Preserving basil pesto

[gourmande]

Has anyone here ever canned pesto? I generally freeze it but would like to try canning it so that it can stay at room temp. All my searches seem to yield the same advice: for food safety reasons, canning pesto is not recommended. However, since we can find preserved pesto on the grocery shelves it must be possible. Any ideas out there?

[Suzanne F]

What is the threat -- botulism from raw garlic in anaerobic conditions? Since pesto is a raw sauce, I could see lots of threats. My guess is that the stuff on grocery shelves has been subjected to a process along the lines of ultra-pasteurization, which is just not possible at home.

[gourmande]

Oh I agree, the threat of botulism poisoning is indeed serious, but the bacterium Clostridium Botulinum in low-acid foods is destroyed when these foods are processed in pressure canners, following time and pressure requirements for the particular foods.

Perhaps I should contact the manufacturer of the pressure canner to see what they suggest. If I find anything, I'll post it. I imagine there are others who might be interested

As for today's batch, I froze most of it but packed some in a sterlized jar, floated a film of oil on top and refrigerated it.

[NVNVGirl]

Nana (Rose Evangalisti, aka Rose Pistola) told me when I make her breadcrumbs that I had to freeze them b/c of the cheese in it. I would imagine the same would hold true for pesto?

[Blake]

Pesto is a peasant method of preserving basil prior to the days of refrigeration. We tend to get spoiled and strive toward absolute perfection in regard to health issues in our present era of technology.

We also are prone to assuming absolute perfection in the taste of a product.

Pesto will never compete with the taste of fresh basil and no preserved foodstuff will ever be perfectly safe. If we want to change this scenario, we need to move to a different planet.

Blake

[Jinmyo]

I hear Europa (though a mere moon) has good refrigeration.

[Jason Perlow]

I hear Europa (though a mere moon) has good refrigeration.

Another good thing about Europa: No Rick Bayless.

[v_wang]

i usually process my pesto up without cheese and then add the cheese in bits, when i use it. the basil-nuts-garlic mixture i leave in the fridge til it seems weird. am i going to die?

[Alex]

I also leave the cheese out when freezing pesto.

I don't see a major advantage in keeping it at room temp. In ice cube-size portions it defrosts very quickly (especially in a microwave) and can be used in small doses without your having to use up the rest of the jar before it spoils.