How can I use rice vinegar for canning?
July 29, 2010 8:44 PM   Subscribe

Using Rice Vinegar for canning pickles - can it be done safely with added citric acid or glacial acetic acid? Alternately, where can I find rice vinegar diluted to 5% and not 4.3%?

I can't find any reasonably priced 5% acidity Rice Vinegar, everything is either 4.3% or its 10$ for 200ml at Whole Foods (5% O Olive Oil brand). I'd need at least 4 cups.

Would it be possible to add citric acid to the canning brine or even Glacial Acetic Acid to up the acidity? It's easy to get citric acid, and acetic acid is an amazon order away - however, it only seems to be sold for sterilization or non-food use which doesn't inspire confidence.

Canning vinegars need to be at least 5% to prevent bacteria, and I'd like to make a batch that I can store in the pantry - instead of in the fridge (which is OK to use 4.x%).

Could I use mostly rice vinegar and add plain white without losing the flavor?
posted by Lizc to Food & Drink (6 answers total) 5 users marked this as a favorite
 
I've made a decent number of pickles in my day, and I've never lost sleep over the percentages. In fact, I usually just make a tasty mix of vinegar-sugar-salt and call it a day. But that's for the fridge, of course.

I use citric acid to make sour ice cream, and I'd never doubt citric acid's ability to do anything food-related. I buy mine from a homebrew store (it's used for making sake, I think?), but I think citric acid should be citric acid.
posted by soma lkzx at 9:40 PM on July 29, 2010


2nding soma Ikzx. I really wouldn't sweat the percentage on the vinegar, whether you're canning or quick pickling. Yes, you can pick up some citric acid at the homebrew store (not sure what all it's used for, but I use it for making cheese), but how are you going to be able to test pH after that?
I've never had a batch of pickles go bad on me once they were processed. In fact, overly sour pickles seem like more of a concern than not enough acid in the brine.
posted by Gilbert at 11:39 PM on July 29, 2010


Adding: just make sure to be very clean. Treating your kitchen like an operating room makes for great picking/canning.
posted by Gilbert at 11:41 PM on July 29, 2010


Citric acid is safe for consumption (I mean, don't eat a spoonful of it), what you might see about sterilization is it's useful for sprouting seeds, making the seeds, jar, and liquid sterile and free of any mold that might want to grow. I've also used it in cheese making.

I've also mixed white vinegar with rice wine, and the difference in taste is negligible. You may also want to take a trip to your local friendly asian supermarket. Likely their varieties of vinegar will make your head spin and they'll be much cheaper than anything at whole foods. You may even find 5%, and skip the worry or acidity estimation math.
posted by fontophilic at 8:28 AM on July 30, 2010


Don't do it.

Seriously, don't do it.

Okay, you can do it if you find a TESTED recipe that calls for rice vinegar, with the addition of some other acid (and by tested, I mean tested by the USDA or a food scientist, not by someone who tried it and didn't kill their family), but don't try to make your own 5% vinegar by adding some random amount of citric acid to rice vinegar.

You're talking about botulism here. Do you really want to risk it?
posted by mudpuppie at 10:05 AM on July 30, 2010


Response by poster: Thanks everyone. I ended up using normal white vinegar (5%) and flavored it with sugar, salt, ginger, mint, onions, and red thai peppers. I haven't tasted them yet though, so who knows.
posted by Lizc at 3:28 PM on August 31, 2010


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