Renew British Passport: Appointment Blocked

[orang37]

Sawasdeee Khrup, TV CM Friends,

Recently acquired a second-hand juicer, a 700 watt Phillips, about one year old, with minimal use. Goal is to make up a deficit in greens-veggie-in-the-diet for this human meat-package which can no longer swallow most of them raw, or, cooked (unless cooked down to a state of tasteless mush, which surely has all vitamin content wiped out). Such as cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, etc.

Concerned with making sure what we juice "raw" is not contaminated with "night soil" fertilizer, or whatever, but "buying organic" is not a concern. Far too cheapskaterly to buy the beautiful Royal Project veggies you see at Rimping, or similar, when you can get twice as much, or more, for the same price.

Used to really enjoy going to Talat Meur Mai late at night by bicycle, and buying produce just trucked in, and look forward to resuming that practice.

So, any clues on what to soak, wash, scrub, etc., these raw veggies with/in/by before juicing for sanitary reasons ?

Any local grasses, weeds, mushrooms, or whatever, to juice that (are legal and) may be as healthy for you as "wheat grass" is supposed to be ? Please consider that juicing "road kill," or tookays, frogs, etc., is not an option here, for us

thanks ! ~o:37;

p.s. hot silver deep-cleaning tips: use at your own risk ! also, we'd never use any of the hot-water based techniques described here with children anywhere nearby !

0. super-duper warning: if you think you have an item that has been silver plated, possibly tarted up or faked to look like sivler, or where it is some alloy of silver and some other metal with low silver content: do not use these techniques: just try a jeweller's polishing cloth only ! If you use these techniques on some low-grade silver-plate, you may end up with no finish whatsoever, and something that looks totally "dull" ! See other warnings below specific to high-contrast raised external features of art silver.

1. get hold of some tamarind pods (makkham), crush them all up in a mortar with a pestle: the whole pod. Boil for ten minutes. Strain the liquid, throw away the residue. Soak your silver pieces in a ceramic bowl in the steaming hot(but not heated to a boil) decanted liquid for four or five minutes, making sure they are fully covered in the liquid, then remove them, rinse with water thoroughly, rub clean gently with soft towel or rag.

warning: if you have a piece of silver, something like, for example, a nice silver box from Myanmar, where deep repousse technique has been used to create, visible from the outside, designs seen in high-relief, and the natural (or artificial) dark patination behind the raised areas, seen from the outside, is a major source of the aesthetic beauty of the piece: this technique ... because it penetrates every niche, crevice, etc. ... may have the effect of leaving you with a very clean silver box, but all the contrast of detail to background may be gone, and you might be quite unhappy because natural re-patination by oxidation is going to be, by nature, even, and slow.

2. Alternate method: ioho less powerful a deep-cleaning method than makkham-based technique: bring to near boil about a liter of water, put in two-three tablespoons of baking soda, one tablespoon salt, stir. Stand back, or wear protective eyeglasses, or goggles, when you add baking soda and salt to hot water since a temporary "foaming up" may occur.

Line a ceramic bowl with aluminum foil. put in your pieces, and make sure each piece touches the foil, and each other piece, as much as possible. Cover with hot preparation. An electrolytic reaction will occur between aluminum foil, preparation, and silver. remove your pieces after four or five minutes, rinse with water thoroughly, rub clean gently with soft towel or rag.

warning: same as in #1 above for high-relief on the outside art silver.

3. In the case you are polishing something with high raised detail, and wish to retain background patination (artficial or natural), use a jeweller's silver polishing cloth only !

note: We've read that silver re-patination (to black) can be hastened by cutting up a lot of fresh garlic, and then putting the silver item in a zip-loc bag with the garlic for a few weeks. We'd guess you'd want to hang that outside the house (or bury it if you don't have a dog who likes to dig up weird stuff ?) given how it might smell Have not tried this ourselves.

note: for those who want to consider making your own siver polishing cloths: how to make a silver polishing cloth Haven't done this and don't intend to since we don't want to screw around with Ammonia.

note: no idea what the impact of these techniques would be on something "chromed:" it may seem odd to mention that, but we have seen, in the last years, a number of small statues of "sacred art," being passed off as silver, which have obviously visited some auto-body chrome-plating facility ! Of course, we never took one of those home.

note: of course we have never used the above techniques on any item of Thai Gold, gold-plated item, etc. But, gold does respond well to a silver-polishing cloth in our opinion, just to remove superficial grease, dirt, etc.

note: there is a hot water plus vinegar plus baking soda technique for bronze that we have found not valuable.

