The Ruzicka Family wrote:

> "Melba's Jammin'" > wrote in message
> ...
> > I know Peg Haine makes them and I'm hoping for an answer from her.
> > Any of you do them, too? A friend is asking me about a friend of *hers*
> > who does them this way:
> >
> > "My canning question is this: a friend said he puts up cherries by
> > taking washed bing cherries, stems attached, adding the raw cherries to
> > a jar, fill w/a mix of 50% simple syrup and 50% brandy. Cap and let
> > sit until Christmas. He says they're intoxicatingly good.
> >
> > I figure you've probably seen this recipe on rec.food.canning, so Id
> > ask you first. I suspect the food scientists might have fits over
> > potential botulism though there is *all* that brandy. All my home ec
> > friends have been laid off/retired from Extension."
> >
> >
> > BBB adds lemon juice and does a hot-pack processing for 10 minutes in a
> > BWB.
> >
> > Any comments?
> > --
> > -Barb, <www.jamlady.eboard.com> An update on 7/4/04.
> >
>
> We're done a similar thing in the past with peaches. We put sliced,
> quartered or halved peaches (slightly boiled to get the skins off) into a
> quart jar, add a cinnamon/sugar/spices mixture between layers, and then fill
> up with pure brandy. We then let them sit for at least a few months,
> turning occasionally to make sure the sugar mixture gets nicely dissolved.
> They're wonderful!

Yeeeehaaw! Peach season is almost here, this sounds fabulous. Maybe something
else to do with that big bottle of apricot brandy I bought for Triple Apricot
Butter?

Edrena

The Ruzicka Family wrote:

> "Melba's Jammin'" > wrote in message
> ...
>
>>I know Peg Haine makes them and I'm hoping for an answer from her.
>>Any of you do them, too? A friend is asking me about a friend of *hers*
>>who does them this way:
>>
>>"My canning question is this: a friend said he puts up cherries by
>>taking washed bing cherries, stems attached, adding the raw cherries to
>>a jar, fill w/a mix of 50% simple syrup and 50% brandy. Cap and let
>>sit until Christmas. He says they're intoxicatingly good.
>>
>>I figure you've probably seen this recipe on rec.food.canning, so Id
>>ask you first. I suspect the food scientists might have fits over
>>potential botulism though there is *all* that brandy. All my home ec
>>friends have been laid off/retired from Extension."
>>
>>
>>BBB adds lemon juice and does a hot-pack processing for 10 minutes in a
>>BWB.
>>
>>Any comments?
>>--
>>-Barb, <www.jamlady.eboard.com> An update on 7/4/04.
>>
>
>
> We're done a similar thing in the past with peaches. We put sliced,
> quartered or halved peaches (slightly boiled to get the skins off) into a
> quart jar, add a cinnamon/sugar/spices mixture between layers, and then fill
> up with pure brandy. We then let them sit for at least a few months,
> turning occasionally to make sure the sugar mixture gets nicely dissolved.
> They're wonderful!

Your peaches sound really good! How do you use them? As a topping for
ice cream or deserts?
>
>

In article >, ellen wickberg
> wrote:

> in article ,
> Melba's
> Jammin' at wrote on 12/7/04 8:14 AM:
>
> > I know Peg Haine makes them and I'm hoping for an answer from her.
> > Any of you do them, too? A friend is asking me about a friend of
> > *hers*
> > who does them this way:
> >
> > "My canning question is this: a friend said he puts up cherries by
> > taking washed bing cherries, stems attached, adding the raw cherries to
> > a jar, fill w/a mix of 50% simple syrup and 50% brandy. Cap and let
> > sit until Christmas. He says they're intoxicatingly good.
> >
> > I figure you've probably seen this recipe on rec.food.canning, so Id
> > ask you first. I suspect the food scientists might have fits over
> > potential botulism though there is *all* that brandy. All my home ec
> > friends have been laid off/retired from Extension."
> >
> >
> > BBB adds lemon juice and does a hot-pack processing for 10 minutes in a
> > BWB.
> >
> > Any comments?
> I don't think that you need worry about botulism. Think about rum pots,
> they do sit, un processed by heat, but with all that alcohol, you are
> pretty
> safe. It is true that simple syrup is half and half water and sugar, but
> with equal parts of brandy, what is going to grow.
> Ellen


