I now have 12 quarts of sliced cucumbers in lime water. Tomorrow
after they have been rinsed well I will sort them out and make some
dill and some sweet pickles.

DH just came in with about a quart of blackberries. Think I will make
a pie and endure the seeds. I love blackberry pie.

"The Cook" > wrote in message
...
>I now have 12 quarts of sliced cucumbers in lime water. Tomorrow
> after they have been rinsed well I will sort them out and make some
> dill and some sweet pickles.
>
> DH just came in with about a quart of blackberries. Think I will make
> a pie and endure the seeds. I love blackberry pie.

What is lime water?

news.albasani.net wrote:
>
> "The Cook" > wrote in message
> ...
>> I now have 12 quarts of sliced cucumbers in lime water. Tomorrow
>> after they have been rinsed well I will sort them out and make some
>> dill and some sweet pickles.
>>
>> DH just came in with about a quart of blackberries. Think I will make
>> a pie and endure the seeds. I love blackberry pie.
>
> What is lime water?
Water with pickling lime dissolved in it. It is used to crisp up
vegetables for pickling. Usual market brand is Mrs. Wages. I've used it
for years myself.

On Thu, 10 Jul 2008 13:56:05 -0400, "news.albasani.net"
> wrote:

>
>"The Cook" > wrote in message
.. .
>>I now have 12 quarts of sliced cucumbers in lime water. Tomorrow
>> after they have been rinsed well I will sort them out and make some
>> dill and some sweet pickles.
>>
>> DH just came in with about a quart of blackberries. Think I will make
>> a pie and endure the seeds. I love blackberry pie.
>
>What is lime water?


Pickling lime in water.

"George Shirley" > wrote in message
...
> news.albasani.net wrote:
>>
>> "The Cook" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>> I now have 12 quarts of sliced cucumbers in lime water. Tomorrow
>>> after they have been rinsed well I will sort them out and make some
>>> dill and some sweet pickles.
>>>
>>> DH just came in with about a quart of blackberries. Think I will make
>>> a pie and endure the seeds. I love blackberry pie.
>>
>> What is lime water?
> Water with pickling lime dissolved in it. It is used to crisp up
> vegetables for pickling. Usual market brand is Mrs. Wages. I've used it
> for years myself.
Mrs Wages is not available in Canada. I'll have to bring some back next
spring. thanks.

--
mompeagram
FERGUS/HARLINGEN

news.albasani.net wrote:
>
> "George Shirley" > wrote in message
> ...
>> news.albasani.net wrote:
>>>
>>> "The Cook" > wrote in message
>>> ...
>>>> I now have 12 quarts of sliced cucumbers in lime water. Tomorrow
>>>> after they have been rinsed well I will sort them out and make some
>>>> dill and some sweet pickles.
>>>>
>>>> DH just came in with about a quart of blackberries. Think I will make
>>>> a pie and endure the seeds. I love blackberry pie.
>>>
>>> What is lime water?
>> Water with pickling lime dissolved in it. It is used to crisp up
>> vegetables for pickling. Usual market brand is Mrs. Wages. I've used
>> it for years myself.
> Mrs Wages is not available in Canada. I'll have to bring some back next
> spring. thanks.
>


Epsom salts in water also works pretty well if you can't get lime.
(everybody thinks I'm joking whenever I mention this) It's not as good
as lime or calcium chloride, but it's cheap and universally available
and it works.

Bob

"zxcvbob" > wrote in message
...
> news.albasani.net wrote:
>>
>> "George Shirley" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>> news.albasani.net wrote:
>>>>
>>>> "The Cook" > wrote in message
>>>> ...
>>>>> I now have 12 quarts of sliced cucumbers in lime water. Tomorrow
>>>>> after they have been rinsed well I will sort them out and make some
>>>>> dill and some sweet pickles.
>>>>>
>>>>> DH just came in with about a quart of blackberries. Think I will make
>>>>> a pie and endure the seeds. I love blackberry pie.
>>>>
>>>> What is lime water?
>>> Water with pickling lime dissolved in it. It is used to crisp up
>>> vegetables for pickling. Usual market brand is Mrs. Wages. I've used it
>>> for years myself.
>> Mrs Wages is not available in Canada. I'll have to bring some back next
>> spring. thanks.
>>
>
>
> Epsom salts in water also works pretty well if you can't get lime.
> (everybody thinks I'm joking whenever I mention this) It's not as good as
> lime or calcium chloride, but it's cheap and universally available and it
> works.
>
> Bob

