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I was recently traveling in New Zealand and had an opportunity to visit the Te Puke truffle farm. They explained why truffle oil is not made by infusing truffl

by lisper 2y ago

I was recently traveling in New Zealand and had an opportunity to visit the Te Puke truffle farm. They explained why truffle oil is not made by infusing truffles in oil: it's because truffles can harbor botulism, which is anaerobic, and so dunking a truffle in oil creates a perfect environment for botulism to thrive. "Fake" truffle oil is a feature, quite literally not a bug.

mattmaroon 2y ago
I would think you could fix that pretty easily with a heat step. There are real truffle oils made that way I assume that’s what they do. Botulism can survive boiling, but not pressure cooking, which is only a little bit hotter, And below the point which oils are destroyed.
- lisper 2y ago
  My guess is that would also destroy the flavor. But I don’t know.
  - mattmaroon 2y ago
    I don’t know either. I’ve found truffle oil made with real truffles in stores, and if there’s one thing doing packaged food has taught me it’s that you cannot make a product with botulism risk without doing something to reduce it to practically zero. I believe the only surface preparation kill step for pathogens of any sort is citrus fruit, which can be pasteurized by dipping in something because only the peel can harbor any pathogens. (I could be wrong on that but I did go through that recently.) When you package anything, whichever department of ag you’re regulated by analyzes your ingredients and process to make sure you get a certain log reduction of any pathogens of interest. If there’s any risk at all, you have to have all of this greenlit by a process authority. (Oddly, Cornell is the 800 lb gorilla of that market, a huge chunk of packaged food in the US paid them for it.) If someone is packaging real truffle oil anywhere in the US, and assuming botulism is a pathogen of interest (which I don’t know but does sound sensible) there’s definitely a kill step. I’ve never worked with mushrooms or any recipes that have low acid, so I don’t know what it is in this case. But I’m sure there is one.

by lisper 2y ago

mattmaroon 2y ago

I would think you could fix that pretty easily with a heat step. There are real truffle oils made that way I assume that’s what they do. Botulism can survive boiling, but not pressure cooking, which is only a little bit hotter, And below the point which oils are destroyed.

lisper 2y ago
My guess is that would also destroy the flavor. But I don’t know.
- mattmaroon 2y ago
  I don’t know either. I’ve found truffle oil made with real truffles in stores, and if there’s one thing doing packaged food has taught me it’s that you cannot make a product with botulism risk without doing something to reduce it to practically zero. I believe the only surface preparation kill step for pathogens of any sort is citrus fruit, which can be pasteurized by dipping in something because only the peel can harbor any pathogens. (I could be wrong on that but I did go through that recently.) When you package anything, whichever department of ag you’re regulated by analyzes your ingredients and process to make sure you get a certain log reduction of any pathogens of interest. If there’s any risk at all, you have to have all of this greenlit by a process authority. (Oddly, Cornell is the 800 lb gorilla of that market, a huge chunk of packaged food in the US paid them for it.) If someone is packaging real truffle oil anywhere in the US, and assuming botulism is a pathogen of interest (which I don’t know but does sound sensible) there’s definitely a kill step. I’ve never worked with mushrooms or any recipes that have low acid, so I don’t know what it is in this case. But I’m sure there is one.