Do you buy old preserving books from ebay?

[braided-rug]

I did recently, we have old books which we have used for preserving since the mid 80s, though we didn't preserve from 91 til a couple of years ago.

This is an example of one recipe I found and the book I found it in.


Melon Pickle

Prepare the pie melon by paring, seeding, and cutting into small cubes; cover with water to which enough salt for flavouring purposes has been added, then put on to cook. When the melon is almost clear, it should be drained thoroughly. Meanwhile, heat the vinegar and sugar; when boiling, put the drained melon into it and cook for 15 and 20 minutes. The remaining ingredients - mustard, flour, turmeric - should be blended with a little cold vinegar and stirred into the mixture, which is then simmered for about 10 minutes, when the pickle should be bottled, corked, and stored. If desired, 1lb of onions may be cooked with the melon.

Ingredients

6lb prepared melon
1/4 lb green ginger
1 teaspoon salt
1 quart vinegar
1lb sugar (white)
2 oz ground mustard
2 level tablespoons turmeric
4 level tablespoons flour

From Department of Agriculture Victoria Bulletin No. 43 Preserving Fruits and Vegetables. An old book I got from ebay.

[greenliving]

Hi.

If you do buy old preserving guides please be careful. Older guides may have outdated methods, that may be inadequate to kill the botulism and other nasties that can cause very bad or even fatal food poisoning.

Old books are great for the recipes, but as for the methodology of "Home Preserving", you should always use modern techniques.

I even recently found a magazine just published that gave a preserving method where the preserving process only required a temperature of 92 degrees centigrade. This is woefully wrong, and very dangerous. Low acid foods need to be pressure canned to reach 116 degrees, high acid foods need to reach 100 degrees. Both high and low acid foods need to be processed long enough to the entire contents of the jar to reach these temperatures.

Cheers ... David
www.greenlivingaustralia.com.au

edit:- I even just noticed that the recipe above does not mention processing the jars once filled and sealed, which must be done. No home preserving can go without proper processing, unless they are going to be kept in the fridge for immediate use.