Expand, oh Bob. How long do thou soakest veggies? And how many rinsings?
Especially for zukes, I'd like to crisp up some veggies, but can't abide the
lime taste, even tho I'm probably not doing it rightly.
Edrena

The Joneses wrote:
> "zxcvbob" > wrote in message
> ...
>> news.albasani.net wrote:
>>> "George Shirley" > wrote in message
>>> ...
>>>> news.albasani.net wrote:
>>>>> "The Cook" > wrote in message
>>>>> ...
>>>>>> I now have 12 quarts of sliced cucumbers in lime water. Tomorrow
>>>>>> after they have been rinsed well I will sort them out and make some
>>>>>> dill and some sweet pickles.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> DH just came in with about a quart of blackberries. Think I will make
>>>>>> a pie and endure the seeds. I love blackberry pie.
>>>>> What is lime water?
>>>> Water with pickling lime dissolved in it. It is used to crisp up
>>>> vegetables for pickling. Usual market brand is Mrs. Wages. I've used it
>>>> for years myself.
>>> Mrs Wages is not available in Canada. I'll have to bring some back next
>>> spring. thanks.
>>>
>>
>> Epsom salts in water also works pretty well if you can't get lime.
>> (everybody thinks I'm joking whenever I mention this) It's not as good as
>> lime or calcium chloride, but it's cheap and universally available and it
>> works.
>>
>> Bob
>
> Expand, oh Bob. How long do thou soakest veggies? And how many rinsings?
> Especially for zukes, I'd like to crisp up some veggies, but can't abide the
> lime taste, even tho I'm probably not doing it rightly.
> Edrena
>
>


Now that I shot my mouth off, I don't remember the details.

I think it was about a teaspoon or two per quart of water. Soak cut-up
vegs for a couple of hours, and drain. No need to rinse if you're gonna
pickle them; one quick rinse if you were just crisping them for eating
fresh.

Bob

news.albasani.net wrote:
>
> "George Shirley" > wrote in message
> ...
>> news.albasani.net wrote:
>>>
>>> "The Cook" > wrote in message
>>> ...
>>>> I now have 12 quarts of sliced cucumbers in lime water. Tomorrow
>>>> after they have been rinsed well I will sort them out and make some
>>>> dill and some sweet pickles.
>>>>
>>>> DH just came in with about a quart of blackberries. Think I will make
>>>> a pie and endure the seeds. I love blackberry pie.
>>>
>>> What is lime water?
>> Water with pickling lime dissolved in it. It is used to crisp up
>> vegetables for pickling. Usual market brand is Mrs. Wages. I've used
>> it for years myself.
> Mrs Wages is not available in Canada. I'll have to bring some back next
> spring. thanks.
>
You can use Ball/Bernadin Pickle Crisp to crisp up your pickles plus
Ball/Bernadin makes their own Pickling Lime, have a couple of boxes of
each in the pantry. Take a look around or find some on line if really
needed. That's how I got my Pickle Crisp as there weren't any in stores
around here. I popped the question to my favorite supermarket manager
and he says it will be in stock next pickling season.

The Joneses wrote:
> "zxcvbob" > wrote in message
> ...
>> news.albasani.net wrote:
>>> "George Shirley" > wrote in message
>>> ...
>>>> news.albasani.net wrote:
>>>>> "The Cook" > wrote in message
>>>>> ...
>>>>>> I now have 12 quarts of sliced cucumbers in lime water. Tomorrow
>>>>>> after they have been rinsed well I will sort them out and make some
>>>>>> dill and some sweet pickles.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> DH just came in with about a quart of blackberries. Think I will make
>>>>>> a pie and endure the seeds. I love blackberry pie.
>>>>> What is lime water?
>>>> Water with pickling lime dissolved in it. It is used to crisp up
>>>> vegetables for pickling. Usual market brand is Mrs. Wages. I've used it
>>>> for years myself.
>>> Mrs Wages is not available in Canada. I'll have to bring some back next
>>> spring. thanks.
>>>
>>
>> Epsom salts in water also works pretty well if you can't get lime.
>> (everybody thinks I'm joking whenever I mention this) It's not as good as
>> lime or calcium chloride, but it's cheap and universally available and it
>> works.
>>
>> Bob
>
> Expand, oh Bob. How long do thou soakest veggies? And how many rinsings?
> Especially for zukes, I'd like to crisp up some veggies, but can't abide the
> lime taste, even tho I'm probably not doing it rightly.
> Edrena
>
>
You're not doing it right 'drena if you can still taste the lime. Takes
multiple soaks and rinses to get it all out.

