Pickle making is just around the corner. With it comes lots of questions regarding pickle crispness, the essence of a good pickle. There are several factors that determine pickle crispness including variety, freshness, preparation techniques, ingredients, and processing method.
Variety. First and foremost, use true pickling cucumbers for pickling. Salad cucumbers were never intended for pickles as they are too large and contain a thick seed base compared to pickling cucumbers. Burpless cucumbers are not suitable for fermented pickles because their skins are often tougher and contain an enzyme which will soften pickles during fermentation. Look for slim, dark green cucumbers with prickly bumps on the skin no more than 2 inches in diameter.
Freshness. Start with just-picked cucumbers; it is best to prepare pickles within two hours of picking for best quality. When that isn’t possible, cucumbers should be refrigerated immediately and used as soon as possible as crispness is lost with time. Some pickle makers like to place cucumbers in an ice bath for 2 hrs before starting the pickling process to assure crispness. However, once crispness has been lost, it cannot be replaced.
Preparation Techniques. Proper acidity is needed to produce safe pickles. Use only researched-based recipes like those found with the USDA Complete Guide to Canning, the National Center for Home Preservation, and university extension publications. Begin by washing the cucumbers and removing at least 1/16th inch from the blossom end; the blossom end harbors enzymes that cause softening.
Use of Firming Agents. Depending upon the quality of the cucumbers, recipe, and pickle maker, firming agents may or may not be part of the process. Firming agents include alum, food grade lime (calcium hydroxide), grape leaves, or calcium chloride (Ball Pickle Crisp® or Mrs. Wages Xtra-Crunch®).
Alum – at one time alum was added for crispness; however it is no longer recommended by the FDA and most modern, science-based recipes no longer include it. Scientifically, alum has little effect on quick-process pickles but may add firmness to fermented pickles when used at a rate of ¼ teaspoon per pints. Using too much alum will actually decrease firmness.
Food Grade Lime – Lime or calcium hydroxide has been used for years for pickle crispness as it improves pickle firmness when cucumbers are soaked in a lime solution for 12 to 24 hrs prior to pickling. Besides the time for soaking, another draw back of lime is the need to remove excess lime prior to pickling with repeated soaking and rinsing in fresh water to render the cucumbers safe for pickling. The hydroxide component of lime lowers the acidity (making it more alkaline) of the pickling brine; therefore, it must be thoroughly removed to make pickles safe to can. Because it reduces the acidity of the vinegar used in pickling, lime has been linked to botulism.
Grape Leaves – Grape leaves have historically been used to add crispness. Grape leaves contain tannins that inhibit the enzyme that makes pickles soft. However, if the blossom end of the cucumber is removed, grape leaves really aren’t necessary as their function is eliminated.
Calcium Chloride – Calcium chloride is a generic firming agent that is used in the pickling and canning industry. In recent years calcium chloride has become available commercially as Pickle Crisp® by Ball or Xtra Crunch® by Mrs. Wages. These are both granular products found with the canning supplies; they offer fast results with the same great taste and crispness of lime. Calcium chloride does not have the hydroxide component of lime and therefore does not lower acidity of pickled food or pose a food safety risk. A small amount is added to each jar of pickles before sealing following the manufacturer’s directions. (It should not be added to a vat during brining or fermentation.)
Ingredients. Use recommended ingredients—salt, 5% acidic vinegar, sugar, spices, water—in exact recipe proportions; there must be a sufficient level of acid to prevent the growth of botulinum bacteria.
Processing Method. Pack pickles to allow sufficient room for the pickling solution to surround each piece. Process all pickles in a boiling water bath or atmospheric steam canner to destroy harmful organisms and to obtain a strong vacuum seal on the jar.
Here’s to crisp pickles! For additional help with pickles see Avoid Getting into “a Pickle” with Pickling Projects or download (free) Preserve the Taste of Summer: Canning Pickles from the Iowa State Extension and Outreach Store.
hello,
I use Mrs. wages pickeling mixes. sweet, dill and bread and butter. How do i add the BALL PICKLE CRISP? for years my pickles have been very soft and sometime mushy. i want to make them better. Do I add the pickle crisp to my jar of packed pickles and brine and then process the jars in my water bath processor? thank you.
Brenda, Generally, use about 1/8th teaspoon per pint jar; 1/4 teaspoon per quart jar. More can be added depending upon preference. It is added to each jar before applying the lids prior to processing.
Im making pickled tomatoes that need to be cooked in the brine before packing. It is ok to add the calcium chloride before cooking…. it seems like off I wait till after cooking any crispiness will be lost.