Edited March 6, 2011 by orang37

[amexpat]

Hello, Orang,

I heard this woman interviewed on PBS years ago and I've been using the method ever since. I hope it is what you are seeking:

Peroxide & Vinegar Sterilization is a method of sterilizing fresh produce that will not be cooked.

The method was developed by a Susan Sumner in 1995 / 1996, while she was at the University of Nebraska.

While there, she discovered that while each ingredient, peroxide and vinegar, had abilities to sterilize, together their strength was magnified.

"If the acetic acid got rid of 100 organisms, the hydrogen peroxide would get rid of 10,000, and the two together would get rid of 100,000." [1]

In later tests at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, she found the combination will kill almost all Salmonella, Shigella, and E. coli O157:H7 bacteria.

The technique she developed is as follows.

You work with two clean spray bottles. In one, you put a solution of 3 % hydrogen peroxide, the same strength as you get from an ordinary drugstore for disinfecting wounds. In the other spray bottle, you put white vinegar (or apple cider vinegar.) It is recommended that you do not mix the two mixtures together in one bottle because a weak form of peracetic acid is formed. Peracetic Acid ( aka peroxyacetic acid) is a mixture of acetic acid and hydrogen peroxide. Peracetic Acid is primarily used for deactivation of a large variety of pathogenic micro-organisms in the industrial food industry, medical supplies and to prevent biofilm formation in paper pulp industries. It is usually produced in concentrations of 5 - 15%. This industrial formulation is toxic by inhalation, ingestion or if absorbed through skin; caustic and corrosive at concentrations > 10%; irritant at concentrations below 2%. Retail vinegar is a mixture of acetic acid and water composed of 4 to 8% acetic acid. Hydrogen peroxide at 3 % and retail versions of vinegar are an extremely diluted form of peracetic acid. Mixing the diluted form of acetic acid (known as vinegar) with 3% hydrogen peroxide forms a weak form of peracetic acid that may cause some reaction to those who are sensitive - therefore applying the two solutions separately is recommended.

You spritz the item to be sterilized with one, then with the other. Though it doesn't matter which one you spray with first, it is important that you apply the second mist right after the first one. And, it's not as effective if you try to mix the two liquids in one sprayer and just do it all at once.

The method can be used for uncooked vegetables destined to be used raw in salads, such as lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, etc, or being put out on dip or relish trays.

She found that the peroxide taste was undetectable. A hint of vinegar taste still there, but she deemed that fine for most food applications.

The method can also sanitize food preparation surfaces including wooden cutting boards. She also found it also works on plastic, steel, and meat.

http://www.practicallyedible.com/peroxide-vinegar-sterilization#ixzz1FpE4dDfF

[NancyL]

I fix a large fresh salad for us almost every evening using veggies bought at the local Thai market and have never had a problem. I wash all things that realistically can be washed with soapy water, using tap water, rinse with tap water and do a final rinse with drinking water. That works great for things like carrots, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers. Often I use one of those green scratchy 3M pads to be sure it's really clean and remove all dirt. Lettuce can be a bit more problematic. I carefully rinse each leaf under tap water, but can't scrub with soapy water like I do with the other veggies. Instead I swish the leaves in drinking water and dry in a salad spinner. Also, I wash melons, etc, with the soapy water, drinking water rinse technique before cutting. Same practice for other foods, like eggs.

I think you're going to have a bigger problem here with pesticide residue than with "night soil" fertilizer based on what I've seen of the agricultural practices. Soapy water washes should go a long way in removing pesticide residue.

[amexpat]

I think you're going to have a bigger problem here with pesticide residue than with "night soil" fertilizer based on what I've seen of the agricultural practices. Soapy water washes should go a long way in removing pesticide residue.

Absolutely. That would be my main concern, too. After the residues are removed with soapy water, the vinegar/peroxide will be far more effective than drinking water against the bacteria. It only takes a spritz of each. And you don't have to rinse again. What evah.

[orang37]

Sawasdee Khrup, Khun NancyL, and Khun AmExpat,

Thanks very much for your comments and information !

Definitely going to try the peroxide and vinegar alternating spray technique. And slightly soapy water never hurt if rinsed away fully, wethinks. They do sell anti-bacterial versions of dishwashing soap here, but we're dubious about using those.

Concerns about "night soil," have come from inspecting mainly cauliflower and broccoli we've bought in the wholesale market here, and finding bits of "stinky stuff:" the source (human ? animal ?) of that "stinky stuff:" unknown, but we're sure we don't want to take any chances we haven't neutralized any tiny bits of that before eating those veggies juiced or pulped raw.

Too bad that pureed sum tum really sucks ! Used to be one of our most favorite dishes.

best, ~o:37;