George Shirley wrote:
> The Joneses wrote:

>> Expand, oh Bob. How long do thou soakest veggies? And how many
>> rinsings? Especially for zukes, I'd like to crisp up some veggies, but
>> can't abide the lime taste, even tho I'm probably not doing it rightly.
>> Edrena
>>
>>
> You're not doing it right 'drena if you can still taste the lime. Takes
> multiple soaks and rinses to get it all out.


What are the (brief) directions for that Pickle Crisp stuff, and how
many grams are in a packet? I assume you add it to the brine rather
than soaking the vegs in it, eh? Thanks.


["eh" is Canadian for question mark. Kind of like how Victor Borge used
to do that phonetic punctuation. The kids have probably never even
heard of Victor Borge, what's the world coming to...]

Bob

zxcvbob wrote:
> George Shirley wrote:
>> The Joneses wrote:
>
>>> Expand, oh Bob. How long do thou soakest veggies? And how many
>>> rinsings? Especially for zukes, I'd like to crisp up some veggies,
>>> but can't abide the lime taste, even tho I'm probably not doing it
>>> rightly.
>>> Edrena
>>>
>>>
>> You're not doing it right 'drena if you can still taste the lime.
>> Takes multiple soaks and rinses to get it all out.
>
>
> What are the (brief) directions for that Pickle Crisp stuff, and how
> many grams are in a packet? I assume you add it to the brine rather
> than soaking the vegs in it, eh? Thanks.
>
>
> ["eh" is Canadian for question mark. Kind of like how Victor Borge used
> to do that phonetic punctuation. The kids have probably never even
> heard of Victor Borge, what's the world coming to...]
>
> Bob
Hokay, had to go get a package out of the pantry. Here's the USAGE TIPS:
Use with the highest quality pickling cucumbers and other vegetables.
Use only as an ingredient in a pickle recipe. Store in a dry area to
prevent clumping.

Package also says - makes it easy to crisp fresh-pack pickles and
pickled vegetables and eliminates the mess of a pickling lime presoak.

Two ways to Use:

1) Prepare recipe as instructed.
2)Pack cucumbers or other vegetables into jars.
3) Add Pickle Crisp Powder (1 1/2 teaspoon per quart jar and 3/4
teaspoon per pint jar) You can figure it out for half pints, etc. I
don't do math anymore, it makes my head hurt.
4) Ladle pickling liquid into jars.
5. Process in boiling water canner or refrigerate according to recipe.

T-Other way to Use: AS A PRESOAK

1) Stir 1 packet Pickle Crisp Powder into 16 cups water. If more
presoaking liquid is needed use packets and 32 cups of water.
2) Add prepared cucumbers and soak overnight in refrigerator.
3) Drain cucumbers. Prepare recipe as instructed.
4) Pack cucumbers and ladle pickling liquid into jars.
5) Process in a boiling water canner or refrigerate according to recipe.

Pickle Crisp is pure calcium chloride and comes in a box with three 26
gram packets in each box.

"zxcvbob" > wrote in message
...
> George Shirley wrote:
>> The Joneses wrote:
>
>>> Expand, oh Bob. How long do thou soakest veggies? And how many rinsings?
>>> Especially for zukes, I'd like to crisp up some veggies, but can't abide
>>> the lime taste, even tho I'm probably not doing it rightly.
>>> Edrena
>>>
>>>
>> You're not doing it right 'drena if you can still taste the lime. Takes
>> multiple soaks and rinses to get it all out.
>
>
> What are the (brief) directions for that Pickle Crisp stuff, and how many
> grams are in a packet? I assume you add it to the brine rather than
> soaking the vegs in it, eh? Thanks.
>
>
> ["eh" is Canadian for question mark. Kind of like how Victor Borge used
> to do that phonetic punctuation. The kids have probably never even heard
> of Victor Borge, what's the world coming to...]
>
> Bob

hey hoser, I know who Victor Borge is, eh? Take off!

lol

Kathi

In article >,
zxcvbob > wrote:

> Epsom salts in water also works pretty well if you can't get lime.
> (everybody thinks I'm joking whenever I mention this) It's not as good
> as lime or calcium chloride, but it's cheap and universally available
> and it works.
>
> Bob

I've been thinking about something for quite a while, Bob: Where in
heck do you come up with your alternative products? I mean, how do you
decide you're going to use epsom salts because you didn't have, couldn't
find, or didn't want to pay the price for, say, calcium chloride? WHY
did you consider epsom salts, fercryin'outloud? Serious question.
Inquiring Mind and all. . . .