I'll pass it on to her, Ellen. You make good points about the rumtopf
stuff. Thanks. -B
--
-Barb, <www.jamlady.eboard.com> An update on 7/4/04.

In article >, The Joneses
> wrote:

> The Ruzicka Family wrote:
(snip)
> > We're done a similar thing in the past with peaches. We put
> > sliced, quartered or halved peaches (slightly boiled to get the
> > skins off) into a quart jar, add a cinnamon/sugar/spices mixture
> > between layers, and then fill up with pure brandy. We then let
> > them sit for at least a few months, turning occasionally to make
> > sure the sugar mixture gets nicely dissolved. They're wonderful!

> Yeeeehaaw! Peach season is almost here, this sounds fabulous. Maybe
> something else to do with that big bottle of apricot brandy I bought
> for Triple Apricot Butter?

>
> Edrena

Have you paid attention to my words about cooking apricots for apricot
butter? You should. If you make peach butter, add the booze at or near
the end.
--
-Barb, <www.jamlady.eboard.com> An update on 7/4/04.

Melba's Jammin' wrote:

> Have you paid attention to my words about cooking apricots for apricot
> butter? You should. If you make peach butter, add the booze at or near
> the end.

Most assuredly, Mother Superior. But thanks for the reminder. Blond hair
(and gettin' blonder every year) leaks important nutrients from the brains
to the air.
Edrena

Melba's Jammin' wrote:
> I know Peg Haine makes them and I'm hoping for an answer from her.
> Any of you do them, too? A friend is asking me about a friend of *hers*
> who does them this way:
>
> "My canning question is this: a friend said he puts up cherries by
> taking washed bing cherries, stems attached, adding the raw cherries to
> a jar, fill w/a mix of 50% simple syrup and 50% brandy. Cap and let
> sit until Christmas. He says they're intoxicatingly good.
>
> I figure you've probably seen this recipe on rec.food.canning, so Id
> ask you first. I suspect the food scientists might have fits over
> potential botulism though there is *all* that brandy. All my home ec
> friends have been laid off/retired from Extension."
>
>
> BBB adds lemon juice and does a hot-pack processing for 10 minutes in a
> BWB.
>
> Any comments?


I think the cherries are acid enough that there's little botulism risk.
I also think it would taste better with a little lemon juice in the
syrup. Just watch the top for mold and skim it off if it forms.

How about using amaretto instead of simple syrup?

Bob

Melba's Jammin' wrote:
>
>
> A friend is asking me about a friend of *hers*
> who does them this way:
>
> "My canning question is this: a friend said he puts up cherries by
> taking washed bing cherries, stems attached, adding the raw cherries to
> a jar, fill w/a mix of 50% simple syrup and 50% brandy. Cap and let
> sit until Christmas. He says they're intoxicatingly good.
>


A neighbor used to do this using vodka instead of brandy.
She called them "Cherry Bombs" and gave away small jars
to the neighbors every Christmas.

Yum! (hic)

gloria p

Melba's Jammin' wrote:
>
>
> A friend is asking me about a friend of *hers*
> who does them this way:
>
> "My canning question is this: a friend said he puts up cherries by
> taking washed bing cherries, stems attached, adding the raw cherries to
> a jar, fill w/a mix of 50% simple syrup and 50% brandy. Cap and let
> sit until Christmas. He says they're intoxicatingly good.
>


A neighbor used to do this using vodka instead of brandy.
She called them "Cherry Bombs" and gave away small jars
to the neighbors every Christmas.

