ascorbic vs. citric acid
Ddobjohnson
of citric acid for canning tomatos. I think it is just as acidic, but I am not
sure of its use in that way. Could someone tell me if it is safe to do that?
After realizing my mistake, I reverted to using lemon juice, but ran out in the
middle of a batch; I used lime juice instead, which is more acidic than lemon.
Is that acceptable? Also, is there some source of information that would
provide the relative acidity or pH values of various such additives as well as
the various foods that we commonly preserve?
Thanks,
Lightnin Dave
Mark Preston
Ddobjohnson
emarkp...@yahoo.com (Mark Preston) writes:
>You will have to say what it is you are preserving. It matters.
With the exception of the question about materials for finding pH values, it
all pertained to canning tomatos.
Lightnin Dave
Eric
Acids are not equal in ionic activity.
Ascorbic acid has little value for lowering pH.
Lime juice will replace lemon juice but you will add more flavour than the
lemon. As to whether Lime is lower in pH than lemon, the issue is moot as acid
in fruit varies so much.
Here are some values:
1 teaspoon citric acid = 4 tablespoons of lemon juice.
For whole, crushed, or juiced tomatoes:
Add two tablespoons of bottled lemon juice or 1/2 teaspoon of citric acid
per quart of tomatoes. For pints, use one tablespoon bottled lemon juice or
1/4 teaspoon citric acid.
Acid can be added directly to the jars before filling with product. Add sugar to
offset acid taste, if desired.
4 tablespoons of a 5 percent acidity vinegar per quart may be used instead of
lemon juice or citric acid. However, vinegar may cause undesirable flavor
changes.
Hopefully this will assist you.
Grandma
"Eric" <er...@nospam.getcomputing.com> wrote in message
news:lbjkptol1ktf8l5sq...@4ax.com...
> On 08 Sep 2001 01:39:06 GMT, ddobj...@aol.com (Ddobjohnson) wrote:
>
Also, is there some source of information that would
> >>provide the relative acidity or pH values of various such additives as
well as
> >>the various foods that we commonly preserve?
The only such thing where there is a "standard" is in the case of vinegar.
For everything else, what you get is what you get, and since these are all
organics pH can vary widely.
If you want to be completely accurate re measuring the PH then you can buy
professional scientific equipment at the cost of several hundred dollars or
more. You should however be able to find pH strips that vary in color
according to the numeric value at children's science store. I've also seen
them in any number of drugstores near the diabetic supplies. Obviously you
do not dip these into the entire batch - dribble some over with a spoon,
then follow the directions on the can re timing and reading the strips.
Grandma
zxcvbob
Grandma wrote:
>
> "Eric" <er...@nospam.getcomputing.com> wrote in message
> news:lbjkptol1ktf8l5sq...@4ax.com...
> > On 08 Sep 2001 01:39:06 GMT, ddobj...@aol.com (Ddobjohnson) wrote:
> >
> Also, is there some source of information that would
> > >>provide the relative acidity or pH values of various such additives as
> well as
> > >>the various foods that we commonly preserve?
>
> The only such thing where there is a "standard" is in the case of vinegar.
> For everything else, what you get is what you get, and since these are all
> organics pH can vary widely.
I think bottled reconstituted lemon juice is "standard" also.
>
> If you want to be completely accurate re measuring the PH then you can buy
> professional scientific equipment at the cost of several hundred dollars or
> more. You should however be able to find pH strips that vary in color
> according to the numeric value at children's science store. I've also seen
> them in any number of drugstores near the diabetic supplies. Obviously you
> do not dip these into the entire batch - dribble some over with a spoon,
> then follow the directions on the can re timing and reading the strips.
You can get narrow range pH indicator paper at beer- and winemaking
supply stores. The indicator papers are probably more accurate than an
affordable pH meter, and you don't have to worry about calibrating the
meter and standard buffer solutions and all that. If the stuff you're
trying to measure is highly colored and might stain the paper (giving a
false reading), dilute it with *distilled* water before dipping the
strip. It must be distilled or deionized water so it doesn't affect the
reading. And remember that the strips have two ends, so you can get
more than one measurement per strip.
Best regards,
Bob
L.McInnes
dilute it with *distilled* water before dipping the
> strip. It must be distilled or deionized water so it doesn't affect the
> reading. And remember that the strips have two ends, so you can get
> more than one measurement per strip.
