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Need Help With Recipe Safety

13 years ago

Hi All,

I've had these cucumber pickles, loved them and was given the recipe. I made them a month or so ago and I think they turned out great. I'm enjoying them. Now I keep reading about possible safety issues with pickle recipes. Would you please look at this recipe and tell me what you think?

7 pounds cucumbers

1 cup lime

10 pounds sugar (20 cups)

2 qts. cider vinegar (made sure it was 5%)

6 cinnamon sticks

1 tsp mace

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp whole cloves

1st day - wash and slice cucumbers, soak in lime and enough water to cover

2nd day - rinse twice in cold water (I rinsed 3 or 4 times)

Soak in mixture of vinegar, sugar, and spices (in spice bag)

3rd day - bring to a boil, continue boiling for 20 minutes,

pack in jars, process 10 to 15 minutes in hot water bath

All of the lids sealed.

Any thoughts will be appreciated. Thanks!

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Comments (8)

digdirt2
13 years ago
Looks fine to me since it is 100% vinegar. I wouldn't use the mace but that is optional.

Dave
readinglady
13 years ago
I agree with Dave. No problem as long as the lime is thoroughly rinsed.

It's an interesting combination of spices.

Carol
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The Colorado State Extension document on pickled peppers (revised 3/08 so quite recent) does have a recipe for pickled peppers in oil which uses vinegar, not lemon juice, at a ratio of 5 cups of vinegar to 1 of water and 3/4 cup of oil. So there is a safe-tested recipe available for Hot Peppers Marinated in Oil which uses vinegar. Having made peppers marinated in oil I wouldn't do it again. It's very messy (requiring even more care than usual to assure there's no oil under the seal) calls for a longer processing time (which affects texture) and doesn't hold up on the shelf as long (oil can turn rancid). Just my 2 cents, but if I want oil in the marinade, I'll pour off the pickling solution after opening the jar and add some. I would not be sure the original recipe as posted is unsafe, though the processing time is short. It's either untested or perhaps tested but from a reputable source we don't recognize. The whole issue is we don't know one way or the other, especially without attribution. Carol Here is a link that might be useful: Making Pickled Peppers at Home
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Sugar doesn't affect pH, just taste, so it and the amount of it are optional. The problem would be the ratio of vinegar to water. The safe recipes call for a 1:1 ratio of vinegar to water and that is the lowest recommended safe ratio. This recipe is a ratio of 0.66:1 so too low in vinegar (or too high in water). Granted the processing time is doubled but longer processing doesn't make it safe if the acidity level is too low to begin with. It just makes the beans softer. ;) Stick with the approved 1:1 ratio of vinegar to water and the rest of the recipe is fine. Dave PS: I'd give some serious thought to using the spices in a spice bag rather than leaving them loose and packed in the jars. Especially the bay leaves and cloves as they can get very strong during shelf storage. But it is taste issue not a safety issue so your choice.
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I feel your pain. Suggestion: try allrecipes.com,,they have some collections like Xmas extra with all of it together. That might help and you can do an advanced search where you put in name of recipe or main ingred you want or don't want in a recipe,,that could help you track down some lost stuff. Plus I like that they are rated and people tell how the dish turned out,,what improvements they made etc. I can bring up bread pudding without raisins or if I have extra bananas on hand I pulled it up using bananas in the bread pudding and got hits there too. About.com in their food section has some wonderful recipes that I've made for years and lots of collections too. Now you got your work cut out for you in deciding....that is the hardest part you know. I hope you have a great first hosting experience,,,just remember, it's just one meal,,this won't make or break a persons life. Why don't you ask some that are coming to "bring your favorite XYZ dish" to help you out? I've done those,,"I'll do the whole thing dinners" and by the time I'm thru, I'm too tired to enjoy it,,I'm broke and say I'm not doing this again. Or, how about ordering some stuff from Honey baked ham or whatever. Take advantage of Costco, they have great appetizers you can pop in the oven. I'm just thinking out loud here. Have a good one. Nicole
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Just because someone is vegan doesn't mean that other members in their family are. And I think she is upset about the recall because it isn't advertized more.... If there is a contamination and she didn't find out until she went on a web site then she or other people she knows could be feeding their family or eating contaminated meat and not know it. I don't like to eat meat alot that is why I come here to find some great recipes to make for myself. my husband is a meat and potatoes guy so I have to buy it for him so this could be why she is "upset" just my 2 cents.
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pixie_lou
13 years ago
Wow. That is A Lot of sugar.
annie1992
13 years ago
It looks just fine to me too. Sweet pickles have an inordinate amount of sugar anyway. The sweet pickle chunks I canned tonight using Linda Lou's recipe, have 8 cups of sugar per quart of vinegar, so just a little less than this recipe.

It is an interesting mixture of spices, not something I've seen before, but they do sound good.

Annie
readinglady
13 years ago
That's an old recipe. The high amount of sugar "candies" the cucumbers.

It's possible the vinegar used originally was 10% or 15% instead of 5%, which also helps account for the sugar level. That's true of many old relishes and pickles. The sugar mellows the extreme acidity (and contributes to the safety and keeping qualities of a pickle that probably wasn't water bathed).

Carol
blondiesc
Original Author
13 years ago
Thank you all so much! Your answers made my day, I didn't want to throw out my pickles.

You should try the recipe, they really are very good!
willow81
13 years ago
So sounds interesting, but could I half the amount of sugar? No safety issues, correct?
readinglady
13 years ago
No safety issues as long as the cucumbers are well covered by the syrup and not packed too tightly (so there's plenty of syrup around the cucumber slices).

It will just be a different pickle.

Carol

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