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What Are You Preserving, and How Are You Doing It? (2016–)


Anna N

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@Smithy  I rely on various state's extension services for information on food safety. I looked at several before i made this recipe the first time and all said the same thing:

 

"When raw or cooked vegetables or raw herbs are stored in oil, Clostridium botulinum bacteria can grow. These mixtures must be refrigerated to slow bacterial growth. A national research study (which included Oregon households) has shown, however, that home refrigerators are often not cold enough to safely store hazardous food such as vegetables and herbs in oil for long periods.

Because harmful bacteria can grow faster at higher refrigerator temperatures, the length of refrigerated storage must be limited for safety. According to conclusions drawn in an analysis of handling procedures (Nummer et al., 2011), vegetables and herbs in oil mixtures should not be refrigerated longer than 4 days before using, discarding, or freezing. "

 

http://extension.oregonstate.edu/fch/sites/default/files/documents/sp_50_701_herbsandvegetablesinoil.pdf

 

They agree that the risk factor is the oil. One olive oil industry site recommends pressure canning - I've never seen that anywhere else and canning with oil, except as a floating top layer, is usually discouraged. Since the eggplant is drained after being cooked in the vinegar the acidification is minimized somewhat. 

 

Many people feel that some of the federal food safety guidelines are overly strict. And I am sure that many, many people can keep foods like this in the refrigerators for weeks and eat them without harm. But there is a real risk. 

Here is another discussion of this: Many of the contributors to the GardenWeb Harvest site are certified Master Preservers - i rely on their advice often. They are definitely on the side of caution. A statistic they quoted (however, without citing a source so take it as you will) was that over a 5 year period 65% of cases of botulism poisoning in Italy were caused by home canned vegetables in oil. 

 

http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/1932545/marinated-eggplantis-it-safe?n=7

 

My conclusion is that most of the time you are probably safe keeping the eggplant in the refrigerator a couple of weeks - but there is always a chance -probably small but real - that it won't be safe.

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If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need. Cicero

But the library must contain cookbooks. Elaina

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Thank you, @ElainaA.

 

Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
HosteG Forumsnsmith@egstaff.org

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"Every day should be filled with something delicious, because life is too short not to spoil yourself. " -- Ling (with permission)
"There comes a time in every project when you have to shoot the engineer and start production." -- author unknown

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Ongoing lacto-fermentations:

Left is day 2 of a 4:1:1 mix of Portugal hot, Cherry Bomb and Habanero peppers in a 6% w/v brine with some garlic.

Right is day 14 of a 1:1:1 mash of Portugal hot, Cherry Bomb and Habanero peppers with garlic, palm sugar and coriander. I`ll more then likely finish with fresh peaches when this is further processed into a hot sauce.

 

Hot pepper ferments.JPG

 

 

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I know it's stew. What KIND of stew?

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21 minutes ago, Shelby said:

@Smithy  I've had mine (the marinated eggplant) in the fridge for at least a month and we're not dead yet.  I totally understand being cautious, though.

 

It really does depend on one's risk tolerance and the presumed health of the intended eaters' immune systems.  I've been told by thrifty people who suffered salmonella poisoning that they'll throw food away before risking that again! Given that botulism is worse than salmonella, I won't scoff at caution. 

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Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
HosteG Forumsnsmith@egstaff.org

Follow us on social media! Facebook; instagram.com/egulletx; twitter.com/egullet

"Every day should be filled with something delicious, because life is too short not to spoil yourself. " -- Ling (with permission)
"There comes a time in every project when you have to shoot the engineer and start production." -- author unknown

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Marinated eggplant, in the jar.  I just had some with my lunch sandwich.  I don't think I'll have to worry about keeping it past its expiration date; it won't last that long.  This is good stuff! Thanks for the link, @Shelby!

 

20160824_133428-600x932.jpg

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Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
HosteG Forumsnsmith@egstaff.org

Follow us on social media! Facebook; instagram.com/egulletx; twitter.com/egullet

"Every day should be filled with something delicious, because life is too short not to spoil yourself. " -- Ling (with permission)
"There comes a time in every project when you have to shoot the engineer and start production." -- author unknown

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2 minutes ago, Smithy said:

Marinated eggplant, in the jar.  I just had some with my lunch sandwich.  I don't think I'll have to worry about keeping it past its expiration date; it won't last that long.  This is good stuff! Thanks for the link, @Shelby!

 

20160824_133428-600x932.jpg

It's super good on a salad, too.  I had some last night.....there might have been more of this eggplant than lettuce ingested lol.

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Just now, HungryChris said:

The first big jar of refrigerator pickles are ready. Nice and crisp and garlicky.

HC

Your description and pictures got me salivating! 

Did you follow any special recipe for the pickles?

