It might help for us to know what you are canning. Substituting, or omitting wine will depend on what you're making.

For something like tomato sauce, you could eliminate it altogether, or maybe substitute with a fraction of the amount of balsamic vinegar?

Agree. It depends on the recipe. In many cases the wine is just optional and can be safely left out. In some it is there for acidity and so required. The approved substitutions are vinegar (either cider or white), wine vinegar (if 5%), bottled lemon juice and bottled lime juice but the amounts to use would vary from recipe to recipe.

I assume you also understand that any alcohol added to a recipe evaporates rapidly during cooking? So it isn't as if you'd be eating or drinking the alcohol.

Dave

I found a few references to pH of wines vs. grape juice:

Wines 2.8 - 3.8
Welch's White Grape 2.8

Couldn't find any definitive number for purple grape juice, but as far as acidity is concerned, it seems grape juice is just as acid as wine (if not more so). Looks, to me, like you could very safely substitute grape juice for wine.

Well, three of the recipes are these that were posted on the greatest hits thread. I will have to look and see if I can find the others.

Chunky Basil Pasta Sauce

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
8 cups (2 L) coarsely chopped peeled tomatoes -- (about 9-12 tomatoes or 4 lb/2 kg)
1 cup chopped onion -- (250 mL)
3 cloves garlic -- minced
2/3 cup red wine -- (150 mL)
1/3 cup red wine vinegar (5 % strength) -- (75 mL)
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil -- (125 mL)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley -- (15 mL)
1 teaspoon pickling salt -- (5 mL)
1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar -- (2 mL)
1 6-oz/156 mL) can tomato paste

Combine tomatoes, onion, garlic, wine, vinegar, basil, parsley, salt, sugar and tomato paste in a very large non-reactive pan. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for 40 minutes or until mixture reaches desired consistency, stirring frequently.

Remove hot jars from canner and ladle sauce into jars to within 1/2 inch (1 cm) of rim (head space). Process 35 minutes for pin (500 mL) jars and 40 minutes for quart (1 L) jars in a BWB.

Yield:
"8 cups"

Note: This sauce also makes an excellent base for a quick pizza.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

* Exported from MasterCook *

Multi-Use Tomato Sauce

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
10 plum tomatoes -- (about 2 1/2 lbs./1 kg)
10 large tomatoes -- peeled and chopped (about 4 lbs./2 kg)
4 large garlic cloves -- minced
2 large stalks celery -- chopped
2 medium carrots -- chopped
1 large onion -- chopped
1 large zucchini -- chopped
1 large sweet green pepper -- chopped
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes -- (125 mL)
2/3 cup dry red wine -- (150 mL)
1/2 cup red wine vinegar (5% strength or more) -- (125 mL)
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon pickling salt -- (15 mL)
2 teaspoons dried oregano -- (10 mL)
2 teaspoons dried basil -- (10 mL)
1 teaspoon granulated sugar -- (5 mL) (optional)
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon -- (2 mL) (optional)
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper -- (2 mL)
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley -- (50 mL)

Combine tomatoes, celery, garlic, onion, zucchini and green pepper in a very large non-reactive pan. Add 1 cup (250 mL) water. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat and boil gently, covered, for 25 minutes or until mixture begins to thicken, stirring occasionally.

Soak sun-dried tomatoes in boiling water until softened. Drain and dice. Add to sauce with wine, vinegar, bay leaves, salt, oregano, basil, sugar, cinamon and pepper. Continue to boil gently until desired consistency, stirring frequently. Discard bay leaves and stir in parsley.

Remove hot jars from canner and ladle sauce into jars to within 1/2 inch (1 cm) of rim (head space). Process in a BWB 35 minutes for pint (500 mL) jars and 40 minutes for quart (1 L) jars.

Yield:
"12 cups"

Pear and Currant Chutney

Makes 2 - 3 cups
1 cup dried currants
6 tbls pear brandy
4 pears, peeled, cored and cut into ½" pieces
2 ribs celery, cut into ¼" pieces
½ cup sugar
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
3  3 ½ inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
pinch cayenne

Put currants and brandy into a medium saucepan and simmer over medium heat until currants are plump and have absorbed most of the liquor, about 7 minutes. Add pears, celery, sugar, lemon juice, ginger and cayenne and stir well. Return to simmer, reduce head to medium low and simmer until pears are very soft and translucent and juices are thick and syrupy, about 1 hour.