Yum! (hic)

gloria p

"zxcvbob" wrote:
> I think the cherries are acid enough that there's little botulism risk.
> I also think it would taste better with a little lemon juice in the
> syrup. Just watch the top for mold and skim it off if it forms.

Spores are tricky critters, and botulism is a spore-former. It can sometimes
survive the most aggressive canning and is the reason that all canned goods
have expiration dates. But there's good news and bad news. Ingesting the
spore form wont hurt you (the GI tract: ah, now THERE'S an acid environment
that the spore cannot survive!). That's the good news. The bad news is that
if there's mold on the top of canned food, there's a potentially lethal
microbial shindig going on throughout the container. Scraping off the mold
isn't enough. Discard the whole item.

Also, the presence of grain alcohol in brandied cherries is not sufficient
to stop the growth of microorganisms. The surgeons in old Westerns used to
use Old Red Eye in equal parts as anesthesia and antiseptic, and that hoary
fallacy persists and manifests itself in off-kilter ways to this day.
Neither grain nor wood alcohol is an effective general sanitizing agent
because spores can survive them.

I put up my brandied cherries with a cold pack followed by longer water bath
processing - it's easier on the fruit than hot pack and lets the cherries
maintain their color and shape. And I won't vary from the process! I don't
care they're packed in whiskey, brandy, kirsch, schnapps or 150 proof
Everclear -- alcohol itself is not enough.


> How about using amaretto instead of simple syrup?

I've used amaretto with great results. The almond-like taste compliments
sweet cherries nicely.

Pennyaline wrote:
>
> Also, the presence of grain alcohol in brandied cherries is not sufficient
> to stop the growth of microorganisms. The surgeons in old Westerns used to
> use Old Red Eye in equal parts as anesthesia and antiseptic, and that hoary
> fallacy persists and manifests itself in off-kilter ways to this day.
> Neither grain nor wood alcohol is an effective general sanitizing agent
> because spores can survive them.
>
> I put up my brandied cherries with a cold pack followed by longer water bath
> processing - it's easier on the fruit than hot pack and lets the cherries
> maintain their color and shape. And I won't vary from the process! I don't
> care they're packed in whiskey, brandy, kirsch, schnapps or 150 proof
> Everclear -- alcohol itself is not enough.
>


I disagree. You don't have to kill the spores. (your hot pack does not
kill bacterial spores)

Just create an acid enviroment so clostridium spores won't sprout, limit
the available water with large amounts of sugar, or an alcoholic
enviroment that kills them when they do become active. I don't know how
strong an alcohol it would take; 20% ABV will kill most yeasts, and
yeast is unusually resistant to alcohol.

Bob

Pennyaline wrote:
>
> Also, the presence of grain alcohol in brandied cherries is not sufficient
> to stop the growth of microorganisms. The surgeons in old Westerns used to
> use Old Red Eye in equal parts as anesthesia and antiseptic, and that hoary
> fallacy persists and manifests itself in off-kilter ways to this day.
> Neither grain nor wood alcohol is an effective general sanitizing agent
> because spores can survive them.
>
> I put up my brandied cherries with a cold pack followed by longer water bath
> processing - it's easier on the fruit than hot pack and lets the cherries
> maintain their color and shape. And I won't vary from the process! I don't
> care they're packed in whiskey, brandy, kirsch, schnapps or 150 proof
> Everclear -- alcohol itself is not enough.
>


I disagree. You don't have to kill the spores. (your hot pack does not
kill bacterial spores)

Just create an acid enviroment so clostridium spores won't sprout, limit
the available water with large amounts of sugar, or an alcoholic
enviroment that kills them when they do become active. I don't know how
strong an alcohol it would take; 20% ABV will kill most yeasts, and
yeast is unusually resistant to alcohol.

Bob

Melba's Jammin' wrote:

> > Yeeeehaaw! Peach season is almost here, this sounds fabulous. Maybe
> > something else to do with that big bottle of apricot brandy I bought
> > for Triple Apricot Butter?

