Featured Pruno

  • Some of the links on this forum allow SMF, at no cost to you, to earn a small commission when you click through and make a purchase. Let me know if you have any questions about this.
SMF is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.
Pruno: A Recipe for Botulism


You may have heard about a cheap, quick way to make a kind of homemade alcohol that goes by many different names, including pruno, hooch, brew, prison wine, and buck. No matter what it’s called, it can give you more than a cheap buzz. It can give you botulism, a life-threatening illness.
What is botulism?
Botulism is a rare but serious illness caused by a toxin (poison) that attacks the body’s nerves and can lead to paralysis and death. Because the disease can paralyze the muscles used in breathing, people can die soon after symptoms first appear. Even those who get medical treatment right away may be paralyzed and hooked up to a ventilator (breathing machine) for many weeks.
One way people get botulism is by eating or drinking something that has the toxin in it. Some prison inmates in California, Arizona, Utah, and Mississippi have gotten botulism after making and drinking pruno. Almost all of those inmates had to be hospitalized for treatment, and many were put on a ventilator (breathing machine) for days or even weeks. All of the botulism outbreaks linked to pruno have occurred among inmates. However, anyone who drinks this kind of alcohol is at risk.
How can pruno give me botulism?
When people make pruno, they usually ferment fruit, sugar, water, and other common ingredients for several days in a sealed plastic bag. Making alcohol this way can cause botulism germs to make toxin (poison). The toxin is what makes you sick.
It’s hard to know if pruno has botulism toxin in it, because you can’t see, smell, or taste the toxin.
How can I stay safe?
If you make pruno, you put yourself and anyone who drinks it in danger of getting botulism. The alcohol in your drink won’t destroy the toxin (make it harmless). The only way to be sure you don’t get botulism from pruno is to not drink it.
We don’t know how to make this kind of alcohol safely. But we do know that batches of pruno that gave people botulism used at least one of these ingredients:
  • Potatoes
  • Honey
  • Food from bulging cans
How would I know if I have botulism?

If you drink pruno and have symptoms of botulism, get medical help immediately. Be sure to tell your doctor that you drank pruno. The sooner you get medical help, the better your chances of surviving the illness.


Remember, if you want to keep from getting botulism, your best bet is to not drink pruno. But if you do and you have symptoms of botulism, get medical help immediately and tell your doctor that you drank pruno.

Some of the symptoms of botulism are:


  • Double vision
  • Blurred vision
  • Drooping eyelids
  • Slurred speech
  • Difficulty swallowing
  • A thick-feeling tongue
  • Dry mouth
  • Muscle weakness

As the disease gets worse, you may develop more symptoms, such as:


  • Difficulty breathing
  • Paralysis (can’t move your body)
Please do not use this article as reference. I usually support cdc publications but this document is riddled with misinformation when taken out of context and their reference sources are non-existent to set forth any context.

This article does have value for healthcare professional and social workers identifying disease processes in prisons, homeless camps or other rural and usually poor environments (3rd world countries) where people are trying to make alcohol from anything available (not resourceful, rather, desperate).

The only noteworthy part of the article the mention of using "bulging cans" meaning they used a sugar source that was already infected with botulism.
You cannot make chicken soup from chicken poop.
So long as your source ingredients are not already infected with botulism and you maintain a mold-free fermentation through proper sanitation techniques, you will be completely safe.

Botulism is anaerobic. This only occurs if you have a sealed environment. If you allow primary fermentation in an open but covered container - not sealed, you cannot possibly create an anaerobic environment.

So long as you are not Starting with a "poisoned product" you will not make poison (reserving debate that alcohol is a poison.)

Debates spring up on homebrewing forums about it now and then. Dave is right that there is risk, but that can be very much reduced and essentially eliminated by losing the jail house prep. Make it acidic enough and boil and it will be safe. About the recipe. From memory, most agree the use of bread, fruit and/or peels and sugar. Just a wild a$$ guess that a loaf of bread, a lemon, pound of sugar, boiled in 1G water for 10m would get in the ballpark. Cool and add some wine yeast and be ready for drinking in a week.
You are blending many mixed recipes. No need to boil anything if using fruit juices.

If using bread, check out Kvass, its a really low abv (1-3%abv) beverage made from mashing bread (kind of like boiling bread).

I’d be interested in the recipe/process
Check out www.homebrewtalk.com as everything is available to you there. It's ridiculously easy to make a SAFE drinkable product.

If you are not interested in another forum, I'd be happy to help, just pm me. With next to nothing in an investment and just a little patience, I can have you making ciders abd beer in no time.
 
Those wanting to make pruno have never had to drink it, it's as simple as that.:emoji_dizzy_face::emoji_poop::emoji_stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes::emoji_stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes::emoji_stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes::emoji_tired_face:
 
SmokingMeatForums.com is reader supported and as an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases.

Latest posts

Hot Threads

Clicky