The Master Tonic - Page 5

[Aubergine68]

Is the garlic cloves in honey recipe a botulism risk?

Originally Posted by Junegoddess

This is the basic idea, as I remember it. It was a really popular idea about... oh... 7 or 8 years ago. I am still friends with some of those herby women, so I'm going to ask them specifically what they did. If it's different, I'll post an update.

I know several of my herby friends made extra garlic-in-honey, for their own personal munching. The remedy is supposed to just be the garlic-infused honey... but they love munching the cloves themselves, once they've mellowed and softened in the honey for a while.

This really sounds so yummy. And I just filled up a jar of garlic cloves and poured honey over, and then had a terrible thought.

I don't know much about microbiology, but I remember reading in numerous sources that homemade garlic in oil preparations are a botulism risk because the toxin can grow when garlic is deprived of oxygen in oil. And we are told not to feed honey to babes because of the risk of infant botulism. Can garlic cloves in honey not be a botulism risk?

Can anyone reassure me?

Otherwise, I think I'll oven roast the garlic in honey, puree it, freeze it in cubes and add it to stir fries/chicken recipes. Which also sounds amazingly yummy....

[sunshinestarr]

I just wanted to share that I started my master tonic today, after finding raw acv here!!!! wooo!! And it's almost the new moon, too.
I picked up some raw honey, and I really want to try the garlic honey tonic, too.

[amcal]

Originally Posted by Aubergine68

This really sounds so yummy. And I just filled up a jar of garlic cloves and poured honey over, and then had a terrible thought.

I don't know much about microbiology, but I remember reading in numerous sources that homemade garlic in oil preparations are a botulism risk because the toxin can grow when garlic is deprived of oxygen in oil. And we are told not to feed honey to babes because of the risk of infant botulism. Can garlic cloves in honey not be a botulism risk?

Can anyone reassure me?

Otherwise, I think I'll oven roast the garlic in honey, puree it, freeze it in cubes and add it to stir fries/chicken recipes. Which also sounds amazingly yummy....

Ack! Really? I never heard about the garlic in oil thing - I have a big bottle of oil with garlic cloves in it that I use all the time..... Guess I need to google....

One thing I did notice with the ginger in honey and the garlic in honey is that it makes the honey very runny - I'm assuming because both garlic and ginger contain liquid. I too have wondered if this is a problem? Honey is a strong antibacterial but still.......

[tarajean56]

So is this something you use as a daily supplement, or for treatment when you are coming down with something?

[Aubergine68]

Originally Posted by tarajean56

So is this something you use as a daily supplement, or for treatment when you are coming down with something?

I've read that you take a little every day, but I suspect for me, I'll be using it more when I am coming down with something.

I have my first batch almost ready to strain, jars with and without canned horseradish (as I couldn't find fresh horseradish). I was coming down with a cold a week ago and couldn't stop opening up the jars and eating the stuff by the spoonful. I think a pp in this thread also said she craved it when she was ill. It totally cleared up my congestion and my other symptoms were mild and ended earlier than usual, with no need for me to take the otc meds I usually resort to when I have sinus headaches/stuffy nose (first step to a migraine headache for me, so I can't let these symptoms go, ordinarily).

I am going to research whether I really have to start straining this -- I think I might just want to eat the stuff as a condiment, as is. I find it amazingly yummy (with the horseradish) ok (without the horseradish).

[mama~bear]

anyone try this while nursing? My little ones have never been bothered by anything (at least that I realized) but just wondering.

[Sihaya]

Not only does it not bother my nursing toddler, but he actually likes to sip it too!

[Aubergine68]

Strained and jarred my first batch. Four quart jars of tonic left me with three quarts of tincture when strained. Very tasty. I never could worry down apple cider vinegar, except in an emergency (like to head off that case of food poisoning...which worked!). The master tonic has to have all the benefits of ACV and more and it is something I will look forward to taking

One thing...should have worn gloves for the straining. Used my hands to squeeze the juice out and my fingers are still tingling from the pepper juice!

[velcromom]

I just bottled my first batch too. I couldn't get any fresh horseradish, but yesterday I found fresh turmeric so I sliced it up and went ahead and added it to the strained tonic. I'm not really thrilled with the prospect of taking it but I think I'll start by adding some to a cup of hot bone broth and ease into it. Wow I bet this'll give a person some severe garlic breath!

[amcal]

Does anyone have tips for giving this to children? My DD has what I think is the beginnings of flu

Aubergine68 - the pepper oil on your fingers is alcohol soluble so if you rinse your fingers with rubbing alcohol or even vodka it should take the sting away.