Dilution, even with distilled water, changes the pH. A 10-fold dilution
reduces the pH by 1 unit, so don't get too liberal if you
dilute the material.
I get my students to tear each strip into 10 pieces to test things
at home. You can get a lot of tests out of one little book of strips
that way.
Louette
zxcvbob
I'm not so sure about that. When I make beer (which I haven't done in a
few years), I acidify the water that I use to rinse the spent grain.
One teaspoon of vinegar takes the pH of 2 or 3 gallons of reverse
osmosis water down to about 4. That what, a 2500:1 dilution?
Best regards,
Bob
Shawn Turner
>I recently made the mistake of using ascorbic acid powder (vitamin C) in place
>of citric acid for canning tomatos. I think it is just as acidic,
Sorry, isn't.
Dry measure by weight ascorbic acid is less acidic than citric acid which
is less so than malic. You were probably using a volume measure? Sorry,
you are still....
Immediately refrigerate and use as if pasteurized, or immediately re-
process _with_ the citric acid.
The Mantra. When in doubt throw it out.
in a way that will not permit humans or animals to consume it!!!
Shawn Turner
Reply to author won't work--spamblock: I _can_ spell
but I can't count.
David J. Braunegg
I was looking into acidities because I could only find Acid Blend in a
winemaking store, not the citric acid that I needed for the jam I was
making. I found this web page:
http://www.geocities.com/NapaValley/8280/acids.html
According to that page, citric is more acid than malic, which is more
acid than tartaric.
I am not sure if it matters for my jam that I used Acid Blend directly
in place of citric acid. (I believe that the blend is 50% citric, 25%
malic, and 25% tartaric. Comments?
Dave
Shawn Turner wrote:
>
> ...
L.McInnes
> I'm not so sure about that. When I make beer (which I haven't done in a
> few years), I acidify the water that I use to rinse the spent grain.
> One teaspoon of vinegar takes the pH of 2 or 3 gallons of reverse
> osmosis water down to about 4. That what, a 2500:1 dilution?
>
> Best regards,
> Bob
You're right in that I missed out a "0"- should be 100fold dilution.
Thanks
Louette
Shawn Turner
>winemaking store, not the citric acid that I needed for the jam I was
>making. I found this web page:
>http://www.geocities.com/NapaValley/8280/acids.html
Nice page. which I may have time to read this century.
In a ten second skim the only thing I can comment about is
when I wish to increase the tartaric acid in a must I do so by
adding tartaric acid.
>According to that page, citric is more acid than malic, which is more
>acid than tartaric.
I'm not a chemist, and I'm here on news:rec.food.preserving
where it is the pH of the product that defines how to safely
process the product.
What I did was put a volume of the various acid crystals into the
same volumes of distilled water.
The result was that-equal volumes of everything-the ascorbic acid
gave the highest pH, the malic acid gave the lowest, the citric was
in between.
My last purchase of citric acid was from
www.nicholsgardennursery.com
Seems like my ascorbic acid and calcium ascorbate are from
Bronson.
My last purchase of malic acid can not be repeated--They no
longer exist.
Shawn Turner
>>making. I found this web page:
>>http://www.geocities.com/NapaValley/8280/acids.html
>Nice page. which I may have time to read this century.
>In a ten second skim the only thing I can comment about is
>when I wish to increase the tartaric acid in a must I do so by
>adding tartaric acid.
It was late and it has been a while since i've made wine. --
Tartaric acid? -- (Note to self. What is cream of tartar)
I was thinking of tannic acid which is found in grape skins,
oak bark and fur coats.
>>According to that page, citric is more acid than malic,
>>which is more acid than tartaric.
pH 0 does not exist. pH 0 (zero) is more acidic than is possible.
pH 14 does not exist either. It is more alkaline than is possible.
>I'm not a chemist, and I'm here on news:rec.food.preserving
>where it is the pH of the product that defines how to safely
>process the product.
>
>What I did was put a volume of the various acid crystals into the
>same volumes of distilled water.
>The result was that-equal volumes of everything-the ascorbic acid
>gave the highest pH, the malic acid gave the lowest, the citric was
>in between.
Shawn Turner