sulphur candles?

[alec-ish]

didnt know where else to post this so hope its ok here
i was watching a programe the other day (the wartime kitchen and garden) and saw something very interesting i had never heard of before
the lady was making dryed apple rings and she lit a sulphur candle and filled a jar with the fumes then but the apple rings in the jar to help them keep colour and preserve/dry better
has anyone used this before? and know if it any good? also where to get a sulpher candle from? i thought it might taint the taste of the apple?
i had so many apples last year i made pies jams wine jellies and still couldnt use them all so this could be handy

[Green Aura]

I'm not sure they're necessary Alec. I know many commercially dried fruits - apricots being the most obvious - are sulphured. They're the bright orange ones. Then you get to pay extra for the brown unsulphured ones .

It's only cosmetic, I think.

Don't know what sulphur does to your body. But I work on the premise, if it ain't necessary don't use it. Do you care if your apple rings are discoloured?

[alec-ish]

well to be honest i wouldnt care if they were abit brown, its just when i tried to dry apples before it didnt work well so thought it might help
when ive dried mushrooms its been fine so must have got it wrong with the apples
and i didnt like the sound of suphur fumes in my food either so next time will try again without
thanks

[MKG]

It ain't the sulphur - it's the sulphur dioxide which is produced by burning those candles. It's a very good bactericide/fungicide/allmannerofthingscide. It's been used in one form or another for a few centuries now and you'll find it in all kinds of foodstuffs (including wine). If it's not overused, there's no discernible taste. However, some people have the kind of metabolism which doesn't like it very much, and some people just don't like the use of it because there are other (more natural?) ways of achieving the same effect. It's up to you and your own opinions about chemical additives.

My two-penn'orth - sulphur dioxide is fine by me.

Mike

EDIT: You'll get the same effect by rinsing out jars with a solution of sodium metabisulphite (or Campden tablets) which you can get from any homebrew supplier.

[Carltonian Man]

Hi Alec-ish

Juice from a fresh squeezed lemon in half a pint of water is good for soaking sliced apple prior to drying them. Keeps the colour faily well and helps with preserving.

[alec-ish]

thanks everyone for your help i think i might have a go with the candle this year and have a go with the lemons too!