[TheForge] dutch oven OT:

[Bruce .]

Keeping soup going for 9 mos. might be safe if you run a wood stove
HOT all the time, but please be careful otherwise.

Someone I knew once told me her "trick" of cooking something up in a
pressure cooker, then leaving it on the stove -- cold -- all night
because it "was almost like canning."  I immediately replied that it
differed from canning in that when it cooled, air -- and bacteria --
leaked in and started going to work on the contents.  She's lucky she
never got food poisoning from this "trick"!

You can get away with stuff like this through dumb luck.  Rather like
you frequently can get away with speeding down a highway w/o killing
yourself.  But your luck can run out.

I suggest everybody read up on canning, JUST to learn about how food
can spoil.  I expect those of you who cook are aware of the 40F-140F
rule:  "Keep food below 40F or above 140F -- lest it spoil."  But are
you aware of thermophillic bacteria that THRIVE between 113F and 252F?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermophilic_bacteria