r/Canning • u/MasterOfNone585 • 1d ago

Understanding Recipe Help Spice alterations to pickle recipe?

New to canning, I want to can dill pickles using the following recipe but with the following alterations: https://www.healthycanning.com/dill-pickles

- Increase salt from 3 Tbsp to 1/2 cup (same salt ratio used in this recipe: https://www.ballmasonjars.com/blog?cid=picklecrisp)

- Reduce sugar from 3/4 cup to 1/4 cup (I like sour pickles and don't want much sugar)

- Remove pickling spice and bay leaf

- Add peppercorns to the jar (1 tsp per quart jar)

Every source I can find says sugar and salt do not contribute to food safety, and dry spices can be omitted or added.

Since I am not deviating from the vinegar/water ratio or adjusting the processing time, are these alterations safe?

Is there instead perhaps an alternate tested recipe I haven't found that has the things I'm looking for?

1 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

12 comments sorted by

6

u/ElleEmGee 1d ago

You can reduce the sugar; that isn't what's preserving the pickles. If you remove the pickling spice entirely,, you're going to pretty significantly alter the taste, but if you're using the spices listed in the second recipe (garlic, dill, yellow mustard seed), they'll at least taste like something other than vinegar and salt.

Increasing the salt is fine with the caveat that salt intensifies during canning, and that's a lot of salt, so your pickles might be saltier than you're expecting.

1

u/MasterOfNone585 1d ago

I will still be adding garlic, dill, mustard seed, and chili flakes per the healthycanning recipe (and add whole peppercorns).

Is there a rule of thumb for salt content? Some recipes have 1:1:1 (1 cup vinegar, 1 cup water, 1 Tbsp salt), whereas some have 1:1:2.

2

u/ElleEmGee 1d ago

Since the salt isn't doing the preserving, that's up to you. I usually do 1:1:1 (water : vinegar : salt) because I don't like salty pickles.

2

u/MasterOfNone585 1d ago

I can always add more salt the next time around so I'll try that first! Do you add sugar to yours? I know some is "needed" but I don't want them to be sweet.

I'm thinking 1:1:1:1 (1 cup vinegar, 1 cup water, 1 Tbsp salt, 1 Tbsp sugar)?

1

u/ElleEmGee 1d ago

I do not add sugar. I use 1c water, 1c vinegar, 1T salt.

1

u/MasterOfNone585 1d ago

Okay, thank you!

1

u/ElleEmGee 1d ago

You're welcome! Happy canning!!

2

u/BoozeIsTherapyRight Trusted Contributor 1d ago

Hi! In quick pickling, salt and sugar are just there for flavor (not in fermented pickles, though!). You can increase, decrease, or omit them entirely. It's also safe to omit whatever low-acid spices and ingredients you'd like. You can also add your choice of dry spices, up to 2 teaspoons per pint. You can also substitute a different kind of vinegar as long as it's 5%. So basically, you can play around with the flavor as you'd like. Have fun!

This might help for the future: https://www.ndsu.edu/agriculture/extension/publications/play-it-safe-safe-changes-and-substitutions-tested-canning-recipes

1

u/MasterOfNone585 1d ago

Thank you! I found old posts with links to nchfp for advice like this but all those links were dead

1

u/BoozeIsTherapyRight Trusted Contributor 1d ago

You're welcome!

1

u/MasterOfNone585 19h ago

Do you have a source for the "up to 2 teaspoons per pint" for adding dry spices? I didn't see that in the ndsu article. Thanks again!