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I have two books with differing advice on the use of rowan berries, one says that it is fine to use them with crab apples in a jelly, but the other warns that they can be fatal, all advice gratefully received.

I've made rowan berry jelly before and i'm still here! : ) I think they are poisonous if consumed raw, but cooking takes care of that.

HTH
Kate

Thanks for that info kate, if you don't hear from the hague clan, you can safely assume i've not cooked them properly.
I have vague recollections of my nan making rowan jelly before and we also survived that, will keep everyone posted lol

Somewhere in my mind's dark recesses I seem to remember that there are 2 kinds of Rowan berry,one better to use for eating than the other - the Mountain Rowan I beleive is better.
I too make jelly with no ill effects.
Also like with many berries boiling and obtaining the juice is fine but you wouldnt want to eat the actual berry.That is where I believe it is harmful.
Hope that helps

sheena wrote:I have two books with differing advice on the use of rowan berries, one says that it is fine to use them with crab apples in a jelly, but the other warns that they can be fatal, all advice gratefully received.

Well, it's one of those things... Yes, Rowan berries could be fatal when raw, if you were to eat a unbelievably vast amount of them. However, given how absolutely minging they taste raw, there's absolutely no way you could. Actually, I'm not sure that it would be physically possible to eat that many Rowan berries, no matter what they taste like...

Remember, you can kill yourself by drinking too much water. Everything is fatal in large enough quantities.

The book that says rowanberries can be fatal - I would seriously advise you to compost it to retrieve its true value.

Mike

i also make jam but make a blackberry and rowanberry jelly instead. The rowan add a little tartness to the jam and makes for a very nice adult jam. It benefits from a small maturation time o dont be tempted to eat straight away.

I have aldo read that there is an alcoholic drink made from powdered rowan berries???

Making fruit leather out of them works a treat too! And, I don't think I'm dead.