[albaghani]

Hi

Botulism seems to be a problem for long term food storage. And i heard that it could contaminated dry food such as rice and chickpeas. But i heard that by cooking/boiling rice/chickpeas can destroy the toxin and make the food safe to eat. is it true?

 

[paraquack]

While regular cooking (boiling temperatures at sea level) will destroy the toxin from the Botulism, the spore can remain viable. Food plants must bring the canned food temperature up to 250 degrees F for 3 minutes. Canned foods will usually bulge from the gas produced. Any can or jar that has lost its seal (bulged top lid on jars, or pin hole rust holes) should be discarded or given to an enemy.

 

[albaghani]

How about pickling? i heard that the acid from vinegar can prevent botulism in pickling.

 

[paraquack]

Acidic food are far less susceptible to botulism. I can remember helping my mom put up pickles with no heat involved in the process. Didn't use the ball type mason lids. She use screw on, galvanized caps with a "glass" top inside and a red rubber ring type gasket. When we cleaned out the homestead, I found pickles dating back 15 years or so. The only problem was that the dill pickles weren't quite as crisp.

 

[IngaLisa]

I have been pressure canning my entire life. I can about 200-300 jars every year. I use a pressure canner for all my canned foods. You must follow directions per your specific canner. You need to get your gauge checked every year to make sure it is measuring pressure correctly. Often your county extension agent can do that for you. If you are still squeamish about eating your home canned foods, you can boil your food prior to eating for 20 minutes which destroys botulism toxin (often the food too). I mostly can tomatoes, green beans, beets that I pickle, pickles, pickle relish, salsa. I don't like canning the more low acid foods such as corn or squash. I dry a lot of soup beans and peas. I dehydrate some things, such as kale to make kale chips. I also make raspberry, strawberry jam and rhubarb sauce. I have also made and canned sauerkraut. I think a good pressure canner is a good investment. They now make special lids that can be reused. I have not used those yet, but, I am thinking I may try a few jars this year.

 

[paraquack]

Did you learn from your mother?

 

[albaghani]

I'm thinking of storing white rice, chick peas and dried pasta. chick peas and pasta i can keep in air tight bottle, the put some oxygen absorber in it. chickpeas and pasta when i want to cook it, i'll boil it first. dry chick peas need boiling water and nearly 30 minute to soften so i think that is good enough to destroy botulism toxin. Dried pasta also need boiling water and i usually boil it for 15 minutes. now for the bottle/jar, do i need to wash it or boil it first before using it to store my dry food?

for the pasta sauce, i do a little gardening such as basil which i can use to make pesto.

 

[paraquack]

Check http://www.usaemergencysupply.com. I went their aluminized bags. They have lots of good info.

 

[Leon]

trouble with botulism is you can't really smell it and by the time poisoning sets in you'll be wondering wtf is wrong.

 

[PaulS]

Botulism is destroyed by vacuum canning. That is why if the lid on a can is not "sucked in" you should not eat the contents. Any food that is not high in acid content must be vacuum canned. That includes most vegetables and all meats. dehydrated foods are ok if they are kept in the dark, cool and dry but they have a limited life that varies with the moisture content. Vacuum packaging extends that shelf life but it still depends on moisture content.

 

[Jardude]

Botulism is destroyed by vacuum canning. That is why if the lid on a can is not "sucked in" you should not eat the contents. Any food that is not high in acid content must be vacuum canned. That includes most vegetables and all meats. dehydrated foods are ok if they are kept in the dark, cool and dry but they have a limited life that varies with the moisture content. Vacuum packaging extends that shelf life but it still depends on moisture content.

Don't you mean pressure canning here?

 

[albaghani]

I just found out about this interesting fact

"Humans--both adults and infants--regularly ingest the spores, but rarely suffer ill effects. This is because the immune system destroys the spores before they can grow and produce toxin. Infant botulism is caused by ingestion of the bacteria itself, and not necessarily by ingestion of the toxin."

Botulinus: Clostridium botulinum -- Description, Vector, Mechanism, Outbreak Notes, and so on...

 

[Montana Rancher]

Lactic fermentation and pickling

Botulism is destroyed by vacuum canning. That is why if the lid on a can is not "sucked in" you should not eat the contents. Any food that is not high in acid content must be vacuum canned. That includes most vegetables and all meats. dehydrated foods are ok if they are kept in the dark, cool and dry but they have a limited life that varies with the moisture content. Vacuum packaging extends that shelf life but it still depends on moisture content.

Sorry this is not totally true, lactic fermentation and cold pickling are both reliable methods of preserving vegetables. I currently am eating some home made sour kraut that is simply cabbage fermented in a crock for several weeks in pickling salt. I am about to break into some vegetables preserved the same way in mason jars.

Also meat can easily be stored by salt curing it and will keep for months in a root cellar or basement just hanging from the rafters in big chunks. Even at higher temperatures meat will keep many weeks salt cured, the British navy fed their sailors salted beef from barrels as a main staple, the Nords did the same with fish.

Don't even get me started on smoking meats.

I assume you really mean vacuume canning and not pressure cooking which are 2 different processes, I don't think you can preserve meats by vacuume canning them but pressure cooking is a good method.