Rhonda, thank you for your inquiry. The Newell Corporation, through its Ball and Bernardin brand names, suggest that Pickle Crisp be added before capping the pickling jar. In the early days of Pickle Crisp, Ball advised that you could use it as a pre-soak. There is no recommendation for that today. There is NO information provided by Newell for using it during cooking so I cannot advise you on this matter. Without knowing your recipe, perhaps there is no benefit to using Pickle Crisp in this application.
Can you use calcium chloride for crock pickles?
Becky, I assume by crock pickles, you mean fermented pickles. If you jar the pickles after fermentation, it is my understanding that calcium chloride can be added to each jar. Since I could not find specifics on this, I suggest that you call Ball/Newell Brands or Mrs Wages to learn more at 800-240-3340 and 800-647-8170, respectively. Thank you for your question.
If I am using Mrs Wages for my Bread and Butter pickles, do I add Pickle Crisp to them to make them crispier?
Hi Ann, before adding Pickle Crisp to your Bread and Butter pickles made with the Mrs Wages packet, check to see if calcium chloride is listed in the ingredients. If not, then adding a small amount of Pickle Crisp to each jar would be okay.
Hello, I am making sweet pickles (first time) and will can them in a hot water bath. I want to add Ball pickle crisp. Before I do I need to know if I can use Splenda in my sugar free pickles with the pickle crisp. Also can I use splenda in my pickles instead of sugar do I add the same amount of Splenda as I would sugar??? Which type of splenda (I use the one for baking right now)would you use??
Hi Terry, it appears that you have two similar messages in response to the crisp pickles blog. The National Center for Home Food Preservation does not recommended substituting Splenda® for sugar if the product is to be canned for shelf stability unless the recipe has been specifically tested with Splenda®. Granular Splenda® does not provide preservative properties like sugar. There is a sweet pickles recipe on the NCFHP website that has been developed and tested using Splenda® that would be safe. There is a Bread and Butter Pickle recipe on the Splenda® website. In all cases, you would want to use the original granular Splenda®. Pickle Crisp may be added as the last step before putting on the lid and processing.
I have a recipe for pickles using cinnamon red hot. It requires soaking in pickling lime. Is there a conversion instead of using pickling lime.
Hi Susan, calcium cholride is the alternative. Calcium chloride does not have the hydroxide component that lime has that can lower the acidity of pickled foods. Two calcium chloride products sold are Ball’s Pickle Crisp® and Mrs. Wages Xtra Crunch®. To use, add a small amount to each jar of pickles before sealing following the manufacturer’s directions on the package.
My husband dies not like sweet or dill pickles but loves cucumbers. His mom use to make him crisp cucumbers by soaking them in alum then rinsing and leaving in a salt water bath. Is there a recipe for this. Do they need to be cooked in hot water bath? Please help with a recipe. His mom has passed and we have been married only five months . I just want to surprise him with some like his mom done for him
HI Angel, there is not an approved recipe using the process that you mention for preserving (canning) cucumber/pickles. While people still use alum to crisp pickles, it is no longer recommended. Further, in order to preserve (can), one needs to acidify the cucumbers with vinegar (5%). There is such a thing as 6-day cucumbers which may be what your are looking for, but it is not an approved recipe for canning–2 days in salt water, 2 days in alum water, 2 days in water and then pickled with vinegar (and sugar). The pickles could be made and refrigerated.
I am making pickled green beans and found a package of Mrs Wages Alum- No directions on the package that makes sense. It says dissolve alum in water using specified amount in your recipe —
Soak and rinse horoughly r before canning.
Am I missing something?
Hi Delia, The directions for using Mrs Wages Alum are just as you have written. You have to rely on your recipe that specifies the use of alum to know how much to use. The USDA no longer recommends the use of alum with pickles except for fermented pickles. Alum does little with quick processed pickles to keep them crisp; instead, the recommendation is to use 1/8 tsp per pint jar of calcium chloride. Ball makes calcium chloride availabe in a product known as Pickle Crisp and Mrs Wages makes it available in a product known as Xtra Crunch. The calcium chloride is added to the jar before placing a lid on the pickles. Please use a tested recipe for your pickled green beans to assure that they are made safely.
I am in the process of making sweet pickles in a gallon-size jar. It is a two-week process. On day 8, the recipe says to drain the water (in which cucumber chunks have been soaking) and cover again with boiling water and 1.5 tablespoons of alum; then let sit for three days before draining alum water and adding syrup water. After further additions for 3 more days, the sweet pickles will be water-bath canned in quart or pint jars. Considering this process, can I just substitute the Pickle Crisp for the alum in the recipe? If so, how much should I use considering it will be used for soaking in the gallon jar and not added to the prepared pickles for canning?
