Too much vinegar in Hellfire Chutney?

13 years ago

Has anyone tried the Hellfire Chutney from 'The Complete Book of Small-batch preserving' (2nd edition, pg. 219) and found it too vinegar-y? I just made a triple batch and I found there's a strong vinegar aftertaste to the chutney. Maybe it's my taste buds, but I don't know if this is how this chutney supposed to taste. Will the vinegar mellow over time? I went ahead and BWB the jars anyways, but the aftertaste is very strong.

I used 1.125L + 150mL white vinegar and 3 lbs. of dates.

It's a lovely chutney otherwise, but maybe there is an error in the book regarding the amount of vinegar?

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Comments (3)

readinglady
13 years ago
It will mellow over time so I wouldn't draw too many conclusions based on the present flavor.

If you like the recipe otherwise but still find after 6 weeks or so that the flavor is too sharp, a couple of options are to beef up the sugar a bit. I wouldn't use more honey but instead use a natural light sugar like demerara, which goes very well in chutney.

Personally I am not a fan of distilled white vinegar and generally I avoid it. It's too harsh. I use either white wine vinegar (5% acidity) or preferably natural apple cider vinegar. It yields a much softer flavor.

Many recipes call for the distilled because cider darkens the product, but otherwise it can offer many benefits.

Carol
gooberstraw
Original Author
13 years ago
Thank you so much for your sound advice, Carol. I was sitting debating whether I should throw out the whole batch. I had planned on giving the jars for Christmas, but with the way it tastes right now, I'd be embarrased to do so.

I'll heed your advice and wait 6 weeks before attempting to rescue it with sugar. I should have known better to ask here first before trying the recipe, but I've been having nothing but good results with the recipes from the book, so I didn't think this would happen.

I think I'll be more wary next time with recipes calling for distilled white vinegar and try a small batch with cider or white wine vinegar instead.

Just curious - I often see 'Pickling Vinegar' in supermarkets (I think it says 10%), but never seen a recipe that uses it. If distilled vinegar imparts such harsh flavor, why use 10%?

Anyways, thanks again Carol for your quick response
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readinglady
13 years ago
"Pickling vinegar" used to be used in old relish and pickle recipes that were open-kettle canned. You can almost guarantee the a recipe that calls for a lot of sugar with the vinegar is an old one that originally required high levels of sweetener to compensate for the harsh effect of the acid.

You also see that in recipes that don't call for a minimum of 50:50 vinegar to water. Some of those "weaker" brines originally weren't really that weak, not when you allow for a higher vinegar strength.

Carol

Too much vinegar in Hellfire Chutney?

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readinglady

gooberstraw
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Too much vinegar in Hellfire Chutney?

Comments (3)

readinglady

gooberstrawOriginal Author

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gooberstraw
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