ottawa foodies

Hi folks,

Have a cider-related question here and hope you can help. I bought apple cider at Farm Boy one week ago. I intended to give some to my 2-year old son, but suddenly realised it may be unpasteurized. I called the manufacturer to check and, indeed, it is unpasteurized.

It seems a waste to throw it out; can I pasteurize it by boiling it for five minutes? Would that kill the bacteria (if there is any)?

Do advise...thanks.

Proper procedure here.
www.healthlinkbc.ca

I would suggest pouring it into a pot with some cinnamon sticks and a few cloves and giving it a nice boil as per those instructions. In that fashion you get a better final product and pasturization at the same time.

Heat to 190F and hold for 10 minutes.

But I think you are being overly paranoid

"But I think you are being overly paranoid."

Zym - With all due respect, I think that Moms work their darndest to do right by their kids... and if Health Canada sees it as a serious enough issue to put out a Health Advisory for Pregnant Women, Infants and Small Children*, then it should indeed be considered a significant risk.

www.hc-sc.gc.ca

*NB- It is also considered a risk for the elderly and people with weakened immune systems.

Hm, so Jagash's link says 2 min, and Zym says 10 min. Whereas, to make water potable one boils it for 5 minutes... Well, to be safe I'll boil it around 10 and add Jagash's suggestion of cinnamon sticks.

Thanks for the info Zym, but I'd rather be paranoid than sick (or have my toddler be sick).

2 vs 10 minutes - pasteurization is a continuum, not an exact thing.

I think it was a 2 minute minimum, though there is clearly no problem with giving it a 10 minute boil though you might want to water it down a little prior to compensate for the evaporation.