[velcromom]

I don't hold out any hope that the kids will take it. It's not the spicy aspect so much as the vinegar. I think my ds2 had The flu, he spent a day on the couch so achy, feverish, weak, I thought it was going to be really bad. I didn't try giving him any master tonic, I gave him a large dose of D3, made him some bone broth & cold & flu tea per Kami McBride... next day he came into my room at 7am, saying, "I feel better mom"... hope your dd gets through it as easily.

[amcal]

Would you share the tea recipe? She's really starting to feel bad

[velcromom]

Here's a link to a page of recipes. I used fennel and ginger to make a syrup, but ds hated the taste so I read thru her site and decided on orange peel, rose petal and cranberry tea. It turned out tasty and ds was willing to drink it chilled when he was feverish.

[Aubergine68]

Oooh, thanks for the link! Lots on that site.

I see on the page you linked that she calls the master tonic "fire cider", adds honey to it, and suggests taking it when coming down with a cold.

ETA and thanks for the tip on the rubbing alcohol and hot pepper, amcal.

Maybe mixing the tonic with honey would help get your little one to take it? I hope he is feeling better.

I think I would try using a dropper to give the tonic with one of my little ones, but my youngest will spit up/spit out anything he doesn't want. It simply wouldn't be worth trying to get him to take anything against his will and I doubt I could persuade him to taste anything that smells like the tonic.

[velcromom]

Well I just mustered up the courage to try the tonic, straight off a tablespoon.(I am such a chicken!!) Surprise, I like it! I wanted more! I was thinking maybe people that already love hot spicy stuff would like it, but not me. So glad I was wrong!

I am going to have to start a new batch because I don't think my measly 8oz is going to last long. And, I think I want the next batch to be hotter; it wasn't as spicy as it could have been because the only peppers I had were jalapenos.

I noticed on reading up about it at various places online that some say "do NOT dilute in water" so what are your thoughts on adding it to foods?

[LionTigerBear]

I just found this thread today but I first made this "tonic" about a week ago! Funny! The recipe was posted in my local health food store with copies to take home and all the ingredients right there, except for the peppers. I used dried cayenne pepper powder instead. Everything else was fresh and organic.

The first few times I wook it I felt great afterwards! Then after one night that I took it, and woke up and took twice the regular dose the next morning, it made me feel instantly very, very ill. I doubled over with a stomach cramp almost instantly, felt really dizzy and lightheaded and nauseous. It was awful but it also passed within a few minutes. I haven't had that reaction since then, but I think I took too much at the time and it was a severe candida die-off reaction. Crazy!

I love that stuff, though. No one else in my family will try it! Oh well!!!

[IsaFrench]

is it ok to replace ACV with fresh lemon juice in the master tonic ?

[velcromom]

I've been wondering about alternatives too - I have a relative I'd like to make some for, but they hate vinegar.

I am thinking about simply lactofermenting the ingredients in a salt brine for them. I know that it technically wouldn't be real Master Tonic, but I imagine that it would still be very beneficial.

[IsaFrench]

thank you for your answer Velcromom, I'll go and research ratios for salt/water now !!! ...

am I obssessed with lemon or what ???? ....=> would it be Ok to mix a little of the fermented brew with freshly squeezed lemon juice at the time of consuming then ? or would the acid or other components of the lemon juice "kill" the probiotics in the fermented mixture ???

I'm thinking of dropping garlic and onion in the food processor prior to fermenting so that I get a kind of soupy texture .... we don't use cayenne or pimiento much where I live so i'm still searching for what I could be adding to my two starter food ...any suggestion ?

[Aubergine68]

Originally Posted by IsaFrench

thank you for your answer Velcromom, I'll go and research ratios for salt/water now !!! ...

Please let us know how this turns out!

I finally got my fresh horseradish -- five pounds of it! Enough to keep me warm through the whole Canadian winter, I'd say, judging by the heat it gives off when you grate it! I'm actually going to try to root some as houseplants and plant it out in the spring. Apparently it is like ginger root and not hard to propagate this way, but we'll see....

I added some to the two jars of master tonic I had in storage, and to the jar I have in progress, which is close to being empty. I'm going to make another batch because what I have won't last the winter, and I'd like to do some as gifts. Maybe I'll call it "fire cider" instead of tonic and gift it as a hot sauce, that can also be used as a cold and flu remedy.....planning the label wording in my head....