Put chutney into a clean jar with a tight lid or hot water bath 10 minutes. If not processed, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Allow chutney to sit for a couple of weeks, the flavor improves with age.

These are from my Ball Complete book of home preserving. I can post the recipes if needed but it is a lot of typing and I know that several of you have the book! :)

Pear Port Compote pg 169
Cranberry Rum sauce pg 180
Blackberry Liqueur Syrup pg 198
Bruschetta in a Jar 223
Lemon-Sage Wine mustard pg 270

I know I have seen a couple more on here in threads but I will have to look for them. I figure I am pretty safe on the fruit ones since they are high in acid anyways but I wanted to make sure, and I know that Carol said that one of the recipes above was not safe without the wine.

So I guess that the juice is not an acceptable substitute?

Dave - Yes I understand that, but due to the fact that it is for religious reasons I will also not cook with it or even purchase it at all. So that's why I need the substitutions! :)

Thanks!

Carly

No problem. Sure there are many recipes available that call for some sort of alcohol but that doesn't mean they are the only recipe for that particular food available by any means. Usually they are only found in the so-called "gourmet" or "upscale" cookbooks, but basic non-liquored recipes exist for most all of them too. So it isn't so much finding a substitution for the liquor as it is just finding an alternate recipe. ;)

Pear Compote and Cranberry Sauce recipes are common. Blackberry Liqueur Syrup - just use the recipe for Blackberry Syrup instead. See NCHFP. In Pear and Currant Chutney just leave the brandy out and add 6 T more lemon juice.

In the Chunky Basil Pasta Sauce it is there for liquid (to avoid being too dense), for flavor, and for acidity. You can sub 2/3 c of the red wine vinegar for a total of 1 cup or you can leave out the red wine vinegar too and just use 1 cup of cider vinegar. I would be inclined to try 1/2 cup each of vinegar and lemon juice. But you need the whole 1 cup of some liquid.

In the Multi-Use Tomato Sauce the same substitutions would work as long as you end up with 1 1/8 cup total acid liquid.

You just need to keep the ratio of acid liquid and total liquid to all the other ingredients the same.

Hope this helps.

Dave

I am not very knowledgeable on wines, so I won't pretend to be. However, when I asked Elizabeth Andress a while back about different acids, she did tell me the type of acid and the way in which it is a preservative do make a difference. That is why she told me that the "acid blend" that someone posted about a long time ago would not suffice to acidify foods like citric acid would.
So, I think it may be a good thing to email her and ask her, just to be sure.
I guess my concern would be that it would be like the difference between citric acid, ascorbic acid, acetic acid, etc. I would have to know for sure you are dealing with the same type of acid and how it affects that particular recipe. Is it for the safety or just a flavor that is being added in the recipe ?
Here is how you can contact her :

Malna - Thanks for that information! It seems the acidity is right so maybe I can after all.

Linda Lou - Thanks for the link, I think I will contact her and find out what I could safely use.

Dave - That is a very good idea about finding alternate recipes! I hadn't thought of that. I just find a recipe and it gets me to thinking about how good it would be and trying to find a way to make that particular one! LOL!!

So am I safe to assume that vinegars(5% and above), lemon and lime juice are all higher in acidity than wine?

I guess I need to contact Mrs. Andress and see which of these would be acceptable substitutes that way I could hopefully have a variety of options and still be safe! I would like to stay as close to the original flavor of the recipe as possible. I don't think I would want a whole cup of lemon juice in tomato sauce or something like that! LOL! Course I guess you don't know until you try it! :)

Thanks!

Carly

So am I safe to assume that vinegars(5% and above), lemon and lime juice are all higher in acidity than wine?

Probably tho there may be some exceptions.

The main advantage is that the acidity levels of all those are standardized so can be counted on to do the job. But make note that it must be bottled lemon and lime juice, not fresh, which is why we always try to remember to type "bottled lemon/lime juice". Fresh isn't approved as it varies greatly.

While the acidity levels of wines isn't standardized, varies from variety to variety, and bottle to bottle and isn't usually even indicated on the label.

Dave