Is this a cheap Texan's trick? Farm knowledge? Are you one of those IT
guys who's training is in chemistry? Hmmmmmmmm?

--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
rec.food.cooking
Preserved Fruit Administrator
"Always in a jam. Never in a stew." - Evergene

In article >,
"news.albasani.net" > wrote:

> Mrs Wages is not available in Canada. I'll have to bring some back next
> spring. thanks.

You want some mailed to you, Helen? I could probably have it in the
mail in a day or two.
--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
rec.food.cooking
Preserved Fruit Administrator
"Always in a jam. Never in a stew." - Evergene

In article >,
George Shirley > wrote:

> Hokay, had to go get a package out of the pantry. Here's the USAGE TIPS:
> Use with the highest quality pickling cucumbers and other vegetables.
> Use only as an ingredient in a pickle recipe. Store in a dry area to
> prevent clumping.
>
> Package also says - makes it easy to crisp fresh-pack pickles and
> pickled vegetables and eliminates the mess of a pickling lime presoak.
>
> Two ways to Use:
>
> 1) Prepare recipe as instructed.
> 2)Pack cucumbers or other vegetables into jars.
> 3) Add Pickle Crisp Powder (1 1/2 teaspoon per quart jar and 3/4
> teaspoon per pint jar) You can figure it out for half pints, etc. I
> don't do math anymore, it makes my head hurt.
(remainder snipped)

I like this idea -- adding to the jar instead of soaking.
--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
rec.food.cooking
Preserved Fruit Administrator
"Always in a jam. Never in a stew." - Evergene

Melba's Jammin' wrote:
> In article >,
> George Shirley > wrote:
>
>> Hokay, had to go get a package out of the pantry. Here's the USAGE TIPS:
>> Use with the highest quality pickling cucumbers and other vegetables.
>> Use only as an ingredient in a pickle recipe. Store in a dry area to
>> prevent clumping.
>>
>> Package also says - makes it easy to crisp fresh-pack pickles and
>> pickled vegetables and eliminates the mess of a pickling lime presoak.
>>
>> Two ways to Use:
>>
>> 1) Prepare recipe as instructed.
>> 2)Pack cucumbers or other vegetables into jars.
>> 3) Add Pickle Crisp Powder (1 1/2 teaspoon per quart jar and 3/4
>> teaspoon per pint jar) You can figure it out for half pints, etc. I
>> don't do math anymore, it makes my head hurt.
> (remainder snipped)
>
> I like this idea -- adding to the jar instead of soaking.
I do too, and am anxious to try it out. Should work fine IMHO. Calcium
chloride is used in many applications particularly with certain chemical
processes. We have a small plant here that makes calcium chloride, I may
have to see if they make food grade. I know they pack it in 100 lb bags,
that should be a lifetime supply for a pickler. <VBG>

Melba's Jammin' wrote:
> In article >,
> zxcvbob > wrote:
>
>> Epsom salts in water also works pretty well if you can't get lime.
>> (everybody thinks I'm joking whenever I mention this) It's not as good
>> as lime or calcium chloride, but it's cheap and universally available
>> and it works.
>>
>> Bob
>
> I've been thinking about something for quite a while, Bob: Where in
> heck do you come up with your alternative products? I mean, how do you
> decide you're going to use epsom salts because you didn't have, couldn't
> find, or didn't want to pay the price for, say, calcium chloride? WHY
> did you consider epsom salts, fercryin'outloud? Serious question.
> Inquiring Mind and all. . . .
>
> Is this a cheap Texan's trick? Farm knowledge? Are you one of those IT
> guys who's training is in chemistry? Hmmmmmmmm?
>


Seriously? Because calcium ions Ca++ are what causes calcium chloride
(also lime) to crisp vegetables by binding with the pectin. Epsom salts
is magnesium sulfate, which dissolves to make Mg++ ions. Magnesium and
calcium chemically react *very* similarly. So I tried it and it worked.
I just haven't fine tuned it enough yet because my garden hasn't
produced enough stuff to pickle anything lately. Because Epsom salt
contains a *lot* of water bound up in the crystals, a rough guess would
be to use twice as much as the Pickle Crisp instructions say -- but that
sounds like an awful lot and I'd be afraid to start there, at least for
the "add it to the jar" method.

