Franklin County

                                   May 2009


 

Substitute canning ingredients with caution

For success when canning, gather any supplies needed before washing or slicing vegetables, fruit, or meat.

For safety, stick to current USDA approved recipes. The proper amounts of acid, salt, and sugar are necessary to prevent the growth of microorganisms.

Pickles. Pickle recipes must be exact, and may become unsafe if ingredients are adjusted.

Vinegar. Since low acid vegetables are used when making pickles, the correct amount and type of vinegar is essential to yield a safe product. Use a commercial white or cider vinegar with 5% acidity for canning. White vinegar is best for light colored fruits or vegetables to prevent discoloring the product.

Do not change the vinegar to water ratio in recipes for a less tart product. Do not dilute the amount of vinegar. In fresh pack pickles, the vinegar is the essential ingredient.

Salt. Salt may be omitted when canning vegetables in a pressure canner. Current processing times and temperatures have been developed to be safe, even if salt is omitted.

However, in sauerkraut and brined pickles, the salt is required to control dangerous bacteria and provide a safe product.

Follow recipes exactly. Carefully measure ingredients, or weigh both salt and shredded cabbage when preparing fermented products. The brine must be salty enough to inhibit undesirable bacteria, but still allow fermentation bacteria to grow. Use pickling or canning salt for best results. Table salt contains added ingredients which prevent clumping; however, these ingredients tend to cause cloudiness in canned products.

Sugar. Either white or brown sugar is used for pickles. Sugar is used in sweet pickles to plump the pickles and keep them firm. Substituting honey or corn syrup may not produce the desired flavor.

Spices. The spices used in pickles may be adjusted or omitted to taste, since spices provide flavor, and are not needed for safety. Use whole spices to prevent cloudiness and keep the food from discoloring.

Jams and Jellies. When making jellied products, the product will not gel unless the proportions of fruit, acid, pectin, and sugar is exactly balanced. Too much or too little sugar, fruit, pectin, or acid will result in failure. Follow a tested recipe to get the best results. In jelly, sugar is used to prevent the growth of harmful microorganisms, give the correct texture, and provide flavor.

To make reduced sugar or sugar-free jelly, buy a pectin labeled for that use. Attempting to reduce the sugar or use artificial sweeteners in a regular jelly recipe will change the texture and affect the safety of jelly.

Do not substitute liquid for powdered pectin. The two forms of pectin are not interchangeable. Some fruits are naturally high in pectin, so commercial pectin is not always necessary.

Canning. Sugar is not needed when canning fruit; fruit can be safely canned in water or fruit juice, al-though the fruit will be less firm.

If desired, one half of the sugar can be replaced with corn syrup or mild honey. Although sugar helps canned fruit keep a good color and a firm texture, sugar is not necessary for safety in canned fruit. Sucralose or SplendaŽ are the only types of artificial sweetener that can be used for canning. Both will maintain sweetening properties during canning. Add other types of artificial sweeteners just before eating.

Canning recipes for SplendaŽ are available from the National Center for Home Food Preservation: http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/can_07/reduced_sugar_spread.html.

Brand names are mentioned for educational purposes only and do not imply endorsement.

Return to the main Franklin County page
		University of Missouri Extension Franklin County Site maintained by: Billie Jo Brenner, brennerbj@missouri.edu Last revised: 07/02/08