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Question about 5% acidity and pickles

10 years ago

The directions on the back of my canning/pickling salt says to use 1:2 ratio of vinegar to water and it specifies 5%.. However I repeatedly see people here saying the minimum is a 1:1 ratio of 5%.

The recipe is
9 pounds cucumbers
1 cup canning salt
1 quart 5% vinegar
2 quarts water
then the seasonings

It says to boil the vinegar/water and salt and pour over the packed cucumbers then process in a hot water bath for 15 minutes, which I did. It says they're ready in 4 weeks, and if a jar doesn't seal to refrigerate and consume within 2 weeks.

But reading through threads here, now I'm concerned. Is there a product being sold (it was just bought a couple months ago) with potentially dangerous/deadly instructions, are people here overly paranoid or is there just something I'm missing?

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Comments (7)

digdirt2
10 years ago
However I repeatedly see people here saying the minimum is a 1:1 ratio of 5%.

What we say is 1:1 is the lowest approved ratio IF you are not using a tested, approved recipe. There are approved and tested recipes with a lower ratio both in the Ball books and at NCHFP.

The recipe on a bag of canning salt may have been tested and approved. I can't say. But if it was it should stipulate that in the instructions. Otherwise it is just some recipe that the salt manufacturer put on the bag and it could be decades outdated.

When it comes to evaluating safety in canning one has to consider the source. ie: which is more reliable? Ball Blue Book or some homemaker's personal blog? A recipe published in a 1954 cookbook or one in a recent edition of Ziedrich's Joy of Pickling?

Normally I wouldn't consider a recipe on a bag of anything, even canning salt, to be a reputable source for canning info, especially when so many approved safe recipes are readily available from reliable sources. JMO

Dave
IAmSupernova
Original Author
10 years ago
Only refrence I can find to 'testing' is that unless otherwise noted user submitted recipes haven't been tested by their (salt company) kitchens. This particular recipe however, is submitted by them (not a user). Reading between the lines I could assume that their recipes are tested, and they only bother to test certain user submitted ones. How safe an assumption that would be, I have no idea.

http://recipes.mrswages.com/recipedetail.aspx?id=1454

In the future I'll use a different recipe, just trying to decide whether these will be safe to eat or not. I read I could reprocess them but I don't want to do that because they will get mushy.

This was my first time canning anything I grew, and I expect there will be at least a few more 'screw ups' before the whole process just comes naturally.

This post was edited by IAmSupernova on Sat, May 18, 13 at 16:17
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loki, the problem with pickles is that they aren't cooked further, they are eaten right out of the jar. If the vinegar brine is not acidic enough, the low acid vegetables can spoil, causing food poisoning or even botulism. I regularly cut sugar in things like jam, because they are high acid fruits, a much safer medium than vegetables. The rule of thumb for brined vegetables is 1:1 vinegar and water. Also, sugar is a preservative and the tested recipes are carefully balanced to be sure the acidity level is safe and that the final product won't spoil. Low sugar items tend to spoil more quickly than their full sugar counterparts. As for peppers, you're talking about another low acid food. You need a ratio of acidity to low acid foods, whether that acidity be vinegar, lime juice, lemon juice, etc. The more low acid foods in a recipe, the more acidity that's required. Testing recipes? Best of luck to you. You can have it tested at a private lab but I can't even conjecture on the cost. It took me 5 years to get my salsa recipe tested and approved and that was years ago, when I had a good friend who ran the local extension service and intervened with the university. I couldn't even imagine trying to get something tested by the federal government. Canning is a science. If you are new at it I wouldn't fool around changing recipes, I'd find one that suits you that's been tested and follow that recipe. when you are more familiar and know the safety rules, then it's your choice. As another option, The Center for Home food Preservation still has the on-line canning/food safety classes, or did the last time I checked. They were free when I checked also. You might take some of those and become more familiar with the process and that might help you. Annie
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readinglady
10 years ago
If you are using a Mrs. Wages flavor mix with the pickles, those mixes often have additional citric acid, making a lower ratio of vinegar to water possible.

I would trust a Mrs. Wages recipe if it called for one of their packaged mixes with additional citric acid.

For other recipes I would go to their website and post a question with their canning expert. I see she is a retired University of Illinois Extension employee, so I expect she has the background to provide the information you need.

Carol
IAmSupernova
Original Author
10 years ago
No it wasn't that kinda seasoning mix, it comes in it's own jar and is just mixed whole spices like cloves, peppercorns, mustard seed, dill seed etc.
digdirt2
10 years ago
What is the brand of canning salt? Did you check their website?

Dave
IAmSupernova
Original Author
10 years ago
It's Mrs. Wages. The pickling spices were from Ball.
myfamilysfarm
10 years ago
Mrs. Wages carries the spice mixes and pickling spices/salt. Just like Ball, just a different company.

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