North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Dennis Norton" <dmnorton@royaloakfarmorchard.com>]

For those of you who want to sanitize your apples before making cider, there 
is a product called Tsunami 100 from Ecolabs that is 100% organic hydrogen 
peroxide that costs about $80 per 4 gallon container.  We have used it for 
several years and produce about 5,000 gallons or so of cider each season. 
Our cost for each season runs about $160 for the entire season.  Tsunami can 
be found at http://www.ecolab.com/Initiatives/foodsafety/FST/Tsunami.asp.


Dennis Norton
Royal Oak Farm Orchard
http://www.royaloakfarmorchard.com
http://www.theorchardkeeper.blogspot.com
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jim Fruth" <jfruth@uslink.net>
To: "NAFEX" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Friday, October 27, 2006 8:55 AM
Subject: [NAFEX] Apple Pressing and Botulism


> Lisa,
>    I would not agree with Claude about apple worms being "essentially 
> apples" or quality improvement because of scab, but to each his own. 
> Claude does mention something very worth saying more about: the need to be 
> careful about apples that have fallen on the ground.   Clostridium 
> botulinus, the bacterium that causes Botulism Poisoning naturally occurs 
> in many/most soils.  That's why we wash carrots and rutabegas and lettuce 
> and vegetables whose edible parts grow in or near the ground.  C. 
> botulinus is so widespread in our environment that traces of it can even 
> be found in honey, Nature's purest natural food.  So, if you'd rather not 
> waste those apples that have fallen on the ground, be sure to sanitize 
> them before tossing them in the hopper and pasteurize your cider to, at 
> least, 165º F (180º is better).
>
> Jim Fruth
> Brambleberry Farm
> Pequot Lakes, MN  56472
> www.bberryfarm.com
> (218)568-8483 [Store]
> (218)831-7018 [My Cell]
>
>
> Lisa,
> I don't think you should bother about worms and scab...
>
> Scab will only improve the quality of your juice by concentrating sugars
> acids and flavours (by removing water).
> Worms will stay with the pomace - they only have eaten apple anyway, so
> they are essentially apples...
>
> The only thing I remove is when an apple is really rotten, or if it has
> fallen on the ground, then you need to be more careful.
>
> Claude
> in Quebec