Is it OK to use moldy ginger?

Search: moldy ginger

Why: Chandler has been making ginger ale, but today, the ginger root looks like this:

I don't know what that yellow Hershey Kiss thing is. I think it's like a potato eye.

Answer: I don't know! Maybe! But maybe not, so maybe just throw it away and go buy some more.

Here are some postings from a LiveJournal thread called "Can I Eat This?" (which would be a good name / idea for a blog, in case anyone out there needs something to do):

• if it were a really big piece and you cut off a good portion around the moldy part then it might have been safe, but sometimes its better safe than sorry...
• I would have cut off the mold and used it.

But I store my fresh ginger root in a jar full of white sherry so I don't have to worry about mold.

• I store mine in the freezer. Doesn't stick to the grater when its frozen either.

The Herb Gardener details the art of Preserving Ginger:

Select and clean a piece of ginger root. I don't peel the outer skin off mine until I'm about to use it, so leave that intact. Place it in a glass jar and cover it completely with sherry. Any grade of sherry will do, but if you're a sherry purist, by all means use the good stuff. The sherry will saturate and preserve the ginger. Slice the amount you need, then peel and mince it.

Source: LiveJournal, The Herb Gardener,

The More You Know: Homemade ginger ale tastes pretty good. Here is the system Chandler has been using:

• Dissolve 1 c sugar in about 1/2 c water in a saucepan and let cool.
  
• Combine 2 T fresh grated ginger, the juice of 1 lemon, and 1/4 t of dry active yeast in a clean 2 liter plastic bottle.
  
• Add the simple syrup from the pan, fill the rest of the way up with filtered water and seal it up.
  
• Leave at room temp for 2 days or until it's too tight to squeeze, then refrigerate. Filter through something like a tea strainer or cheesecloth, either as needed or the whole bottle at once.
  

The only things are that a) it smells like a rancid corpse [forever] and b) it looks like this:

Don't forget that ginger is good for you! Eat it in candy! (I have this.)