Unpasteurized apple cider
paulns
7 years ago
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Barrie, (Central PA, zone 6a)
7 years agoRelated Discussions
If you can't beat em....just eat 'em
Comments (9)A lot of the fear of this is just cultural. I'm sure our ancestors prior to the discovery of the first pesticides, arsenic compounds in the 19th century, ate a LOT of wormy fruit, either directly or indirectly in processed form, and didn't give it much second thought. And, I'm sure that in many poor countries around the world, it's still the norm, not the exception, to have to eat things untreated with pesticides. Most of those people no doubt also just "eat around" the parts that are too damaged to be edible. They probably turn the bad stuff into food indirectly by feeding it to chickens, pigs, goats, or whatever which then provides a human food source. And, of course, there are many cultures around the world that directly eat and enjoy insects. Aborigines in Australia ate many, many kinds of insects. In Thailand, giant water bugs, dipped in batter and deep fried, are a gourmet delicacy and are becoming very expensive, the supply being limited due to overharvesting, pesticide runoff, etc. I also recently saw an episode of Rick Bayliss' PBS series 'Mexico One Plate at a Time' where he was in a very exclusive restaurant in Mexico city that was serving fried grasshoppers. Really, any time you eat most commercially processed foods of plant origin, such as breads, juices, etc., you are getting trace amounts of insect proteins. The federal government sets allowable levels of insect matter in all kinds of foodstuffs. "Zero" just isn't realistically attainable in a cost-effective way. Here is a link to an FDA publication which shows the allowable level of contamination of various types of things in certain foods. Some of it may be higher than many people know -- for example, 4% of cocoa beans can be infested and still be sold in the US food trade. Canned tomatoes can have no more than 2 fruit fly larvae per 500 gram (slightly larger than a pound) can. Ground nutmeg can have no more than 100 insect fragments per 10 grams. Here is a link that might be useful: FDA guide to allowable contamination levels in food....See MoreCanning storebought cider (unfiltered apple juice)
Comments (14)I figured if it said get it within 24 hours of pressing they meant unpasteurized - so you don't want the bacteria to grow (or as you said start fermenting. BTW, I mixed up the Ball Complete (which makes your own juice) instructions with NCHFP, Ball says to keep it at 190 for 5 minutes, NCHFP doesn't. But do you have to start with unpasteurized juice to make a quality canned product? Yes, this is pasteurized juice from PA, potassium sorbate, sodium benzoate, and malic acid added. Process quarts 5m in pre-sterilized jars for best flavor? Will it still taste like cider? Or will 1 more processing added to what's already been done/added to it result in "muh" taste? I could pour some off each jug and just leave them in the garage to freeze, take into house as needed, but I don't know when we're going to get a thaw (about time, we're about 20 degrees below normal)!...See MoreA few questions for a young, up and coming canner!
Comments (23)OK, having said not to be paranoid about bacteria, I have to add a caution. I know a little bit about apple trees, having lived with one outside my house for a few years (they were Cortlands) and also at one time in my life I was in charge of a fall festival at a nature center and we had a cider press and made cider. Plus I grew up in Michigan's apple country. I routinely made applesauce out of organic apple "drops" and it was no easy task because the apples were just full of brown spots and discolorations inside and out. Now these were old apple trees that got no husbandry whatsoever. But yes, good sauce in the end. But I actually washed, peeled, cored and cut them up individually, so I had a lot of control over the apple bits that got into the sauce. But as I mentioned, I'm more of a "boutique" canner than a "git 'er done" canner. I also got to go to an orchard that donated apples for our cider pressing demo, and we were allowed to pick up the drops. We did not give out many samples of the cider though, we bought cider for samples. There is a problem with dropped apples, and that is due to contact with the ground there is a risk that they will be contaminated with E. coli. (Short for Escherichia coli, the species name). Not necessarily the deadly super-bug strain of E. coli found in meat, but the kind that can make you real sick like from contaminated water. There have been cases of people getting sick from unpasteurized apple cider, there was a case in my hometown from a local orchard. The problem with the drops is that on the ground they can come into contact with animal feces, and if you have deer and raccoons and other animals foraging on those apples, you can bet that is possible. Now here's the part where others may want to chime in, because I know that acid and sugar in applesauce takes care of botulism, but I don't know about E. coli. I know that boiling for a certain time will kill the bacteria, I just don't know how the thickness variable plays out in applesauce as far as the boiling, because thickness will affect heat penetration. Since there are no specific cautions that I have found on these Cooperative Extension Web sites about applesauce and dropped apples, I would hazard a guess it is OK. It's not like you get some kind of guarantee that the apples you buy commercially have never touched the ground! I just know drops are not preferred for selling commercially, either as raw apples or for making cider. However, the longer the apples sit on the ground the more likely they are to get some kind of contamination. Maybe a good boiling will take care of that. I would call my Cooperative Extension Agency just to make sure, or maybe someone else can chime in here who has used drops. I peel and cut my apples because I can't afford organic ones and I know too much about what is on the peels to want it coming in contact much with my applesauce. Like I said, the method you are planning on using is fine, I just like chunkier, more "boutique" style applesauce since I give it away as gifts. I have not heard of any cases of E. coli contamination in applesauce, so maybe I am just being overly fussy. I would use them myself, but just not with the method you suggest. But maybe others here have done so with no problems. Whatever the risk I think it is low, and it may be non-existent, so I would like to hear what others have to say....See Morecontrol roaches with cats around
Comments (15)you know I don't normally respond to posts to which I disagree but this time I have to say something. Several somethings. 1. Cats, while they may be perfectly wonderful rodent reducers (however, there's no guarantee of that--not all cats are naturally successful hunters), do not normally choose bugs as their prey item. If this is your method of pest control, you will shortly be up to your eyeballs in bugs. 2. You certainly do not need to stop feeding your cat to get it to hunt. Cats will hunt and kill prey even when they are fully fed. Do a little research on how many song birds are killed by domestic (and I don't mean feral) cats. 3. Bugs are not recommended cat food. Cats can contract any number of illnesses and parasites from bugs, not to mention those nasty rough bug legs can get caught in their throats. And although I can't personally attest to it, I suspect that a diet of bugs would not provide the correct nutrition. 4. Outdoor cats are exposed to dogs, coyotes, bobcats, raccoons, diseases from unvaccinated animals, poisons, cars, injuries from other cats, parasites--the list is endless. In short, the average life of an outdoor cat is about 1/2 that of one kept indoors....See MoreUser
7 years agoBarrie, (Central PA, zone 6a)
7 years agopaulns
7 years agoBarrie, (Central PA, zone 6a)
7 years ago
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