Preserving - You need to know this!

Look at this pile of capsicums.  The key to growing capsicums successfully must be water and fertile soil.  Mid December I planted two capsicum seedlings and because our wet summer I now have a glut.  I needed to find out how to preserve capsicums.

I had a look at books on preserving and also on the internet.  I found wonderful recipes of capsicum, sometimes grilled, with herbs and spices in oil.  The pictures looked good.  The writers promised this would taste good.  Great!

But then, as I kept looking, a message began to come out loud and clear.  One forum even said it in no uncertain words.

Oil does not preserve food.  Books and web sites that do not point this out are omitting a really important fact.  Why?  Because preserving in oil could lead to the development of bacteria, for instance C. Botulinum, which could kill you.

In order to preserve food the pH (acidity) of the food needs to be 4.6 or below.  Commercial producers of foods in oil (such as sundried tomatoes) are by law required to rigorously test the pH of their products.

Foods that are low in acid (all vegetables) need to be preserved in vinegar. It is also good to add lemon juice.  Lemon juice you buy in bottles is preferable as the acidity of fresh lemons varies depending on type and state of ripeness.

Phheww.  I had to share this with you.  Of course I was the only person in the world who did not know this.  Well, no.  I found quite a few instances on forums where people wanted to know what they had done wrong when their great looking bottles of capsicums in oil turned out to be fermented when they opened them.  Well, whatever you do, do not eat them or the oil they were preserved in.  You could die.

The Food and Agriculture department of the CSIRO put together a very readable factsheet on ‘Preservation of vegetables in oil and vinegar’.  You can find it at http://www.csiro.au/Outcomes/Food-and-Agriculture/preservation-in-oil-vinegar.aspx

For my capsicums I might use a recipe with vinegar and lemon juice.   

Bon appetit !

Microwave Bottling

The summer harvest is in full swing at my place and my kitchen has been a fruit processing centre for some weeks.

One of the new things I have tried is microwave bottling rather than the usual Fowlers Vacola water bath bottling.

With some trepidation I followed the instructions in the microwave bottling book. I used a tiny amount of liquid and sliced the fruit into sterilised Fowlers bottles, added new rubber rings and clipped on the metal lids and zapped them for the time prescribed according to the power of my microwave.

I fled the scene on the first attempt but nothing untoward occurred and the result was cooked fruit in a vacuum seal so all looks well for long keeping.

I recommend the process.  Isabel Webb wrote 5 Minute Microwave Bottling and More Microwave Bottling (both published by The Five Mile Press).  They provide full directions.

The local library has several books by this author on the topic. I have now successfully bottled tomatoes, peaches and nectarines. Quinces are next.

The advantages are you can do a bottle or two at a time.  It is fast and healthy, no added sugar required, just fruit.

Happy bottling!