(You can also use Epsom salts to coagulate soy milk to make tofu; I have
no idea what the magnesium is binding to in that case because I don't
think there's any pectin)

Best regards,
Bob

On Mon, 14 Jul 2008 07:01:09 -0500, Melba's Jammin'
> wrote:

>In article >,
> George Shirley > wrote:
>
>> Hokay, had to go get a package out of the pantry. Here's the USAGE TIPS:
>> Use with the highest quality pickling cucumbers and other vegetables.
>> Use only as an ingredient in a pickle recipe. Store in a dry area to
>> prevent clumping.
>>
>> Package also says - makes it easy to crisp fresh-pack pickles and
>> pickled vegetables and eliminates the mess of a pickling lime presoak.
>>
>> Two ways to Use:
>>
>> 1) Prepare recipe as instructed.
>> 2)Pack cucumbers or other vegetables into jars.
>> 3) Add Pickle Crisp Powder (1 1/2 teaspoon per quart jar and 3/4
>> teaspoon per pint jar) You can figure it out for half pints, etc. I
>> don't do math anymore, it makes my head hurt.
>(remainder snipped)
>
>I like this idea -- adding to the jar instead of soaking.

Just did some on-line checking for Pickle Crisp and it's not listed on
the Canadian site (Bernardin). It's still listed on the US site but,
when I follow any link to a retailer, it says the product has been
discontinued. One site still had the price listed as $2.29 per
package, and each package contains three 26 gram envelopes. That's
over 76 cents per 26 grams. Man! that some expensive calcium chloride!
When I was doing a lot of home brewing I used calcium chloride in my
mash and you can buy it at many beer and wine making supply shops.
Here's one for USAians http://morebeer.com/
They do a large amount of mailorder. At More Beer, CaCl2 is priced at
$4.50 per pound, plus shipping. That's about 1/3 the price of the
Ball/Kerr stuff with the fancy-schmancy packaging.

Ross.

"zxcvbob" > wrote in message
...
> Melba's Jammin' wrote:
>> In article >,
>> zxcvbob > wrote:
>>
>>> Epsom salts in water also works pretty well if you can't get lime.
>>> (everybody thinks I'm joking whenever I mention this) It's not as good
>>> as lime or calcium chloride, but it's cheap and universally available
>>> and it works.
>>>
>>> Bob
>>
>> I've been thinking about something for quite a while, Bob: Where in heck
>> do you come up with your alternative products? I mean, how do you decide
>> you're going to use epsom salts because you didn't have, couldn't find,
>> or didn't want to pay the price for, say, calcium chloride? WHY did you
>> consider epsom salts, fercryin'outloud? Serious question. Inquiring
>> Mind and all. . . .
>>
>> Is this a cheap Texan's trick? Farm knowledge? Are you one of those IT
>> guys who's training is in chemistry? Hmmmmmmmm?
>>
>
>
> Seriously? Because calcium ions Ca++ are what causes calcium chloride
> (also lime) to crisp vegetables by binding with the pectin. Epsom salts
> is magnesium sulfate, which dissolves to make Mg++ ions. Magnesium and
> calcium chemically react *very* similarly. So I tried it and it worked. I
> just haven't fine tuned it enough yet because my garden hasn't produced
> enough stuff to pickle anything lately. Because Epsom salt contains a
> *lot* of water bound up in the crystals, a rough guess would be to use
> twice as much as the Pickle Crisp instructions say -- but that sounds like
> an awful lot and I'd be afraid to start there, at least for the "add it to
> the jar" method.
>
> (You can also use Epsom salts to coagulate soy milk to make tofu; I have
> no idea what the magnesium is binding to in that case because I don't
> think there's any pectin)
>
> Best regards,
> Bob

Don't they both contain proteins? Just a guess.
Edrena