Louise, I would advise you to follow the recipe and use the alum. Pickle Crisp is recommended for use with quick-fix pickles and to my knowledge, Ball nor any other reliable agency has not tested it with long-term or fermented pickles. It is only designed to be used just prior to processing, meaning after the jars are filled but before capping. There is no guidance on using it with pickles made with alum. When used with quick-fix pickles, the amount to use is 1/8 tsp per pint and 1/4 tsp per quart.
I am soaking pickling cucumbers in brine. I’ll be following the directions to rinse, etc. but wondered if I could also add calcium chloride to the jars for extra crisp pickles. Also, wondering if there are worries about lime lowering the acidity, if it would make sense to add 1/4 teaspoon of citric acid to each quart jar? Or am I just overthinking this? I want really crisp pickles!!!
Hi Lynn, using the recommended amount of calcium chloride to your jars at the time of processing is a possibility. Whether it will do more than the lime that the pickles have been soaked in is unknown. Pickle Crisp has only been tested on quick fix pickles to my knowledge. I see no reason to add citric acid to your pickles if the recipe does not call for it. While I do not know your recipe, there should be sufficient vinegar to keep the pH below 4.6.
I’ve used food grade lime to make bread & butter pickles before, with great success. I understand it is imperative to follow the directions precisely to ensure the lime is fully rinsed out / to ensure the correct acidity level is achieved in the canning process.
I am trying to find out if I can use the lime soaking process with dill pickles.
HI Brittany, There is not a tested recipes for dill pickles made with lime. However, food-grade lime may be used as a lime-water solution for soaking fresh cucumbers 12 to 24 hours before pickling them. Excess lime absorbed by the cucumbers must be removed to make safe pickles. Check out this piece from Ohio State Extension: https://ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/HYG-5342
Hey Marlene, I just wanted to say that I thought this was a lovely, thorough and all round fantastic article on the topic and was very a fascinating experience for me to read. Cheers.
Thank you for reading!! Appreciate the feedback.
Hello! This article and comments were very helpful, thank you! I have a question for application with canning fruit. Could I use one of the calcium chloride products (xtra crunch, or pickle crisp) in jars of home canned pint jars of maraschino cherries, just place 1/8th of a teaspoon in each jar prior to water bath canning? I am at high altitude in CO so would need to process jars for longer anyway which can make things softer anyway. The original recipe is from Oregon State Extension and it optionally calls for alum for firming the cherries, which I dont want to use for health reasons. Thank you for your time!
Hi Emily, there are no research based recommendations for using calcium chloride with fruit. However, consumers have experimented and found that it improves the texture of canned apple slices, pears, and peaches so it may help with cherries, too. If you were to try it, I would suggest experimenting with a jar or two before plunging forward with a whole batch. The Oregon State publication you mention is quite old (1992) and does mention the use of alum as an option. Yesteryear recipes used potassium-based alum to produce crisp cucumber and watermelon-rind pickles as well as maraschino cherries, where the aluminum ions strengthen the fruits’ cell-wall pectins. Calcium chloride also works by strengthening the natural pectin.
Where can I purchase the pickle crisp or Mrs Wages XTra crunch – I have looked many places including Walmart and no one has it
Hi Gail, both of the calcium chloride products are available at various retail outlets–walmart, grocery stores, fleet and farm, Ace hardware, Amazon, online outlets, Do-it-Best Hardware–any place that canning supplies are sold.
First time trying to use calcium chloride for getting crisp pickles. If I understand your answers correctly, the only way to get crisp pickles using calcium chloride is to raw pack cucumber slices into my canning jars, add the recommended amount of calcium chloride and then add the prepared pickle juice. How long after canning is it necessary to wait before the pickles are actually ready to eat with the full flavor of the brine? With lime soaked, pre-cooked/hot packed pickles, they are full of flavor and ready to eat immediately.
Second, are you aware of why the added recommendation to pre-soak cucumbers in the calcium chloride solution was removed?
Hi Michelle, Two calcium chloride products are sold as Ball’s Pickle Crisp® and Mrs. Wages Xtra Crunch®. A small amount of either product is added to each jar of pickles before APPLYING THE LID. Follow the manufacturer’s directions. Brined pickles may take three weeks or longer to cure. Cucumbers change from a bright green to an olive or yellow green. The interior becomes uniformly translucent.
