Good to know. Thanks for sharing it with us.

Unfortunately, as mentioned, it applies to only this recipe.

Oh, did you tell her that you used 2x as much as called for in the recipe?

Dave

Anyone who knows anything about cooking knows that dried herbs are much stronger and concentrated than fresh ones. Personally I would rather use herbs I grew myself and I am not going to fire up my dehydrator and dry some oregano, then add it to sauce just to be rehydrated as it cooks.
I think I will find a friendlier forum to visit in the future. I resent the implication that my canned food is unsafe. I always follow the latest info from the extension office and have taught that to my daughter and daughter-in-law also.

The info from NCHFP was very interesting.

Rosemary, I'm sorry you felt as if you were being singled out. The responses were not intended as rude, especially from those specific people who replied to that post. They were merely pointing out that altering approved recipes changes the equation, which is also what Dave was referring to when he asked if the NCHFP reply also knew of your decision to double. I'm sure if you called and asked your extension office would tell you the same. Substitutions, additions, or assumptions based on a different recipe have the POSSIBILITY of having dire consequences, not an automatic death sentence. It's all dependent on what level of risk you're willing to assume. I'm sure the recipes are tested to be much safer than the absolute minimum, so as to not cause issues with inadvertent oopsies. People on this forum were right to correct a tip that could mislead other people in the future on something that might be a much bigger safety issue--who knows who might read that thread in two years. They do it to educate and help, not to put people down. Personally, I have learned so much from being a part of this forum and am grateful.

Aside from safety issues, another reason to not increase herb/spice quantities is that they change flavor over time in the jar. Many herbs are really best with just a short (or no--basil) cook time, and longer just brings out bitter notes. I just opened a two-week old jar of apple butter that was amazing at canning time, but just that period has changed its flavor, causing the spice to become nearly overpowering.

I'd like to point out that the reason for the dried vs the fresh is a safety issue because dried herbs have the water removed. I hope someone with a cooking science background will explain that...I've read it here before.

I always use recipes only from the recommended books because I know they have been thoroughly tested for safety. I recall asking questions before about why one recipe (tested) specifies one ingredient and another recipe (tested) may appear to go against guidelines. The replies I got here have helped me a lot to understand that because the recipes have been tested for those ingredients, proportions, time, etc., they are safe, even though different than another recipe. A couple of examples include the spaghetti sauce recipe that calls for some oil and marinated peppers with oil.

This is a friendly forum, but the most important thing to remember is that safety comes first. I'm glad the members here point out safety issues, even if it means you don't always get the answer you want to hear.

Stick around and get to know us.

Jill

Rose this is no personal attack. Sorry we aren't explaining it well enough. Try this.

Dried herbs are very acidic pH.

Fresh herbs are very alkaline (because of the water they contain).

Doubling the amount used to get the flavor equals a double whammy of alkaline ingredients added.

Now if it is a recipe where only a small amount of herbs are used it probably won't make much difference. But if it is one of the recipes that calls for large amounts of herbs (basil, oregano, parsley, cilantro, etc. then you can see how it could make a whompin big difference the safety of the end mixture.

Dave