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“Peter: Oh my god, Brian, there's a message in my Alphabits. It says, 'Oooooo.'

Brian: Peter, those are Cheerios.”

– From Fox TV’s “Family Guy”

 

Tim Oliver

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9 minutes ago, Toliver said:

Your description and pictures got me salivating! 

Did you follow any special recipe for the pickles?

It is something I have been doing for years and is quite simple. For each quart: one TBS kosher salt, 3 or 4 cloves peeled and smashed garlic, about a tsp if dried dill weed and a bay leaf or 2. Pack the jar tightly with spears, fill to the curved shoulder with white vinegar and top off with tap water. Shake it up to dissolve the salt and refrigerate for 3 days. They will stay nice and crisp for about a month, but mine never last that long.

HC

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23 hours ago, HungryChris said:

It is something I have been doing for years and is quite simple. For each quart: one TBS kosher salt, 3 or 4 cloves peeled and smashed garlic, about a tsp if dried dill weed and a bay leaf or 2. Pack the jar tightly with spears, fill to the curved shoulder with white vinegar and top off with tap water. Shake it up to dissolve the salt and refrigerate for 3 days. They will stay nice and crisp for about a month, but mine never last that long.

HC

Thanks for the info!

 

“Peter: Oh my god, Brian, there's a message in my Alphabits. It says, 'Oooooo.'

Brian: Peter, those are Cheerios.”

– From Fox TV’s “Family Guy”

 

Tim Oliver

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I found some very green mangoes at the Asian Market today, I got 4 large ones to make pickled mangoes, just looking at them is making me pucker. Gonna soak the peeled and sliced flesh in brine for 24 hrs. drain then pickle in a sugar solution for a week. I placed a pop can next to it just to show how humongous these things are. image.jpeg

 

Edited by Wild_Yeast (log)
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Ongoing lacto-fermentations:

 

Starting from back row left: Cucumber spears with garlic, tarragon and mustard seed on day 2. Next is day 5 of mixed hot peppers with garlic. Next is green beans with garlic and tarragon (usually do these with dill but I seem to be on a tarragon tangent lately).

Front row left is a completed 1:1:1 by weight Portugal Hot, Cherry Bomb and Habanero hot sauce with garlic finished with some pureed peaches. Next is day 2 of a 90% mash of habanero peppers and garlic for another hot sauce.

 

 

Aug. 27.JPG

Edited by Wayne
missing words (log)
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I know it's stew. What KIND of stew?

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@Wayne hi there, it is different from the Indian style pickled mangoes. It's simpler than the Indian style, no spices or oil. I'm not sure exactly where the origins of the recipe we use came from, I'm almost certain my mother got it from one of her labs at the university when she was studying to be a Nutritionist back in the 70's. It's a 2 part process like I mentioned in the earlier post, select the greenest mangoes available, if you're close to a mango orchard and have that luxury, the mangoes that had just gotten to its maximum size a week or two before the ripening stage occurs are the best. Mangoes are washed, peeled and sliced in wedges then packed tightly in a sterilized jar. The brine ratio is 3 heaping Tbsp of salt to every 8 fl oz of purified water. Dissolve the salt well then pour gently over the mangoes so as not to create more air pockets. Shake and tap the jar to get rid of bubbles. Place a sterilized saucer or pickle weight on top and cover for 24 hours in a cool dark place. A few hours before the 24 hrs is up, make the sugar solution, 5 Tbsp of sugar to 8 fl oz purified water, bring to a boil then cool completely. Then at 24 hrs drain the brine, give the mangoes and the jar a really quick rinse with purified water. Then drain thoroughly, pack the mangoes back in the jar. Pour the sugar solution, get rid of air pockets. Place pickle weight, cover and let it ferment for 7 days in a cool and dark place once more. I burp the bottle every other day just to make sure my bottle doesn't explode from gas buildup. The taste is sweet, sour and salty with the slight aroma of young fruit wine and the texture should be crunchy. You can place them in the fridge at this point to slow down fermentation. I brined these last night as soon as I got home. Every moment that passes the mangoes goes closer to ripening specially in the dessert heat. image.jpeg 

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@Wild_Yeast 

Interesting process. A very different method than what I'm accustomed to but if it works I'm game to give it a shot when I can procure green mangos.

A few questions.

Do you notice during your initial brine treatment that fermentation is occurring?

How active is the fermentation during the secondary sugar solution fermentation?

My apologies for being overly analytical but I'm just trying to formulate the what and the why.

 

I know it's stew. What KIND of stew?

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During the initial brining I don't believe there's actual fermentation happening yet. But by doing so in brine, absorption of salt via osmosis makes the salting process even all through out the mango vs surface salting, the exterior ends up being way saltier than the interior, Unlike daikon, cabbage or cukes, unripe mango cell walls are too rigid to accept the coarse salt as it is, you'll need a "vehicle", in this case water, to introduce it to all available surface area. 