I have no information on why using calcium chloride was eliminated as a recommendation; I can only guess that in testing, it was determined to have no affect or a possible negative affect. Home food preservation is an ever evolving science.
I forgot to add the Ball pickle crisp to my dill pickles before canning. Should I open, add it and reprocess?
Hi Janice, thanks for your question. If you reprocess your pickles, they will become mushy. Chaulk it up to an error that does not cause harm, rather just quality. I suspect you will remember next time!
Red Wine Vinegar and other vinegars can be used for pickling. However, these vinegars should NOT be used for pickles that are canned or put on the shelf; the acidity is not sufficient to be safe. 5% white and apple cider vinegar must be used in pickle products that are canned. Wine or other vinegars can successfully and safely be used for refrigerator pickles.
Have been trying to make Pickle Crisper and not mushy. Started using Ball Crisp Granules even increased the amount to make my pickles crisp. I processed them in water bath canner 10 minutes for pint and 15 for quarts so didn’t appear to be a processing issue, only to find when I opened a jar, they were so soggy and not firm. Really disappointing after spending hours prepping them and processing. I have yet been successful using the Pickle Crisp.
I used this year Pickling Lime (Mrs. Wages) for the first time, and I have very nice Crisp Pickles. Now Have to wash and wash and wash them at least 3 times maybe 4 times if needed to remove all the lime but they are so Crispy they almost break while washing them and some do break. It is important to be sure that you remove the ALL-lime residue from the cucumbers.
So, I hear lots of comment on picking lime linked to botulism. I believe if you wash them very well before processing them, I believe it is safe. If you follow instruction on Mrs. Wages packaging for using the lime (WASH 3-4TIMES) and even wash an extra time if you need to get your water, clear in your sink. I found the lime did the trick making Crisp pickles. They are crunchy and delicious. no soggy. So, for me I didn’t find Pickle Crisp to do its job.
Hi Velma, thank you for sharing your experiences with calcium chloride and lime for pickling. Calcium chloride should not be used more than recommended by the manufacturer. Pickling with lime is safe as long as the pickles are washed multiple times to remove all of the lime.
Hi Marlene, I’m trying a recipe with pickle crisp and it ask for 26 grams. How much is that in tsp, tbsp or ounces. I have no idea. Thank you
Hi Michele, per an internet conversion, 26 Grams (g) is Equal to 5.2 Teaspoons (tsp). If you are using the Pickle Crisp product by Ball, the amount to use is 1/8 tsp per pint (1/4 tsp per quart) and it should be added to the jar just before a lid is applied.
great information. Thanks
I have pickles so mushy they fall to pieces picking them up. I used right percent vinegar for kosher dills recipe, half water, half vinegar, salt, sugar, Ms wages kosher dill mix, sterilize jars, hot water bath, put correct amount pickle crisp, , and only thing I could have done wrong is put in ice water in fridge trying to keep them from going soft till I got enough from garden to can. I then waited 3 or. 3 days. Did this cause the extremely mushy pickles? I have thrown them out, scared to eat. Recipe for brine is for a huge amount of cucumbers so I saved it in fridge and reheated for canning next batch. Was that ok? Was pickles spoiled? Brine very strong with salt and vinegar so had to be acidic enough unless storing excess brine weakened it too much
HI Jeannette, What a bad experience! I suspect that the mushiness may be the result of not using fresh pickles and holding them in the refrigerator for 3 days in ice water as during this time, the cucumbers likely absorbed enough water to break down their natural pectin. Holding the pickles in the crisper drawer might(?) have worked better. Cucumbers should be used within one day of picking for best results. Other considerations would be: Using a variety of cucumber that is bred specifically for pickling and being careful not to over process (Make sure that the water in your water bath canner is at a hard rolling boil BEFORE placing your jars in the water. Start timing when the bubbles return. Longer processing times can lead to soft pickles.).
I don’t see anything wrong with refrigerating the brine and reheating it nor does Mrs Wages. Here is a response from the Mrs Wages FAQ page:
What if I do not have enough cucumbers to make 7 quarts, can I use a partial pouch?
We cannot advise that you try using only a portion of the Mrs. Wages® Quick Process Pickle mix. The challenge would be dividing the mix so that each batch contains the right proportion of herbs and spices, not to mention the safety issue if making shelf-stable. Better yet, make the entire mix up and store the remainder in the refrigerator for up to one week, or freeze for up to three months.
While your pickles are likely safe, they are surely undesirable.
Lastly, was the addition of Pickle Crisp recommended per the package directions?