clutching their own Viagra for their own
recently enlarged peni) won't like me. Of course, the real pain
has been the Microsoft Patch worm that keeps filling up
my mailbox (yes, I know it's a worm, no, I don't open it)



Pat ... the oil idea sounds intriguing. I don't have an autoclave, but
could you tell me your time and pressure settings?

I use the liquid cycle on the autoclave, 250 F for 15 minutes.
The exact pressure is harder to come by, I couldn't get it to
spit out its settings. It has to be between 15 and 20 pounds
pressure, though. That's the range of the autoclave.


Perhaps I could fudge
it with a pressure canner (perhaps not ... it would depend on whether the
the numbers you give are within the range of the canner.) I have held off
making oils because my wife and I wouldn't use them much and because of
the botulism concerns. If I can be reasonably certain that I have overcome
that hurdle, I might be inclined to make up some 'half-hab pints'.

When I did a lot of research on botulism, one thing came through,
the spores came from contact with the soil. So, I also carefully
wash my peppers in mild soap and water before processing them.
I also filter out all the peppers *before* autoclaving. I don't
want to take any chances.


Bill / aka NOYDB

PS ... It's Nov. 1 and I still haven't had a frost of any sort in my
garden. What a goofy year! Because snow was forecast last Tuesday, I
pulled my green tomatoes and vines ... then we had a week that included
two 70+ deg. days / 60deg nights. It won't last ... but I wouldn't mind if
it did!

Last night at midnight, it was 70 degrees outside. In November!
The house was so hot I was considering turning on the AC, but
it was just...just wrong to run the AC in November. I'm still
picking peppers a plenty, far more then I can use for myself.
One of the Brandywine tomatoes is trying to make a comeback, but
I doubt it has time to produce anything. We usually have a hard
freeze close to Thanksgiving, so it will be interesting to see if
I'm still picking peppers in December. I did fertilize them this
week. (Yes, yes, it's an organic fertilizer)


Pam
--
"Maybe you'd like to ask the Wizard for a heart."
"ElissaAnn"