 

During the sugar solution part is when the fermentation actually starts. As far as how active it can be, depends on your ambient temperature. My house temp is 72 year round, cooler than what most people prefer ( I have planted aquariums, and most of the plants I have tend to melt in warm environments ) & sometimes fermentation takes longer than what is normally suggested so I go 2-3 days longer. My parents keep theirs at 76-78, most things ferment "on time" at their place. You'll start seeing tiny bubbles appear within 24 hours. I suggest leaving some headspace of an inch and a half to two to prevent it from bubbling over. Within day three when you burp it, you'll definitely start to smell signs of active fermentation. At day 7, it will smell like fruit wine, but still not alcoholic enough to make one intoxicated. It's time to slow/halt the fermentation and stick it in the fridge, test one, it should be crunchy like a pickle should be, if it turned mushy either almost ripe mangoes were used, or it wasn't salted properly in the beginning(fail). 

Edited by Wild_Yeast (log)
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I have other ongoing preservation/fermentation projects right now as well. Several types of kimchi, Korean soybean paste/Doenjjang, pure soybean soy sauce, and Japanese rice bran pickles/nukazuke. Had I seen this thread sooner...

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8 hours ago, Wayne said:

 

Ongoing lacto-fermentations:

 

Starting from back row left: Cucumber spears with garlic, tarragon and mustard seed on day 2. Next is day 5 of mixed hot peppers with garlic. Next is green beans with garlic and tarragon (usually do these with dill but I seem to be on a tarragon tangent lately).

Front row left is a completed 1:1:1 by weight Portugal Hot, Cherry Bomb and Habanero hot sauce with garlic finished with some pureed peaches. Next is day 2 of a 90% mash of habanero peppers and garlic for another hot sauce.

 

 

Aug. 27.JPG

 

 

I'll bet that hot sauce will clear your sinuses. 

 

5 hours ago, Shelby said:

photo 1.JPG

 

photo 3.jpg

 

Canned, or pickled? I tend to freeze mine if I'm not making peach butter.

 

3 hours ago, Wild_Yeast said:

@Wayne hi there, it is different from the Indian style pickled mangoes. It's simpler than the Indian style, no spices or oil. I'm not sure exactly where the origins of the recipe we use came from, I'm almost certain my mother got it from one of her labs at the university when she was studying to be a Nutritionist back in the 70's. It's a 2 part process like I mentioned in the earlier post, select the greenest mangoes available, if you're close to a mango orchard and have that luxury, the mangoes that had just gotten to its maximum size a week or two before the ripening stage occurs are the best. Mangoes are washed, peeled and sliced in wedges then packed tightly in a sterilized jar. The brine ratio is 3 heaping Tbsp of salt to every 8 fl oz of purified water. Dissolve the salt well then pour gently over the mangoes so as not to create more air pockets. Shake and tap the jar to get rid of bubbles. Place a sterilized saucer or pickle weight on top and cover for 24 hours in a cool dark place. A few hours before the 24 hrs is up, make the sugar solution, 5 Tbsp of sugar to 8 fl oz purified water, bring to a boil then cool completely. Then at 24 hrs drain the brine, give the mangoes and the jar a really quick rinse with purified water. Then drain thoroughly, pack the mangoes back in the jar. Pour the sugar solution, get rid of air pockets. Place pickle weight, cover and let it ferment for 7 days in a cool and dark place once more. I burp the bottle every other day just to make sure my bottle doesn't explode from gas buildup. The taste is sweet, sour and salty with the slight aroma of young fruit wine and the texture should be crunchy. You can place them in the fridge at this point to slow down fermentation. I brined these last night as soon as I got home. Every moment that passes the mangoes goes closer to ripening specially in the dessert heat. image.jpeg 

 

Now, this is fascinating. Wonder if grocery store mangoes are green enough? Would love to try this!

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Don't ask. Eat it.

www.kayatthekeyboard.wordpress.com

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@kayb  Canned in a very light syrup.  I thought about freezing, but I have a feeling that Ronnie is going to up his hunting due to having more free time (hopefully) so freezer space will be needed.

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@kayb the mangoes I got were store bought, I do not use mangoes that turn red skinned when ripe, American grocery chains normally only carry those variety, they tend to have a medicinal taste when they ferment. That said, Asian grocers, specially ones that carry Cambodian,  Indian, Thai or Vietnamese herbs and vegetables would have those type that you would want to use for pickling. 

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Just transferred the mangoes in sugar solution, now comes the waiting game. Setting it next to my Kombucha brew. I'm not that of a health nut.... I just like drinking it. Buying it all the time is just getting expensive.image.jpeg

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