> Have you paid attention to my words about cooking apricots for apricot
> butter? You should. If you make peach butter, add the booze at or near
> the end.

Didn't I say that in the recipe? I should I guess. Barb is right, of
course... at the end, just before ladling it into the jars.

Do the same thing with all the boozed berries, except the Triple Sec in
the strawberries. But when straining off the syrup another splosh goes
in.

B/

Pennyaline wrote:
>
> .... or 150 proof Everclear

Anybody know where to get Everclear in San Francisco? Berkeley/Oakland
might be OK too, if it's near a BART stop.

B/

In article >, zxcvbob
> wrote:

> Melba's Jammin' wrote:
> > I know Peg Haine makes them and I'm hoping for an answer from her.
> > Any of you do them, too? A friend is asking me about a friend of
> > *hers* who does them this way:

> > "My canning question is this: a friend said he puts up cherries by
> > taking washed bing cherries, stems attached, adding the raw cherries to
> > a jar, fill w/a mix of 50% simple syrup and 50% brandy. Cap and let
> > sit until Christmas. He says they're intoxicatingly good.
> >
> > I figure you've probably seen this recipe on rec.food.canning, so Id
> > ask you first. I suspect the food scientists might have fits over
> > potential botulism though there is *all* that brandy. All my home ec
> > friends have been laid off/retired from Extension."
> >
> >
> > BBB adds lemon juice and does a hot-pack processing for 10 minutes in a
> > BWB.
> >
> > Any comments?
>
>
> I think the cherries are acid enough that there's little botulism risk.
> I also think it would taste better with a little lemon juice in the
> syrup. Just watch the top for mold and skim it off if it forms.
>
> How about using amaretto instead of simple syrup?
>
> Bob

Sounds good to ME; I don't know what Beth's interested in (remember Beth
Jarvis from rfc?) Beth said she was going to go by Ball's rules. I
like the idea of raw myself.
--
-Barb, <www.jamlady.eboard.com> An update on 7/4/04.

"zxcvbob" > wrote in message
...
> Pennyaline wrote:
> >
> > Also, the presence of grain alcohol in brandied cherries is not
sufficient
> > to stop the growth of microorganisms. The surgeons in old Westerns used
to
> > use Old Red Eye in equal parts as anesthesia and antiseptic, and that
hoary
> > fallacy persists and manifests itself in off-kilter ways to this day.
> > Neither grain nor wood alcohol is an effective general sanitizing agent
> > because spores can survive them.
> >
> > I put up my brandied cherries with a cold pack followed by longer water
bath
> > processing - it's easier on the fruit than hot pack and lets the
cherries
> > maintain their color and shape. And I won't vary from the process! I
don't
> > care they're packed in whiskey, brandy, kirsch, schnapps or 150 proof
> > Everclear -- alcohol itself is not enough.
> >
>
>
> I disagree. You don't have to kill the spores. (your hot pack does not
> kill bacterial spores)
>
> Just create an acid enviroment so clostridium spores won't sprout, limit
> the available water with large amounts of sugar, or an alcoholic
> enviroment that kills them when they do become active. I don't know how
> strong an alcohol it would take; 20% ABV will kill most yeasts, and
> yeast is unusually resistant to alcohol.
>
> Bob

I have made herbal tinctures for years and followed the teachings of many
very knowledgeable herbalists. They say that 23% alcohol is enough to
safely preserve a tincture or succus. I figure it would be strong enough
for fruit at that strength.

When I made brandied cherries, I just stuffed the cherries into the jar and
covered with brandy. Then I left them in a dark cupboard and shook them
when I thought of it (rather like making an herbal tincture). I believe an
added sugar syrup would have made them too sweet. That probably varies by
fruit variety and personal preference. ;>

Deb
--
In Oregon, the pacific northWET.